In the Fall, temperatures are lower but not yet cold which means your EV is in its Happy Place. Very hot and very cold temperatures reduce the range for your Electrified Vehicle due to factors such as batteries not operating as efficiently in more extreme temps and having to use heating or AC. In the Fall, your battery is experiencing the best ambient operating temperatures (45-75F) and you aren't running the energy sapping heat or AC. This can result in a 10-20% bump in range over mid-summer or winter diving! Also, when driving those two lane roads looking at the leaves, you are driving at more moderate speeds, reducing wind resistance, which is a boon for range on pure EVs and allow PHEVs and HEVs to operate in electric mode more often. This all adds up to leaving more energy for looking at the leaves!

So, set your AC charging limit to 100% to start the trip with a full charge and fire up PlugShare or other charging station planning tools to plan your trip. Whether you need a L3/DCFC (Level 3 /DC Fast Charger) to add some miles to extend your day trip or maybe a hotel with a Level 2 charger to top off overnight, having an EV is a great way to go explore!

How the heat/AC math works:

In a recent trip, I looked at the energy usage for my wife's Kona electric. With the heat running (the Kona is a resistive heating car versus some of the more efficient heat pump based cars available now) I was seeing ~1.5kW being used by the heating system. Over the four hours we drove, if the heat had to run the whole time, this translates into 6kWh on a trip where we saw 4miles/kWh efficiency. This means that we lost up to 24 miles of range by using the heat. AC can have a similar hit.

We've all heard the stories, EVs are horrible winter vehicles, but extreme examples are what show up in the news and it's not as bad as they make it sound. Also, I'm sure all of us have had gas or diesel vehicles not start in a blizzard, but that doesn't make headlines!

As with any vehicle, there are things to keep in mind in every season and extreme weather can cause issues. Even in more moderate colder weather all vehicles lose efficiency. But there are ways for us to enjoy are EVs as much as, if not more, than "ICE" vehicles!

General charging and range

If you are looking for some quick guidance, on road trips your first winter with your EV, reduce your estimated driving range by at least 25% when you are planning DCFC (fast charging) stops until you see how your car acts in the colder weather. Please read on for why and ways to improve your range.

The first thing to note is that, it is true that batteries are not as happy in extreme cold. They will not have as much range and will not charge as fast. That being said, there are ways to make this better. The first thing thing is to find how your vehicle can "pre-condition" prior to charging, this process is usually done as you are approaching a L3/DCFC station while on the road and gets your battery to its most efficient temperature to accept a charge, some EVs even build this into the navigation so the car will do this automatically if it knows the destination is a charging station. This will help you get back on the road faster. Next, If you happen to be able to park your car inside a garage, do it! This helps in two ways, 1. it doesn't get as cold and will be able to get to a more efficient operating mode faster, and 2. you won't have to use as much energy getting the cabin up to comfortable temperature. Otherwise, you don't have to do much different than you are used to.

One thing to note about PHEVs. In the winter, trips that used to involve battery only will often fire up the engine. This is normal and expected and is done for several reasons that can include keeping the combustion engine healthy, keeping the engine from having to add power when it could be damaging (high engine speed immediately from cold is not good for a combustion engine), adding heat to the cabin if the "high voltage heater" isn't enough, and possibly to make up for the reduce battery efficiency in cold temps. All PHEVs will do this to some extent but dealers don't always teach this. When Jeep's "4xe" cars came out, they had to deal with a bunch of angry owners who didn't know this and brought a lawsuit.

Comfort and Range

Here's an area where you can amaze your ICE driving friends, EVs usually have heating systems that will start pushing heat before the end of your driveway, no "warming up " necessary! 

As noted in the "How the heat/AC math works" part of the Fall Driving story, Heating can take a LOT of energy which can translate into reduced range. EVs have worked to reduce this impact in several ways that you can easily take advantage of.

1. Preheating the cabin: often from the comfort of your home, you can turn on cabin warming if your EV is plugged in so that you start your drive warm and with a full battery

2. Heated seats and steering wheel: these aren't just "nice-to-have" features, these are range savers! Using these features reduces the need for cabin heat by warming you up directly. Use these first and then add cabin heat.

3. Zone heating: some cars allow heat to be directed on only certain parts of the car. If you are driving alone, use the Driver only heat in addition to the heated seats to save range!

4. "Eco" mode heating: Some cars have a feature where it warms up to your requested temperature and then slowly drops the temperature a few degrees to save range. This relies on the idea that, once we are warm, we tend to stay that way even if the cabin temperature reduces.

Driving Safety and Range

For those who regularly drive in snow or very cold weather or live in areas that require winter tires. Winter tires reduce driving range on all vehicles, so it is another item that you may have to factor in when driving an EV in the winter. This is a safety issue as winter tires greatly improve winter driving safety and should be considered.

"OK EV-Eric, you've told me how everything drops range in the winter, can I make it to the end of my neighborhood?"

The answer is, of course, YES! As you use your EV in the first winter, keep the previous tips in mind and you will learn quickly where to adapt. You may charge a little more often but, except for longer road trips, your experience won't change much and you will likely appreciate the cabin comfort of an EV. For road trips, you will have to possibly add in a stop that you didn't need in the summer or, especially, fall.

For the first road trip, be conservative and estimate stops with ~25% less range with some "emergency" charge spots mapped out and then see how your usage and the weather truly affect it.

Enjoy!