Why electric vehicles struggle in extreme cold | BBC News

Driving a car in the winter can be quite the headache but electric vehicle owners are facing a whole new set of challenges as temperatures dip the gold is affecting two crucial elements of the EV experience the driving range and the charging speed I’ve been here for over 5

Hours at this point and the reason for both comes down to their power source lithium ion batteries lithium ion battery lithium ion battery lithium ion batteries like all other batteries they run on chemical reactions the movement of el R and ions from one terminal of the battery to the other chemical

Reactions happen faster when it’s hotter and slower when it’s colder and since some of the cars battery power in the winter is being redirected to maintain optimal battery temperature and heat the car cabin your ev’s driving range could be reduced by as much as 25% the cold also affects the battery

Charge companies actually slow the charging speed of EVS since charging your car when it’s below freezing can make the battery unstable and more likely to fail so much for bad news but there is something that can be done for one taking fewer short trips each time

An Eevee stops it cools down and needs to be reheated when started up again that drains the battery Tesla also recommends keeping your car plugged in and retaining a minimum of 20% charge at all other times and since warm batteries charge more easily driving for at least 30 minutes before charging your car

Could speed up the process car companies are working on making electric vehicles more efficient in the winters and in the end perhaps what EVs lack in efficiency during cold spells they make up for in environmental Impact

Freezing temperatures affect electric vehicles in two major ways – and it all comes down to the battery.

Tesla and other car manufacturers have given drivers instructions on how to cope.

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32 comments
  1. To all law abiding, tax paying voters: Cars can run on water by splitting the hydrogen out, but there is no money, tax or centralised control in that, no control of our freedom of movements, so our “elected representatives” say we can’t have it.

  2. That's not EV's problem. You are buying wrong product for your weather. DO RESEARCH BEFORE PAYING SOMETHING.
    LTO lithium titanate batteries can work up-to -50c

  3. I couldn’t understand half of what she was saying. BBC should hire an English speaking as a first language personnel to narrate or report in English.

  4. Do you know how many times my lead acid battery was dead, my engine was too cold to turnover, my alternator or radiator broke and left me stranded, etc? You’re all acting like the pos cars on the market right now are better? Reality is tough but you should try and face it 😂

  5. The EV 'experience'? What the hell is an EV 'experience'? You mean to say, the EV Experiment that has failed so miserably. It is not an 'experience' as the female British narrator of this shows claims but more pointedly, an industry-wide systematic failure, a failed experiment with your money, these electric cars are. Tesla will never iron out the bugs, nor will Ford or GM or Audi or any other car maker. The entire EV industry should be recalled out of existence. God bless fossil fuels.

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