One of the top concerns about switching over from an ICE car to an EV is how the winter affects battery range. We want to share with you exactly how colder temperature affects electric vehicles and their battery range.
What Impact Does Cold Weather Have On EV Range?
Cold weather does temporarily reduce electric vehicle battery range. Some of this is due to science and the fact that cold weather slows down chemical reactions. But most of it is a result of climate controls in electric vehicles. AAA tested the range of electric vehicles and how it was affected by 20-degree weather. During this test, AAA found that the temperature along could reduce range by 10-12%, but using in-vehicle climate controls could drastically reduce range loss by about 40%. Check out this chart below that shares the impact of cold weather on electric vehicle range.
Keep in mind that an average commute is about 30 miles round trip and some employers actually have charging stations available in parking lots. As you can see in the chart above, yes some range is lost; but not to the point where you could be stuck and cannot go where you needed to be.
Tesla Is The Outlier
In this case, Tesla does perform really well under different types of temperatures; whether it is hot or cold outside. They use a thermal management system to keep the battery within a healthy operational temperature range; by warming it in the winter and cooling it in the summer. Tesla calculates its range by using a fixed efficiency value, rather than using a value based on external factors such as the temperature outside. Thus Tesla range estimates look the same at any temperature, although drivers know they can change quite a bit.
How Do Colder Temperatures Affect Lithium Ion Batteries?
Colder weather slows the chemical and physical reactions that make batteries work. Think about how atoms move, the higher the temperature the faster atoms will move. The lower the temperature the slower atoms move.
- Longer time to charge
- Temporary reduction in electric vehicle range, this is due to the heating system. Since the energy for cooling and heating your electric vehicle comes from the same battery that powers the vehicle, the use of climate control can pull the charge away from the main battery.
Although cold-related range effects are only temporary, your battery should be above freezing before charging. Most electric vehicles have a temperature regulation in their battery management system, this will prevent high voltage or fast charging if the battery is too cold.
We hope that this information was helpful to you! As this is a concern for many new electric vehicle drivers or those looking to switch over to an electric vehicle. But as you can see that a range reduction is only small and temporary. We welcome you to shop our large inventory of high-quality used electric vehicles by shopping at the Electric Car Corner.