5 Helpful Tips To Maximize EV Range In Winter And Snow

Driving EVs in snowy winters can be immensely challenging. Therefore, it is great to know a few tricks and tips to ensure minimal impact of the cold on your EVs.

In this blog post, we shall offer 5 crucial tips to maximize your EV range during winter and snow. Driving an EV can be worrisome anyway due to the lack of adequate charging infrastructure and range anxiety. However, things exacerbate further during the peak winter season when the temperatures drop significantly below 0 degrees Celsius.

Unfortunately, all Lithium-ion batteries are sensitive to extreme temperatures. You would’ve noticed this with your smartphones and laptops too. As a result, EVs tend to offer considerably lower range on a single charge during adverse weather conditions. Still, there are a few measures that EV owners could adopt in order to minimize the impact of snow or extremely low temperatures on their EVs.

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5 Tips To Maximize EV Range In Winter & Snow

Preheat Battery

One of the most effective methods to tackle the issue of low range during winter conditions is to pre-heat the battery. Some modern cars come with a heat pump which ensures that the temperature of the battery remains in an optimal range. Also, while the electric car is plugged in, the battery of the car gets in a perfect temperature range even before the owner commences the drive. In that way, the battery won’t draw additional power to do this task of maintaining its optimal temperature.

AC Temperature

Yet another way to reduce the power consumption of the EV battery during harsh cold is to use the heat produced by the car to warm the cabin. Most people crank up the blower to the maximum in order to heat the cabin space. However, a slightly more nuanced and prudent technique is to use heated seats and steering wheel to keep yourself warm. That will consume much less power from the battery, in turn maximizing the range. Obviously, your EV needs to have this function from the factory.

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Tires

A significantly underrated aspect while calculating the range of EVs is the tires. In fact, we feel that car owners don’t pay enough attention to tires in general. In the case of snow or harsh winter conditions, generally, the tire pressure drops. That leads to a situation where higher power is needed to move the car. Hence, more battery is consumed in the process. Therefore, you must ensure that the tire pressure in your car is appropriate at all times. Also, it helps to use dedicated snow tires.

Speed

Unlike ICE cars where high speed means high engine efficiency, the range of EVs deteriorates exponentially as the speed increases. This is due to higher wind resistance and drag coefficient. The battery gets depleted at a higher rate at high vehicle speeds. Therefore, driving at moderate speeds can boost the overall range of EVs substantially on a single charge.

Eco Mode

Finally, if your EV comes with drive modes, it is advisable to use Eco mode to maximize range. In peak winters or snowy conditions, you wouldn’t want exquisite performance and high-speed scenarios with your EVs anyway. Therefore, switching to Eco mode will limit the power produced by an EV, in turn, saving the battery from getting empty quickly. Hence, it is a great way to use the drive modes in an EV.

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Learn Electric Cars Says

Extremely low temperatures slow down the reaction inside an EV battery. That is the reason why charging EVs becomes extremely slow, while the battery loses range rapidly. There are many parts of the world where the temperatures get way below 0 degrees Celsius. Arguably, the most prominent market is Norway where around 82% of total EV sales in 2023 were electric cars.

Norway experiences one of the harshest winters in the world. Still, due to the aforementioned practices, they are able to navigate their way to ensure that using EVs remains practical and feasible. Hence, it is possible to use EVs effectively even in harsh winters with proper planning.