Electric vehicles normally allow you to remotely adjust the interior conditions and encounter a warm environment when you get into the vehicle, even in cold weather. But cold weather is not good for vehicle ranges and is less than claimed. For this, you should consider a ratio below the official range figures of the brands. So how much does the range decrease in cold weather?
In a comprehensive test conducted in China, many electric vehicles were compared under certain conditions. Although most of the cars in the test are exclusive to China, there are also many international models.
Some of the test includes 45 popular cars set to maximum recovery, also driven in economy mode, 8-10 °C with climate control all season tires set to 25 °C and eco-driving mode. The test includes three test scenarios.
- 30 km/h in the city (100 km distance)
- 60 km/h in the city (100 km distance)
- 100 km/h (153 km distance) on highway
Admittedly, 8°C isn’t very cold, but it’s a level enough to illustrate some of the differences between various manufacturers and how their cars deal with the decreasing temperatures.
The BMW i3 eDrive 35L was extremely successful, and the brand’s touted range 80.5%It took the first place by protecting the . Ford Mustang Mach-e GT and Nio ET5 are second and third with retention rates of 79.7% and 79% respectively.
Looking at the top 14 BEVs on the list, most seem to reach 70-80% of their actual range, with the Volvo XC40 and Arcfox aS HI at the bottom of the list, losing around 40% of their range.
| Model | kWh/100 km @ 30 km/h | kWh/100 km @ 60 km/h | kWh/100 km @ 100 km/h | Real Range | Percentage of range advertised |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMW i3 eDrive 35L | 15.6 | 15.6 | 18.8 | 424km | 80.5% |
| Ford Mustange Mach-e GT | 17.4 | 20.5 | 25.0 | 392km | 79.7% |
| Nio ET5 100 kW | 16.8 | 16.3 | 21.0 | 561km | 79.0% |
| BMW iX3 | 18.3 | 17.5 | 21.5 | 422km | 78.8% |
| Audi Q4 e-tron 40 | 14.7 | 18.1 | 23.2 | 470km | 77.7% |
| Zeekr 001 4WD YOU | 20.2 | 18.5 | 23.8 | 485km | 74.5% |
| IM L7 | 19.2 | 19.4 | 23.6 | 452km | 73.5% |
| Rising Auto R7 | 19.3 | 18.9 | 24.4 | 437km | 72.1% |
| Nissan Ariya 87kWh | 22.1 | 22.4 | 28.3 | 376km | 70.5% |
| Polestar 2 LR FWD | 18.3 | 19.9 | 23.1 | 387km | 68.3% |
| Maxus Mifa 9 | 23.5 | 23.0 | 30.3 | 357km | 66.2% |
| Cadillac Lyriq RWD | 21.4 | 20.8 | 25.4 | 427km | 65.4% |
| Volvo XC40 Recharge SR RWD | 19.0 | 19.7 | 24.7 | 331km | 60.2% |
| Arcfox aS HI | 24.1 | 23.8 | 27.8 | 297km | 59.3% |
In most cases, there is a negligible difference between driving 30 and 60 km/h, as the heating offsets the increase in aerodynamic drag. Not surprisingly, cruising 100 km/h is more damaging to the battery than usual, as almost all cars go well beyond 20 kWh/100 km, with the exception of the BMW i3, which has an impressive top speed of 18.8 kWh/100 km.