The electric car winter weather survival guide
Winter can bring an added dose of anxiety for electric car owners, Ingram writes. Here are some tips for getting through winter with an electric car.
A plug is seen coming from the Chevrolet Volt electric car during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Mich., in this January 2009 file photo. While winter brings cold weather and occasional travel chaos, it can still be a time of year to enjoy for electric car owners, Ingram writes.
Mark Blinch/Reuters/File
Winter is well and truly here for many of us now, particularly in more northerly regions.
It brings with it not just snow, cold weather and a little extra danger on the roads, but also an added dose of anxiety for electric car owners.
Cold weather can play havoc with range, particularly when using heaters, lights and other functions to fight off the cold. It's a subject we've covered on several occasions, so we've brought several of our winter articles together into a single guide.
Winter tips
However little or often you plan to drive over winter, it's always wise to be prepared.聽
As a result, it might pay to remind yourself of聽--particularly relevant for those with electric聽聽lacking a thermally-managed battery pack. Dealt with correctly,聽.
While some tips required with regular, internal combustion vehicles don't apply to聽, our post on聽聽could also still be useful--particularly with regard to ensuring your tires are suitable. Many electric car owners already benefit from one of the suggestions--pre-heating the cabin. Plenty of Nissan Leaf owners are already enjoying toasty warm pre-heated cabins in the cold weather!
Winter range
Those same owners, and those who own other EVs without thermally-managed batteries, still need to be聽. It's wise, for example, to avoid trips which might push the range of your car--cold temperatures, unexpected traffic and winter-enforced detours may result in you running out before your destination.
We've looked at聽聽when the going gets cold, and聽. Without using the heater, you may still get 80 miles. But fire up the accessories, and you'd be wiser to stop every 50 miles or so to re-charge.
Electric car winter testing
Electric cars aren't completely un-prepared for winter, of course--many are actually tested in cold conditions, just like regular cars, to make sure they're suitable in all weathers.
We did just such a test聽, and again with a Volvo C30 in the Arctic Circle. With the Volvo, we were able to test just聽, with a small, gas-burning heater--you can聽. There's also a聽, which more than proved itself as a winter-ready electric car--it's just a shame they're not making it!
Other cars we've seen preparing for winter include the upcoming聽聽electric car, the聽, and the聽, which聽.
Fun in the snow
It needn't all be doom and gloom--while winter brings cold weather and occasional travel chaos, it can still be a time of year to enjoy. Even if you have an electric car.
How? Well, you could organize a small, local road trip for local聽听辞飞苍别谤蝉--听颈苍 Helsinki.
Alternatively, you could have even more fun. We certainly don't condone聽聽on the streets, but if you're lucky enough to have some private land, then it may be ideal for practicing your winter car control--you never know when it may come in handy on the streets.