So, you’re ready to buy your first electric car . There’s a good chance you’re looking very closely at various EVs and their …
So, you’re ready to buy your first electric car. There’s a good chance you’re looking very closely at various EVs and their estimated range ratings. Before you sign on the dotted line for an EV, new or used, there are some things you should know so you’re not surprised by a car’s real world range. Cold weather can substantially drop your EV’s range. The Idaho National Labs found that an EV can lose 25% of its rated range at freezing temperatures. As an example, that could drop a current 2021 Nissan Leaf from 149 miles of range to 112, in essence setting it back five model years. Going the other way, that study also found that fast charging was 35% less efficient at freezing temps compared to its efficiency at 77 degrees. The newer an EV you buy, the better it’s likely to handle cold weather due to improvements in battery management technology, a good reason to assess a used EV carefully before deciding it’s a bargain. Heating and cooling an electric car’s cabin isn’t trivial. Unlike combustion-engined cars, which have a vast source of waste heat for warming and belt-driven parasitic accessories to compress refrigerant for cooling, electric cars have to use electricity to do both.
