Below are ten important effects of wildfires on electric vehicle performance:
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- Air quality impact on HVAC
- Charging infrastructure
- Battery performance
- Driving range
- Vehicle body
- Fire risk
- Emergency response
- Electronics and sensor inference
- Cabin air filters
- Thermal management system stress
There's been a lot of concern about the impact of Canadian wildfires on human health, and many articles posted regarding the impact of wildfire smoke on vehicles. However, there are some special impacts that you will notice on electric vehicles that you should be aware of if you are a current electric vehicle owner.
We already know that electric vehicles operate slightly differently than gasoline cars, and how they react to wildfire smoke is also expected to differ. Therefore, if you're planning to drive your electric car, you must know what to expect and how a wildfire will impact your vehicle's health.
This article highlights ten important effects of wildfires on electric vehicle performance. As you learn more about these effects, you'll be able to act proactively and understand what you need to do to avoid causing damage to your electric vehicle because of the Canadian wildfire smoke.
Effects of Wildfires on electric vehicle performance
Understanding the effects of wildfires on electric vehicle performance is very important for electric vehicle owners. If you know that your electric car will be stressed out most of the time, you will immediately think twice before using the vehicle for unnecessary trips.
Therefore, as long as the Canadian wildfire smoke is causing troubles with air quality in your area, you should keep in mind the following ten effects of wildfires on electric vehicle performance:
1. Air quality impact on HVAC
While you're relying on electricity to power your electric car, it still utilizes processes similar to what you see in gasoline cars. For example, the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, or what's known as the HVAC, is working pretty much the same way.
Since this system will interact with the air outside your car, it'll be stressed out most of the time if the air quality is not in good shape. Therefore, the system will work more when your air quality is degraded because of Canadian wildfire smoke. Therefore, you need to avoid driving your car as much as possible so you don't stress the system out and cause significant damage to your car.
2. Charging infrastructure
Another important effect of wildfire on electric vehicle performance is its impact on the infrastructure. As you might already know, your electric vehicle requires charges, and with the availability of EV charging stations, you can easily get your vehicle charged. However, with wildfire impacts, you might realize that it could cause damage to the electrical connections and the power lines.
The more damage to the power grid, the fewer the chances of finding available charging stations. This makes your experience very challenging and might force you to rely on other means of transportation than your electric vehicle.
3. Battery performance
Did you know that if you live closer to the wildfire areas, your electric vehicle battery performance might be significantly impacted? All these increased temperatures and the weather can reduce the performance of your electric car battery; if that happens, you won't achieve the proper range of your vehicle and might need to switch to some gasoline cars.
That's why if you feel that the battery performance is reduced, it is recommended that you think twice about wasting the vehicle on unnecessary trips that you can skip or combine so you reduce the chances of damaging your electric vehicle battery.
4. Driving range
The driving range is one of the most critical aspects of any electric vehicle; if you are enjoying the driving range of your electric car, you'll notice that it will not be the same when driving in areas impacted by wildfires, especially those with increased temperatures.
Not only if you live in that area of wildfire but also if the deteriorated air quality impacts your area, you're still going to see that your vehicle driving range is impacted. In other words, all this trust you will have in the HVAC system will translate into reduced performance and limited driving range.
5. Vehicle body
Whether you're driving an electric car or any gasoline vehicle, the damage that wildfire air smoke can significantly affects the vehicle's exterior. When all these contaminated particles sit on the car for a long time, they can cause some damage to the paint job and might even get to the point where they impact the vehicle's metal components.
The impact of wildfire on electric vehicle performance is not only limited to the exterior. Your vehicle body will be impacted by air seeping inside the car and reaching sensitive components, which might be a difficult situation that will cost you lots of money on Repair.
6. Fire risk
There is some evidence that one of the scariest effects of wildfire on electric vehicle performance is the risk of getting into fire. Because of all this extreme heat and increased temperatures, your vehicle might catch fire because of the inflammable opponents inside your car.
Therefore, you must follow all the available news and other online platforms to make you know whether you can drive your electric car safely in your area impacted by the Canadian wildfire smoke.
7. Emergency response
If you get into a situation where your electric car catches fire, you will need to follow different approaches to an emergency. This is because of the high voltage battery inside the vehicle that will cause the situation to be more severe than any fire impacting a gasoline car.
Therefore, you must educate yourself on what must be done if your electric car gets into a fire because of the wildfire impact and the increased external temperatures.
8. Electronics and sensor inference
When the temperature is extremely hot outside, and if there are a lot of particles contaminating your vehicle into your anterior, you'll notice that the internal sensors of your or your electric car are not working properly, which will impact the overall vehicle performance.
That's why you must monitor all these components and any weird behavior in your car. If you feel like the vehicle is not behaving the way it should come, you must take a closer look at all these components and ensure that the wildfire smoke in your area does not impact them.
9. Cabin air filters
Another critical effect of wildfire on electric vehicle performance is what happens to the air filters. This is an aspect that will be impacted regardless of your vehicle type and whether it's an electric or a gasoline vehicle.
Your air filters are going to be in contact with air quality all the time, and if you're dealing with areas impacted by the wildfire smoke from the Canadian side, your air filters might be suffering, and in that case, you'll need to replace them frequently.
10. Thermal management system stress
Finally, although your electric system does not have a cooling system, it doesn't have a thermal management system, and this system can get stressed out pretty quickly if the temperature is increased outside and if the overall vehicle is not performing to the point that is relaxed because of all the stress on the HVAC system.
Therefore, revisiting whether you should drive your electric car during this situation is always a good point. If you have a different option for driving your vehicle later on, and once the air quality is improved, that would be a better idea.
Effects of Wildfires on electric vehicle performance: Final Thoughts
Wildfires impacted many aspects of our lives, and whatever came from the Canadian side caused some stress to the people's health and other aspects. One thing that is not obvious to everybody is the impact of wildfire smoke on vehicles, specifically, the electric vehicle's performance.
This article walked you through everything you need to know about the effects of wildfires on electric vehicle performance. It highlighted all the potential negative impacts you should pay attention to and what you must do in each situation.
If you feel like your electric car is reaching the end of its lifetime, and all that's happening with the Canadian wildfire is impacting its performance, it might be a perfect time to sell it and buy a better one.
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