Electric car range drops in cold weather

EVs might give almost the full range in summer temperatures, but I doubt it will work so well in the winter with the kind of driving I do.

BHPian Indian2003 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This week I am driving a brand new Nissan e-NV200. The range is about 250 km in hot weather. This morning the temperature was about -5 degrees celcius.

I started my second shift with a range of 255 km on the meter but after 134 km I had a range of only 21 km. I drove on Eco mode with maximum regenerative braking and a top speed of 90 km/hour.

I expect chaos this winter when temperatures drop down to the low 20s or less.

Early this morning I started with a 220 km range and managed to get 85 km with preheating of the cabin. I had 99 km left when I returned. It is not possible to preheat the cabin with the cable connected unlike the Tesla.

EVs might give almost the full range in summer temperatures, but I doubt it will work so well in the winter with the kind of driving I do.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Luckily for EVs, in India, it's pretty much warm weather or summer all year long. In most parts, even the winters are "cool" (like Bombay) instead of cold. Hardly any cities & towns suffer snow or chilling temperatures in India.

Here's what BHPian Vitruvius had to say on the matter:

I've read somewhere that when driving in extremely cold conditions like where you are, it's prudent to have range that's double the distance you want to drive.

For eg. if you're planning a 100km drive, your battery range should be 200km.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.