Tested: How Cold Weather Affects EV Range

[ccap41]

"Range anxiety is real. Take it from someone who has been stranded with his wife in an electric vehicle not once but twice: You’ll want to watch the distance-to-empty gauge of an EV with a close eye. This is even more critical when the temperature drops below freezing, which is exactly why we ran a 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV on our 75-mph highway fuel-economy loop in icy February to gauge how low temperatures affect electric range.

...

With the thermometer’s needle pointing at 36 degrees Fahrenheit, we headed out with the cruise control set at a steady 75 mph. We averaged 83 MPGe. Compared with the 102 MPGe we recorded in a 2017 Bolt in 56-degree weather (nearly ideal conditions), that’s a 19 percent drop in fuel economy. Calculating the EV range based on battery capacity means a Bolt will travel 140 miles in the cold versus the 180 miles we recorded in the autumn. But the fuel economy and EV range in our test cars come with a couple of caveats.

...

According to Jim Khoury, General Motors’ senior manager of global battery engineering, the Bolt’s onboard thermal management doesn’t come into play until the battery’s temperature (not the ambient temperature) drops below 37 degrees Fahrenheit or spikes above 95 degrees. It takes a while for the pack’s heater, which is integrated in the battery’s liquid-cooling circuit, to raise the battery’s core temperature. In the case of cold-weather operation, the 1.8-kW heater kicks in (which is a significant portion of the power draw on a car cruising at highway speeds), pulling energy from the battery and reducing range. Khoury also points out that all the other accessories used in winter, including seat heaters, cabin heaters, and even headlights (there is less sunlight so they’re used more), increase the demands on the battery in winter months. None of these accessories were used during our cold-weather test, however (we usually set the interior climate control to 72 degrees for our highway fuel-economy tests but wanted to maximize range).

Khoury also informed us that the battery heater is one reason why there sometimes is a nonlinear relationship between the distance-to-empty gauge dropping and the odometer climbing. It takes time for the heater to warm up the battery (much like an engine heating up, only it takes longer), which causes a precipitous drop in range early in the trip. We started our winter highway test with an indicated 170 miles of range. When we turned around 66 miles later, the indicated range was 85 miles. Yet when we returned, after traveling the same 66 miles, the remaining range was 35 miles—not the 19 miles we expected. And this is despite the ambient temperature dropping from 36 degrees to 27 degrees over that period of time.

..."

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/tested-how-cold-weather-affects-ev-range-feature

 

[Robert Hall]

Hot weather also can have an impact, don't know about the Bolt, but I remember reading how the 1st gen Leaf suffered in the fecal Arizona summers, with range dropping sharply during weeks of 110+ degree horror...

Edited May 26, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[ocnblu]

Thanks ccap.  Shame none of the electric rah-rah boys in here care to come in and defend the indefensible.  This is real sh!t and reality is not part of their narrative, it seems.

[Scout]

I've noticed about a 1/3 drop in range during could weather. Keep in mind it doesn't get that cold where I live. 

[David]

7 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Thanks ccap.  Shame none of the electric rah-rah boys in here care to come in and defend the indefensible.  This is real sh!t and reality is not part of their narrative, it seems.

Yes and you and @ccap41 also ignored the ending of the story and the points made near the beginning that many factors can and do affect battery range. 

If you are plugged in and the story does say that if you have a 220V home charger you DO NOT loose range as the plugged in charger also runs the battery heater to optimize the batter so that the cold does not reduce the range, yet the longer amount of time out side in cold or hot weather will still affect the battery range.

ICE auto's are also affected by Heat or Cold. Especially cold where you get reduced MPG or in hot conditions also again you get some reduction in range due to the use of AC systems.

The story also states that as each new generation, the batteries are getting more and more efficient and cold and heat are reduced in how it affects the battery.

The story also clearly points out that they used two different Bolts, 2017 and 2018 one optimized for cold and the other for heat.

Since the story was 2/3rds printed above by CCAP41, lets put in the last bit here:

The battery heater also is active when the car is plugged in to the charger. If the battery temp is too cold, the battery heater will turn on and run at one-quarter power when charging. This, obviously, contributes to more electricity consumed per charging cycle. To avoid this additional penalty, we parked the Bolt in a heated garage while it charged after the highway run. If the battery gets colder than -13 degrees Fahrenheit, the heater operates at full power to protect the battery. This means if you are charging with a standard 120-volt outlet, all of the available power is going to heating the battery and not to replenishing its cells. That’s all the more reason to have a Level 2 charging stationif you live in a cold climate.

With every new generation, EVs become more efficient, go farther between charges, and replenish their charge more quickly. Pretty soon the reduced winter range of an EV will be even less of a factor. Until then, keep an eye on the range gauge in cold weather so that your battery’s seasonal affective disorder doesn’t magnify your range anxiety—or the anger of your passengers. My wife will confirm that’s a good plan.

EVs are already looking at moving to Solid State that does not have the diminished effects of cold or hot weather on them.

We are already also moving into battery designs that are 4x as dense giving much more power to an auto to offset the use of heaters, AC, stereo's, etc.

EV's today are where auto's were in the early 1900's and they have had 110+ years to improve and get efficient, we have already moved EV's far faster in the last 5 years than ICE auto's did in the first 20 years.

At this rate, EV auto's and Hybrids will surpass what ICE auto's alone will have accomplished by 2025.

[David]

EV's are also getting some cool stuff. To celebrate selling their 100,000 leaf in Japan, Nissan built this special edition to gauge interest.

Convertible leaf anyone?

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/05/25/2018-nissan-leaf-open-car-convertible/

As of the story posted above, the Leaf has now sold 320,000 world wide. Yes a drop in the bucket but clearly there is interest and with China going Hybrid / EV, the future is what it is.

ICE days are going to come to a close.

Nissan says they are not going to build this, but it is a study and of course if the customers keep demanding a convertible LEAF, then it will happen since they clearly can build it.

[balthazar]

21 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Convertible leaf anyone?

Nnnnnnnnnnnope! 😄 Can't find a square foot of it that's not objectionable.
 

Quote

EV's today are where auto's were in the early 1900's and they have had 110+ years to improve and get efficient, we have already moved EV's far faster in the last 5 years than ICE auto's did in the first 20 years.

Obviously, this is unsupportable hyperbole. But we get it that you are wildly enthused.

Edited May 27, 2018 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

I'm doing my best to temper his reckless abandon, Balthy. 

33 minutes ago, dfelt said:

EV's are also getting some cool stuff. To celebrate selling their 100,000 leaf in Japan, Nissan built this special edition to gauge interest.

Convertible leaf anyone?

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/05/25/2018-nissan-leaf-open-car-convertible/

As of the story posted above, the Leaf has now sold 320,000 world wide. Yes a drop in the bucket but clearly there is interest and with China going Hybrid / EV, the future is what it is.

ICE days are going to come to a close.

Nissan says they are not going to build this, but it is a study and of course if the customers keep demanding a convertible LEAF, then it will happen since they clearly can build it.

 

[ccap41]

I’ve never lost 1/3 of my range in any of my ICE vehicles. How about you @ocnblu?

[ocnblu]

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I’ve never lost 1/3 of my range in any of my ICE vehicles. How about you @ocnblu?

NOPE!

[A Horse With No Name]

21 hours ago, Scout said:

I've noticed about a 1/3 drop in range during could weather. Keep in mind it doesn't get that cold where I live. 

Its still a dandy package to have a Volt.

[Scout]

19 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I’ve never lost 1/3 of my range in any of my ICE vehicles. How about you @ocnblu?

 

17 hours ago, ocnblu said:

NOPE!

Running the heater and defogger drastically reduces my range. More so than the weather.  Around 30 miles of range can drop to around 20 miles simply because of turning on those accessories. The heater in my car is a serious energy hog. I can't speak for other cars like Leaf, Bolt, an do on. Just my personal observation. The AC doesn't have as dramatic effect. It's about to get hot where I live.  Do I will soon have a better idea just how much the heat and AC will affect things.  I personally still would not buy a battery powered only.  

Edited May 28, 2018 by Scout

[Scout]

19 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I’ve never lost 1/3 of my range in any of my ICE vehicles. How about you @ocnblu?

 

17 hours ago, ocnblu said:

NOPE!

I have lost over half my range in ICE vehicles. You two are doing it wrong 😋

[ccap41]

On 5/28/2018 at 10:59 AM, Scout said:

 

I have lost over half my range in ICE vehicles. You two are doing it wrong 😋

Hahaha that's because you're having fun with it not just commuting though!