Huge real life test shows EV range loss at -15°C

28 January 2023
The test includes more than 40 models, including contenders from Tesla and Mercedes.

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ASL, 02 Feb 2023ICE needs synthetic clean fuel and all your EVs will go for metal recycling. That's a nice bed story, I will add it to my collection of solar-powered vehicles and solid state batteries.

ICE needs synthetic clean fuel and all your EVs will go for metal recycling.

jrharbort, 31 Jan 2023ICE vehicles also take a range hit in freezing temperatures, it's simple physics. Not as ... moreOr do they? My Prius 2021 do 3l/100km in summer AC on (very bad for consumption) but hey we talk real life here, not paper ranges.

same road and speed, minus 10, 4l/100km heater on (comes from engine but hey one has engine on uses it's heat win win).

50-60% lose ? nope :) at least toyota hybrids are extremely effective and efficient no matter weather

does the BYD Han AWD has the blade battery made exclusively by BYD? which battery is no ordinary one - it's not flamable.
I know the smaller BYD has it, Han as well too?

  • Anonymous

I've considered buying an EV, but as my only vehicle, cold weather range matters to me. I live in the upper Midwest US and our temperatures can go below -20c. My current hybrid works just fine and it's range isn't reduced. We're probably a decade from commercial solid state battery solutions which should help quite a bit. I can afford an EV, but still feel it's too early...plus in the US, you can't beat the supercharger network. I've read and heard of horror stories at other public chargers but the supercharger network is solid.

Sinnaoi, 01 Feb 2023Totally agree! It should be clearly stated, on which testing cycle the advertised range ks bas... moreThat won't really help with the topic, a nice graph showing correlation between temperature and range would be nice through. On the other hand, I would most likely affect battery life as manufacturers would start to prioritize range over battery life (warranty).

maximus, 29 Jan 2023Title shood be: Poor journalism, drives away potential EV drivers. Adertised range should spec... moreTotally agree! It should be clearly stated, on which testing cycle the advertised range ks based.
If it is the overestimating CTLC (since the test was run in China) then the results are not at all that bad! If it is EPA then the results merit consideration

  • Anonymous

jrharbort, 31 Jan 2023ICE vehicles also take a range hit in freezing temperatures, it's simple physics. Not as ... moreDifference is negligible and mostly comes from winter tires anyway (which you'd also have to use on EV). My car is 5.5L/100km in summer, 5.7L/100km in winter. I live in north Europe where we have real winters.

jrharbort, 31 Jan 2023ICE vehicles also take a range hit in freezing temperatures, it's simple physics. Not as ... moreTBH, the effect on ICE / hybrids is fairly minimal, compared to EV - for ICE you can add up 1–2 litres of fuel consumption extra due to heating and tires + you can still fill the tank same speed during winter or summer.

EV rely on recuperation a lot, and that does not work particularly well in winter.
EV motor is an incredibly efficient one (even one made by VW), so every inefficiency in the power train adds up big time - tires - slash at least 10% or range, no recuperation -20% or range, heating -10% range etc...

Anonymous, 30 Jan 2023It's not poor journalism, it's important information that buyers should be aware of ... moreICE vehicles also take a range hit in freezing temperatures, it's simple physics. Not as bad as it is on EVs, but still significant. I expect the difference to be nullified once we can finally move to solid state technologies to increase battery capacities.

Now nobody will buy EV car and EU pushes that law for nothing.
So in 2035 people will be forced to have EV cars with average range of 600 but actual range of 250 in cold months.

  • Anonymous

maximus, 29 Jan 2023Title shood be: Poor journalism, drives away potential EV drivers. Adertised range should spec... moreIt's not poor journalism, it's important information that buyers should be aware of before spending loads of money on a car. My wife has been looking at EVs and didn't even know that there was range loss in winter before i told her

  • Matt

Ok so that's a good study for the average temperature of canada. I want to see the -20 to -30 range. And also how they perform in -40 and below.

  • Anonymous

EV propaganda makes me sick in my stomach. EU is pushing for everyone to buy them. But in 10-20 years they will change tune and say EV manufacturing is destroying the planet and will start banning them. Imagine what kind of diesel cards we would have now if companies still spent as much on diesel R&D. We would probably be driving 1L/100km hybrid diesels and you would laugh in winter as ICE efficiency in cold temperatures stays almost unaffected.

  • Anonymous

maximus, 29 Jan 2023Title shood be: Poor journalism, drives away potential EV drivers. Adertised range should spec... moreI totally doubt it. A friend of mine used to own an EV until he goes back to modern ICE cars. Needless to say, he doesn't miss his EV ownership at all. If anything, he's considering a hybrid in the list.

  • maximus

Title shood be: Poor journalism, drives away potential EV drivers. Adertised range should specify clearly the driving cycle, in order to compare the degradation.

CLTC estimates 20% more range than WLTP, which estimates 10% more than EPA. Now the % degradation vs EPA estimate in winter is much lower. CLTC cannot even be achieved in Spring.

Anonymous, 29 Jan 2023That's why ice engines are good just need cleaner feul You mean hybrids :-D

  • Anonymous

That's why ice engines are good just need cleaner feul

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