Electric Vehicles and Cold Weather
A big problem with a simple solution.
In “Why you might want a heat pump in your electric car,” WaPo climate zeitgeist reporter (!) Shannon Osaka tries way too hard to defend EVs from the simple fact that they’re currently not great in cold weather:
Lithium-ion batteries perform more sluggishly in cold temperatures, cutting into an electric car’s range when temperatures drop close to freezing. (For what it’s worth, gas-powered cars also don’t perform perfectly in the cold.)
But that’s really beside the point, no?
Two factors account for why electric vehicles have a slightly harder time in cold weather than gas-powered cars. One stems from the simple reality that the massive lithium-ion batteries in electric cars perform best around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. “Cars are like humans,” said Anna Stefanopoulou, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan. “They like room temperature.”
At cold temperatures, lithium ions — which flow from the anode of the battery to the cathode of the battery to create an electrical current — move more slowly through the battery and face greaterresistance. That causes the battery to function less efficiently.
But the second reason has to do with the human sitting inside. No one wants to sit in a frigid car during the winter. When it’s cold, gas-powered cars can redirect waste heat from the engine into the cabin to warm the driver and passengers. (Gas-powered cars aren’t particularly efficient — when the engine is on, only about 20 percent of the energy produced is actually going to turn the wheels.)
Gas vehicles “produce so much wasted heat,” said Scott Case, the CEO of Recurrent, a data science company that focuses on electric vehicles. “It’s a smart idea from an engineering perspective to make lemonade out of lemons.”
Again, while it’s true as a matter of physics that gasoline-powered vehicles waste a lot of energy and that the heat they produce is a byproduct of said waste, that really doesn’t matter if one’s concern is the vehicle conking out and leaving the driver stranded and freezing to death.
Electric cars, however, are super efficient. According to the Department of Energy, EVs use over 75 percent of their energy to propel the car. That means that there isn’t much waste heat available. Instead, many EVs warm their passengers through electric resistance heating (essentially heating a wire and blowing air over it).
Cabin heating accounts for the lion’s share of what drains the EV battery in cold temperatures. According to a 2019 study from AAA that tested five different EVs in 20-degree-Fahrenheit temperatures, on average the cars lost about 41 percent of their range with the cabin heater on. With the cabin heater off, however, they lost only about 12 percent of their range.
But here’s the thing: when it’s 20 degrees out, people are going to turn the damn heat on to avoid losing appendages. It really doesn’t matter how energy efficient the vehicle is without the heater on.
After so many paragraphs of weird defensiveness, though, we get to the important part:
But not all EVs are created equal. According to a study from Recurrent that looked at real-world data from thousands of electric vehicles, EVs can lose anywhere from only 3 percent (the Jaguar I-PACE) to 32 percent (the Chevy Bolt) of their range in subzero temperatures, depending on how the car manages cold weather.
Part of that, according to Case, is whether the car uses inefficient electric resistance heating or a much more efficient electric heat pump. Heat pumps work like air conditioners, moving heat instead of creating it — so they can be three to four times more efficient than other forms of heating.
Recurrent’s data compares cars like the Tesla Model Y — which comes standard with a heat pump — to cars like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, where no models offer a heat pump. According to the study, the Mustang loses almost 30 percent of its range at 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit, while the Model Y loses only about 15 percent.
“A car with a heat pump does much better when it drops down to freezing than one without,” Case said.
There are other means to minimize range loss when it’s cold. Many EVs come with seat heaters or even heated steering wheels, which can warm passengers without heating the cars entire interior. Some cars use the minimal waste heat from the engine to warm the battery and make the charge last longer. EV drivers can also direct their cars to warm up the battery while the car is still plugged in, again extending the range of the vehicle while driving.
That an easy, already-available, technological fix for the problem exists is the story, right? Ford and Chevy are doing it wrong and need to switch over to better technology.
(But even this section is weird. Seat heaters are nice but they don’t eliminate the need for cabin heat. My Mazda SUV has seat heaters and I enjoy them when it’s cold out, especially when I get into a cold vehicle, but I’ll turn them off at some point on a longer drive and still have the cabin heat on.)
This is also a small comfort, I guess:
One thing is certain, however — a stopped EV can keep its occupants warm for long periods of time in a snowstorm pileup. After the Virginia highway debacle, many EV owners, YouTubers and journalists tested their electric cars in freezing temperatures to see what would happen. One journalist for Car and Driver found that, at subfreezing temperatures, his Tesla Model 3 with a resistance heater could keep the cabin warmed to 65 degrees Fahrenheit for a maximum of 45 hours. That number could rise to 50 or 60 hours with a heat pump.
“You don’t have to worry about being stuck in long winter traffic jams,” Case said.
My sister-in-law recently got a Model 3 and, sure enough, she’s had significant range issues in the cold weather. Partly, that’s a function of her not having a charging station at home and living in a relatively remote exurb of Annapolis, making planning charging more difficult than it would here in Northern Virginia. Conversely, a work colleague who bought the same model, partly inspired by having inherited a Tesla charging station in the garage of his home, has had no real issues.
There are mountains of misinformation coming out over social media on EVs – cold weather is currently (no pun intended) en vogue, but “concerns” over the electrical infrastructure, and a sudden empathy for children mining lithium in African strip mines have become de rigeur across Facebook as well.
Oil companies are very, very frightened. Rather than change and adapt, they are focused on spreading as much FUD as possible.
In about 10 years you won’t be able to buy an IC engine car in California – and we are 12% of the American population.
We live in interesting times.
@Tony W:
Are we going to expand the charging systems by, say, 20 times in the next ten years? Because if not, then no, that won’t happen. Cannot happen, not without far, far more charging stations in far more locations. I have a Volvo EV and it’s great for around town when I know I’ll end up back at my garage. An insufferable pain in the ass for any kind of distance driving. It’s like being a pioneer in a Conestoga wagon praying for a watering hole.
We live in MN with a plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. Our generator engine comes on when below 20 degrees every once in a while even when we have plenty of battery as more efficient to use gas to provide both heat and propulsion at that temp.
However you are a bit dismissive of Chevy Bolt. This is a car with lots of range, even in the cold, and is priced WAY lower than the other vehicles mentioned. In many locales cold weather is not an issue so affordability is a reasonable priority.
Second, the Bolt has plenty of range in the cold for its primary purpose-around town driving and a commuter car.
There are plenty here in MN and owners really like them. If we needed a second car it would be our choice even in the Frozen North.
OMG heaters are a big problem with EVs and well it’s not really that big and there is a solution already in widespread use. Silly story. Heaters sucked on air cooled Beetles, people and VW adapted. Range/charging is the real issue.
Range anxiety in colder weather is a valid concern, but automakers are aware of this and are working on improvements.
We are considering an EV for our next car, but need to feel a bit better about charging infrastructure and performance in cold weather before we will buy.
Michael’s story about travel over the holidays only to find out-of-service EV charging stations added a whole new aspect of concern for me, as I’m picturing public EV charging areas becoming akin to women’s bathrooms at highway rest areas: lots of “out of order” signs and an interminable queue for the ones in operation.
I think I’ll just hold out for fusion cars to be invented 🙂
When I lived in Wyoming, everyone had an electric heater installed in the engine block by knocking out one of the freeze plugs. Where I was working (an electric power plant) every parking space had an electric outlet so you could plug it in.
@Michael Reynolds: Agree on the range anxiety.
99% of my driving, what little there is, is around San Diego. I have not been more than 20 miles from my house in more than a year.
That said, I think we’re settled on a plug-in hybrid for the next car at this point because it will allow an electric-only experience for the driving we actually do, while not closing the door to a road trip. My kids/grandkids live out of state, so that’s always a possibility.
@Tony W: – Oh, and I can charge it up with my solar panels and stick it to the man.
Nothing is more satisfying than “sticking it to the man”.
@Tony W: We will be driving our Volt from MN to San Diego in February. Plug in hybrid for the win (esp at 40+ mpg).
We add no gas from March-October unless road-tripping as 60 mile electric range works well for our local needs and if need a bit more range the remaining gas will provide it. But that is rare as we have a home charger with a 100% wind power plan so are always leaving the house with a full charge.
For 1 car families or where one needs a vehicle for occasional trips, a plug in hybrid is, for now, the best choice.
Maybe this will mean that Marylanders will actually keep a car in their three car attached garage instead of piles of half forgotten toys, never used sports equipment, and endless plastic bins that they have no idea about?
@Jen: As noted above, a plug in hybrid may be a good choice to avoid range/cold anxiety but still do a lot of EV driving.
I live in a central city row-house area and FWIW the local utility/Shell just installed two charging stations, each with two cords, right in front of my house.
Question for those who have EV’s now: how can you tell how much a charger is costing you? There is no price/kw on it.
@MarkedMan: it is probably part of one of the charger groups (chargepoint for example) and their apps tell you cost, availability, what is in use, etc.
This is especially weird since all the cars do have a heat pump already: the air conditioner, it just needs to be made into a bidirectional one
@James R Ehrler: Thanks. There is an app that goes with it. Another question: how can I tell how expensive the power is compared to gas prices?
@MarkedMan: you have to find out how efficient your car will be in kWh per mile. Here is a site that lists a bunch of EVs
@MarkedMan: ate my link. Just search for EV efficiency. That covers how far a charge of x kWh will take you. Then see what the charger charges per kWh or per time. That will get you in the ballpark.
However if it is a time based charger note that EVs charge quicker up to 70-80% but then slow down for the final bit. That means on a time based charger those last bits of kWh are more expensive.
@James R Ehrler: thanks
@MarkedMan: Or that the plug-in electric car will become one of the half-forgotten toys. (I happen to live in an area where people routinely own RVs and remember a conversation recently with a person who decided to sell his Class A when he realized that they hadn’t used it in 3 years.)
@MarkedMan: The Fred Meyer/Kroger stores in my area have charging stations. Being curious about the exact same question, I looked at one closely one day. The appear to have a fixed fee for a specific run time and use either an ID number for a membership or take Visa, MC, whatever.
@James R Ehrler: What I need is a hybrid 4WD truck for work. The places I work are usually in remote locations both in terms of gas/charging stations and pavement.
I don’t think there are any hydrid trucks at the moment.
Hmmmm…
My 1969 orange corvette convertible has no heating problems but is VERY loud, has horrible gas milage and no passenger capacity or luggage space. My 2017 orange Chevy Bolt had really great range and, yes, had reduced range in winter. (The Bolt is gone because of an overly generous GM buy-back.). As to heating, the Bolt had heated seats and heated steering wheel and both of those were far more battery efficient in keeping me warm than the toaster-oven function of its heater.
There is no one car that can do it all, whether ICE or EV. But yet when the conversations turn to EV, the expectation is: that it will fit in the garage, seat a soccer team with gear, get 500 miles between charges, go 200 MPH, have concierge services on every block, recharge in 5 minutes and have an espresso maker feature for everyone… or else it isn’t as good as an ICE car guldarn it.
Like the tobacco companies promoting the heath features of cigarettes, we will all likely see (in 10 years or so) the money spent by the oil companies to disparage electric.
Still, the next car will likely again be electric. For all the right reasons.
@Jen:
That right there is a huge problem for electric cars. I went to see the family in a very rural rustbelt area just after the big winter storm rolled through. Saw 18 different cars on the side of the road in various levels of destruction stuck in the snow/ice (including a couple upside down). Saw a bunch more cars on the side of the road that were visually in good shape. I have no idea how EV cars would of handled that.
What I do know is that the locals and my family were all dismissive of EVs as being death traps due to a lack of recharge ability and the weather being so cold and windy for +4 months of the year. I was at least able to get them to acknowledge that hybrid cars were viable which was surprising. These were the kind of rural religious conservatives that railed against hybrids +20 years ago. The ragging on electric cars was spontaneously started by family members during unrelated conversation. I’m not sure what media they are consuming that has been mentioning EV. What I do know is that current EVs are a pipe dream in rural areas where driving +40 miles one way just to get to the local walmart is a thing.
If California wants to ban IC engines they are going to need to invest massively in charger infrastructure. If EV makers want to make inroads into the rustbelt and other cold areas they are going to need to setup a whole lot of charging stations and work on the below 0 problems.
As for hybrids..
I cannot find any information on this but I know that the older hybrids have issues with water condensation in the oil if you don’t take the car for a long distance trip occasionally. If you’re just doing a bunch of short hops the engine never gets warm enough to get rid of the water that condensates internally and it can cause the oil to turn into a milkshake of water/oil. So if you have a hybrid make sure to take it out on the highway until the engine warms up.
This problem applies to IC engines in general. The nature of hybrids just amplify the problem.
EDIT : The Prius has a system to try to combat this problem but….
@Michael Reynolds: I think the California law is more inspirational than practical.
The deadline will get pushed back when the infrastructure cannot support it, but not as much as you might expect because the current deadline will push more spending on the infrastructure.
Or there will just be a lot of auto dealerships on the other side of the state line.
(I’d prefer a push towards high mpg, with full electric being one option, rather than a mandate on full electric. Implement it with higher registration costs for low mpg vehicles and higher gas taxes, and then you avoid just pushing sales across the border)
@BugManDan: yeah don’t think there are.
I am curious about information on the envionmental effects of the production of the electricity that Electric Vehicles and hybrid conveyances use. How much of that electricity is generated from fossil fuels and how much derived from alternative, renewable sources. Do we know if the pollution generated by this additional output of electricity is less than the pollution that would be generated by internal combustion engines doing the same amount of work?
Also, my current electric bill (31 days ending Dec. 28, 2022) which includes the cost of using an electric forced air furnace for heat lists 8 different mandated charges and tax that total to $52 that is added to the $406 charge for supply and delivery of the power. If I buy an EV and install a charger at my residence will my electric bill include yet more tarrifs akin to the State and Federal taxes that I pay on a gallon of gasoline for highway and bridge construction and mass transit?
@Matt: Plug-in hybrids that propel completely on electricity up to top speeds don’t generally have this issue.
The volt very occasionally will start the gas generator in the summer for engine maintenance to get the engine to temp. It also uses synthetic oil and notifies you when time or engine usage merits a change. For us it is always the 2 year time limit.
As one of the first plug-in hybrids Chevy really did their homework but I think all the ones where the engine doesn’t need to start up to help the electric motor propel the car to highway speeds have licked this issue
@MarkedMan:
I use mostly free charging stations, so the cost is irrelevant. But I also use chargers on the Chargepoint system. It’s very easy to use through the app, and you can monitor exactly how long/much you want/need to charge. It runs around $.21 per KWH. If I were at 0% power on my battery, it would cost approx $3.40 to “fill up” to 100% on my small 17.4 KWH battery. That will get me approx 100 miles of travel. My SUV would use about $37.61 in gas for that same 100 miles. My sports car would use about $29.44 for those same 100 miles.
If you charge at home, you can see on your power bill what a KWH cost you. When I have to charge at home, I do so after 11pm, and before 7am, where the KWH cost goes down from $.20 to $.16 per KWH.
In my little single seat EV, I have been running with the heater and seat warmers on during my morning commute to deal with the 40 degree mornings. It’s cut my range by about 10%, which doensn’t affect me at all. I can still get back and forth to work, and run a few errands mid day as needed, without needing additional juice.
@BugManDan:
@James R Ehrler:
Here’s a list of 11 Hybrid works trucks.
https://luxe.digital/lifestyle/cars/best-hybrid-pickup-trucks/
The heat pump discussion is mostly inaccurate. A heat pump will at most provide a differential temperature of 50F from the outside temperature, and the efficiency varies based of the difference. This means if it is 10F outside, the vent might be blowing out air at 60F (and the cabin won’t reach 60F). At 10 below it is useless. OK for Miami, not for Minneapolis.
@EddieInCA: thanks! Didn’t know Ford was doing a hybrid 150. Doesn’t look like a plug in hybrid tho
@BugManDan: I don’t know if anyone got here before me, but look at vehicle numbers 5 and 7 for your options in 4WD hybrid trucks.
@Just nutha ignint cracker: Looks like number 8 may meet BugMan’s specs, too.
@Liberal Capitalist:
Put an espresso maker in, and I wouldn’t even care if the car moves, much less about its range.
@Kathy: You’re welcome
@Kathy:
My 56 ve didn’t have this, unfortunately…
H/t to Cracker for the find
@Michael Reynolds: Unless there is proper attention as well to the grid upgrades as well, the answer is no.
Unfortunatley as a combination of economic innumeracy and technical wishful thinking, the Lefty crunchy granola side of the equation is hand-waiving away real challenges as the being principally the big-bad Oil Companies and Right Wing politics – that is understanding via the lens of politics mirroring unfortunately the right side.
Now of course it is true in the USA land the incoherent (and outdated, indeed willfully ignorant) right opposition to all things EV, Renewable Energy, is indeed a source of dezinformatsia but inattention to the real technical binding constraints, and significantly problematic investment needs for both EV and utility scale RE investment (of which the problematic side is not merely capital mobilisation but the permitting and approvals to have roll-outs in a timely and efficient fashion, not only to meet deadlines but to hold down costs as time is literally money in these cases).
Infra upgrades for RE and EV really needs your attention – having some mother side cousins in USA land who are utility engineers re a certain major grid, the concerns on this are really substantial. Speeding and smoothing permitting for both transmission level and distribution level modernisations and reinforcement can not wait or you will have serious stability and reliability issues – which in turn will undercut but political and investment cases (and hand the innumerate idiot USA Right opposition to RE avoidable wins)
@Mister Bluster: this depends on the specific grid and the national (or in USA land, regional grid) basis. Pollution is a seperate issue from climate – point controle of particulates etc is vastly more effective on centralised generation than point (as in cars). Carbon emmission factor is rather fuzzier, although an end-state goal EV should end up being a net positive (with grid upgrades) on higher efficiency rates. That said, as in fact one of my current real projects is the investment case analysis for green investment for a regional smart grid in a lower middle-income geography, with a heavy coal-base for baseload generation, we already know the EV impact is a current net negative from our carbon side analysis.
The european side funders obsession with EVs over hybrids is blinkered, for such countries given the grid state (notably distribution level) and infra upgrade needs, hybrids are a much more sensible response, but EV has become an ideological rather than technical goal in certain quarters.
@Lounsbury: My solar panels and commitment to nearly 100% local driving only, makes the grid irrelevant. Also, I’m in southern California, so we get sunshine here nearly every day. There are others like me.
Sunshine or no sunshine, I can see this failing hugely in Texas due to their insistence on making their grid as unreliable as possible, but that won’t be fixed as long as the oil companies fear EVs the way they do today.
Ultimately, we have the money and technology to do whatever the lobbyists let us do.
My preference would be to do away with most privately owned cars altogether and move people toward walking and public transportation, with taxi/uber/lyft (preferably self-driving) filling in the gaps.
Cars are dangerous, expensive, and noisy – and, as cute as she is, your Aunt Clara has no business navigating a 7000 pound behemoth at 45 miles per hour down a residential street. Cars also take up acres of land around every business, and pollute the air and land around them.
@Tony W:
And… there’s the assumption that everyone is within walking distance of where they need to go, and that they’re all packed together close enough to make public transit effective.
My daily commute is 20 miles each way. That’s a long walk. And the nearest bus station is… right in front of my workplace.
@Tony W: @Mu Yixiao: Getting rid of something like the automobile is a dystopian fantasy unmoored from the realities of American life. There is theoretically a way to live near transit that would get me to Quantico and my wife to the Pentagon on a daily basis at great expense,inconvenience, and disruption of our preferred lifestyle but most people don’t have that as even a theoretical possibility.
@Richard Gardner:
I came here to point that out. Heat pumps have disadvantages, like anything else, and the notion that they are always better than resistance or other methods is just dumb.
————
Anyway, we would like to get an EV for the little commuting we do, but they are horrendously expensive right now, even used ones.
@Lounsbury:..EV has become an ideological rather than technical goal in certain quarters.
Thank you for the response.
@Tony W:
Anectdote is not data.
Unless you are sans grid connexion at all and living as one of those weird off-grid survivalists in a cabin, your overall surrounded local economic web upon which you depend is grid dependent and grid instability and at worst collapse will effect you. Your pious individual habits unless shared by a significant majority of the population your region, are merely virtue signaling and irrelevant to the overall situation.
The grid needs upgrading to enable RE to achieve the potential and given infra lead times, the Lefties need to stop their foolish magical thinking and virtue signaling pieties as response and look at massive infra facilatation and spend…. the first being the point they generally dislike, facilitation
Uber/Lyft can not replace / fill gap, that is completely incoherent.
Pious green-crunch granola hair-shirt aspirations are utterly policy irrelevant. Privately owned cars are a dominant consumer preference and that is that. I dislike cars myself and adore walking and trains…. but I do not mistake my personal preferences as scaleable to public policy, not even in a European context. Magical pony aspirations are rather besides the point.
@Mister Bluster: your selection of quote gives the impression that you have misunderstood. To avoid avoidable misunderstanding that comment is with respect to EU policy, funding and developing markets – EVs as I noted elsewhere are more efficient and in developed markets with solid grids, even if the grid is heavily carbonised in generation assets, generally are a net gain from an overall effiicency and thus energy inputs PoV.
However making an ideological rather than technological choice of unique focus on EV versus hybrid is impractical for certain markets – especially developing but also for some places like USA land where hybrid is likely more pragmatic for the wide rural West for example. Part of a toolkit.
@Lounsbury:..your selection of quote gives the impression that you have misunderstood. To avoid avoidable misunderstanding that comment is with respect to EU policy, funding and developing markets – EVs as I noted elsewhere are more efficient and in developed markets with solid grids, even if the grid is heavily carbonised in generation assets, generally are a net gain from an overall effiicency and thus energy inputs PoV.
However making an ideological rather than technological choice of unique focus on EV versus hybrid is impractical for certain markets – especially developing but also for some places like USA land where hybrid is likely more pragmatic for the wide rural West for example. Part of a toolkit.
Thank you for your response.
@Andy:
Yes, surprised none of these folks at OTB didn’t realize the basic premise of the article violated the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (1st too). The whole article wanted a free lunch. It was engineering illiterate to anyone that has passed Thermodynamics and HTFF (Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow). We now have mobile heat pump experts just because they suddenly hate Elon Musk. For most of you that do not have a background in Thermodynamics (I do), there is no such thing as cold from an engineering perspective, it is only an absence of heat (no unit of cold, only heat (energy) units). I see this article as “I can Google stuff” without understanding anything. [NB: I’m not sure of the efficiencies of a moving heat pump to extract energy as opposed to a standard stationary (home) heat pump, haven’t researched it, but guessing under 10% better]. My 2022 Midea window heat pump (OK, air conditioner with heat pump, with a highly efficient inverter power turns into break-even (compared to resistance heat) on the heat side at an outside temperature of 41F (per the manual for an output to give room temp of 72F – and I obviously think heat pumps are good and saving me money since I’ve bought another – but it is stationary. The heat (energy) has to come from somewhere – what part of heat pump do you not understand – it is pumping heat up a slope (making the outside colder actually).
Bottom line: the basics of the article about a simple solution of going from resistance heating to heat pumps are inane below freezing (cough, I’d say mid 40F). This is propaganda, want to believe.