Winter Driving 4xe in Frigid Cold & Snowy Alaska - My Experience

[BigMaCro]

A few weeks ago there was semi wrecked in the snow across both lanes on a pass. I sat there for about 2 hours in the storm, snow piling up, said enough, turned around and drove a few miles down and off the shoulder the wrong direction against parked traffic the whole way...the look on so many of those people's faces, priceless. Exited onto an on-ramp, headed to the next exit and cross-countried on a crap 'dirt' road through a small range to a parallel paved road, got to work. Rig made that possible, 100%...I'll keep 'er. lol

Thanks! I started my winter driving on 4th of July Weekend 1989. My mom was driving home from a cold and rainy camping trip at Seely lake, in our 1980 Blazer towing a 15' Kit Companion camper. Climbing up McDonald Pass, rain turned to snow sticking and accumulating fast. Locked the hubs and threwit in 4wd, but got slick and squirrely. Mom was freaked out. I said I could drive. I wasn't quite 13., but she let me, and I climbed up and over the pass, while other cars were all over the highway and ditches. Got down past Frontier Town & out of the snow and she took back over driving us home to Helena.

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[Lithics]

Thanks! I started my winter driving on 4th of July Weekend 1989...

Seems we have a few things in common...I turned 13 in Oct. of '89. Grew up on a ranch, so the hands made sure I could drive the ol' stick flatbed for dumping hay to cows during winter by about the 3rd grade. Don't get me started on kids growing up staring at iPad screens these days... Seeley's great, my folks had a small chunk of property there bordering the Bob until the late 80s, some wonderful memories.

 

[Belgianballer]

Interesting thread. I live at 9,900 ft in Summit County Colorado, and so far the 4xe has been great.

For me, the engine fires up once the outside temperature gauge reads 8 degrees F. Once it hits 0 degree I'll get a message saying plug in to maintain/condition battery. I park in a warm 65 degree garage, and notice the same thing every morning as I drive down the road; even though the Jeep is nice and warm, about 5 minutes into the drive when its in the single digits, bam the engine turns on. In the afternoons once its warmed up a bit, I have plenty of range for the 16 mile round trip commute. As I can plug in at work, the 4xe has been perfect for the first 700 miles.

We get pretty nasty and variable conditions up here, and so far the Ko2s have been perfectly adequate.

 

[BXFXJeep]

It was 0c last night, I was driving in electric, after a while my feet started to get really cold, I just hit eSave and cranked up the heat to keep my sanity.

I don't usually wear winter boots if there is no snow on the ground.

 

[BigMaCro]

I do not like the JL's auto climate control logic. I would like to set it to a temp and position, then have it adjust mix and fan to hold that. But if I force it to def & foot, it will hold the fan speed too. Other brands do better.

 

[Belgianballer]

Compared to our RAV4 Prime and Prius Prime PHEV, the heater in the Jeep is amazing. Prius can only muster lukewarm when below freezing; Jeep by comparison is like an oven even when in EV mode.

 

[colojeepr]

My experience during the cold snap prior to Christmas here in Colorado tracks pretty well to this. Earl-e was parked outside when the front first rolled in and it went from 45 to -5f in less than two hours. CEL came on and I got the regen warning driving her back to her nice warm garage. Electric only until she realized how cold it was. Over the next few days, hybrid drive would work so long as it was over -5, electric only didn't kick in until it was over 10. Battery conditioning warning at shut off below 15. No complaints considering the conditions and the limitations of lithium ion technology.

The extra mass was nice cutting through the slushy crud compared to an ICE jeep and max regen is an ace for slowing down smoothly.

 

[BigMaCro]

Regarding LED headlights:

Driving over Turnagain pass Christmas night, it was about 15 F when big wet flakes started to fall and instantly freeze on the Jeep. I had to boost the defrost to max to get the windshield clear, but quickly lost useful illumination from the headlights. Took a while to find a spot to pull off the road because of the snow berms. I've had this happen in other vehicles with traditional halogens, but I sure would like heated lights. Btw they were somewhat warm from the LED drivers but certainly not enough.

Regarding @Tyler-98-W68 trick to preheat the Jeep when plugged in by manually putting it in run without starting:

This hasn't been very effective for me. It simply doesn't heat the cabin fast enough, and the heated seats and wheel don't work. So I still use remote start, which will start the engine but have everything heated up in 5 minutes.

 

[Roadrunner71]

I thought I had seen on here that folks had problems with snow sticking to the headlights and eventually covering them since the LEDs don't produce enough heat to melt it. No issues with that?

@ BDinTX I drove on Rt 8 in NY (Binghamton-ish to Utica) 2 weeks ago in a blizzard and I had to pull over 4 times in 50 miles due to snow sticking to the headlights.

I’m going to scan the Forum to see if there are any suggestions for a replacement headlight that has some kind of heating element. I love the LED headlights until that night. Please LMK if anyone has a suggestion on replacement headlights.

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