Electric vehicle batteries are a lot like people, in one important respect: They’re most comfortable in temperatures around 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the weather gets much colder or hotter than that, a battery works less efficiently. It has to work harder, too, to keep the vehicle’s cabin comfortable for its equally picky human occupants.
The result? Electric vehicles can’t drive as far or as efficiently in extremely hot or cold weather.
AAA has been testing exactly how big an effect temperatures have on modern EV batteries. In its latest research, shared exclusively with NPR, it found that hot temperatures reduced range by an average of 8.5%. Cold weather cut vehicles’ range by a whopping 39%.
also sensibly built EVs. most modern EVs use liquid cooling around the batteries and sensors can detect temperatures too high or too low to engage pumps and heating elements to warm the fluid and prevent battery issues.
cooling stopped being a major issue a few years ago, in battery packs, the cells are cooled via liquid cooling automatically and kept in balance. efficiency calculations in warmer climates are generally better than combustion engines as the waste heat is vented off and in some cases even reused. while petrol and diesel engines compound heat, they require careful operation and often the spec is wrong for warm environments, risking overheating.