TECHNOLOGY REPORT ELECTRIFICATION Studies show cold temps cripple EV range It was a tough winter in much of the US. Even normally temperate seasonal re- sions like San Diego, Los Angeles and Las Vegas were hit wth harsh and, in some cases, record cold this year. That's particular bad news for the growing number of owners of battery electric vehicles (EVs) who have discovered the impact extreme temperatures can have ‘on both range and charging times. iim consistently seeing a 30% degra- dation” in range on cold days, said Henry Payne, an automotive reviewer far The Detroit News and oviner of 2 Tesla Model 3. He's by no means alone. "can get 270 miles [range] no prob- lem from his Chevrolet Bolt EV with a fresh and fully charged battery, said Timothy Grewe, chief engineer at General Motors electric propulsion lab But Grewe notes that when tempera- tures fell into negative territory, "I got around 170" The issue of cold-weather range has been a subject of concer among BEV owners for some time, and a frequent topic on social media, But several new studies have attempted to quantify the effects, The results are significant, show ing that some vehicles lose more than 50% of their range in sub-freezing tem peratures, though drivers can mitigate the losses if they're willing to limit their use of cabin heating. Percent Change in Combined Rance Percent es change in AAA study “We found thatthe impact of tempera ture on EVs is significantly more than we expected,” said Greg Brannon, AAA's lector of automotive engineering. “’s something all automakers are going to have to deal with as they push for Fur ther EV deployment because it's some~ thing that could surprise consumers” The organization tested five separate models: the BMW i3, the Chevrolet Bolt EV, the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S and Volkswagen e-Golt. AAA engineers sub- Jecting each car to both 20-degrees F ‘Percent charge nos for 100 Mes of Combined Urba/Hiahay rg Le 10 May 2019 Percent range in cost for ooo mies of combines wan) highway stiving relative to BF. aneine verve combined diving range relative totesting conducted aT cold and 95-degrees F heat The vehicles proved surprisinaly simi lar in their response tothe thermal con- ditions, said Brannon. He noted that, on ‘average, they ost about 12% oftheir range on the cold side. That was a rela- tively modest decline, but it dd not in- clude the use of any form of cabin heat- ing. When HVAC systems were activat- 4, the range degradation averaged 40%. In other words, a BEV with an EPA- rated range of 200 milas would get only 18 miles between charges. ‘nd those numbers dont fly reflect potential range los, as they dont factor in the use of seat or steering whee! heat- ers or headlights during winter com- ‘mutes. The impact is felt by motorists in Various ways. Nat only can they travel less per charge, but tney also pay more. ‘AAA estimated a typical American BEV owner would pay an extra $2427 per 11000 miles when t's cold Consumers Union study ‘The AAA findings were largely echoed by a separate study conducted by Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. t focused ‘on two EVs—the Tesla Model 3 witha 310-mile EPA range rating, and the 151- mile version of the Nissan Leaf. Testing was conducted at the CU track on days ALTOMOTIVEENGINEERING‘BMW's 8s demonstrated th ighest- percentages of ding range in cold ‘weather, according toa AAA study. \when the outside terperature averaged between 0 to 10 degrees F The Tesla used up the equivalent of 121 miles to cover 64 actual miles of criving, leaving it with a displayed range remaining of 189 miles. The Nissan fared even worse, “burning” 141 miles of stated range to travel those 64 miles. At the end ofthe test, the sec ‘ond-generation Leaf had oniy 10 miles showing on its range display. Electric habitable zone Part of the problem, said the AAAS Brannon, is that “lithium-ion batteries lke the same sort of temperatures that we do, around 70 degrees” Much be- low that and the chemistry used to store energy runs into various prob- lems. Among other things, batery components develop increased resis- tance that limits how much power they can hold, as wel as how fast a battery pack can be charged or discharged, explained GM's Grewe. A decidedly unscientific test ofa Hyundai Kona on a 20-degrees F day in Detroit found it was only able to go from 31 to 110 displayed miles after be- ina plugged in for 45 minutes to a 50- KW SAE Level 3 charger. That’ barely half what the automaker normally promises under ideal conditions. ‘Adcitional information on methodology can be found at https//wmwaea cory |AAA/common/AAR/Ties/AAA-Electic- Vehicle-Range-Testing-Report Paul A Eisenstein AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY REPORT aNuFACTURING Ford demos latest digital tools at flagship transmission plant Ford recenty provided macia with 3 look at some of its latest digital manu facturing tools, opening up the floor at Cone ofthe work! largest transmission plant to showcase the quality: and pro- ductivity-drivenintitive. The tour of Ford's Livonia Transmission Piant (LTP) \Was part of a Detrot-area Manufacturing In America conference hosted by Siemens. Though showcasing the latest tools in use today, Ford stressed that this was a journey that began in earnest over a decade ago—andis ony ust beginning tobe leveraged, The daital systems Ford is employing permit a more efficient path between its computer-aided engineering (CAE), the creation of production/supply sys- tems and the assembly process itself, improving quality by validating metrics in real time and gathering a swarm of data for analysis. Exceptional granular- ity nits component traceability pro- vides a wealth of on-site data to im= prove quality, but leveraging such data in the cloud also can improve vehicie- specific characteristics at distant, fnal- assembly locations "What we showed off here today was the evel of technology that we're de- ploying in our engineering factory and in ‘ur physical factory, with the idea that eventually those two areas will merge,” said Mike Bastian, Ford digital systems integration manager for powertrain ‘manufacturing. “We've done that based off of high degrees of standaraization and integration to enable data analytics, and going forward have set the future Up for artificial nteligence:” Hardware + Network + Software = Function ‘According to Bastian, the digital trans- formation of Ford's production acceler= ated in earnest in 2008, with the adop- tion of global control standards, fol+ lowed by locking down its network architecture in 2009 and the massive deployment of ethernet to the plant Loe etn) Pr Aocnme Res ee enero asec weather and chemicals to help OOO ue ee Lubrizol Free nf tpt notin com/75005-705