Why did my EV mileage range drop recently?
Some people may want to know why their electric vehicles mileage range drops in the snow or cold season. Do not worry because it is not just a matter of electric vehicle, but other vehicles also show lower efficiency in cold weather due to a decrease in temperature. Low mileage in cold season means that your car could not go for a long distance without refiling fuel or charging. When you are paying for an electric vehicle, this is an important thing to consider the dropped mileage range in cold winter because EVs has lower efficiency as compared to other fuel vehicles. With the advancement in the technology of EVs, now they are also working best, and we believe that they work much better in the future.
Is it just my EV, which dropped the mileage range, or your car also does in cold climate?
In winters when the temperature starts getting low, all the cars become less efficient in working. This happens because your car engine oil become cold by standing idly throughout the night in car porch. It reduced the fuel efficiency and dropped the mileage range. But your electric car use stored electric energy in the batteries that help the engine to start by providing stored energy. This stored energy let the car to come in motion more efficiently than an internal combustion engine. Gasoline cars are less efficient in taking a start because the chemical energy takes time to convert in mechanical energy in winters.
In an electric vehicle, the energy is used to maintain the car inside environment as well as to run the car. Due to the distribution of energy at different parts, the efficiency of electric vehicles drops. Because the electricity is coming from the same battery, even if you are using some other car the energy will be lost from the radiator and drop the mileage range.
The efficiency and mileage range of vehicle not just dropped due to the change in climate and temperature but the batteries temperatures also play a critical part. When the batteries are cold, the electrons movement is affected by it into the battery. To better the batteries performance and maintain the temperature, the manufacturer inserts thermal management systems to keep the batteries warm. The thermal system will save up energy from loss and enhance the mileage.
How one can reduce the drop in electric vehicle mileage range in cold season:
We bring you the solution about how one can increase the mileage range, efficiency, and performance of the electric vehicle in winters. The first thing you can do is the preconditioning. You can use the watch app or smartphones for this purpose to heat the inside before you unplug the car. Electric vehicles can use grid electricity to warm the car interior and cold batteries so one can save the electricity to start the car and to give energy to car’s wheel for driving. In this way, the energy will not waste on warming the car interior and batteries.
Therefore, you can conclude that now the performance of the electric vehicle in cold weather is becoming better by using the excellent quality heat pumps. These heating pumps help to warm the battery and interior without causing much load on the engine.
The other methods that one can use to warm his electric vehicle is generating the heat by using electric motors for heating the interior and car batteries. This will also lead to lower the load on batteries and engine. We are sure that with the advancement and innovation in technology with time, the latest model of electric vehicles will give more mileage even in cold weather.
How electric vehicles are working in the US and Canada in cold weather:
Electric vehicle trend is gaining popularity in the United States and Canada at a larger scale, and people are more looking towards buying EVs for them. So the question is how these electric vehicles work in the cold climate of the US and Canada. The biggest manufacturer of electric vehicles, i.e. Nissan Leaf research and come to a result that in normal weather the mileage range is about 80 miles but when the temperature gets low and start moving towards freezing temperature this range goes to 50-60 miles. You can measure a noticeable change in both ranges.
According to a survey conducted by the US on EV users about driving range in winters gives the following results. Some of them claimed that their EV gave less than 40 miles mileage range per day and most of them recorded that they can drive less than 60 miles in a day.
Over time, more prominent EV manufacturers are making changes in their technology and producing the best electric cars that will give the high mileage range. You can see the example of Chevy Bolt or Tesla Model S which latest technology cut the effect of cold weather on the mileage. If you use the heater in the car while driving over a freezing temperature, then there are chances of some loss in energy that will ultimately affect the mileage range.
Do not afraid because the increase in selling portrays that EVs fulfill the user’s needs:
Do not afraid of picking up an electric vehicle for your use just because it will not give the proper mileage in winters. If you still doubt about EVs performance in freezing weather, you can check the sales of these cars in Norway. Almost 70,000 electric vehicles have been sold in Norway. If these cars are not suitable for the use in winters, then you will see the decrease in sale. Also, if these cars are not working efficiently, people did not tend to buy these.
Moreover, governments are giving many incentives and reducing the tax amount for all those who are buying, running, or converting their vehicles into electric vehicles. People are choosing cars for favorite companies without caring the drop EV mileage range in the cold.
So if you are living in America especially in northern areas, EV is not an issue for you. Go and buy EV today and make your contribution towards improving the eco-system and combating the environmental pollution with zero-emission cars. The manufacturers are making advanced EV that will not cause any issue in winters. Electric vehicles perform at their best in cold weather to provide the comfort to the users on a journey.
It is true that in the past these vehicles are new to the market and did not hold advanced technology, which makes them unable to work efficiently in winters.
How to increase the EV mileage range?
Follow these simple steps to increase the electric vehicle even in winters.
- Try to control the climate of a car by using effective ways so you can save batteries and did not have to make a compromise.
- The next step for climate control is to heat the car before you unplug it from the switch. Batteries used a lot of energy in heating the interior so before unplugging the switch, on the heating to warm up the climate.
- The latest electric vehicles come with unique and useful features of heated seats. Heated seats mean that there is a heating system installed in all seats. It will take you more time and battery to heat the whole cabin instead of heating the seat. Therefore, when you are purchasing an electric vehicle for yourself, make it sure that it has the seat heating feature.
- The most important thing is to wear enough layers to keep your body warm so there will be little or no use of electric energy. When you cover yourself in jackets. Socks, scarf and gloves, you will not feel the cold. In this way, you did not require to preheat your vehicle before driving.
- Where you park your car, is also a necessary thing to consider increasing the EV mileage range in winters. You should cover the place where you park your car for all night. Parking your car on the street or at the open-air garage will take more time in charging and affect the efficiency while starting and heating up. In the covered area, the temperature will remain controlled, and the EV will warm up the climate instantly.
- You can also use the heating system in your garage to achieve the best mileage range in the winters. The heating system will manage the environment temperature. By installing the heating system, one can save the extra loss of energy from batteries.
- When it is cold, people try to reach soon to the destination and drives fast. Fast driving needs more acceleration in working which results in draining the battery at the fastest rate. So try to manage your speed in winters while driving an electric vehicle.
- The last thing is to stop the all unwanted accessories. As you know that all EV has some extra add-ons like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, music, touch screen and much more. To increase the car range in freezing temperature switch off all the add-ons like remove a mobile phone from charging, off the GPS and Bluetooth songs.
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