Dear fellow car enthusiasts, according to the latest cold wave warning issued by the China Meteorological Administration, most of the country will experience a significant drop in temperature starting tonight. As a three-winter user of extended-range electric vehicles, I would like to share some winter driving tips to help you cope with the cold more comfortably.
Winter Feature 1: Heated Steering Wheel and Seats
The heated steering wheel and six heated seats in the third row are definitely essential features for winter driving. After using them, it’s hard to go back. The ideal seat heating area and heating speed of each car model are among the best in its class. Based on my personal experience, turning on the seat heating to level 3 warms up the leather seats in less than 30 seconds.
As for the heated steering wheel, it goes without saying that in the winter months, many people in northern China wear gloves while driving just because the steering wheel is too chilly. We can now say goodbye to this experience with ideal’s heated steering wheel feature.
Both the heated steering wheel and seats are controllable via ideal’s AI personal assistant. If your family of six is traveling together, you can wake up ideal’s AI personal assistant and say “Turn on heating for all seats,” and all six seats will become warm and cozy.
Winter Feature 2: Scheduled Departures
I believe that scheduled departures will become the winter favorite for commuters. Scheduled departures can be understood as a simple custom programming function. After setting the time and the functions that support this feature, such as air conditioning temperature and seat heating, you can ensure that the cabin is warm and cozy when you get in the car at 8 a.m. every day.
This feature has some thoughtful details, such as setting the time for weekdays only or every day, making it easy to adapt to different user habits.
Function Path on the Car Screen: Center Console – Vehicle Settings – Mode – Scheduled Departures
Winter Feature 3: Remote Temperature Control via Smartphone
While scheduled departures address regular driving scenarios, remote temperature control via the ideal car App resolves irregular driving scenarios. On the ideal car App’s car control page, you can remotely control the car’s temperature, heated steering wheel, and seat heating.
Winter Function 4: Battery Warm Keeping
Battery temperature is closely related to battery performance. When the temperature is suitable, driving energy consumption will be more efficient, charging speed will also maintain a higher level. The battery warm keeping function mainly solves the problem of poor battery performance when the air temperature is too low.
Battery warm keeping is used in conjunction with slow charging piles. After charging is completed, the battery will continue to be warm kept to ensure that when you start driving, the battery is at its optimal operating temperature. This process will consume a little electricity, about 2 degrees per hour of warm keeping.
If your car is usually parked outdoors for charging, it is recommended to turn on this function in low-temperature weather. If the home charging takes place in an underground garage and the temperature is acceptable, this function can be turned off. It should be noted that this function cannot be triggered during fast charging.
Vehicle-side Function Path: Vehicle Settings – Vehicle – Charging Management – Battery Warm Keeping
Mobile-side Function Path: Ideal Car App – Car Control Page – Battery Page – Battery Warm Keeping
Winter Function 5: Thermal Management System Based on Range Extender
If we are to list the worst-case scenario for an electric vehicle, I think it would be running long distances in low temperatures during the winter. Two factors that are unfavorable to energy consumption, high speed and low temperature are combined (if you want to know why range drops fast in the winter, you can click on the article “All About Power Consumption”). However, the thermal management system based on a range extender basically solves the problem encountered in this scenario.
The range extender starts to generate additional heat, which is waste heat in a gasoline-powered car but can be very useful to an electric vehicle, providing heat to warm and maintain the battery and even serve as a source of warm air for the cabin.
After the range extender is started, the electric heating is used to heat the cabin before the range extender water temperature comes up (if it is a short-distance urban trip, the electricity consumption during this stage will be higher). After the range extender water temperature comes up, the waste heat of the range extender is used to warm the cabin, which can fully guarantee the temperature inside the car, and it will not impose any burden on the driver. According to my actual usage, the winter long-distance range is almost the same as that in spring and summer, and the hero behind it is the thermal management system based on the range extender.### Winter Function 6: Quick Defogging
In winter, due to the temperature difference, car windows may fog up. On the air conditioning interface, there is a “quick defogging” button. Clicking it will automatically defog according to the current environment. After the fog dissipates, click it again to close it. You can also use voice command by saying “open/close defogging”. There’s also a defogging button on the air conditioning page in the mobile app.
Winter Function 7: Slippery Road
When encountering rainy or snowy weather, you can select the slippery road mode in the special road conditions in the lower right corner of the central control screen. In this mode, the vehicle adjusts the power output of the front and rear axles to prevent the wheels from slipping, ensuring a smoother start and low-speed driving. At the same time, the kinetic energy recovery is weakened, making it safer and more controllable to slow down on icy and snowy roads.
Winter Function 8: Refrigerator Heating
The owner of Ideal L9 can provide extra warmth for their family in winter, especially for girls who need to drink warm water. But bottled water from supermarkets or convenience stores is usually cold. If you set the refrigerator to 50℃, this warmth can warm your stomach and your heart.
Winter Reminder: What Type of Antifreeze Windshield Washer Fluid to Choose?
Before winter, you need to confirm whether the antifreeze level of the windshield washer fluid in the car meets the local environmental temperature to prevent freezing of the pipeline due to low temperature. For example, for car owners in the North China Plain, the antifreeze level of the windshield washer fluid should reach below minus 20℃.
The antifreeze capability of the windshield washer added when our vehicles left the factory is negative 30 degrees. Generally, there is no problem if you have not added it again. Even if the car owner has maintained the vehicle at an ideal official store, they do not need to worry too much. The staff will add antifreeze capability of windshield washer, which can withstand negative 30 degrees, during maintenance.
Winter Reminder: What should I do if the tire pressure drops in winter?
In winter, the tire pressure generally decreases compared with summer. For example, if the tire pressure in summer is 2.5 bar, it may drop to 2.3 bar in winter. If there is a sharp drop in temperature, the tire pressure may even trigger an alarm. If all four wheels trigger the alarm at the same time, it is probably due to the temperature, not tire damage.
It is recommended to keep the tire pressure at 2.5 bar in winter. If the current tire pressure is too low, you can go to repair shop and add some air or use the built-in air pump in your trunk.
Winter Reminder: How to prevent wiper blades from freezing?
After prolonged parking in rainy or snowy weather, the wiper blades and the front windshield may become frozen. At this time, do not forcibly start the wiper, as it may cause the wiper blades to tear, the motor to burn out, or the windshield to be scratched. You can lift the wipers before it snows (Central Control Screen – Settings – Vehicle – Maintenance – Wiper Maintenance), and after it snows, use the frost/defog feature of the front and rear windshield and the heat function of the side mirrors to melt the snow and solve the problem of wiper blades freezing.
With eight winter functions and three winter reminders, I hope this guide can help everyone have a comfortable winter. And the extended-range electric technology provides a sense of safety that enables everyone to spend their winter comfortably with their electric vehicles.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.