One of the largely undiscussed problems besetting most EVs – more finely, every EV I have personally test driven – is that they lose charge while not in use unless you keep them plugged in. It’s a problem for a number of reasons, among them – and this is the largely undiscussed one – many people do not have a garage or a single family home that has an outlet they can be plugged into.
More finely: If they live in an apartment or townhouse or some other accommodation and have to park outside, the charge cord won’t reach. It is not generally known that you cannot use an extension cord to reach from the street/curb to the outlet inside the apartment or townhouse – but not because of the length.
Rather, the resistance.
The factory supplied charge cord is of heavier gauge than the common extension cord and the factory supplied charge cord typically will have a box attached to it that will prevent the EV from accepting charge – even if it is plugged in – if it is via the extension cord rather than directly to the wall outlet. That means you pretty much have to have either a garage with outlets inside or a way to park close enough to the house to be able to directly plug in.
This pretty much excludes apartments and townhouses that don’t have garages. Ergo, EVs are practical – if you want to use that word in this context – only if you have a garage to park or own a single family house, because if not you cannot charge up the EV at home and – more to the point – you will lose charge overnight if you cannot plug it in overnight.
It is like having a car with an engine that has a pinhole leak in the gas tank – but for a different reason. EVs burn electricity when they’re parked because of the need to keep the EV’s battery from getting too cold – or too hot. There is a thermal management system that works like central air/heat inside a home does. It automatically keeps the temperature inside the home within a set range; not too cold and not too hot. The difference is the home is connected to power and so does not run out of power unless the connection is cut (as via a downed power line).
I have a garage and a house so I have the ability to plug the EVs in that I get sent – so that they do not lose charge (and so, range) overnight just sitting, burning power keeping their batteries from getting too cold or too hot. But I have conducted let’s see what happens experiments with every EV I have been loaned to test drive and write about. The reason being to see what happens to the charge – and so, the range – if the EV is left unplugged outside in the cold, especially.
In every case – so far – the EV left unplugged out in the cold overnight has lost anywhere from 5-10 or so miles of indicated range remaining, just from sitting. That doesn’t sound like much but it is a lot when you consider that the typical EV doesn’t have much range to begin with. And even less if you get home and park it without a full charge and so the maximum/best-case range.
This problem is compounded by the time it takes to get to a place to charge – and then there’s the wait. And this assumes the charger kiosk you drove to is working. Often, they aren’t. So if you get there with very little charge in reserve and the charger kiosk is offline (or you have to wait before your turn to wait while others are waiting for their EV to charge) it can mess up your entire day.
So – not bleeding range from just sitting is not a small thing. And – so far – the 2025 Honda Prologue I’ve been test driving this week is the only EV that did not bleed range just from sitting. When it was dropped off for me on Friday of last week, the charge indicator said the battery was at about 76 percent capacity – which works out to about 208 miles of driving range (indicated) out of a maximum of 273 for the Elite version of the Prologue they sent me that has less range than the standard trim because it has two rather just one electric motor and weighs more, etc.
So, not a lot of range to lose.
The good news is, it didn’t. After almost 48 hours or just sitting outside in very cold weather and not plugged in, when I checked to see how much charge (and so, range) it had lost I discovered it hadn’t. The indicator said it still had about the same amount of charge – and that’s very good, because it means this EV could be left outside an apartment or townhouse disconnected from “shore power” (RV speak for an external power hookup) and you’d comeback to find it could still take you as far as it said it would be able to when you parked it.
This is the first and so far only EV out of dozens I have test driven that managed this feat, though I don’t understand how, exactly since it (like all EVs) has a thermal management system to keep its battery from getting too cold (or too hot) and that has to consume power. Maybe it has something to do with the Honda’s battery being different somehow – which it is because it’s actually a GM battery (the Prologue is a restyled, somewhat different iteration of the Chevy Blazer EV). I will try to ascertain what the difference is and how it is possible as in thermodynamics as elsewhere, there ain’t so such thing as a free lunch.
But – for what it’s worth – the Prologue/Blazer EV does not seem to have a pinhole leak in its “tank.”
The bad news – which I’ve reported before – is that the Prologue/Blazer does not go as far as it says it will. More finely, as far as the range remaining indicator says it will. I drove the Honda down to Roanoke, which is about 30 miles distant – and back again. The round trip is about 60 miles. But when I got back, the range remaining indicator said I’d burned through about 100 miles. This disparity was more than usual – which is about 20 percent actual vs. indicated – perhaps because it was very cold out and I did run the heater and the heated seas because I’m not into being cold while driving. The heat (and heated seats) in an EV burn electricity, so that reduces range. Plus add in the fact that the cold – as such – reduces the efficiency of all batteries.
But it also could be that the power loss from just sitting unplugged out in the cold was folded (by the computer that controls the system and the display) into the range lost while driving, so as to obscure the loss from just sitting.
So, a plus – and a loss.
Whether it adds up to a gain is something for you to decide.
. . .
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They buy battery cars in Norway because of huge incentives and cheap electricity…but they also own ice vehicles as well.
In their Lillehammer HillClimb race one of their favorite cars is a 454 V8 Camaro…700 HP at 7250 RPM naturally aspirated…2800 lb….a beast…
@ 2:23 in video….watch it smoke the tires…American muscle…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz7rIjK1fMU
What do they really love in Norway…ice powered vehicles…watch their Lillehammer HillClimb race…all ice powered monsters…
Hillclimb racing should be more popular in N. America…it is very cool……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz7rIjK1fMU
@ 22:62 in video….quickest time…..Ford Fiesta with 1026 HP Volvo 5 cylinder turbo engine 2200 lb….will beat any battery car anywhere….the perfect commuter car……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz7rIjK1fMU
A 454 V8 Camaro…700 HP at 7250 RPM naturally aspirated…2800 lb….
the perfect daily driver…..great sound track….
Could be your generator brushes are getting worn. At least one is that’s why your getting intermittent 240 volts
With ‘blowtorch’ 80-mph Santa Ana winds feeding a raging inferno in Pacific Palisades, peeps tried to flee. But SoCal has too many people and not enough streets for them to all migrate at the same time.
So they bailed from their vehicles and ran for their lives, probably recalling the horror of the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, CA, where roasted-clean skeletons were found inside gridlocked vehicles.
Now Govco has sent in a giant dozer to fling those abandoned vehicles aside. A Lügenpresse babbler explains that they are ‘doing what they have to do’ — for the greater good!
https://tinyurl.com/yc54nfcb
Weather nerd Daniel Swain at weatherwest dot com saw this coming, and said so three days ago:
‘High Wind Warnings and Fire Weather Watches are already in effect. Fire weather risk of this magnitude will likely entail area/park closures, street parking restrictions, and other pre-emptive actions to reduce the risk of unwanted ignitions and facilitate rapid ingress/egress from high-risk areas if fires develop later this week.’ — Jan 4, 2025
Rapid ingress/egress = big enough bulldozer!
You’re one of those guys who likes to shine his machine
You make me take off my shoes before you let me get in
I can’t believe you kiss your car good night
Now come on, baby, tell me, you must be jokin’, right?
Oh-oh, you think you’re something special
Oh-oh, you think you’re something else
Okay, so you had a car!
— Shania Twain, That Don’t Impress Me Much
Watched TeeVee at the tire shop: fedgov ceremony for Jimmah Carter.
I wanted to see them drive the horses pulling Jimmah’s casket right up the Crapitol steps into the Rotunda. But they chickened out, as I knew they would.
This show earned only 1 of 5 stars from me. Ninety-five percent of it was dead air — people standing around in military uniforms in the bitter cold with their thumb up their ass, waiting for input.
Typical Govco time waste. I am not entertained. 🙁
Turn your thermostat to 100 degrees in honor of Jimmah’s 100 years of living.
Just a quip from the peanut gallery.
More musings from one of those 21st century schizoid freaks.
Whatever those are.
‘EV READY,’ says a banner in my local tire shop. ‘8 of 10 EVs use Michelin tires.’
Talk about negative advertising! I disapprove of EeeVees. Therefore, I disapprove of Michelin as an EeeVee enabler.
Bought a set of Hercules X-Venture tires for the Frontier instead. Lesson to Michelin: get woke, go broke.
If you took my son’s 2016 Jetta on the same drive, from The Woods down to Roanoke and back, all highway miles, the range would decrease by 60 miles *or less*.
The Honda computer knows that the vehicle didn’t move. Heck, a Patent is probably involved.
Given that the range drop is 40 miles more than traveled, can you trust the range that is displayed showing when parked? Maybe it is due to running the car’s heat, but a 40% difference is huge.
Reminds me of Mr. Monk’s Last Case
Far be it from me to accuse an EV maker of lying about range. They never do that.
New cars have gotten far too big and fat…this makes driving them far more stressful….
Full size pickup trucks…far worse….
On narrow winding roads they are too wide….in crowded cities with narrowed lanes….to add bike lanes….they are too big and wide….parking spaces are too small…visibilty….you can’t see out of them….to fix this all sorts of cameras and defective self driving crap were added…making it worse….
Self parking tech doesn’t work very well…could get you a parking ticket…not parked properly….
Bigger is more profitable…40% to 60% more profit in an SUV compared to a small little car….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1ZQYjfBgG4
In my experience whatever people touch or move is suspect #1 in cases of intermittent fail.
Ymmv.
The worst climates for electronics reliability in my experience is barely freezing 100% saturated wet air. Seattle. Grants Pass etc. Soaks, corrodes, never dries out. Corrodes more if it does. Though not as visible as “salt country” body corrosion, rust never sleeps in these climates.
Almost as bad is saltwater infused coastal fog like Santa Cruz. Directly affects exposed copper. I repaired lotsa green radios from Watsonville.
Treating all vehicle electronics with ACF 50 or similar inhibitor is beyond economic sense.
Rust never sleeps.
I always wondered why the famous C Crane radio company was located in Fortuna, CA, up in the Redwoods.
Seattle, and anywhere in western WA and OR. It’s wet from late September to around July 5th. Just enough “teaser” days in April and May but never on your weekend off. June a mess. So, at retirement headed over the mountains to central WA into a “semi arid steppe” climate as it’s called. Dry, ride the scooter from March to November.
An outdoor car that stays dry so no green goo growing around the weatherstripping and no fir tree needles clogging up the cowling air intake for the heat/ac. I hate trees.
A lot of EV battery horror stories I see originate in my former home state of Florida, specifically on the Peninsula south of Gainesville which is all technically swampland.
Ford has (or had?) a test facility in Fort Myers dating back to the Edison/Ford/Firestone camping trips to the Everglades. They know what the Gulf air will do to an F150 Lightning or Mustang EV battery and nitpick battery warranty claims to death accordingly.
‘I did run the heater and the heated seats because I’m not into being cold while driving.’ — eric
WASTREL! Bundling up and shivering during winter drives is part of the hair-shirt EeeVee experience.
Every EeeVee should be equipped with a socket you can stick your finger in to a receive a painful electric shock — your punishment for existing.
Eric, what do you think about this? https://www.citroen.co.uk/ami
Maybe (finally) a car where being electric makes sense ! (though I dread the day that someone inevitably one of these ends up in front of me in the fast lane, because it WILL happen in the UK!)
That’s a slow-charging penalty box of a quadricycle device, made in Morocco, and forced upon French Leyland by recently ousted CEO Cheapskate Carlos.
But to its credit, according to the page you linked to at least it doesn’t “emit emissions”…
Now you too can be cool like Urkel!
https://townsquare.media/site/937/files/2023/11/attachment-rare-urkel-car.jpg?w=980&q=75
Good Lord! it looks like a plastic kid’s toy; only super sized……
Even if a good quality extension cord would work on an EV, the chances of the cord not being stolen in an apartment complex are 0%. Those high quality cords are expensive.
Yup. Copper is the new precious metal. Real extension cord is at least $150. Liquid fuel works best. Hot rodded VP racing container. $60.
Heated incubator for snob trinket virtue signal. Priceless.
Erics visceral theory of “Volkswagenish software hinckey” on the Preludes charge indicator passes Occams razor check.
Electricity is the bomb!
Really good news to have some, after that, you want it all of the time.
Rub two sticks together, enough friction will start a fire.
Flint and steel, some lint, fire for you!
Frick, now we’re in outer space. Satellites do the job, it is the real world these days.
Holy Cow!
Frick’s smoked ham, buy one, they’re good.
Bye bye coffee !
OT 1: Check out how many high dollar Ford’s are on this lot. The guy who has this channel runs a used buy here/pay here lot but is really good at keeping his fingers on the pulse of the car economy. Think he’s out of North Carolina.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q04lE6yKL0A
OT 2: listening to Rob Schnider’s “You Can Do It!” on audible. Highly recommend to the EP audience.
Sure looks like Ford going to have a pickle on their hands with all those F series to sell.
He notes the absence of 4 door sedans (since we all know the only car left is the Mustang.)
If I interpret this correctly, in order for Ford to offset the CAFE standards of all those giant trucks, they’ll need to sell a TON of those dorky Mustang Mach EVs and the already recalled ( https://www.batterytechonline.com/ev-batteries/ford-recalls-hybrid-suvs-over-battery-defect ) hybrid Escapes.
At some point, you’d think that the auto market must meet an immovable wall.
However, the financial fvckery appears to know no end and there will always be more debt for the American consumer to pile on without consequence.
Driving by the Ford dealer in our neck of the woods, their lot is overflowing with Broncos. Looks like a few Mustangs and F series trucks, didn’t see any Mavericks, or Rangers.
Ford deserves whatever fail befalls them. As a ford guy most of my life, they pissed me off to the point of probably never buying one again. The only Ford I’d consider now is a 65 mustang, or mid eighties step side truck.
Ford sells a new Fusion/Mondeo sedan in China. If necessary, they could build those on the Maverick assembly line in Mexico.
With Frightening Jim being such a massive fan of utter Chinese crap on wheels, I wouldn’t put it past him and Ford to try to import the Fusion directly from China. Let’s not forget, Ford intended to sell a Chinese-built Focus in the US back in 2016, so the impulse to sell out is already there.
Regarding the battery pack not losing range in cold weather; could this be due to the battery pack being better insulated? When I’ve looked at these packs in the past I’ve not heard any thing mentioned about them being insulated.
Insulation only slows transfer of heat, doesn’t prevent it. So it’s possible Honda/GM does better insulate the battery but they will still have to add heat, just less of it. That could mean instead of losing 5% overnight it might lose 2.5%.
But insulation is dead space and weight. They allocated a certain volume for battery and that can’t change. If they make what was a thin sheet metal wall into insulation you then have less space for battery. It’s a balance. If you lose 2.5% of the volume with effective insulation you have effectively negated the energy savings.
This then comes back to bite you when it’s not cold with a smaller battery size. Plus it works against you in warm weather operation since holding the heat in during summer means you now have to use more cooling. Imagine if you fixed being cold in the winter wearing a puffy jacket that you could not remove in the summer.
These EV batteries must be kept cool, that’s not negotiable to prevent thermal runaway and the kaboom effect. This is really the bigger issue, particularly if they want to fast charge. Cold is mainly a convenience problem, heat is an actual saaaafety one.
Bingo – perfect analysis Roberto
Hows a dead phone feel in your hand after a sub freezing night left out in the car?
Whats it say soon as its plugged back into life support?
Multiply by 100 and enjoy your snob trinket.
There is no such thing as a good EV. Shame on Honda for even marketing this piece of crap.
Tesla going bankrupt, now that would have been good EV news. As would a decision by the Trump administration to impose a $100,000 fine for each produced EV that couldn’t meet extremely modest requirements such as a 300 mile range (no matter the temperature) and a five minute maximum charging time for 0-100 % battery capacity, which would effectively wipe out the market for badly designed EVs (which means all of them).
In this case, though, I suspect Honda is merely taking you for a ride, probably with a little help from Woke Mary at Government Motors, and with some inspiration from the world’s greatest grifter:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/07/27/tesla-exaggerated-its-cars-driving-range-and-canceled-service-appointments-if-drivers-complained-report-says/
Interesting, the article is dated July 2023 so the fact has been known for a year and a half, sorry “fraud” not “fact”.
Stufo, I agree “fraud” is more likely than a change in the physical principles such as thermodynamics.
Prolly so, Stufo!
Also – and you may not believe this because it’s just that stupid – the Prologue press car I have did not come with a charge cord, which I did not know when it was dropped off. I just assumed it had one and drove the thing. Well, when I got home the other day with about 110 miles of indicated range remaining and intending to plug it in to recover range I discovered it did not have a cord. That means I now have to risk a 19 degrees out run into Roanoke and hope the god-damned “fast” charger is working because if its not, there will maybe just barely be enough charge remaining to make it home and then Honda will have to flatbed the thing somewhere to charge. Now – get this – the car does not have a cord on purpose.It was not accidentally left out/someone forgot to put it back. It was sent to me to test/review without a charge cord.
You would think the charging company’s would design the chargers to report their status to the company website. How hard could it be to design the charger to notice the cables had been cut off?
Me thinks they didn’t want you to know how slowly it charges at home. Couple that with the following, and Honda might be more likely to get the headline “Some Good EV News . . . Maybe”: “But it also could be that the power loss from just sitting unplugged out in the cold was folded (by the computer that controls the system and the display) into the range lost while driving, so as to obscure the loss from just sitting.”
I can’t imagine anybody buying a Prologue. It’s just too inherently flawed.
Tesla will file. Right after RTX. . .
There is no free lunch. Physics and Ohms law still apply. There are no magic batteries.
Although the display may not indicate that you’ve lost range you have. It’s just in how the software reports the loss of energy.
The Battery will continue to discharge as it maintains its optimal state.
As you’ve noted “But when I got back, the range remaining indicator said I’d burned through about 100 miles. This disparity was more than usual ”
Well there’s your lost storage range. It’s being averaged into the range estimation as you drive.
Sort of the equivalent of analog fuel gauges that have a calibration and lots of damping that hold the gauge at a full for an extended time. Makes the driver feel like they are getting better MPG. But again there is no free lunch, the fuel was burned. Later on the gauge just drops a smidge faster around mid ie low scale. The MPG never changes but the customer perception does based on how the fuel gauge operates.
Sounds to me like the range estimation software has just been re-jiggered to make you feel like you didn’t lose range when it was sitting out in the cold overnight.
I agree with your comment. First thing I thought was the software is just saying the car didn’t lose range overnight in the cold, but in reality it did lose range and you will find out how much when you drive it.
Speaking of cold weather my 2023 Mazda3 gets cranky in the cold and snow. Sensors DO NOT like snow/ice/cold. Door sensors on the handles will not lock/unlock when the temps get below 32 degrees. I had to use warm water on the back door handles as the plastic handle was caked in a thin glaze of sleet and would not open.
The stupid automatic ebrake got stuck and would not disengage in reverse. I now have to manually turn off the ebrake everytime I park the car, for the rest of the winter. I don’t want to use the ebrake but nanny Mazda says I WILL USE IT. Every single time, unless I turn it off manually when I stop and park the car.
Don’t get me started on the “hidden” wipers. Stuck below the hood, deep in a crevice that accumulates ice/sleet/snow. Plus you can’t lift the wipers unless you enter maintenance mode which is a three step process. I am not an engineer, but even I know the wiper design is a total failure for cold climates.
I can’t imagine driving an EV in any climate that has cold/snow/ice. Ugh.
I can’t imagine driving an EV in any climate that has cold/snow/ice. Ugh.
In the EV dystopia of freezing cold Norway, people are forced to do just that, with more than 90 % of new cars sold being EVs – simply because that’s all that’s available in the new car market.
Norway is the Saudi Arabia of geothermal energy. So lots of near free electricity.
Geothermal, that sounds more like Iceland than Norway, which gets most of its (relatively expensive) electricity from hydropower.
Yes. Hydro, not geothermal. I stand corrected.
And their prices have gone through the roof because it’s all tied into the rest of Europe, they ain’t happy in Norge just now.
In very cold climates…never use the emergency brake when parked…it will freeze on….now what do you do….
Hi BID,
That’s what I figured!
Hey, on another note, maybe you or someone else here can help me diagnose an electric issue. We lost power so I fired up the generator, which feeds directly into a generator panel that has a single switch I throw manually to disconnect the house from grid power and send gennie power to critical house circuits such as the well pump and my office, where my computer and wiFi box are. I have never had an issue until yesterday evening. The generator runs normally and I threw the gen. panel switch per usual to On but only one of the generator panel circuits inside the house got power. Then – after a couple of hours – my office power came on. This morning, it is fluctuating – not entirely off but intermittently partially off. I have three lights in the office and every five minutes or so, two will flicker and go out (along with the power to the computer; I’m having to work on the laptop which has battery back-up) then everything comes back on. Well, except the well pump. No water. So no coffee – which is killing me right now! Anyhow, I am trying to mentally sort through what might be wrong and am thinking it’s more likely my generator (5kw constant) is failing and so erratic power delivery… rather than an issue with the house wiring/generator panel as it seems improbable multiple breakers fail and then “work” again… any thoughts from anyone where would be appreciated!
First thought is to ensure the transfer switch is fully engaged i.e. the contacts are contacting. If you have regular power back double check all the breakers in your main panel.
That said, I’m neither an EE nor an electrician so defer to the smart folks of the EP community.
Hi Eric.
As it sounds like you are using a 120/ 240 volt portable generator can you check the twist lock connector to see if you are getting the correct voltage? If not is there a switch controlling the twist lock connector? If the generator is now putting out 240 volts and everything works; great.
If you have the correct voltage at the generator outlet, the next step would be to check downstream connections until you see a loss of power.
Remember to use common sense around live voltage and verify your test equipment is functional.
Sounds like you have a bad connection on one phase giving a brown out/black out condition. As suggested, check your twist lock, also check the contacts in your transfer switch for condition. If the system has been working prior, and you leave it plugged in, I would suspect the transfer switch as being the moving part which gets spark erosion, wear, and heat degradation.
In my experience this is not a likely failure mode of the generator itself, and that could be tested by putting a modest load across the 240V outputs.
The fact that your well isn’t working tends to support this, the well is a somewhat heavier inductive load and will require good stiff power (lots of available current) to work. Be aware if it goes on for any length of time the well pump and other items on your system may be damaged.
Hi Ernie,
Thanks for the counsel! Some more info: When I first fired up the gennie – which plugs via a single heavy gauge cable into an outlet on the side of the house that feeds the “generator” panel in the basement – and moved the switch on the panel from “utility” to “generator” – at first the only circuits inside the house that got powered up were two of the several that are supposed to all turn on when the “generator” switch is engaged. After about 30 minutes, the power came on in my office – weird! – and it is still on, but it glitches intermittently; two of the three lights in my office go out briefly and then come back on. They all flicker a little every now and then. My well pump – one of the circuits that’s supposed to be on when the “generator” main panel switch is engaged – has never come on. NO water. The generator itself seems to be running normally. I did reset the breakers on the generator, too.
So – based on this – do you think the likely culprit is the main breaker on the “generator” panel?
Hi Eric,
Be careful, wear sneakers, and keep one hand in tour pocket, or not touching anything but yourself when working inside a breaker box, rubber tipped mechanics gloves are also good. I have seen a bad neutral white wire connection on the back of a wall plug take out all of the downstream outlets as they were on the same breaker. All the advise to begin testing at the source is good. Start at your breaker panel where the two hots come in from the generator. Most likely you are dealing with a loose or broken wire.
your pocket
Thanks, Peter – and everyone!
I am ging to try to deal with this later today, maybe. But I’m a fried possum right now and need a nap by the fire!
I’m not an expert on this by any means, but I would try to figure out what your total power draw is, if you haven’t already, both average and peak. Our 6.5 kW rollable (which they laughably call portable) unit would strain intermittently, but then we have two fridges and a freezer and this was in August. We don’t have a pump, but I’m guessing that would draw a lot more than those, particularly in the cold. I would try turning off the breaker to it and to any other lower priority circuits and see how it runs then. Then try running the pump circuit by itself, because I know not having water sucks.
We recently replaced it with a whole house generator that has an automatic transfer switch. I think it is 22 or 24 kW. The sales rep did caution us not to run high Amp-drawing appliances, like the washer, water heater and dryer, if we had both A/C units running.
Break out your Volt Ohm Meter, check voltage phase to phase and phase to neutral at every point. You have a bad transfer switch, breaker, or wire. I expect you have a burnt high resistance connection, and the easiest way to spot that is by voltage drop. I suspect the transfer switch contactor as it’s a moving part but a loose connection will also heat up and burn over time.
It goes without saying, be careful, electricity kills.
Agree
Is it possible your pump house froze without power? Don’t know how cold it is there. If the heat lamp/light bulb goes off for four or five hours in the well house it could cause your pressure switch to freeze, ergo no water.
Check each leg of the 240v coming into the transfer switch to verify each one is a steady 120v, if not it could be a bad connection at the generator. Otherwise as previous posters noted it’s probably bad contacts on the transfer switch – emery cloth is good for cleaning those, just be sure you shut off or disconnect the generator first 😊.
Roger Mike – thanks!
I’m going to try to triage this later today but for now we’re headed out to try to find some water. I can’t conveniently shut off the gennie because then we’d have no power at all. At least I can still use the laptop!
Eric, everyone’s advice above is solid. You must have a multi-meter first. Start at the gen plug at the house, open the box (be careful) and check for 120v on each leg. If good keep going down the line. If not, it’s the plugs, wire or gen.
Someone mentioned a ground wire check, which is likely as well if you are seeing some things on and not others. although LED lights will only turn on with a min. voltage, not like the old days of incandescent.
If you have an electrician friend is the best.
Best of luck. Let us know what you find.
Corroded breaker contact. Loose connection on breaker.
You can fix easily
Check your brushes on your generator. They might be getting worn down
I replaced one on my cheapo generator a few years ago. I was only getting 120 volts to my panel. One of the two brushes was worn and broken.
I was going to say something like this, I bet its just the way it was programed, or the battery has longer range in reality than advertised to make you feel better. Its the unadvertised range being burned up.
Funny how electrics would get away with that but when VW does it for their diesel engines its the end of the world