Extreme cold effect on EV cars outside

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miatadan

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Has EV's in general improved for amount of range when car left outside in extreme cold ( -30C /-22F ) as I live in apartment building with no level 2 charging.

I have read some EVs lose more than half of the range.

Are some EV brands dome more winter testing than others?

Dan
 
The amount of range you lose due to cold weather will depend on the cells used in the vehicle, they won't all be affected the same. The physical and chemical process which occur inside an electrochemical cell all follow an Arrhenius relationship (with the exception of solid state diffusivity) so all batteries will have exponentially higher resistance, and therefore lower efficiency, at lower temperatures. That being said, some do handle it better than others but there hasn't been a general increase in low temp performance recently and if anything its gotten worse with higher energy density batteries.

If you're looking for a vehicle that can handle -30°C well, I'd recommend a PHEV with an oil pan heater. That, or get the biggest battery you can and don't expect to drive very far.
 
I posted about my winter driving at -21 ºF in my Mini Cooper SE (with heat pump) as part of a whole thread on various cold-weather conditions. Bottom line is I only lost about 20% range from the batteries (made by CATL, which are more tolerant of cold weather).

Much of the range lost is actually due to cabin heating, and if you get an EV with a heat pump it actually reduces the drain on the battery quite a bit, until temperatures get below 20 ºF. I also learned that cold-soaking the batteries (parking outside overnight unplugged) causes a reduction in max power until batteries warm up, and it can take longer to charge when they're super cold. But even with the reduction in max power I didn't feel any difference in driving. Of course this is all for my specific make and model.
 
Puppethead said:
I posted about my winter driving at -21 ºF in my Mini Cooper SE (with heat pump) as part of a whole thread on various cold-weather conditions. Bottom line is I only lost about 20% range from the batteries (made by CATL, which are more tolerant of cold weather).

Much of the range lost is actually due to cabin heating, and if you get an EV with a heat pump it actually reduces the drain on the battery quite a bit, until temperatures get below 20 ºF. I also learned that cold-soaking the batteries (parking outside overnight unplugged) causes a reduction in max power until batteries warm up, and it can take longer to charge when they're super cold. But even with the reduction in max power I didn't feel any difference in driving. Of course this is all for my specific make and model.
Click to expand...

I read your article, seems I will need to look into the Mini Cooper SE as well as it handles cold well. Is there a adaptor to charge the Mini at an Tesla Supercharger?

Dan
 
I think 50% is the extreme outlier. 30-40% is more the norm from my readings.


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Since the 2021 Tesla Model 3 now has heat pump, winter driving should be better for heating vehicle , I am thinking. Destination and documentation costs are about half of other choices.

5.6s for 0-60mph better than other vehicles listed
 
miatadan said:
I read your article, seems I will need to look into the Mini Cooper SE as well as it handles cold well. Is there a adaptor to charge the Mini at an Tesla Supercharger?
Click to expand...

There are no adapters available for use at Tesla Superchargers for non Tesla vehicles. You can get adapters for Tesla destination chargers (level 2 EVSE "chargers") Tesla to J1772
 
There is Tesla superchargers in my city which is 20 minute drive fro my home. That is a factor as well as will not have access to charging at home.

Dan
 
miatadan said:
Since the 2021 Tesla Model 3 now has heat pump, winter driving should be better for heating vehicle , I am thinking. Destination and documentation costs are about half of other choices.

5.6s for 0-60mph better than other vehicles listed
Click to expand...

They've also just added a heated steering wheel, finally, to the Model 3 LR and Y.
And Tesla charging speed is fast.
 
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My 2018 Leaf S is an outdoor car. I've deliberately left it unplugged some cold nights (around minus 16C) just to see how it would behave next morning. No problems. Just get in and go. Yes there is substantial range loss at these temps but the cold battery accounts for maybe only 1/3 of that. The rest is due to the cold air being heavier and the winter tires having a higher rolling resistance. I have used a DC fast charger to bring the battery up to 7 bars from 3 and the increase in range related to the SOC was not that large. The biggest range killer is when resistive heating becomes neccessary.

Early in the game I came close to getting stranded a couple times when a routine run required more battery than I expected and the top up charger on route was broken. I always made it back home but with zero or close to SOC, flashing warning lights and the car verbally warning me the process was a little unsettling. There are many more chargers out there now and knowing the car's capabilities at low temps makes planning more secure.
 
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