Focus On EV winter driving
CONFERENCE CLIMATE
In winter weather, driver and van must work harder and so must the battery, as Ian Shaw explains
With the winter starting to show its teeth, we look at pragmatic ways to ensure you keep on the road whatever the weather delivers.
ere we go again... The TV news says work from home – not an option for everyone - and don’t make any unnecessary journeys. With diesel at this price, who is ever making ‘unnecessary’ journeys? None of that applies to you if you have a van for your livelihood, then you have to drive it for your livelihood, so let’s take a pragmatic approach and comfort in watching the ‘Anywhere Outside London Correspondent’ doing their piece to camera in a blizzard.
H
The vehicle It’s cliché time first of all. Make sure your vehicle is in top condition for the winter. Consider taking advantage of your local garage or main dealer offering winter checks. If not, do your own. Make sure the anti-freeze is up to scratch – leave a bottled sample of it in the freezer overnight – likewise, screen
16 WhatVan? Janiuary 2024
wash, cost-option electrically heated washer jets are no good if the stuff just freezes as it hits the glass. All big gains for little effort. We used to extend the length of the pipe from screen wash reservoir to the jets and wrap several turns around a radiator hose - not as easy in today’s encapsulated engine bays. Stock up on de-icer spray too. Don’t pour a kettle of even moderately warm water on the screen, the shock it gives to the glass is almost as big as the shock you’ll get when the replacement’s invoice arrives. Tyres come next, correct the pressures for the ambient temperature. What shows 30 psi in July won’t now. Myths abound on juggling pressure for grip, it works for sand, not ice. Ignore them all. Better to replace tyres nearing the end of their life and get the deeper tread fitted for winter. Consider replacing them with all-season / all-climate tyres
– well worth the extra money. The ‘tyre sock’ is a highly effective alternative. Cheap, quick to use and easy to store. If your sat-nav has Eco-route, use that. To an extent it avoids steep hills and goes a slightly flatter (longer) way around, possibly avoiding bottlenecks of stranded vehicles.
Assault on battery Traditionally the biggest problem on a freezing morning was the battery – batteries hate cold and you might have had trouble starting the engine. In an EV, the battery is the engine. Expect a much-reduced range for an electric van in winter. For a start, the Worldwide
Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) is simply not fit for purpose. It is carried out in a laboratory at 23-degrees Centigrade (considered optimal for BEVs), the acceleration
Winter draws on
And additionally you’ll need these: Plastic shovel More outer clothing Food and drink
Carpet or sacking to put under the wheels if stuck Tow rope
phase of the test is equal to getting from 0-60mph in longer than 20 seconds and the average speed across the whole test is just 29mph. So you are highly unlikely to ever get near the claimed range – but in winter it gets much worse. Manufacturers will not quote figures but my own small EV car offers a yardstick of sorts. official (WLTP) range is 140 miles,
Its
www.whatvan.co.uk
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