In recent years, electric vehicles have become extremely popular. EVs are frequently promoted to us by our politicians as an effective and environmentally beneficial alternative to gas-powered automobiles as our society becomes more and more worried about “climate change.”
People probably anticipate EVs to perform effectively and dependably in some of the worst weather and driving situations in light of this marketing.
It didn’t work out like that. The country was battered by an unusual winter storm the week before Christmas, which brought to light some of the embarrassing hurdles that must still be overcome by EVs.
Real Clear Science released a paper on EV limits in cold weather on Thursday. The report emphasized the experiences many Americans had with EVs during the winter storm.
The fact that the EV range was apparently reduced by at least 40% in cold weather was perhaps the largest drawback for EVs.
According to the survey, those who travel far for the holidays frequently only manage 100 to 150 miles before needing to stop and rest. This is not only annoying, but it also adds a substantial amount of time to any road trip due to the limited range and the time required to stop and charge.
That brings up the other significant problem with EVs in cold weather: it has been reported that charging periods in below-freezing conditions virtually doubled from about 25 to 35 minutes to 45 to 60 minutes.
That was if the charging stations really functioned; a lot of them simply stopped working when it got too chilly for them.
The survey did point out, however, that EVs handled the cold weather very well, with the exception of the range limitations, and customers who drove locally in the cold had no problems with their vehicles.
So while EVs typically function in cold weather, the recent storm demonstrated that there are still a number of issues with the technology that need to be resolved before it can completely replace gas-powered vehicles.
The limitations of EVs in the cold have previously been demonstrated. Earlier this month, a man in Kansas discovered that the cold weather had caused his EV’s driving range to drop by 20–50%.
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