If you're wondering, How does temperature affect electric vehicle range, the way temperature affects electric vehicle range impacts internal chemical processes. Cold temperatures can reduce the range, and very hot temperatures can damage the battery.
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Electric vehicles are great inventions that we see more and more on public roads. There are tons of reasons why we're expecting more electric vehicles on our public roads, like the new Inflation Reduction Act that increases the chances of tax credits for electric vehicles and the new California and New York gasoline car ban.
That's why we're getting a lot of questions from many of our readers about electric vehicles, and one of the most important questions that we receive is related to how temperature affects electric vehicle range.
This article will walk you through all you need to know about the impact of temperature on your electric vehicle range. This way, you will understand where to store your vehicle and what to expect if you're planning to go to a very hot or very cold area using your electric vehicle.
Why is it important to understand the factor affecting electric vehicle range?
Before diving into the details about how temperature affects electric vehicle range, we must familiarize ourselves with the main reasons you need to understand any factors that could impact your electric vehicle range.
If you're not super familiar with electric vehicles, you might not know how critical it is to maintain the best range when changing your electric car.
The Ranger refers to the distance your vehicle is allowed to drive without needing to get charged again. Think about it like when you change your phone and use it for some time, and after a while, this phone will turn off, and that's where you'll need to charge it again.
The same principle applies to electric vehicles because they rely on the electric supply to run, and if they're running out of charge, you won't be able to drive them.
Vehicle range can be a big challenge for many electric vehicle drivers because if you're planning a long road trip, you might not necessarily have all the capabilities to charge your electric vehicles in the middle of the road. That's why you want to make sure you plan your trip well to ensure you don't get into situations where you cannot have any charge in your car.
Over the years, automotive experts understood the challenge of giving the maximum range for electric cars without increasing the battery size and increasing the price of these vehicles significantly.
These experts put together some ideas for increasing the range to allow customers to enjoy electric vehicles for longer trips.
However, some other external factors could impact the electric vehicle range, and that's why understanding those factors helps you get the maximum out of your electric vehicle without getting into situations where the vehicle turns off in the middle of the road.
Since temperature is a critical factor that will impact your electric vehicle range, you must understand how much it impacts the range and what to expect if you're going to a very cold or very hot area using your electric vehicle. How does temperature impact your electric vehicle range? According to recent articles, charging AAA's cold weather can cut electric car range by over 10 to 12% of their range in cold weather, but it could go up to 41% with the heater on. In the following section, we will focus on the impact of temperature on your electric vehicle range.
How does temperature affect electric vehicle range?
Many factors could significantly impact the electric vehicle range, and temperature is one of the most important.
According to AAA, cold temperature can significantly impact your vehicle range, and according to some studies, reducing the temperature might cause your vehicle to lose between 10 and 12% of its range. Furthermore, if you decide to turn on climate control, expect to lose up to 40% of the range of the vehicle.
This is a significant amount, and if you think about it long-term or plan to drive your vehicle for a longer trip, this 40% can make a huge difference. If you're unaware of this impact, you might get involved in situations where your vehicle turns off completely in locations where you cannot get fast help, especially with a cold outside temperature.
How can cold temperature impact electric car batteries?
If you think about it a little bit closer, told temperature impacts the vehicle range. The battery has some chemical interactions that require a specific temperature range to operate properly. If the temperature drops below the minimum requirement, the better it will not operate right, and it will not produce the desired electric supply.
Cold temperature impacts the vehicle's battery conductivity and diffusivity. As a result, your battery will need more time to get charged, and the range will reduce over time.
The other thing to think about is that when you start charging your battery, it will not start charging unless the temperature exceeds the freezing point. In other words, some specific regulations and systems in the battery prevents much fast charging or charging when the temperature of the battery is extremely cold.
That also impacts the vehicle range, and you'll notice that the car needs more time to get charged, but in reality, it needs more time to start charging after it reaches a specific minimum temperature.
How about Tesla?
Interestingly, although temperature might reduce the car range significantly, some recent studies showed that Tesla uses a smart technology that significantly reduces the impact of cold temperature on the vehicle range.
The company relies on two ways to reduce this temperature's impact on the vehicle range. The first is relying on a specific thermal management system that allows your battery to stay healthy even if the temperature drops outside.
The other way is that Tesla incorporated a fixed efficiency value on your vehicle dashboard, which means that the number you see on the dashboard does not get impacted by external factors. This allows the driver to see a similar range despite the outside temperature continuously.
What about high temperatures?
We mentioned earlier that your vehicle range does not like cold temperatures, but the main question remains how does temperature affect electric vehicle range when it's very hot?
Experts mentioned that cold and hot temperatures are not good for your vehicle, but they'll have different impacts.
Suppose you store your electric vehicle in a very hot summer outside. In that case, the battery itself will decorate because of heat, and it will go through what's known as calendar aging, which degrades the battery before it reaches the end of its lifetime.
The opposite of what we mentioned will happen when the temperature is extremely hot. The battery will work fast, and the chemical reactions will happen very quickly and beyond the capability of your battery.
As a result, you'll notice that increasing the temperature will cause some secondary reactions that your battery is unprepared for. It will create some internal component problems that will damage your battery in no time.
Can I charge my battery when it's very hot outside?
The impact of heat on your body does not only stop in a general situation. Things get more complicated if you're trying to charge the battery and it's extremely hot outside beyond what the battery can handle.
Experts mentioned that charging the battery during hot temperatures can easily damage your battery and will increase the internal forces that will impact the internal ions inside the battery itself. As a result, you'll overstress the battery and cause damage to the inside of it.
There are lots of technical elements that go into the impact of temperature on your battery. However, since this is beyond the article's scope, the only thing you need to know and keep in mind is that you got to maintain your vehicle in a specific range of battery that's not extremely hot and extremely cold if you want to maintain the electric vehicle range.
Tips for protecting your electric vehicle range from temperature
As we indicated before, our temperature can impact your vehicle range significantly; therefore, it is essential that you understand a couple of tips to help you maintain the electric vehicle range when it comes to extreme temperatures. Let's take a closer look at some of the recommendations:
1. Reduce using unnecessary systems
If you don't need to turn on the AC system or the heater, do not do so. These systems can easily drain the battery and cause your vehicle tools at strange significantly. Instead, try opening the windows and eliminating long times with a system that's unnecessary if you want to extend the vehicle range. This way, you don't only need to focus on how does temperature affect electric vehicle range, but also, what other factors I need to consider.
2. Avoid shorter trips
Allow it to sit if you don't necessarily need to drive your car. In other words, combine your trips and avoid consistent stops that are not needed because they can easily deplete the battery charge and reduce the vehicle's range.
Take your time charging the battery
It's recommended that you allow your vehicle to take its time overnight to charge the battery, so you don't have to go to extremely hot locations and open areas where the temperature is very hot outside to charge the battery.
3. Choose your parking location carefully
If you plan to park your electric vehicle, choose the parking location carefully. You should park it in the shadow and avoid direct exposure to extremely hot sun rays.
4. Reduce unnecessary accessories
Since you learned about how temperature affects electric vehicle range, you must reduce this stress as much as possible You don't necessarily have to have all accessories turned on simultaneously or connected to your electric vehicle unless required.
5. Avoid overloading your electric vehicle
Finally, it's recommended that you reduce the stress on your electric vehicle as much as possible to maintain the battery and extend the range. For example, suppose you add too many items in your vehicle that are not necessary. In that case, you're increasing the load, which will cause some stress on the vehicle and require supplying more power to run; therefore, it will impact your vehicle range.
Therefore, if the temperature is extremely hot outside and you're still adding more stuff to stress the car, you're increasing the impact of this hot temperature on the vehicle much more than it typically does.
Final thoughts
Learning one or two things about electric vehicles can help you prepare for the future of banning gasoline vehicles, especially if you're living in states like California or New York.
Electric vehicles can be black boxes for those who will never drive them or try what goes into them.
One of the most important aspects of electric vehicles is maintaining the range when you can drive your car without needing to charge it again.
Temperature is one of the most important factors that could impact your vehicle's range, and this article focused on how temperature affects electric vehicles' range.
We highlighted how extremely cold and extremely hot temperatures could impact your vehicle's range significantly and could result in destroying the vehicle battery.
If you're currently driving an electric vehicle that lost the battery because of excess or extremely low temperatures, that's not the end because you can always sell it and buy a better one.
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