Skoda gave us 4 tips for more winter efficiency with the ENYAQ iV. I put them to the test! [EN]

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

I got a lot feedback from nothern countries where it gets really cold in wintertime not like here in the swiss alps where it is rather warm compared to scandinavian north. I totally agree that those tips from Skoda work under such hard conditions at -15, -20 oder even -30 degrees to get from a horrible experience to an acceptable experience regarding recuperation power and charging. Please also accept my perspective on this topic (which applies to most of my viewers) where winters are not that harsh yet the experience still is not near "good". Because in my view a battery at 0° ist still a cold one not a warm one. A warm and really convenient battery would be at least at 15° or even above 20°. I know the temperature delta between -20 and +20 is hard to achieve but one from +5 to +20 is not that much of a challenge for a real good thermo management in an EV. tl;dr I understand that under certain conditions these Tips might help at least a bit but please understand that under other circumstances (like here at my home) they are not helpful.

[@fuutseri]

Hello! Just last week I drove a 700 km round trip in -15 C here in Finland with Skoda Enyaq 60 sw 3.2. Starting with 100% SoC and cabin conditioned I drove for 160 km for 2 hours mostly 80 km/h roads to the first charging stop. SoC was about 15%, battery temperature about -3 C at the charger. At the beginning charging power was about 26kW, peaking at 43kW at 60% and throttling down to twenties to 100% in about an hour. That was fine in the lunch time; the car got charged while eating. But on the way back the same conditions, the same charger, about the same charging curve at 1 o'clock in the night when the service station wasn't open anymore wasn't that nice. So while I appreciate the cabin and battery conditioning from home charger, I really hope for the battery pre-heating for charging. Fortunately the weather forecast couple of days earlier was way off. It was forecasted to be -25 C. Would have been quite a different trip in that case. But then again, as you have said, it was promised already years ago. Maybe we'll replace the car after a while now that there are good alternatives for Enyaq coming or already available.

[@Norwegianization]

how fast would the enyaq 85 charge in thouse conditions? kw

[@Sabejno]

Shows simple fact. People from Skoda Lounge team never drove Enyaq.

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

I had the same thought :)

[@stefandahlvik3646]

I get around 40-50 kW in Finland from a 150 kW charger in wintertime (-15 C). Even if I drive 150-200 km before charging so no effect on battery temperature. The first 10 min is awful, just around 30 kW! So we need the battery heating for Enyaqs AND different start/stop values to heat up the battery at home before departure (as in SW 4.0). Thank you for your videos!

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

Thanks for your feedback

[@RicoD5]

Hello Matthias, Thank you for your continued testing of Skoda. Tip 1-3 correspond with my own day to day experience and my drive from Paris to Amsterdam at -5 C yesterday. No improved range or efficiency whatsoever. Tip 4 seems to work just a tiny bit however. At least when charging on a High Power charger. The battery is heated to 20 C (as shown by my Carscanner), which increases the charging power (SOC over 20%) by a few kilowatts. I still have to test if a +20 C warm battery with an SOC of less than 20% will charge with over 50kW in Wintertime. Bottom line: positive that Skoda communicated something, negative that it is 90% Marketing rubbish.

[@TheAShkins]

Honestly those tips ar valid and can be useful for some. Regarding 1st tip - your test just didn't work because the ambient temp is already warm (for Škoda in this case). If the temp is in minus degrees then the departure time setting will warm up the battery a little bit above zero. So it is better for recuperation if it is freezing outside. These tips are useful for nordic countries. The tips Škoda suggested were not meant for efficiency but to improve a little bit of charging speed / recuperation. At least that's how I understand this. Any battery heating is not improving efficiency anyway, you just save time / increase the autonomy but you still consume electricity (either from grid or public charger or battery)

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

I totally agree with your detailed feedback. These tips can be useful for some. But Tip 1 is heating the battery because of the built in "preheating/battery protection" to a little above 0° not because of the charging. You might get the same effect when putting the car into "Ready" mode (but later, i agree). The reason i talk about efficiency is because they used it several times in their post :)

[@TheAShkins]

@@Speicherelektrisiert yes, I still try to look on the positive side of Škodas communication :) but not expecting much from them either..

[@atterberg1]

Great video even though its sad to realize that it seems like Skoda is so much over with the ME.3 and just think about ME 4. Old customers dont mean a thing for them.

[@timofthomas]

I was out and about this week at -7 Celsius in my iV80 Sportline. I charged to 100% overnight and preheated the car for my start time. I drove to the moors about 100km away for a hospital visit - one of our highest altitude hospitals in the UK. On the way up I saw 3.5miles/kWh so about 5.6km/kWh with the ventilation off, just the window cracked slightly to stop steaming up, and the seat and steering wheel heated occasionally. (I had a nice warm coat and hat on!). On the way back things had warmed up to 2-3C above freezing and we had more downhill. I hit 4.2miles/kWh (6.76km/kWh). I used the method you described in mode D, using regen paddles only to hold me to 90kph or so downhill and off altogether when not needed. I used the same method in Summer. The difference - range 300 miles (482km) with temps near or below freezing, and 430 miles (690km) in the Summer at around 24C temps. I have a 2022 spec, 2023 model year Enyaq on firmware version 3.2. The WLPT range is 330miles for this car - about 500km. It is worth pointing out that I have always been quick but very efficient in ICE cars too - but for comparison driving the same way as the Enyaq in older cars, Volvo 740 2L Petrol, 53.5mpg, Rover 216 (1.6 petrol) 60mpg, Opel Insignia 2L Diesel... well, it has a 70 Ltr tank and I got over 1400 miles out of it (2253km) (91mpg / 32km/L) and around 900 miles out of an A Class Mercedes 1.6 Diesel - around 90mpg also. (conversely I can empty the tank in 500 miles too but as I drive for work and we get less than it costs us, the break even required me to drive 900 miles just to not cost me more than I got back for the journey!). The biggest things as you say, plan ahead, drive smoothly, coast where you can, and be aware on motorways (autobahn) of what is coming up behind you so that you can pull out safely and not have to slow suddenly because you cannot overtake due to someone coming past you. Hope that helps.

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

Thanks for your detailed explanations and for sharing your experience with us :)

[@barsel4747]

Hello Matthias, thank you for testing the efficiency tips recommended by Skoda. The video is great again!

[@jgfaustus]

Thanks for putting these to the test. I'm in the Nordics and have had a 2018 e-Golf for six years, here are my thoughts: Scheduling the climate control so the car is pre-heated when you leave should give a bit more range at least. Not so much from a warmer battery - since the effect on the battery is rather marginal - but because the initial heating of the cabin from say -10C to +20C uses energy from the wall rather than from the battery. But at temperatures above freezing I would expect the effect to be too small to be noticable, it's barely noticable on my e-Golf and the Enyaq 80 has more than twice the battery. DC charging my e-Golf is 39 kW in summer, aboout 20-30 minutes to 80%. In winter it's down to mid-20s kW. The lowest I've seen is 15 kW, the car said two and half hours for a full charge, I sat there for well over an hour to get to 80%. That was at -10C, the car had been sitting outdoors overnight, and I had driven just a few hundred meters to the charging station. My next car will have active battery preconditioning, I think it's the only way to really improve the EV winter experience. For cars that don't have battery preconditioning, the only tip I know of is to DC charge after driving for a while, rather than at the start of a trip. It won't give charging speeds like in summer, but it's noticeably better than DC charging a cold soaked battery in sub-freezing temps. For the e-Golf, maybe 25 kW instead of 15 kW.

[@eirikm87]

Thank you for the video! Also, regarding tip #3: B mode or heavy recuperation shouldn't really be used in slippery (proper) winter conditions. You want to spend whatever friction you have on steering the vehicle, not accelerate or decelerate.

[@mariuszgaazkiewicz4353]

I have asked Skoda EV Lounge on face book about the explanation about the tips because it sounds BS to me and thanks to You Mats I ve got it - nice job mate. 👍👍

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

Thanks for your feedback :)

[@fromtheblonx]

Thanks for another great video Mats!🙏

[@eastmidlandparkway6267]

Hi matthias thank you for the latest update video on the skoda enyaq about the 4 tips on heating and changing the enyaq l always try to watch your videos as l am awaiting delivery of my new enyaq sport line plus 85X in may so I am watching all the tips to get a good result of driving my first EV car Best wishes Kev

[@robinbailey7101]

Thanks for the extra explanation on tip number 1 - changing the default from charge immediately. Here in Finland I only have home charging at the summer cottage not in the winter apartment so I use the ABC method in the winter. Always Be Charging. Every time we go to the supermarket I use the AC charger and my SOC varies between 50% and 80%. Works well for us, but then we don't do long journeys in the winter. Also I have non-studded winter tires so gentle acceleration and coasting is a must!

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

Thanks for your feedback :)

[@MrJonsson9]

Thank you for english video! ❤

[@blade9297]

Hi, which OBD reader and App do you use please ? Enjoy your videos, very clear and useful.

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

I use a vGate iCar pro BLE 4.0 (AFFILIATE LINK: amzn.to/4apuZxz). Make sure you buy the one with Bluetooth 4.0 so it works with all phones. The App is called "Carscanner" and available for Android and iOS

[@blade9297]

@@Speicherelektrisiert Thankyou :)

[@henrikdamgaard5706]

I asume the preheating while plugged in help on the range sightly, because youre not using the traction battery for the initial heating. In my case I save around 3-4% on a 60 version. Im still struggeling with camper modes and sandbags :o) Nice content by the way. Henrik/DK

[@martintkac6983]

Hello Matthias, what kind of battery diagnostic tool are you using on your phone?

[@kyknekeer]

I'm thinking about getting an enyaq 85 (coupe) as my first electric car, I live in Belgium, would you recommend getting the heatpump or is it not really worth it for the maybe 1 week per year it freezes here.

[@antonioPaulino]

Thank you for your videos and helping me with tip 3.i have been for months defending the theory that mode D would be more effecient than mode B and I got lots of people on forums slamming me down. How could mode B ever generate more electricity than mode D, when using the break pedal is using the same system to slow the vehicle down.

[@Faber850]

Again really nice video, really good explanation. Your idea about a video how to drive efficiant would be nice. You might even spice it up with vacation travel and not evryday comuting. like which speed is the fastes travelspeed in a Enyaq at highway (speed/ charging time). How to be more efficiant in the alps. that or what you find interesting :)

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

I have something like this planned for spring vacation with driving a longer distance and doing the efficiency video then :)

[@kivi955]

How much does lowering the AC temp to minimum and have seat heating + steering wheel heating on instead(at max)? Compared to having normal AC heating temperatur like ~21C

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

That would make up for a good video. I never measured it yet

[@tomipoyry8896]

The charging speed was bad again in Enyaq at a temperature of -12 degrees. Charging from 10% to 32% took 26 minutes😢

[@AdriaanPeeters_BE]

An interesting test would be to measure the time it takes to heat up the battery in minutes per 1 °C. Maybe that would imply that it is better to start fast charging with almost 0% SoC to make it reach the ideal temperature when 10% SoC is reached and higher speed charging is possible?

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

This would work. I already tested it but i have no video about it. So i got to the charger with 3% Soc and battery around 12° and managed to get up to 150kW charging power and it took me 34 minutes to 80%

[@sebiventz8068]

As an owner of Enyaq 80IV M3.2, I'm surprised about the SW logic on temperature thresholds for battery preheating on off grid / on grid with dep time. Why on earth to start heating on grid only below -5 degrees when car is AC connected, meanwhile in off grid mode, it starts below 0? In 4.0 SW version, the logic is reversed which is more meaningful, saving battery and heating it at higher temperature when AC available.. anyhow most probably SW design was thought to be a trade off between preheating gain and autonomy loss due to preheating usage..regarding B mode, Porsche has recently written that it is an ineficient mode as recovery and acceleration combined, leads to a lower system efficiency than coasting in D mode with eventually ACC and TA activated.. it make sense as recovery surely is below electric engine efficiency, meanwhile during acceleration there is also a 5..10% efficiency loss, so surely B mode is more for comfort as one pedal driving and not for efficiency. A good video on overall, congrats 😊!

[@BlackCountryLad]

Great investigative video, another smoke screen from Simply Škoda.

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

Thanks

[@ryckymanc6905]

Your thick obviously in mode B you calculate your slowing at traffic build up or red lights

[@TheCameltotem]

I got the Enyaq but it's amazing the shit they try to pull trying to trick us we can warm the battery. Fucking shitty car in winter.

[@madejp]

You have right that this tips are useless, but i don't agree with your opinion about B mode. When you braking with the braking pedal, you have the sam problem with not being precise - you don't now in which moment you engaging mechanical brakes. So theoretically D mode can be more efficient, but in practice you can achieve that only by being overcautions about breaking. With B mode you can easily and intuitively learn to drive almost with the same efficiency (you naturally try to drive in such way, that you use only one pedal and its guarantee that you use only regenerative breaking) , especially when we use cruise control for steady speeds.

[@stefandahlvik3646]

I use D mode and brake ”only” with brake-paddels on the steering wheel.

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

I agree with you that you can learn it with B mode but it takes time to practice. Driving D mode is easier for coasting and when using the regen-pedals you are really good if you drive in a predictive manner. For most this is why i said D mode is better. But you're right, if you master One Pedal Driving you can get really efficient :)

[@JariKoskinen-h7o]

I've been watching your videos for over a year. But I admit this is really the last one I watched. Are you really able to pull one post from some FB group, sit in your car and talk for 20 minutes about your own perspective? Do you really think that if the tips you got at the beginning of the video didn't help you, they won't help anyone else? Do you know that they're gonna help a lot of people? Can you simulate the temperatures here in the north? I don't think so. Why do you keep talking about efficiency? Do you get the feeling that everyone who gets in a car drives with the feeling that they have to be as efficient as possible? Are you serious? I have the feeling that your lifelong desire to become an influencer, which you have clearly failed to do so far, has led you to the point where you think of yourself as the source of your only truth because you have driven a few tens of thousands in an electric car. Yeah, and you also have an app on your phone that shows the battery temperature. Oh, my God.

[@Speicherelektrisiert]

There is an easy solution for instant relief: Do not watch my videos then and tell KZbin to now show you more content from my channel. At the end this is my channel where i can put any content i like and any opinion i have. If viewers have a different opinion or perspective we can discuss this in the comments. To answer your question on "efficiency" i talk about it because it is stated twice in the post from Skoda and even in the first sentence. There they say "to make your journey more efficient". Regarding your question if i think these tips do not help anyone else? Therefore i tell every viewer if he has a different opinion or experience to write that in the comments. And if you really watched my channel for over one year you should know that i say in a lot of videos that i a) do not know everything b) can be wrong c) only have my own view on the world and d) everyone elses experience might differ from mine.

[@loogmanpaul]

I find the information very helpful. It is more than i can find from skoda. Knowing what happens with battery heating with the different types of charging is extremely helpful. It is ridiculous that this information is not clearly stated with the various software updates. When on long trips with multiple charges in the cold i found that information from this channel is helpful in efficiently planning the stops, more so than from what skoda is sharing.

[@TheAShkins]

Although I don't always agree with Mathias experience, it's much better to point out a different opinion in constructive way. Everybody can have their own opinion and experience and only by sharing it and discussing it with others we can learn more. Mathias is doing a great work in amplifying what most skoda users experience and think, and not everyone has time and willingness to keep on doing this. So I would rather support Mathias by replying with my experience and together we can keep pressure on Škoda to improve things.