How slow does the Chevrolet Equinox EV charge in Winter without Preconditioning?

[@LakeLake123]

I recently saw -17F (-27C) air temp in MN in my Blazer EV. No hard data, but I couldn’t get regen over the 10s kW range down a big hill with no preconditioning. The brake blending is very well done, as you can’t tell it’s not normal regen deceleration unless you’re watching the regen gauge. Also, the Blazer EV charge door works just fine at -17F!

[@ValConB]

@LakeLake123 - Good to know about that charge door, since I have been worried about that door not opening at just the wrong time. Owned our Blazer EV for about 5 months now.

[@ledzepandhabs]

As a Canadian Equinox 2 RS EV owner, I am thankful and happy that you are making these videos. Aside from the very useful information you provide, you have a very concise, affable and friendly presentation. Great work, hope you keep it up and looking forward to more content. My Nox is pretty awesome BTW.

[@flyordieinafire]

9:01 My Kia Niro EV is 40 min 20-80% on a good day. So it's all relative. 😅

[@michaellawyer4885]

First! Good to see how well (or lack thereof) the battery handles being cold charged. Also, what app are you using to get the battery specs in real time?

[@theaverageev]

I am using the Car Scanner Pro app!

[@michaellawyer4885]

@@theaverageev with an obd?

[@theaverageev]

@ yup! I have the VeePeak! Link in description!

[@michaellawyer4885]

@@theaverageev cool cool cool. I'm a data nerd for this stuff and was wondering. The first time I fast charged was at an Evgo and was pulling 143 kw and 500 amps at 31%, and was legit surprised the speeds it was charging at so late in the curve. It was also really cold outside (about 29 F), so I'm chalking that up to the preconditioning. I'm also still on the May 5th update firmware version so I'm looking forward to any speed increases from the newest version.

[@BensEcoAdvntr]

That’s a lot better than my Ariya. On Thanksgiving, I ended up charging shortly after the car had sat in the cold. I got ~60 kW, about half the normal speed

[@johnwombacher7832]

It would be interesting to compare efficiency between having a scheduled departure time while plugged in at home and preconditioning the cabin temperature and not scheduling a departure time while not being plugged in at the home charger. I know on my Niro EV it draws from the charger rather than the battery to condition the cabin if plugged into the ac wall charger.

[@theaverageev]

I have that planned! I have a scheduled set of three days to gather data!

[@bam111965]

Thanks for the video. To me, those are unacceptably slow charging speeds. They are 10 years behind on the charging curve.

[@theaverageev]

Those were the speeds without preconditioning. The car maxes out at 150kW and average 118kW from 10-80%

[@pcapcapca]

Hey thanks for your videos. Not related to this one but hows the A2z nacs adapter? Any ideas if chevy can detect it was used and void the warranty?

[@theaverageev]

I prefer it myself. Chevy cannot detect whether you are using it or not. If you feel uncomfortable using it, I would recommend waiting for the Chevy adapter.

[@philippelemaire4884]

How long before charge on long trip should we precondition?

[@theaverageev]

If you route to the charger it will automatically do it. If you want to do it manually I would say 20-30mins

[@MrSmokemeat]

What apps do you use to check battery

[@theaverageev]

Car Scanner Pro!

[@jordankarim9558]

@@theaverageev Which dev? I see one called Car Scanner OBD2 Torque Pro and Car Scanner ELM OBD2. Thank you.

[@Astrand1]

You know you can change the units in car scanner for temp to Fahrenheit. Since you keep saying what the temp is and then have to do the conversion. Might make it easier.

[@theaverageev]

I do know! I prefer Celsius because a lot of the data I observe from others is in Celsius. Thanks though!

[@Astrand1]

@ ok. I just mentioned it since everything else you were talking about was in us units. 👍

[@jaytrainer4986]

Were you running the heater while still being on the DCFC charger?

[@theaverageev]

Not for this charge session. I never run A/C Heat so all my sessions have that in common.

[@jaytrainer4986]

@@theaverageev I’m also a current bolt owner thinking about making the jump before the end of the year. Quick question, when you precondition while it is plugged into a level 2 at home, does it draw from the battery or the plug?

[@theaverageev]

@ my understanding is from the plug as long you have set a departure time! I tried it once after it had completed and it didn’t start drawing from the L2 Charger.

[@MrBseifert]

Man, out of curiousity, how/ why do you know so much about batteries? Also, What software is that in the video depicting the battery stats?

[@theaverageev]

I spend a lot of time learning about these things so that I can simplify it for new drivers. I didn't know much in the beginning. I would like to learn more as well!

[@michaelwalenga7790]

I picked up my 2025 equinox ev weeks ago. I also have a 2017 bolt ev. Im in Michigan and the last few nights it was 10 degrees F overnight and i didn't have the car plugged in. My soc was low and when it hit 29 percent on my way to work i got a flashing turtle and flashing red motor light. The cluster displayed reduced performance drive with care. The next day i duplicated it again at 29 percent soc and 10 degrees. Does your car do this too? My Bolt never seemed to care too much and it was driven in even colder weather. The thing that confused me was the red motor light flashing, red flashing light in my mind means their is a problem, not just reduced performance because the battery is too cold and the soc is too low to give normal performance.

[@theaverageev]

I have never seen that! I will keep an eye out over the winter!

[@jordankarim9558]

Once it get seriously cold you will have reduced peak output for sure. Our mini did the same, but only showed limited max throttle.

[@mikecarter2737]

Of course, it is not yet winter. It is important to know how many Amps the car is requesting so you can sort out power sharing (oversubscriprion) effects from what the car wants to do. We do not get consistent power from Superchargers in our Blazer EV, all other things being equal. Many would not describe the temperatures you are experiencing as very cold. I have hope for you yet! Keep trying.

[@theaverageev]

27 F is winter enough for me 🤣🤣🤣 There is no way to know that for the Equinox, but the site was at half capacity so it should have been fine. Fortunately everyone left because the price went up at 8am. Very odd about superchargers. They are the best for me I would have to assume that the speed a would be lower, but I wanted to get this video out at the beginning of winter for those who might not realize the importance of preconditioning. If there is a REALLY cold day I will definitely go out to see what speeds it gets!

[@jacobcarlson4010]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@theaverageev: I’m not going to say that there absolutely is or is not a way to get that requested amperage read, but what I can tell you is that most smartphone apps have much more limited functionality than a professional scan tool. It very well may be that you need that professional tool to poll that from the BMS or PDM, or whatever handles the power level changes during charging on the equinox/blazer EV (I’m yet to fiddle around with one, my daily is a Nissan LEAF).

[@theaverageev]

@ Every car is different. Some let you pull the request data, some don’t. I’m sure a higher end tool might be able to do that. Regardless, I know the general amperage request along the curve as I have logged the curve many times. The best I can do is say it isn’t achieving what it should. I knew this would happen because it was cold. I’ve used the site many times and used this charging stall many times.

[@evarlast]

climate powerdraw is negligible compared to driving

[@theaverageev]

True, but everything adds up!

[@MrGrimord]

Is the preconditioning only useful on a level 3 charger? Is it useful before charging on a level 2?

[@theaverageev]

Most helpful for DC Fast charging!

[@денисбаженов-щ1б]

Sad that owners manuals - as far as I know - don't provide much infomation about charging curves at low temperatures. Nor for regen power. Some kind of tables, why not? OK, real results could differ, but whould be great to have some guides. They don't even mention the exact chemistry of battery pack. Another info being very useful - how many kWh would be needed to heat the battery, say, 10 degrees Celsius. Then drivers will make better choice whether pre-condition the battery on the road or only when connected to the charger. Thermal inertia of the pack is also important. How fast it will cool down - for a given temp?

[@junehanzawa5165]

Did you say you did NOT precondition? If so, then you're defeating the purpose of that abillity on an EV.

[@theaverageev]

Correct. The point of this video is to emphasize why people should precondition. I state that during the video.

[@drewmcg8613]

@@theaverageev what kW charge would you have gotten in same conditions if you HAD preconditioned, and how much energy would you have used on way to charge if you had?

[@theaverageev]

@@drewmcg8613 Great question Theoretically normal speeds if that battery heated enough. I've observed 4kW-8kW power draw when preconditioning. So if we average that, theoretically 3kWh for driving a half hour.

[@drewmcg8613]

@@theaverageev So, worse case, you spend an extra $4 (50 cents per kWh X 8) to spend less time at the charger? Any guess how much time you would save/average increase in charging kW’s would be?

[@jordankarim9558]

@@drewmcg8613 It depends on so many factors it is hard to estimate. One of the biggest arguments against EV's is the FAST charging time, so it should be negligible to get you back on the road quicker.