With the advent of cold weather, electric cars’ drevers have new questions, why the druve range has become smaller, and the charging speed has decreased, in this article, we will try to answer your questions: 

The ideal temperature for operating an electric car is 21 degrees, anything higher or lower affects battery performance, and also requires additional energy costs.

Let's see how best to operate an electric car in winter and give you some tips.

In addition to the ambient temperature, the drive range is affected by the driving style of the driver, sudden acceleration, speeds over 100 km/h, sudden braking, as well as excessively high temperatures in the passenger compartment.

Tesla Model S 100 mileage depending on speed and temperature

Moreover, if you drive one long distance, the range will last for a longer distance than you will drive short distances with stops, in which case the car will have to bring the battery and interior temperature to the set temperature each time.

Of course, low temperatures also affect the speed of charging the battery of an electric car, however, TOK BOR stations provide a stable current between a wide temperature range.

The graph shows that the 20 kilowatt power modules that make up our DC stations provide stable power in temperature range from -30 to +56 degrees. 

A graph showing the ability of an electric vehicle (using the KIA EV6 as an example) to receive current depending on temperature and battery charge

And the ability to accept the maximum possible current at different ambient temperatures depends solely on the capacity and chemistry of the batteries, as well as the ability of each individual brand of electric vehicle to bring the batteries into the operating temperature range, in other words, how quickly the car can warm or cool the battery.

“Moreover, part of the energy when charging in cold weather is spent on heating the battery, and you may notice that the readings of the vehicle in terms of received power may differ from the output power of the station by 15-25%, and at AC stations in deep frost up to 50%, this is a consequence of the fact that the vehicle displays the power directed directly to the battery of an electric vehicle without taking into account the heating of the battery and the passenger compartment, and the station takes into account all the consumed current.

Recommendations:

✔ When buying an electric car, give preference to models with a built-in heating/cooling system for the power battery

✔ Choose more capacious batteries, the larger the capacity, the more current it can take

✔ Warm up the electric car in advance, 15-20 minutes before the start of the trip

✔ Use regenerative brakes

✔ Remove snow from the electric car, it adds mass and impairs aerodynamics

✔ Set the temperature in the cabin to no more than 22 degrees, and use the heated steering wheel and seats, they are more economical than climate control

✔ Leave the car in a closed parking lot or under the sun

✔ Check tire pressure

By the way, Norway is the leader in the growth in the number of electric vehicles, but as we all know, there are very long and harsh winters, so in our sunny Uzbekistan we will have to think about such temporary features for no more than a month a year.