I’m sure we’ll have a few stories today from people who have to go out in there cars…
(I have to go to Luton airport to pick up my daughter).
Any views on Snow mode? I guess a little better than eco on easing back throttle and I assume managing traction… do you select it by holding down the Drive Mode button for a few seconds?

One of the things snow mode does on most EVs is limit the regen so you don’t effectively get heavy on the brakes without wanting to.

It should also regulate the anti slip differently to allow for more wheel slip when pulling off.

 

I was driving in the snow yesterday. Switched on snow mode. Car was very mature and drove well on snow. The older e-niro we had was less suited to snow. Overall impressed. Only negatives were the parking sensors in the front constantly being triggered by snow. Had to switch off auto PDW. Surprisingly the we did not get a message saying forward collision is unavailable even though the sensor was covered in snow

 

I agree with this. Frozen sleet on the roads here leaving an ice rink surface. Niro EV in snow mode {press and hold the MODE button} coped very well, and noticeably better than our older e-niro (which I had thought was pretty good for a 2 wheel drive car). The better balance on the torque (being less skittish) must help too.

 

Out yesterday (Mid Lancashire), and I had forgotten about snow mode but remembers to reduce the regen. Had the regen halfway, and she behaved very well in the snow over ice! I am presuming the extra weight helped, but I was also aware of the weight on ice and on iced corners. I tried being deliberetly heavy-footed at one point, but the traction control was excellent. Overall very impressed as I had expected the weight to be very troublesome, especially going down.

 

How do you get snow mode?

 

If you have a new Niro EV, then you hold down the drive mode selector on the steering wheel for a second or so and it should activate snow mode. Older models do not have it.

What is the snow mode on the Nero?

A new driving mode on the new model Niro which switches off regen and I believe slightly limits throttle response

 

I'm sure that snow mode does wonders for brake distances and cornering ability.

 

Although I hope I am wrong, it appears it's just the traction control that is changed.
Unless someone knows better

 

Winter tyres on my 21-plate e-Niro and had no issues in 150mm of snow yesterday followed by icy road when it hit -10 after dark (Scottish Borders). Even had a few moments when the bottom of the car was bottoming out on the snow in the middle of the road either side of the tyre tracks. Sheet ice was as a lottery, but that’s just physics so not much can fix that!

Starting/stopping on inclines was no problem at all while plenty of other cars were getting stuck.

All while driving in Evo with 0 regen.

I know how badly the original tyres were in just a few mm of snow before fitting the winters, very scary by comparison to the sure-footed handling now.

 

Not sure anyone above claimed a mode change also changed braking or cornering ability. I am quite ok driving, carefully with a delicate foot, in icy conditions but the mode change does assist. Simple. Think the sarcasm falls a bit flat here Briggo!

 

What is the snow mode on the Nero?

 

Page 6-15 of the Niro EV manual states Snow Mode disables regenerative braking.
Page 6-33 of the Niro EV manual states Snow Mode characteristics "Provides safe driving on the snowy roads".

Outside those two statements, there is nothing that states what other settings, if any, are changed when using Snow Mode.
Sure, it may alter the throttle response or whatever. But the manual doesn't actually say that. So I guess we don't actually know what it does aside from disabling regen. It must do 'something' otherwise it would be the same as Normal mode with regen 0, and clearly it isn't.

In Snow Mode, Climate system control is Normal (so not Eco), and Brake mode is also Normal (so not Sport).

There are references to things that "may not work" as fully as under normal circumstances, but this seems to be largely due to stuff about sensors being covered. This is referenced across pretty much every driving safety assist feature.

 

I think there's more to the "switching off regen". From what I know (I own an e-Niro) the car uses engine (regen) braking even when using the brake pedal. Up to a certain point, at which the conventional brakes (front and rear) are added in the mix. This would mean that under normal circumstances only the front wheels are used for braking. This, of course, is highly undesirable in snowy/slippery conditions. You want all four wheels to brake.

My assumption is therefore that regen is switched off to allow for the conventional brakes to be used.

 

Very impressed with snow mode. Much more confident than I was in my ID3.
Mayhem at chargers today. But at least I got a nice fast charge eventually… 82 kWh at 16% SOC. Ionity.

 

Quick question…does anyone have any comparison of a 70 plate eniro in the snow compared to an i3? Wife and her friend are going to a show in London tomorrow travelling down from chesterfield and have been messed about by the train strikes and having to drive down now. I’ve booked them a space on someone’s drive in Stanmore that has a charger through the collaboration between JustPark and ZapMap. He’s messaged tonight to say his drive is snowy from earlier this week and he’s been struggling to get his i3 off backwards the last couple of days. He’d assumed the Kia was 4wd! It’s a slight uphill incline to get off and I’ve told my wife’s friend to reverse on so it’s forward to get off which should help a bit.

He says he thinks the Kia will be fine if it’s front wheel drive but just slightly worried as they’ll be getting back to the car about 7ish tomorrow evening then having to drive back. Don’t want them getting stuck on the drive.

 

My understanding is that the Rear wheel drive ‘flaw’ in ice and snow doesn’t apply to many EV’s such as the ID3 as they have a balanced centre of gravity with no heavy engine in the front.
So I’m not sure there will be much difference re the eNiro aside from tyre type and condition and careful driving (assuming the eniro is similarly ‘balanced’)!)