How winter affects the range of electric vehicles

Electric cars, the least adapted for operation in the cold season, have been identified

The Recurrent resource conducted a study of the effect of the cold season on the range of electric cars. To do this, seven thousand owners of electric vehicles were interviewed and a rating of the models least adapted for operation in winter was compiled. It turned out that some of them have a cruising range in winter by almost a third less than automakers claim. Among those, for example, were the Chevrolet Bolt, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Volkswagen ID.4.

Chevrolet Bolt copes with the winter worst of all: when the temperature overboard drops below 0 degrees Celsius, a full battery charge lasts only 257 kilometers against the declared 370 kilometers. In other words, in sub-zero temperatures, the Bolt’s range is reduced by 32 percent.

The result of another Chevrolet battery model, the Mustang Mach-e crossover, turned out to be a little better. When it’s +20 degrees Celsius outside, it travels 418 kilometers per hour without recharging, but once the temperature drops below zero, the range is reduced to 283 kilometers, that is, by 30 percent. The same thing happens with the Volkswagen ID.4, which can travel only 283 kilometers in winter instead of the claimed 410.

It is worth noting that this problem is not typical for all “green” cars. Thus, the power reserve of the Jaguar I-Pace is reduced by only three percent in winter, and the Audi e-tron by eight percent. Tesla is showing a 15-19 percent reduction in range, a BMW i3 by 24 percent, a Hyundai Kona by 19 percent, a Nissan Leaf by 21 percent, and a Volkswagen e-Golf by 23 percent.

Previously, experts from the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago conducted a study and found that, in terms of the total carbon footprint, electric cars cause much more harm to the environment than cars with a traditional internal combustion engine. However, over time, during operation, this is compensated by the absence of harmful emissions, so in this regard, battery cars are really more environmentally friendly.

winter range for popular EV models