Please lobby for cold weather config option

[kickincanada]

In Ottawa yes the temp dips this low frequently. And frankly sometimes I precondition outdoors and it really drives me nuts anytime I burn gas unnecessarily. It is way cheaper to use hydro than gasoline. And on short trips the ICE always fires in our cold weather meaning my mileage is no better than a regular ICE. I really dislike this.

You can pre-condition in your garage during the winter, the ICE won't go on unless it's 25F in your garage. It would have to be like -10F outside for that to happen? Or you are pre-conditioning with 120V so the engine comes on or with 240V but in comfort mode instead of ECO mode....

MrEnergyCzar

[kickincanada]

Early 2012s don't have the config option and no a software update doesn't exist. I wouldn't waste our time starting a thread unless I knew it to be true.

Before you start this awesome petition, lol....how did it go when you went to the dealership and asked them to check for software updates for the car? Did you go in and ask? Maybe it is already available.

[maestro77]

In Ottawa yes the temp dips this low frequently.

Uh, yeah....seconded. It absolutely drops that low even in a garage in Ottawa. Like, perhaps, every single day for about6 weeks in the deep of winter.....
This new firmware option, not available in early 2012 (like mine) is actually quite a bit deal to folks like us in this climate. Ottawa has dramatic temp extremes. And no, we don't live in igloos - this week it's been >30C (>86F) all week but it's not at all unusual to have a pile of days in a row of -25C (-13F) in the winter.

Anyway, this has all been said before. This new thread was started for two reasons
1) The petition.
2) Discussion how the thread documenting the thermistor hack has mysteriously disappeared.

I hadn't previosly seen the thermistor thread....but now that I know about it, want to do this hack. So I'm hoping the thread, in it's entirely (ie. with pics) can be resurrected by a mod.

[PatsVolt]

Hi All,

In winter in very cold temps, it is a loose, loose situation. What I have found though is that when the ICE runs it acually improves or at least minimizes loss in efficiency. Case in point, when the ice goes on, look at the energy use of the climate system, you will see the percentage go down, which means you are using less electric heat to heat the passenger compartment. Remember also that heat is needed to keep the battery conditioned even while on the road. And when the ICE runs, the heat produced by the engine is used just like in a standard car. Taking the load off the electric heating system in the Volt. As for starting while conditioning, I have never had it start using 240V charging. One of th edvantages of 240V operation. If you are stuck with 120V charging, then I don't think there are many safe options. Just make sure that the car is outside and not in a garage.

Pat

[maestro77]

Still cached at
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=us

This is sooo frustrating. Now even that Google cached version of page 3 of the thread is Error 404.

tboult....looked like you had tons of good pics for this. Any chance of a repost - of if the forum doesn't want this info for some reason, perhaps you could PM me (or email if I send you my email address)? Pretty please....?? The text and matching pics looked like they'd have been invaluable to actually perform this hack and now they're gone. ;-(

[Bob_Livonia]

Let's look at the reason for the engine running below 25F. As I understand it, the purposes are (1) to warm the transmission and other underhood components, likely reducing stress from low temperatures and thick fluids, bringing components into their operating range specifications, and (2) to provide cabin heat more efficiently than resistive heating from the battery.

In my experiences in Michigan last winter, the engine came on only briefly in the very cold temperatures. The engine did start sometimes during pre-conditioning when plugged in; it was no problem opening the garage door when under 25F, like I do when pre-conditioning my GMC Yukon XL.

Let's face it - the engine is going to come on at some point to warm things up - think minus 10F. I'm not going to second guess the engineers who calibrated this for a reason, nor be penny wise and pound foolish by trying to jury rig something to keep the engine from running when needed. It's a bit warm out to be thinking of this now.

[maestro77]

Warm the transmission? There is no transmission - and no, the purpose as stated by WOT in some thread quite a while ago is cabin comfort (and more specifically cabin safety so as to have heat to clear the windshield quickly).

Running the ICE "more efficiently than resistive heating from the battery" Uhm, no. More quickly for sure, but certainly not more efficiently since by definition gas is not 'efficient'. This is the entire reason of having an electric car!!

Your experience not having the ICE fire up much due to cold in Michigan is not relevant - we're in a colder part of the world. Lucky for you if it doesn't run much....but our situation is VERY different - thus the very reason for this thread.

And no, there is no 'facing it'. It's not necessary for the ICE to come on at these temperatures (particularly if starting from a semi-warm garage and only a trip of a few km). THAT is the reason GM has altered the algorithm in the latest 2012 models. We're simply trying to emulate that behaviour since GM won't offer a firmware upgrade. YOU may not want to second guess GM - great for you. The OP (and me) DO wish to second guess GM and are requesting assistance in this thread. And so we're asking for help with technical info and hoping to recruit people who feel the same as we do with a letter writing campaign. You don't agree - ok - but how about respecting our view instead of trying to explain to us why it's an incorrect view.

This is highly frustrating - people love to jump in and tell the OP all the reasons why to them the issue isn't a concern - but that's just your view. Would be far more useful if people actually helped the OP with his desire rather than trying to refute why you think that desire is not valid. Particularly when those justifications are largely based on the part of the world YOU live in.

[ari_c]

I emailed my Volt Advisor to see if there would be a possibility of a firrmware update for the older 2012 builds. This issue did not affect me much last winter as I am in the DC area, but it was annoying. Fortunately for me it was a relatively warm winter but I was still annoyed whenever the ICE would turn on unnecessarily. Especially since I had the climate control OFF!

[maestro77]

Later in the week I'll repost the critical information again,

Hey tboult....was hoping to correspond with you a bit on this, but when I attempted to PM, I get feedback saying "tboult has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space."

Just FYI.....guess no one can PM ya until you do a bit of pruning of your messages. ;-)

[gieso]

Missing this feature is definitely an irritation for me. Not critical, but a definite irritation.

The reason for the ICE coming on is for cabin heating/defrosting. It has been mentioned that in high himidity conditions at low temperatures, GM was concerned that the electric heater/defroster may not be able to keep up. Given that high humidity does not regularly occur in Colorado, I was quite happy to see that the requested feature to add a configuration option started to appear on some 2012 Volt's. I asked my VA when a software update would be available and was told nothing was planned.

I could understand not offering this if it needed additional hardwarer physical changes, but I suspect that this is nothing more than changing a threshold value of an existing temperature sensor to tell the ICE that it is cold and needs to come on.

I'll sign your petition and really want GM to understand that software updates are a required part of the brave new software intensive world that they are playing in with the Volt.