4 ms·

Might be more accurate to describe it as cars generate more windchill from driving than the weather station is likely to experience from wind?

leereeves 4y ago
Doesn't the cold have the greatest impact when the car isn't moving, because the car warms itself while driving? And the reported wind chill matters when the car isn't moving.
- wolfram74 4y ago
  In the best case scenario where the car is in a garage, I've heard that you can pre-emptively bring it up to temperature on grid power and a great deal of the cold-induced range loss goes away. Might still work for outdoor parking, just a bit less shielded of an environment.
- nkurz 4y ago
  > And the reported wind chill matters when the car isn't moving. It matters in the sense that a parked car in the wind will cool to ambient temperature faster than it would when the air is still, but not in the sense that it will ever get colder than the actual still-air temperature. Wind chill affects rate of cooling, but (in the absence of evaporation) not the actual low temperature that is reached. Since the concern with loss of range or or starting capacity usually has to do with how the batteries perform at at extremely low temperatures, it's probably closer to true to say that "it does not matter".
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Wind chill is mostly a number for TV weathermen to use to hype up cold weather. It does matter to some extent for people in that they may want to be careful to cover exposed skin and wear something windproof. But it's more about dressing for cold windy conditions than about an absolute number.
  - hunter2_ 4y ago
    > Since the concern with loss of range or or starting capacity usually has to do with how the batteries perform at at extremely low temperatures Isn't heating the cabin also a major component of the concern? That's where heating the cabin on grid power would help get some range back (assuming the battery is fully charged; if it's mid-charge then you're just shifting the grid power from charging to heating so the range will continue to suffer).
jcampbell1 4y ago
Wind chill is because your body heat makes a bubble of warm air which the wind blows away. When you have a full body suit and helmet, wind chill doesn’t matter.

leereeves 4y ago

Doesn't the cold have the greatest impact when the car isn't moving, because the car warms itself while driving? And the reported wind chill matters when the car isn't moving.

wolfram74 4y ago
In the best case scenario where the car is in a garage, I've heard that you can pre-emptively bring it up to temperature on grid power and a great deal of the cold-induced range loss goes away. Might still work for outdoor parking, just a bit less shielded of an environment.
nkurz 4y ago
> And the reported wind chill matters when the car isn't moving. It matters in the sense that a parked car in the wind will cool to ambient temperature faster than it would when the air is still, but not in the sense that it will ever get colder than the actual still-air temperature. Wind chill affects rate of cooling, but (in the absence of evaporation) not the actual low temperature that is reached. Since the concern with loss of range or or starting capacity usually has to do with how the batteries perform at at extremely low temperatures, it's probably closer to true to say that "it does not matter".
- ghaff 4y ago
  Wind chill is mostly a number for TV weathermen to use to hype up cold weather. It does matter to some extent for people in that they may want to be careful to cover exposed skin and wear something windproof. But it's more about dressing for cold windy conditions than about an absolute number.
- hunter2_ 4y ago
  > Since the concern with loss of range or or starting capacity usually has to do with how the batteries perform at at extremely low temperatures Isn't heating the cabin also a major component of the concern? That's where heating the cabin on grid power would help get some range back (assuming the battery is fully charged; if it's mid-charge then you're just shifting the grid power from charging to heating so the range will continue to suffer).

jcampbell1 4y ago

Wind chill is because your body heat makes a bubble of warm air which the wind blows away. When you have a full body suit and helmet, wind chill doesn’t matter.