Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Stewart
A study conducted earlier this year by the AAA found that when the mercury dips to 20°F and the heater is in use, an electric car’s operating range will drop by an average of 41 percent. That means if you own a Nissan Leaf, that’s otherwise rated to run for 150 miles on a charge, you’d likely only be drive for around 88 miles before having to plug it in. You’ll also find it takes longer to bring the vehicle’s battery pack up to a full charge. Frigid temperatures also limit an electric car’s regenerative braking function, which recovers energy that would otherwise be lost during decelerating or stopping and sends it back to the battery.
On top of that, using the heater will drain an electric vehicle’s battery at an accelerated pace. While gasoline engines generate large amounts of heat that can be harvested to warm a car’s interior, an electric car’s climate control system relies solely on battery power to accomplish this function.
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That was one of the unique design "wins" with the Chevy Volt.
The battery pack was liquid cooled, which means that in the summer you could minimize the impacts of the heat. Conversely, in the winter, you could "condition" the battery during charging, warming it to offset the effects of the cold.
Lastly, you could "precondition" the vehicle cabin, preheating the vehicle while it was still plugged into the wall (sort of a "remote start" for electric vehicles) and lessening the affects of using supplemental comfort heat while driving.
Even so, we still had some hard core supermilers that would drive around all winter without turning the heat on, in an effort to maximize their range or make their whole commute without turning the internal combustion engine on.
Was it truly almost 12 years ago that I started on that project?
K