- 21 hours ago
Contrary to all preconceptions, electric cars are particularly suited to cold and snowy weather. REV gives you a few tips to help you avoid the pitfalls and get the most out of driving an EV in winter.
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00:00An electric car in winter? In cold and snow? Can e-mobility really handle these conditions?
00:06We'll show you why an electric car, despite common doubts, can be especially practical in winter
00:12and how you can reliably get around. So, what's the deal with EVs in winter?
00:18I can tell you there's nothing better. Though there are a few things to get used to and a
00:24couple to be aware of to keep things from going wrong in winter. Today I'll walk you through
00:28them. Let's go. I've been driving electric cars since 2014 and fought my way through several
00:36winters with them. And I can tell you there's nothing cooler than an EV in winter. Though
00:41there are some things you need to come to terms with, and that's what we're doing today. I'll
00:46give you some tips based on my experience driving an EV through many winters. I'll start by looking
00:55at one really big advantage. That's also a tip. Pre-conditioning.
01:02Here I have an app for my BMW i4. These days most EVs have one, and in the app there
01:08will
01:08usually be an option to pre-condition your car. That means I can turn on the heating in
01:15the car quite easily when it's parked outside. And while I'm shoveling snow or finishing my
01:20breakfast, the car is heating up outdoors and the cabin's already warm. And that's not just
01:30pleasant. It's also way easier scraping the windshield, if I even need to do it at all.
01:36And this i4 has frameless windows. That means when I open the door, the window has to go down a
01:43bit
01:43before the door will open. It's prone to freezing shut in winter, so pre-conditioning helps you make
01:49the cabin the right temperature. And then the windows will go down and you don't risk breaking
01:55the glass. And if you do all this at a charging station, or at a wall box at home if
02:02you have one,
02:03you just plug in the charging cable, and the power used to preheat the car no longer comes from the
02:08battery.
02:14So instead of reducing your range, the power comes from the grid, making it range neutral.
02:19And that's fantastic. So the BMW is warmed up, so let's take it for a spin.
02:29I'll turn down the heat a bit so it's not so loud on the mic, that's always annoying. But it's
02:34already
02:35nice and warm in here. The windscreen's already clear, I just need to turn on the wipers. When I preheat,
02:42the rear window heating is also activated, so the snow at the back slides down too. So far so good.
02:49Let's head out, and I'll get to the next really cool thing about EVs, their torque. An electric motor
02:55delivers torque instantly. There are no gears to shift. You step on it and it's there right away. In winter,
03:01that means you can control the car very precisely with the accelerator, while the car's electronics
03:07handle the rest. It's much more finely controlled than a combustion engine, and in situations like
03:14this, that helps you pull away more smoothly. Whether it's front, rear, or all-wheel drive,
03:20it just puts you in a good mood. You can really fine-tune things. You can use regenerative braking instead
03:30of the brakes, drive at a steady pace without rushing, and still make good progress. This car
03:40has rear-wheel drive, so you can put your foot down a little. The electronics adapt right away.
03:46That's because they can regulate torque so well. It's there instantly, no need to downshift or anything,
03:53and that's really great. Some electric cars even have two motors, a lot of them do, with one on the
04:03front axle and one on the rear. That basically gives you all-wheel drive. It's relatively easy to do,
04:09much easier than in the old days of combustion engines, when Audi, for example, created great systems
04:15with its Haldex clutch, and a lot of mechanical stuff. Here, you just add another electric motor
04:23on the front or rear axle. That's pretty quick to do. In a car like this, you're the king of
04:29the road.
04:30With good snow tires, you'll have few rivals. Just step on it, and off you go.
04:36But don't be fooled. When it comes to braking, we're all in the same boat.
04:39Drive carefully in winter. Don't overestimate your abilities, even if the torque makes you feel like,
04:45yeah, I'm doing great. The moment I brake, I'm going to skid just as much as any other car.
04:55So, rear-wheel drive with good snow tires lets you drive really well, and that's what I love about EVs.
05:01For me, it's not so much about whether they're better or worse for the environment. You could have long
05:06discussions about that. Financially, I find it's no more expensive than a combustion engine car.
05:12By most calculations, it's actually a lot cheaper. Plus, it just drives better,
05:20and that's something you notice more in winter than in summer.
05:27Now, my third point, consumption. My tip here is to be prepared for changes.
05:33We've put 30, almost 40,000 kilometers on this rear-engined I-4. Over the whole year,
05:40our average consumption is under 20 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometers. In summer,
05:46it's around 16 or 17, and in winter, well over 20. It averages out to about 20 kilowatt-hours per
05:54100
05:55kilometers. When I showed you earlier how I use preconditioning to make the car
06:03warm and cozy, that used a lot of power for the heating. I hadn't gone a single kilometer yet,
06:09but of course, it changes the whole consumption profile. So part of the time driving around the
06:15city, I use over 20 kilowatt-hours and often over 30. On short trips, I've even seen consumption top
06:2240 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometers. That happens pretty easily because so many things are using power.
06:29The heating, even though it's a heat pump, still has a lot to do to warm the whole cabin.
06:34At the same time, you can preheat the battery for charging, which I'll come to in a moment,
06:39and that also uses power. With all these systems running that wouldn't normally be on,
06:44you're simply using more electricity. And when you use preconditioning, you get consumption like this,
06:53without even moving a single kilometer. So be prepared for significantly higher consumption
07:00and much less range. I'd say an EV loses at least a third of its range in winter. Older models
07:07can lose
07:08roughly half compared to summer. But with newer models that have heat pumps and other tech,
07:14it's usually around a third less.
07:24On top of that, the battery is cold, another important tip to keep in mind.
07:28If the car has been outside all night, the battery will be ice cold and can't deliver its full
07:33performance. So when you accelerate, you won't get the full punch. Older EVs, like my parents' old
07:41E-Golf, even had a display showing how fit the battery was and how much performance you could
07:47demand at that moment. When it was cold, it wasn't at full power, but on a long drive, the needle
07:57would
07:57climb. I don't have an indicator like that in this car, but I know it was parked outside in sub
08:06-zero
08:06temperatures, so the battery is cold and I won't have full performance. Not while driving, not during
08:13regenerative braking, and especially not while charging. So for my next tip, let's head to a charging
08:22station in winter. Here we're dealing with an effect you really need to watch out for in winter. The
08:31car's charging curve changes dramatically because the battery cells are cold, which slows everything
08:36down. The battery simply can't take in as much energy. Of course, it still holds the same amount
08:42of energy. A 70 kilowatt-hour battery holds the same amount whether it's summer or winter. But
08:48everything happens a bit slower, and it can't deliver the performance we're used to in spring,
08:53summer or fall. This car has a peak charging capacity of over 150 kilowatts. But now let's go
09:01around and look at this miserable sight at the charging point. With the battery actually at 23%,
09:07we only have 33 kilowatts of charging capacity. That means a stop here on a longer holiday trip might
09:16not take the planned 20 or 25 minutes, but 30, 40 or even 45. You can optimize a bit by
09:23bringing the
09:24battery up to temperature first. On longer highway drives, it's already warm, so this isn't an issue.
09:33The battery here is truly cold, but I can let the car warm it up. A lot of cars let
09:42you precondition the
09:43battery, so it heats up during the drive. But that uses power, which increases consumption. It's a bit
09:49like robbing Peter to pay Paul. But it makes sense on a long trip, and you don't want your charging
09:55stop
09:55to take too long. Many EVs do this battery preconditioning automatically when you tell your sat-nav
10:03where you want to go, and the car suggests charging stations. If you say, I want to drive to Cologne,
10:10it'll say you need two, three, four, or however many charging stops. And like many EVs, this BMW then
10:17preheats the battery at the right time, so you arrive at the station with the battery at the ideal
10:23temperature and keep the waiting time as short as possible. But in general, you should expect higher
10:29consumption, shorter range, and more charging stops. And those stops will take longer because the
10:36car won't charge as fast as you're used to in the summer.
10:45And I've got two more tips for you that are really important when driving an EV in winter.
10:51The first is about the 12-volt battery. You heard that right, every electric car has a 12-volt battery.
10:56Just like the old VW Beetle, EVs have one too. Yet many EV drivers either don't know that or don't
11:04care. But here in this car, under the fancy plastic cover, is a completely normal 12-volt battery. And
11:11here in the engine compartment, you can see the terminal if you ever need to give a jump or charge
11:16the battery. Here's the 12-volt terminal, and under the grating, you can see the built-in 12-volt battery.
11:26Of course, a 12-volt battery will eventually give up the ghost. Especially in an older EV,
11:32the battery is already a few years old. Then you run into the same problem they had with the VW
11:39Beetle.
11:39In winter, it wouldn't start because the 12-volt battery had gone on the fritz.
11:48So it's worth checking it from time to time. You can use a trickle charger now and then to keep
11:53the battery healthy. Just like in a combustion engine, it won't fully charge if you're only
11:58driving short distances. And my second important tip, keep a little winter gear kit in your car.
12:08I always have a couple pairs of gloves in the trunk, because when you end up at an outdoor
12:13charging station handling wet cables and plugs, it's not very pleasant. So I keep some gloves in the
12:19trunk I can put on to keep my hands dry and clean. And secondly, especially in weather like this,
12:28I always keep several safety vests in the car. I tuck them in the door pockets so they're easy to
12:35reach.
12:36We're a family of four, so there can be two, three or four of us in the car.
12:41And even if you've done nothing wrong, if a truck turns in front of you and traffic comes to a
12:46halt,
12:46you can put on a reflective vest if you need to get out of the car.
12:52For safety's sake, I always keep these on board. Make sure you do too.
13:00Driving an EV in winter is really pleasant. I can only recommend it. It handles well, the
13:06pre-conditioning is excellent, and you don't need to worry about getting stuck in long traffic jams.
13:11You're sitting in a warm, dry car with the heat on, while drivers in combustion engine cars
13:16probably have to turn off their engines, so they're not running for no reason.
13:23Of course, the battery can run out, but with sensible planning, it's just like a gas-powered car.
13:28You could also get stuck in traffic with no fuel, and then you wouldn't have any heating.
13:33So I don't see it as an advantage or disadvantage. In general, my advice is, drive carefully and
13:42defensively. You might get there five or ten minutes later, but you'll arrive safely.
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