Electric Vehicles

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Electric Vehicles are a key part of our tomorrow and how we get there. If we can get all the fossil fuel vehicles off our roads, out of our seas and out of our skies, we'll have a much better environment. This community is where we discuss the various different vehicles and news stories regarding electric transportation.

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How well can EVs handle the heat — and the cold? AAA put them to the test (www.npr.org)

submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by zabadoh@ani.social to c/electricvehicles@slrpnk.net

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[–] AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Great call out. I love my EV but there is a massive loss in range between 20F and -20F. On a nice day I get like 3.8 mi/kwh. Dead of winter I get 1.8 mi/kwh. That is with the heat at 68F.

Also losses on a combustion engine are minimal in winter. Winter blend fuel takes an efficiency loss up front, but I don't really notice any significant loss beyond that even as the temperature plummets. Heat is a byproduct of combustion, so you aren't wasting energy to keep yourself warm even if the heat is blasting. Similarly, running the AC doesn't really hurt mpgs in my experience. I'm guessing running the AC in an EV in 120F Arizona heat would drain that battery quickly.

EV's are great for so many reasons (and generally far superior in my opinion) but saying they have the same efficiency problems in extreme temperatures is misleading. Especially since it's very easy to make a bigger fuel tank to extend range. It is not easy to do the same with a battery.

[–] zabadoh@ani.social 6 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

It is not easy to (make a "bigger fuel tank") with a battery.

As battery technology improves, more energy storage can be packed into the same space.

Let's take a current 3000mAh rechargeable Li-ion AA battery, vs older 2000 mAh versions in the same format.

If you look even further back at older tech NiCad batteries, those topped out at 1000mAh for AA's

Now whether your vehicle's charging electronics can handle the greater capacity, much less different battery technologies, that's another story.

I would love it if I could drop a shiny new semi-solid-state battery into a used EV, and gain all the benefits.

[–] in_my_honest_opinion@piefed.social 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Sure, but you're still going to get 20% loss at 0° F. It's the nature of any battery, they have operating temps because of the chemistry, not the capacity.