My garage is a steel building with no insulation. In summer it typically is 10 to 15 F warmer than outside temperature. You can feel the IR radiation from the walls and roof, like being in an oven, and the metal is hot to the touch. In June through August it is typically 100 to 118 F inside. My ev has been garaged there for 5 1/2 years, 40k+ miles. I live in high desert where the nights are typically 35 F lower than daytime highs, so the highest temperature the battery reaches just sitting in the garage is significantly below the daytime high temperature in the garage since the cells have significant heat capacity and are in insulated boxes.
The pack has been up to 110 to 115 F a number of times in the hot months after longer drives. Seems to just keep going. Each year I do a test drive to discharge the pack to about 28% SoC, then floor the accelerator to draw 3C from the pack and see if the LVC alarm on the minibms triggers. So far it has not. Range likely has decreased a bit, but this test indicates it has not decreased all that much. My cells are LiFePO4, different than the Leaf, but according to Dahn worse with regard to temperature effects, so I don't think you need be too concerned. On the hottest days I sometimes park the car in the shade of a tree rather than leave it in the garage. Winter brings the opposite problem, but I have Farnum heaters under aluminum sheet that the batteries sit on and 1/2" insulation in the boxes. Keeps them at the set point of 65 F in the winter when it is plugged in in the garage and above 50F if left parked outside for 4 - 5 hours. -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Success-tp4675905p4675945.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
