Insider tips on preserving electric vehicle batteries during harsh winter weather
Electric vehicles are growing in popularity. However, they cannot travel as far or hold a charge in frigid temperatures.
Industry professionals and experts are working to come up with solutions to the problem.
“Commercially-available EV cars are less than 10, 12 years old. Another 10-15 years, these questions will be answered,” said Srinath Ekkad, the department head for mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University.
He said he believes there are several routes EV companies can take, including creating jackets or covers to keep batteries from getting too cold or changing the chemical make-up of the batteries. He also noted that using the heating system requires power from the car’s battery, which is another reason the cold temperatures can lead to a shorter driving range.
He said there is already a lot of research on the topic, and it’s possible some companies may already have a solution but need to find ways to get them on the market.
What cold temps do to EV batteries
Ekkad explained to WRAL how the batteries currently operate.
“The chemicals in there are converting into electricity via reaction. The reactions need certain energy to speed up. When it’s cold, they don’t get enough energy to speed up,” he said.
A 2019 AAA study found that the average driving range decreases by about 41% when the temperature hits 20 degrees.
“Overnight, my battery dropped like 20, 30%, just because of how cold it was,” said EV driver Felix Zhang. “I try to get as much battery as I can before, if I know it’s going to be a cold night. Last night, I wasn’t able to and didn’t realize it dropped so dramatically over night.”
Another driver, David Budd, had a similar experience.
“All summer it was great, but it’s starting to get cold now. You notice that overnight, it drops faster with the cold and the charge doesn’t hold as well,” he said.
It comes at a time of more investment in EV transportation. Wednesday, for example, Gov. Roy Cooper visited Durham to highlight the nearly $27 million poured into public schools across North Carolina for electric school buses. It’s largely considered a more eco-friendly option.
Ultimately, Ekkad said there is no single solution. Whatever those solutions are, he said it will take some time to implement them.
