eTorque in cold weather

[zfz380122903]

I plan to order my first 2020 Ram rebel. But I'm not sure if eTorque can cause issues in cold weather. I do not live in a cold area but I plan to drive my Ram to alaska(Arctic circle) in winter. After searching many topics, I think I should not get the air suspension. But for eTorque, I'm not quite sure, especially now it's only adding 200 dollars.
Anyone have suggestions? More specifically, when eTorque doesn't functional(battery dead or transmission issue), will I still be able to drive the truck?
Thanks in advance.

 

[TimG]

Cold weather isn't going to cause any issues for the eTorque at all. Honestly, I've found that the entire eTorque system operates seamlessly regardless of environment. Air suspension, however, is extremely affected by temperature. Besides the whole Boyles Law thing, you have to take into consideration that airbags get brittle when they freeze. If you are truly going into the Arctic, I wouldn't want to be worrying the entire trip when my suspension was going to fail. I used to live in north eastern Montana where it easily got to -40F in the winter (before wind chill) and the dealers wouldn't even order or sell air ride equipped rigs. They all fail in that extreme climate.

 

[Zinger]

Two thoughts:

1. I BELIEVE, but have not personally confirmed, that power can be drawn from the eTorque battery to keep the conventional 12v battery from going flat when not in use. If true, this COULD be a plus.

HOWEVER,

2. Lithium batteries lose charge very quickly in cold temperatures, potentially negating any advantage of #1 above, and potentially adding a disadvantage that on cold startup, the engine aggressively runs the generator to charge the eTorque battery and negating any Mpg savings since the eTorque can't do what it's designed to do.

I didn't design the system, and since Ram has chosen to completely exclude any sort of eTorque system status makes it impossible to quantify any of the above.

I have eTorque, and at the revised 2020 price I think it proves some definite advantages. But in a severely cold climate the little I know about lithium battery tech makes me think it may not be an advantage.

 

[768mph]

I have the E torque and Air suspension. I live in mid Missouri where this past winter it stayed outside. We had about a month straight of 0° and -20° days. Truck didn’t skip a beat and the air suspension never had an issue. Our winter was regularly below 30° from about November to March. Not an issue from either.

Now that i sold the 3rd vehicle, it’ll be in the garage this winter.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nails]

Batteries of any kind hate hot over cold. The hybrid battery will feed the 12v battery if need be. You will be fine up there with etorque.