Golden Jubilee
Posts: 5187
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:28 pm
Location: Lyman, IA
Re: Gone over to the "dark side"
This car has more gadgets than one needs in a car that is unlikely to go more than 30 miles from home (65 mile range). Do you really need a navigation system when you are less than 30 miles from home?
Yesterday I went to town with just the seat heater and steering wheel heat on. I found it livable but a little less than comfortable. So for the return trip I turned on the cabin heat. It heats quick (no engine warm up required) and while it sucks up the power, I found I could turn it off after a few minutes and be comfortable.
Today we are going to try the cabin pre-heater timer before my wife goes to town. There are so many ways to get the same result, it will take some time to find the best way.
I'm not sure which system this car has, early models had resistance heat (power sucking) and later used a heat-pump.
As far as how well the heater works, I would say as good as any, but the limiting factor is how much range you can afford to loose, not how much heat it provide.
I hope pre-heating, while drawing on the 240 volt level 2 charger, before leaving will allow for comfortable driving to town, and allow for heat to be used on the return from the battery, drawing less of the range down. Not to say it wouldn't make the trip just fine, drawing from the battery both ways. I had something like 27 miles left when I returned yesterday.
Last night was the 1st charge on the garage outlet. When I installed I used a GFI breaker, which I don't have on the welder outlet, so wanted make sure the charger played well with the GFI. Not all stuff does.
As I thought, my only regret is that, while the car does everything I expected it could, I wish it could cover more of the trips, it is so comfortable. 99% is good enough, but I wish I could take it on long trips also.