GlacierShade & BatteryBelle
I’ve been looking at how the low temperatures on glaciers affect battery life. It’s surprising how much the cold can shrink a battery’s capacity. Have you seen any data on this?
Battery performance drops pretty quickly when you hit glacier‑level temps. For most lithium‑ion packs, you see a 10‑20 % loss in capacity between 0 °C and –20 °C, and up to a 40 % drop if you go below –30 °C. The internal resistance goes up, so the same pack can’t deliver the same current. If you’re designing for those extremes, you’ll need an active thermal management system or a battery chemistry that tolerates the cold, like Li‑FeS or Li‑S. Also, did you know that some myths say batteries “freeze” in the snow? That’s only true if the voltage falls below the cell’s safe threshold—then the chemistry just stalls, it doesn’t literally freeze.
Thanks for the details. I’ll chart the resistance increase and see how the battery chemistry holds up over that range. It’s good to know the “freeze” myth is just a voltage issue, not the chemistry itself. That will help with the thermal management plan.
Sounds like a solid plan. When you plot resistance versus temperature, you’ll see that most chemistries start to climb steeply after –10 °C, but the Li‑FeS ones stay a bit flatter until –30 °C. Just remember to keep the cells above the 2.5‑volt minimum; that’s what stops the “freeze” in practice. Good luck with the chart—keep it neat and you’ll spot the sweet spots fast.
Sounds good, I’ll keep it tidy and watch for that 2.5‑volt threshold. Thanks for the heads up.
You got it—just keep an eye on that 2.5‑volt mark and the chart will do the rest. Good luck!
Got it, I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks!
No problem—happy to help!