Impact of cold winter weather on electric vehicles and solutions

Keeping your battery pack as close to its optimal temperature as possible is key to getting the most out of your EV during the winter, and there are a few ways you can do this, depending on the model.

Keeping your battery pack as close to its optimal temperature as possible is key to getting the most out of your EV during the winter, and there are a few ways you can do this, depending on the model. Most modern EVs are able to regulate the temperature of their battery packs, and you need to understand how this thermal management works and how to best take advantage of it. That being said, the effects of cold temperatures on your EV may not be as catastrophic as you've heard.

Range Loss

Range can take a big hit in cold temperatures, and don't assume it has to be near freezing temperatures, in some extreme cases your EV's range will drop by 30% or more. This is caused by an increase in the resistance of the battery cells. This, in turn, affects the efficiency and performance of the entire battery pack. The optimal operating temperature range for an EV's lithium-ion battery pack is roughly between 68°F and 113°F (20°C and 45°C). So if the outside temperature drops below about 68°F, your vehicle will use some power to raise the battery pack temperature and keep it at that temperature. Keep in mind that this can happen even if your EV is turned off, so if you leave it outside on a very cold night without charging, you'll see a much greater loss of range than if you parked it in more temperate conditions. According to recent data from battery health startup Recurrent Auto, which tested more than 10,000 vehicles made up of 18 of the most popular electric models in the U.S., EVs retained 70.3% of their range in freezing temperatures. Some vehicles performed much better than average in this regard. The Audi e-tron, for example, lost only 16% of its range in the winter, making it the best performer in the study. The worst performer in the study was the Volkswagen ID.4, which lost a whopping 46% of its range in such conditions.

Reduced Battery Performance

The lithium-ion batteries used in most electric vehicles don't operate very efficiently in cold weather, especially when temperatures drop below freezing. This affects the battery's anode's ability to capture lithium ions, which tend to form a coating on the anode's surface, a process known as "coating." Most of this coating will disappear over time, but it won't completely disappear, and it will accumulate over time and affect battery performance. You'll watch the battery capacity drop, and you'll also notice it rebound as the outside temperature rises and the lithium coating around the anode decreases. An electric car's battery monitoring system and its thermal management system (usually centered around a heat pump) work overtime in freezing conditions to not only give you the longest range possible, but also to prevent damage to the battery. Fortunately, modern electric vehicles have evolved to a point where battery damage shouldn't be a problem for you, as they've been tested and designed to withstand extreme temperatures.

Slower Charging

Since the charging speed of an electric car is highly dependent on the temperature of the battery pack, it can be quite slow to top up your batteries in the winter. It's difficult to achieve summer charging speeds in an electric car in the winter, and it requires extra planning. In many electric vehicles, there's a separate option that lets you tell the vehicle to precondition the battery in preparation for charging, and in others, the vehicle does this automatically if you've selected a fast charger as your destination. Once you've selected a charger in the navigation system, your EV will know you have the intent to charge, and it will begin raising the battery temperature in preparation for charging. Be sure to check your owner's manual to see if your car has this feature, and even watch some YouTube videos to see how the process works. If you skip this step and plug a vehicle with a cold battery directly into a DC fast charger, you'll get a charging speed that's only a fraction of the advertised speed. This may partially explain the Idaho National Laboratory report that EVs can take up to three times longer to charge in cold weather. The study also found that this depends a lot on where you live; EV owners in the northern United States (or areas with colder winters in general) are more likely to experience these longer charging times.