In
Outside of
It's well known that EVs lose some of their travel range in the cold, especially in subzero temperatures like those that hit the nation's mid-section this week. Studies found that range loss varies from 10% to 36%.
EVs also don't charge as quickly in extreme cold. Some
Experts acknowledge that cold weather can be hard for EVs, but they say with some planning and a little adjustment, owners should be able to travel pretty much as normal.
WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
Inside EV batteries, lithium ions flow through a liquid electrolyte, producing electricity. But they travel more slowly through the electrolyte when it gets cold and don’t release as much energy. That cuts into the range and can deplete a battery faster.
The same happens in reverse. Since electrons move more slowly, the battery can't accept as much electricity from a charging plug. That slows down charging.
The problem is that when temperatures plunge, batteries have to be warm enough for the electrons to move. And they have to be even warmer at fast-charging stations like
“Pretty much anything that’s a chemical substance slows down when you get to a low temperature,” said
At a Supercharger station in
“I have a long way to go,” said Bansal, a
HOW TO MAKE IT WORK
Many of those who think their cars won't charge are new to EVs and don't know how to “precondition” their batteries, said Westlake, who has two Teslas.
“They're just learning,” he said. “And
In frigid temperatures, it can take a half hour to warm the battery so it's ready to charge, Westlake said. Preconditioning the battery does cost some range, although it's usually only a few miles, he said.
Bansal, who has had her
A few stalls away from her,
So she told the car she was going to the charging station and it was ready by the time she arrived and plugged in.
Like Westlake, Burney said EV drivers need to plan ahead, especially in cold weather. The car, she said, will tell you where charging stations are and how much range you have left. “The more you drive it the more you're comfortable knowing how far you can go and how much to charge it,” she said.
Burney said she loses roughly 15% to 20% of her battery range in cold weather, but it gets dramatically worse in cold snaps like the one this week.
THE FUTURE OF CHARGING
In the short run, automakers are likely to come up with better ways to protect battery life and warm them for charging, Dasgupta said. And there are new battery chemistries in development that are more resilient in cold weather.
In the short term, Dasgupta said that as more mainstream consumers buy EVs, and as more automakers enter the market, they'll develop models using existing lithium-ion chemistry that are tailored to colder climates. In some cases overall range might have to be sacrificed a little to get better cold-weather performance, he said.
Millions are being invested in new battery technology that performs better in the cold that will find its way from military, aerospace and undersea applications into electric vehicles, Dasgupta said.
“You can be an EV driver in a cold-weather climate,” he said. “Be optimistic and excited about what the future holds because it's only going to get better from here.”
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