Will an EV leave you [when] cold?
How much does cold weather affect an EV’s driving range?
Cold weather isn’t kind to EVs — that’s the perception, but what’s the reality? One of the biggest concerns of driving an EV is range, given both the charging infrastructure and recharging time, and in the three seasons that NZ weather is fairly kind to us, those are the main, common concerns.
But with winter on the way, the concern relating to range only grows as battery powered appliances, from phones to power drills to vehicles consume considerably more energy in cold conditions than they do in warmer weather.
Germany’s ADAC, Europe’s largest motoring association, conducted a study showing how much more energy some EVs consume during the colder months.
It found that the Volkswagen ID.3 consumed the most energy of those it tested, using a considerable 99 per cent more energy on a 23km trip at -7C than it did at 14C.
Granted, few parts of NZ get that cold, but with snowfields and wind chill, it certainly gets close. And, of course, the ID.3 isn’t an official part of the Volkswagen New Zealand official line-up, as yet, the ID.4 and ID.5 pairing currently VW’s electric offerings.
Other vehicles tested, such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Kona Electric, and Lexus UX300e, consumed between 46 and 59 per cent more in colder temperatures.
The Fiat 500e and Renault Zoe were the most efficient in cold weather, consuming just 34 to 44 per cent more energy on the short test trip.
The ID.3 proves less efficient on a short trip as it uses a heat pump to bring the battery up to its ideal operating temperature, between 20C and 40C. The system actually consumes a hefty amount of energy at the beginning of a journey, but once the battery is at its ideal temperature it consumes much less energy and improves efficiency. The plan is for VW to introduce a software update that improves this efficiency.
And at just 23km for the test route, the ID.3 used its energy to warm the battery, but wasn’t able to take full advantage of the increased range offered by the cosier cells.
But even on longer trips, of
100km at varying speeds, the battery performance was still affected by cold weather. It consumed 30 per cent more power at 0C than at 20C. Both the Renault Zoe and Peugeot e-208 consumed just 21 per cent more power on the long-distance cold weather trip.
The Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF) regularly conducts winter and summer range tests on EVs to find out how they perform.
In its most recent winter test, 29 cars drove on a mixture of urban and rural roads in temperatures that fluctuated between 0 to -20C. The cars start with a fully charged battery and are driven until they run out of power.
Results showed that the range loss varied between 10 to 30 per cent. The best performing EV was the Chinese Maxus Euniq 6 medium SUV (not on sale in NZ), which lost just 10.5 per cent of its (WLTP) range, while the Tesla Model S travelled 530km, the furthest of any EV before running out of range, a distance that was 16.4 per cent less than the car’s stated WLTP range of 634km.
Electric vehicles work harder in cold weather, which means reduced driving range than in summer. But there are ways you can improve this.
Parking your vehicle indoors away from extremely cold temperatures can help, as can preheating the battery while it’s plugged in.
When you’re in the car, using seat and steering wheel heating rather than aircon can also help to preserve energy, as those systems deliver heat more efficiently.
ADAC did find that EVs can help protect you from the elements if you’re in a snowstorm or traffic jam in cold conditions, though. It found that the Renault Zoe’s 52kWh battery was able to keep the cabin at a comfortable temperature for 17 hours.
With 20,000+ EVs on Kiwi roads, as winter looms and the continuing expansion of the public charger network continues, there are more EV users looking to head for the snow — so just be mindful of their reduced effectiveness in the cold. Or, ironically, take the ICE car.