Electric cars are no longer a technological fad, as the most popular models have been around for at least ten years. But there are still unfounded myths about them among drivers, and a couple of them are related to using electric cars in hot and cold weather.
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Is it true that electric car drivers have to expect less range in winter? Yes, the distance traveled in cold weather is significantly reduced due to the heating of the passenger compartment and the battery. Some manufacturers, such as Peugeot, honestly admit this. This French company openly informs on its website that the mileage of these cars can vary by up to 35% in spring and winter.
Energy is consumed, but in the norm
We have heard rumors that in summer, for reasons of longer mileage, an electric car should have the cockpit heated by the sun and not close the air conditioner inside. These are disappointments. However, it should be added that this smoke is also not without fire. In the past, when an electric car could travel short distances on a single charge, drivers tried to save electricity in every possible way: the cabin was quiet, because the audio system consumes energy, passengers often sat warm because the air conditioner consumes electricity, etc. Current calculations show that there is no reason to suffer from the heat. Electric cars are becoming more and more efficient and you don’t have to sacrifice comfort for a few kilometers.
If it’s steaming outside, but the battery is cooling, its effect is insignificant. With the air conditioner on, the mileage will theoretically be slightly less, but the difference will be small – this unit is very economical. Some numbers for illustration. The air conditioner consumes about 0.3 kWh per 100 km and the electric car with ventilation consumes an average of 20 kWh / 100 km, so the total will be 20.3 kWh. This does not significantly change the situation.
Opening the windows instead of the air conditioner could be effective in the city, but on the motorway there is no doubt that it is better to turn on the air conditioning and drive with a pleasant coolness. Also, keeping the windows open while driving at high speed makes driving uncomfortable and creates too much aerodynamic drag.
Cooling the battery is important
When it comes to the conceptual differences between an electric car and a car with an internal combustion engine, the key word is “efficiency”. The energy efficiency of internal combustion engines ranges from 20 to 30%, but the rest of the energy is released into the wind in the form of heat. However, the efficiency of electric cars ranges from 70 to 90%. True, this requires favorable conditions, and one of them is the appropriate battery temperature.
By the way, not only the environment heats the battery. When driving a longer stretch of road or choosing a dynamic driving mode, in addition to charging the battery, the heating is also caused by the processes that take place in the battery itself.
Each battery has its own temperature range where it feels good. The optimum temperature for the lithium used in batteries is between 10 and 30 degrees Celsius, so it heats up more on a hot summer day. In order to use the car efficiently at this time, it is necessary to cool down. This is necessary to protect the battery both when charging and while driving when it supplies power. Therefore, it is very important what kind of technology is incorporated by the manufacturer.
To increase performance and be able to take long trips or drive to warmer countries with an electric car, cooling is now not only for expensive models like “Mercedes-EQ” and “Porsche”, but also for compact crossovers like like “Peugeot e-2008 “and” Opel e-Mokka “.
Different types of cooling
There are several types of battery cooling. One of them is air cooling. In this variant, an air conditioning system is usually used. One of its radiators is placed inside the battery case and a fan blows air through the radiator and battery. Such a system is, for example, “Renault Zoe” and “Nissan e-NV200”.
However, even the air method does not meet the needs of modern electric cars and experience shows that one of the most efficient ways is to use liquid. Different manufacturers use different fluids and tubes, but the principle is the same everywhere: the fluid flows through thin tubes located between the battery components and cools the entire unit. The same principle is used to cool the batteries of the aforementioned “premium” and “Audi e-tron” Mercedes-EQs, as well as in popular models of the urban segment, such as the Peugeot e-2008 SUV and the Peugeot e-208 “in one sedan.
The battery capacity has increased significantly
Without exaggeration, it can be said that electromobility expert JSC “Latvenergo” Edgars Korsaks-Mills is one of the most experienced electric car experts in Latvia. He not only drives the first “Fiat Fiorino Elettrico” electric car registered in Latvia every day, but in recent years he has tested more than 30 different electric cars.
When it comes to batteries, it recommends paying attention to the battery cooling system that the particular car is equipped with. Cooling structures are divided into passive and active. If the car is not equipped with efficient technology, it should be expected that in cold weather the interior heating will be a significant consumption and, as a result, the mileage could decrease by more than 30%.
You can increase the range by choosing an electric car with a heat pump. “It uses the residual heat from the components of the electric drive for heating, as well as the surrounding air, so it will be warm even in cold weather, but the electricity that is not used for heating will allow you to drive further,” says the expert.
The advantage of the heat pump is that, depending on the outside temperature, 1.5-3 kW of heating is provided per 1 kW of electricity consumed. For example, according to Kia, the e-Niro crossover’s heat pump consumes around 1.75 kW, compared to 5.5 kW for a conventional heating system. This is a big savings, especially if you are looking to increase your mileage.
The heat pump will not help in the summer when the cabin needs to be cooled. It is true that air conditioning systems are becoming more and more efficient and nowadays they no longer drain the battery as they used to. There is some research on this topic. He tested the new VW ID.4: it stood still, with the lights on, the Spotify streaming entertainment system, the heated seats on and the air conditioning on. Even with all these energy eaters, only 2% of the battery was lost in an hour.
In the past, much more energy was needed for cooling and heating, but now significant progress has been made. “Of course, this does not mean that energy is not consumed at all, but also the battery capacity of electric cars has changed significantly in recent years: it has increased from 20 kWh in the first generation to indicators from 35 to even 90+ kWh. This offers significantly higher mileage, which in total with more efficient technologies has less impact on everyday life, ”adds Edgars Korsaks-Mills.
He drives himself on a daily basis in a 40 kWh electric car “Nissan Leaf”, equipped with a passive cooling system without a heat pump. However, when testing various electric cars in our weather and traffic conditions, Edgar pays special attention to efficiency indicators: maximum mileage on a full charge, power consumption in combined mode, city and highway, charging speed in AC stations and DC. One of Edgar’s conclusions is that attention must first be paid to the car class, because there is too much difference, for example, between “Audi e-tron” and “Dacia Spring”.
“In any case, an electric car is no longer visually different from a new traditional car. With some exceptions, the design is no longer so futuristic and the technologies match the offer of the new cars on the market. An electric car differs. for the way we think about the movement, how, where and how fast we charge it and, of course, with the dynamics we feel from the first second. We “Latvenergo” pay attention to the efficiency of the car and the charging and I have compared the crossovers so popular in Latvia. The conclusion is that they are heavier and the power consumption is significantly higher, so the potential mileage will also be lower, even if the battery is large, “says Edgars Korsak-Mills.
“I noticed one thing in all the tests: consumption in the city is rarely lower than consumption in combined mode, that is, both on the highway and in the city. This is interesting, because it is in the city that maximum economy is promised. I also paid attention. at maximum mileage at full load, comparing it with WLTP data, which is a globally recognized automotive test standard.The test results are different: some models promise over 500 km, but even with efficient driving they only manage to reach 450 Km. However, there are also models that not only match the result, but also greatly exceed the WLTP predictions, so it is important to look at all tests and data as an additional source of information, because the result is directly influenced by us: how we drive dynamically, as is the weather, the chosen route and the traffic. However, it is possible to get an idea of it, “says Edgar Korsak-Mills.
For example, he rented an electric car in Germany last year and consumption on the motorway was completely different than here. The fact is that in Latvia the speed limit is usually 90 km / h, but in Germany there are no restrictions on motorways. Therefore, people drive faster and the battery discharges much faster and also heats up much faster – this should be taken into consideration when planning charging.
Edgars Korsak-Mills recommends paying attention to battery temperature – it’s essential. “If an electric car equipped with passive cooling is driven intensively on the highway or in hot weather, charging may proceed more slowly than under identical conditions with active cooling. So it will take longer.”
The same will happen in winter if the battery is cold. “Slow down the charging until the optimum temperature is reached. Once, when I connected to the fast station at -20 degrees, instead of 50 kW, my car only charged 5 kW. Since there was still a reserve, I decided continue on to another station. After about 70 kilometers, the battery had warmed up and at the next station it was already charging at full speed, “says Edgars.
“Even in the summer the scenario is similar: if the battery does not have active cooling, it heats up and the ability to charge it decreases rapidly. A couple of years ago, on a hot summer day, we traveled to Latvia by car. We went. in Ventspils, in Liepāja – everything is fine. But when we got to Jelgava and there we made the third charge, it was already noticeably slower. However, although it causes some inconvenience, it is necessary to protect the battery from overheating and take care of its longevity, “adds Edgars.
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