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Autoweek (and other car news outlets) summarize some independent testing: https://autoweek.com/article/green-cars/how-much-does-cold-weather-cut-electric-vehicle-range-quite-bit-aaa-study-finds
AAA partnered with the Automotive Club of Southern California's Automotive Research Center for its tests, which allowed it to run drive-simulating dynamometer tests in 20-, 75- and 95-degree Fahrenheit temperatures in a controlled laboratory setting. This is way more scientific than anything we'd be able to achieve toodling around in an EV in Detroit the next time a polar vortex hits.
A handful of key points pulled from the report:
- The increased use of HVAC systems in extreme temperatures has a bigger impact on EV range than decreases in battery pack efficiency caused by the temperatures themselves.
- Moreover, while both extremely hot and extremely cold temperatures affect range, you'll incur a significantly larger penalty when heating up a cabin than you will cooling one down. Compare that 41 percent decrease at 20 F to a mere 17 percent decrease at 95 F.
- The BMW i3s saw the biggest reductions in range in both hot and cold conditions, losing 50 and 21 percent of range in cold and hot conditions, respectively.
- The Nissan Leaf was the most versatile, losing 31 and 11 percent of range in cold and hot conditions, respectively.
The other test cars, Tesla S, eGolf and Chevy Bolt fell between these extremes. The article includes a link (pdf) to the original report with many more details. Worth reading if you live outside southern CA and are considering an electric car.
This AC is considering an electric car, and I'm fortunate enough to have an attached garage to keep it warm-ish, probably above freezing, even if the outside temp gets down to 0F (-18C) which is a typical low for my location. That means that any trip will start with a cool (not cold) battery & cabin...but after parking outdoors at my destination(s), I'll have a reduced range for the trip home.
(Score: 2, Informative) by jlv on Thursday May 16 2019, @06:21PM (1 child)
Background: I had a LEAF for 5 years and 34K miles. I currently drive an S (34K miles in 2 years) and my wife drives an X (just 6 months old). We are 100% BEV. No ICE cars for us. We live in New England and the winter temps regularly get to 10°F-20°F range. Maybe one or two 0°F a year.
Seat heaters and steering wheel heaters are a must. That allows you to avoid wasting power heating the cabin air. This works reasonably well until it's near freezing, when I personally want more warmth.
What also matters is the type of heater in the car. My LEAF (2013 SL) had a hybrid heat-pump/resistive heater. It is much more efficient at temps > about 15°F. Both our Tesla's only have resistive heaters. That makes them consume more power.
In the LEAF, winter driving range took a huge hit because of the small battery. 75 miles range in the summer, 50 miles range when using heat continuously. It really doesn't matter too much if you set the heat up high or low; the power consumption is steep just using the heater, and raising the setpoint from 66°F to 72°F only increases the power from about 1600W to 2000W.
In the Tesla, generally I don't care about the range hit. In average daily driving I have more than enough range and I'll just charge it up when I get home. I never think about it.
However, one trip where it mattered was a drive to Buffalo, NY, for Christmas where there was an ice storm covering upstate NY. Normally this trip requires us to make 2 SuperCharging stops of 20 minutes each. There were 4 of us in the S and we were running the heat continuously. That alone wouldn't have affected our trip for more than 5 minutes of extra SuperCharging. However, the snow/ice caused our driving efficiency to drop by 20%. All combined, it meant we needed an extra SuperCharging stop of 20 minutes in the middle of the trip.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @08:08PM
Let me guess, when you got to Buffalo, you stopped at the Supercharger at Clarence Mall, next to Eastern Hills Mall? Barnes & Noble store nearby and about a half mile from this AC's house. Don't think I've ever seen more than three Teslas charging at once at that location.