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Beast from the East

6K views 42 replies 25 participants last post by  keerola 
#1 ·
With snow being threatened by all the weather forecasts can anyone with experience of driving a Zoe in the snow pass on their experience/advice? Or should I leave her cosy and dry in the garage?
 
#3 ·
I agree with @kitsi80 the level of control at the accelerator pedal is amazing. It allows you to gently move away on ice and snow. The huge tyres also help with grip. Zoe is a great car for icy conditions.
 
#4 ·
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#8 ·
#9 ·
Even though the front tyres are getting low on our Zoe, it coped really well when we had the snow in January. I was worried that eco tyres and low tread would cause problems. There's a blizzard here now, so let's hope SWMBO can get back up the drive tonight...
 
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#10 ·
There's a blizzard here now, so let's hope SWMBO can get back up the drive tonight...
If not, I'm sure she won't mind driving down to Northampton to pick up some snow socks, and trying again!
 
#11 ·
Mines been great so far, especially with new Cross Climates on the front. The extra weight helps a lot, but that obviously doesn't help if you have bald tyres.

I find it a lot less stressful compared to an ICE car as it's a 1 gear auto, with very predictable torque and the regen is great for getting down hills where an ICE would need to use the brakes.

In this weather, slow and steady wins the race.
 
#13 ·
This message put out earlier this morning by Transport Scotland:

RED Weather Warning for SNOW in place 'til 10am THIS MORNING
@policescotland advise DO NOT TRAVEL.
If you have to PLEASE #BePrepared: Fully charged mobile phone Food/water Blanket/sleeping bag
Full tank of petrol/diesel or fully charged vehicle @transcotland


Apart from the shouty tweet with a penchant for gifs, at least EV drivers are being recognised!
 
#17 ·
I don't have a problem with the heater in my Zoe in normal mode at these temperatures, but I've never had much heat out of it in Eco mode, although I haven't tried it when it's sub zero, perhaps I should give it a go. Generally I've just about given up with Eco mode, it comes as a bit of a shock when you think I'll just jump into a gap and then find the car doesn't accelerate as well as I was expecting. The accelerator mapping in normal mode seems to be fine to allow controlled starts in icy conditions.
 
#19 ·
I'm getting a little fed up with the veracity in which the TC kicks in to stop you being able to drive. To the point if one wheel slips it reduces power to the point that you could get out and push the car faster than it'll let you accelerate. A little controlled wheel slip in snow is often very handy but the Zoe just steadfastly refuses to allow this, which is weird because it does this just fine in the wet. Maybe the TC is wired up to the temperature gauge and switches to the most agressive map ever to force you into reconsidering your trip.
 
#20 ·
I used my Zoe in snow a year ago and it handled it extremely well on whatever the standard eco tyres are.

I had to stop a couple of times to help push big Audis/BMWs to the side of the road but I never came near to being stuck.

My wife went out in ours yesterday and similarly had no problems.

Still if you don't need to make the journey I'd stay put.
 
#22 ·
My drive this morning was great until I got the STOP Electrical Failure warning. I'm guessing it is the extreme cold affecting the battery . I've been getting intermittent Check Electrical System warnings for last few nights when it is cold (suspect 12V battery due for change). Not much can be done now until weather improves . Hoping the error will then clear itself .
 
#24 ·
I drove into the car park in Balloch near loch Lomond to use the rapid, opened my door untouched snow was up to bottom edge of door !!
Zoe coped well.
 
#26 ·
Dropped tyre pressure to 33psi. Zoe excellent in bad conditions. Not sure white car best in snow. Fun had, home now,hot drink.
Why would you drop pressure?
 
#27 ·
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#28 · (Edited)
Erm, no. Unless you're trying to avoid sinking into really soft powder, you really want thin tyres which dig into the snow surface. I expect this is one reason EVs do so well in snowy conditions - lovely narrow tyres on an i3 for example.

For example...



Decreasing pressure is just going to enlarge the contact area and make the tyres less likely to dig into the surface.
 
#29 ·
Out late last Thursday night to rescue wife and son. Wife's car stuck on hill three miles from home. Most snow compacted by vehicles. Bends and hills both ways,abandoned cars and vans. Few 4x4s about. Dropped pressure from usual 37 psi to 33. Judgement call on pressures,over forty years driving, twenty years off road experience and recent thinking on bicycle tyre sizes and pressures(cycling since aged about four, 1962. Tyres less inclined to skid out on bends with slightly lowered pressures. Anyway, usual rules, gentle,smooth steady progress (easier with automatic,more predictable with no gear changes going on) gently on/off throttle as required. Regen very helpful downhill to control speed.Wife and son home safe and warm. Journey uneventful but quite fun. So works for me, not offering advice,I'm no expert,just what I did. Tarmac outside now. 37psi.
 
#30 ·
Dropping pressure in tyres is like going from spiked soles to smooth soles - which would you rather use to walk on compacted snow and ice? It's also why things like Range Rovers and X5s are so bad on snow, as their contact patches are way too large. A few years ago I'd stopped (in my car with winter tyres on) to help someone who was unable to make the hill near our house. A neighbour in a RR came down the hill and tried to stop to help, and sailed on past on the ice with the ABS clicking, barely slowing for 30-40m.

Winter tyres are such a revelation - I was driving our fwd MPV with winter tyres up our shared drive in the snow and the front spoiler was ploughing the snow. The 4wd Audi behind was barely able to make it on regular tyres. The big problem was having to change a complete set of tyres twice a year. I did get a couple of rims which made it easier, but it was still a pain. Now we run on Michelin CrossClimates - they worked really in several inches of snow last week and the good news is that we can use them year-round.
 
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#32 ·
Well, what you guys call ”Beast from the East” we Finns call ”Wednesday”..

It has been sub -20 degrees here for last 3 weeks and Zoe has handled it extremely well. Much better than any ICE. It gets warm really quickly. But when the temperature is below -30 then it starts to be a bit cold inside.

Range on my R90 dropped to about 180km, otherwise no problems whatsoever.
 
#33 ·
It was a somewhat loaded question, as @mgboyes explained, pumped up narrow tyres are best in snow. because they concentrate the weight of car over a smaller patch and allow better grip. This explains why in 2010 when I took to the roads in my classic mini with 165 width tyres, 2WD I was able to drive around all the stuck 4x4s on their massive 225 profile tyres.
The little hyundai i10 we used to have with its skinny all season tyres was also excellent in the snow. Lightweight car and FWD. The cheapest (when new) car I have ever owned was also the best I have ever driven in the snow.

I watched a range rover slide across a T junction and into the kerb on the other side the other week. As he hit the kerb square on I think he got away without damaging the alloys but it was still a fair whack and most likely knocked something out of line, especially as the tyre were low profile.

Seems he didn't realise that 4x4's don't stop any better than a 2wd. All cars have 4x4 braking.

Tyres, its all about the tyres....
 
#34 ·
The little hyundai i10 we used to have with its skinny all season tyres was also excellent in the snow. Lightweight car and FWD. The cheapest (when new) car I have ever owned was also the best I have ever driven in the snow.
I had the Getz, the older brother to the i10. So versatile. Best car I ever owned (and I've had quite a few). The longest I've owned too. I didn't part with it until the rear suspension became dodgy with all the things we'd been carrying. A Getz EV would be magic.
 
#40 ·
@Cloud probably mentioned a few time earlier: pre-heating does a lot of good when you are planning on that edge-of-the-range trip. Not only will it take the energy from the chargepoint instead of the battery, but the initial heating takes far more than keeping the car comfy when it's cold.

You'll find a lot of issues on using app timer, car timer, subscription renewals etc., etc. on this subject, but if your situation permits, a long-press on the keyfob is the surest way to go.
 
#41 ·
The question of dropping tyre pressure is tread-pattern dependent.

Where the tyre is a typical summer design which may have narrow water channels and weakly edged shoulder blocks, it probably does help to drop the pressure, this means the snow should shift around and drop out/get gripped as the tyre compresses and releases. Of course, these aren't the best tyres to start off with in the first place.

Well, what you guys call ”Beast from the East” we Finns call ”Wednesday”..

It has been sub -20 degrees here for last 3 weeks
Snow is really completely different below around -4C. It is more like sand at your temperatures, it is quite a different challenge. No less a challenge, I would not disagree, but there are conditions that are more prevalent in the UK where traction simply doesn't exist whatever the tyre choice and experience level. What I'm talking about here is a periodic freeze-thaw in which you get a combination of hard ice at the road surface, liquid slush layer on top of that, and capped off with just an inch or two of snow. This is really terrible. A fresh layer of 10" of snow below -4C is much easier to drive on both because it is more predictable and also that you simply get more grip out of it with suitable tyres.
 
#43 ·
The question of dropping tyre pressure is tread-pattern dependent.

Where the tyre is a typical summer design which may have narrow water channels and weakly edged shoulder blocks, it probably does help to drop the pressure, this means the snow should shift around and drop out/get gripped as the tyre compresses and releases. Of course, these aren't the best tyres to start off with in the first place.


Snow is really completely different below around -4C. It is more like sand at your temperatures, it is quite a different challenge. No less a challenge, I would not disagree, but there are conditions that are more prevalent in the UK where traction simply doesn't exist whatever the tyre choice and experience level. What I'm talking about here is a periodic freeze-thaw in which you get a combination of hard ice at the road surface, liquid slush layer on top of that, and capped off with just an inch or two of snow. This is really terrible. A fresh layer of 10" of snow below -4C is much easier to drive on both because it is more predictable and also that you simply get more grip out of it with suitable tyres.
I’ve had my share of winter driving.. The slipperiest weather usually occurs when temperature rises from below -10C to closer to 0.
 
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