Electric cars lose that much range in winter

The outside temperature fluctuates around freezing and electric cars don’t like that. You lose range in winter, you can’t escape that as a plug driver, but how much do you sacrifice? These are the losses broken down by model.

Why does the range of an electric car decrease when it gets colder? Because at low temperatures, the chemical reactions in the battery slow down and the heating of the cabin also draws energy from it.

Electric car batteries need heat

A conventional car does not have this last problem. A combustion engine generates electricity, but also a lot of heat, which is used to heat the interior in winter.

An electric motor is much more efficient and generates much less heat. And that warmth is also essential in colder temperatures to keep the battery at the right temperature. The battery must therefore be used for the cabin heater.

Electric cars are therefore less efficient in winter and also use more energy. How much difference does that make in terms of range? Website Recurrentauto found out by looking at telemetry data from 7,000 American electric vehicles.

These two electric cars stand out positively

Two models stand out positively: the Audi E-Tron (now called the Q8) and the Jaguar I-Pace. At a temperature of -6 to -1 degrees Celsius, they lose 8 percent and 3 percent range respectively. This compared to a temperature of 21 degrees.

Ford Mustang Mach-E and VW ID.4 disappoint

Who are the losers of the group? The Chevrolet Bolt was the worst performer with a 32 percent range loss. The second last place is shared by the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Volkswagen ID.4 with minus 30 percent.

Four Teslas is about 15-19 percent loss

Other interesting electric cars for Europe are the BMW i3 (minus 24 percent), the Hyundai Kona Electric (minus 19 percent) and the Nissan Leaf (minus 21 percent). The four Teslas — Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X — are all around 15-19 percent.