The World's EV Owners Discover Unheated Batteries Lose Distance in Freezing Weather (restofworld.org)
- Reference: 0179246366
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/09/15/0035239/the-worlds-ev-owners-discover-unheated-batteries-lose-distance-in-freezing-weather
- Source link: https://restofworld.org/2025/weather-slashes-battery-mileage/
"EVs can lose almost half their driving distance when temperatures drop, and the billions spent on improving technology have failed to fix this fundamental limitation."
> In January, Seattle-based Recurrent, a company that tests and analyzes EVs, [2]found an average range loss of 20% in extreme cold... Lithium-ion batteries rely on chemical reactions that slow dramatically in cold weather. When temperatures plunge, the electrolyte thickens, ions move sluggishly, and charging becomes not just inefficient but potentially dangerous. Charging in cold weather has been identified as a primary cause of thermal acceleration, which can lead to fires...
>
> The failure pattern repeats globally wherever cold weather meets inadequate infrastructure. Manufacturers, too, have acknowledged the problem. Chinese EV maker BYD's user manual, for instance, advises drivers to charge indoors, with the heating on. That advice is useless for farmers parking in open courtyards.
In fact, research across 293 Chinese cities "found that many drivers in colder regions buy EVs only as supplementary vehicles," according to the article, "while still relying on gasoline-powered cars during winter."
The article also tells the story of an apple grower chilly Kashmir, India who discovered that his Chinese three-wheeler lost 60% of its 10-hour charge overnight. This made it impossible to begin the 56-kilometer (35-mile) trip on a route with no charging stations — and prevented him from selling his produce while it was fresh (to earn the highest prices). And the problem affects the entire region:
> Desperate drivers have formed WhatsApp groups, such as "EV Apple Transporters" and "Battery Help Kashmir," sharing increasingly absurd workarounds. Some have wrapped batteries in quilts; others have hauled power packs weighing 90 kilograms (over 200 pounds) into their homes for the night. One driver parked his battery in the living room. "The blankets caused overheating on the road; water bottles leaked into the circuits," [orchard owner] Sajad Ahmad said. "We became mechanics, engineers, and fools all at once." EVs are also not considered cost-efficient. "Diesel vans are expensive, but they can do four or five trips a day," Mohammad Yaseen, a driver based in Shopian, told Rest of World. "With EVs, one half-trip and you're stuck."
>
> Norway, where winter temperatures average minus 7 degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit), achieved 89% EV market share with its comprehensive infrastructure. It offers more than 200 models for year-round usage. "The ability to preheat batteries upon fast charging in winter is by far the most important improvement we have seen in the past five years," Christina Bu, secretary-general of the Norwegian EV Association, told Rest of World.
"These features are standard in Norway's mature market, but remain absent from basic models exported to developing countries."
[1] https://restofworld.org/2025/weather-slashes-battery-mileage/
[2] https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/winter-ev-range-loss
Tesla largely solved this? (Score:2)
The battery as a heater⦠this is a well known solution to this well known problem; modern Tesla only lose 7% on average in winter mainly due to heating the battery and cabin
Re:Tesla largely solved this? (Score:4, Informative)
A 2020 Model 3 has 65% capacity at 15F outside temperature, according to the linked study. In 2021 they replaced the resistive heating with a heat pump, so it only goes down to 67% range.
Ideal temperature is 68 - 74F
The "worst" in their top 20 is the VW ID.4, with 63% capacity at 32F
I wouldn't be surprise if cheap vehicles without battery heating are completely unusable below freezing. You cannot charge a lithium battery without damage below 32F, so no regen braking.
If the battery drops to 0F, you can't even use it to heat itself as the electrolyte starts to freeze. That alone can permanently damage the battery.
Re: Tesla largely solved this? (Score:1)
Right but it can bring the battery closer to the ideal range and it has a 12v battery as well to assist. If you park your car overnight without it being plugged in thatâ(TM)s not great in 15F but the new systems delivered much more than 2% improvement in my experience driving a lot across New England in winter and real world use cases are nothing like what the study suggests.
Re: (Score:2)
The 12V battery can't power the heat pump compressor to heat the battery.
It's cool how your anecdotal account is different to this controlled study.
Re: (Score:1)
That's weird, because Tesla owners here say they lose half their range in the depths of winter. So much that they can no longer drive many routes the could drive in summer because a single charger out of service will leave them stranded in the middle of nowhere.
So this problem has been known for a long time and was pointed out well before the current EV push.
Do they not read? (Score:2)
This isnâ(TM)t new, itâ(TM)s in the sales material and on the dash warnings. The average daily commute is 42 miles (66 for me). I have never needed to drive gas because the temp dropped for my daily commute, ever.
Sure, you might need to take occasional road trips of over 200 miles and want gas, but then you make the rent vs buy decision based on your situation.
Math (Score:2, Informative)
An average of 20% loss is not “almost half”.
Re: (Score:3)
You need to read better.
It says "can lose half" and "average of 20%"
Maximum and average are different things.
Re: (Score:2)
So clickbait then.
Re: (Score:2)
20% average drop for the 20 most popular models, where they all have built in battery heaters.
The rest of the article is about the cheap vehicles being sold without battery heating.
Re: No way (Score:4, Informative)
I know not reading the link is a slashdot trope, but the summary literally says in Norway battery heaters are standard and they don't experience this problem. The problem is in the cheap EVs that China is pumping out.
Re: (Score:3)
TFS does address Norway and why it works there flawlessly:
> "The ability to preheat batteries upon fast charging in winter is by far the most important improvement we have seen in the past five years," Christina Bu, secretary-general of the Norwegian EV Association
Rate of reaction is temperature dependent. (Score:3)
Arrhenius, 1889. Also re-discovered by anyone trying to put sugar in iced tea.
Not news in Canada (Score:2)
The effect of our cold winter temperatures on EV batteries is well-known in Canada.
Most drivers are also aware of the similar, though less dramatic, effect of cold temperatures on lead-acid batteries used in conventional automobiles. Smart drivers of ordinary cars have a "block heater" installed in the crankcase of their car engine to keep the oil warm (therefore less viscous), to make it easier to start the car by putting less strain on the car's 12V battery. I have done this with every car I have eve
Re: (Score:1)
I also have a battery heater so any time the block heater is plugged in it's also heating the battery. Starting at 40 below zero is much easier when the battery temperature is above freezing.
Re: (Score:2)
> The effect of our cold winter temperatures on EV batteries is well-known in Canada.
This effect is known to us in the Midwest USA. This was widely reported: [1]https://www.newsweek.com/tesla... [newsweek.com]
The link I gave picked on Tesla but I recall this impacted other makes also. This got to be news because of the coincidence of a winter storm on top of weekend travels. The news was not that cold impacted EV range, the news was that so many people were caught off guard due to the severity.
> Most drivers are also aware of the similar, though less dramatic, effect of cold temperatures on lead-acid batteries used in conventional automobiles.
No doubt there, that's why "cold cranking amps" ratings exist on lead-acid batteries.
> Smart drivers of ordinary cars have a "block heater" installed in the crankcase of their car engine to keep the oil warm (therefore less viscous), to make it easier to start the car by putting less strain on the car's 12V battery. I have done this with every car I have ever owned.
> My next car will probably be an EV and I will certainly consider how to keep the battery warm in the winter-time.
Presumably now that manufact
[1] https://www.newsweek.com/tesla-disaster-cars-not-charging-freezing-cold-chicago-1861396
Re: (Score:2)
See my other post here on Mitsubishi. Battery heaters (outside of their stupidity) are generally part of the kit when sold in Western markets, and they automatically keep the battery warm enough.
Not how numbers work (Score:1)
"EVs can lose almost half their driving distance when temperatures drop"
"In January, Seattle-based Recurrent, a company that tests and analyzes EVs, found an average range loss of 20% in extreme cold"
No one would say 20% is almost half. That is not how numbers work.
Re: (Score:2)
The figures are calculated in base 4.
Re:Not how numbers work (Score:4, Informative)
> EVs can lose
Implying "up to".
> found an average range loss
Implying an average.
> No one would say 20% is almost half.
Agreed. Nobody would say that an average of 20% is almost half. Fortunately- nobody said that.
They said up to almost half, with an average of 20%.
Reading is important.
Re: (Score:1)
drone batteries have to be heated otherwise drones may not even take off, Ukrainian soldiers in the field use all sorts of ways to keep the batteries warm, for example chemical hand warmers are used for this.
Not just battery loss (Score:2)
Slashing battery capacity because of temperature is one thing. Then you lose another quarter of the charge to keep heating the cabin.
Re: (Score:1)
> Slashing battery capacity because of temperature is one thing. Then you lose another quarter of the charge to keep heating the cabin.
Consider a pretty "mid" BEV with a range of about 200 miles on a single charge. That's "mid" by today's standards where 300+ miles from a new BEV is common, 200 miles could be expected from an older BEV that's had some wear on it. Consider the average round trip commute for an American is less than 50 miles in a day. Assume the BEV loses a quarter of the range because of cabin heating, that's leaving 150 miles on the battery. Then assume another quarter of the range lost because of cold impacting batter
This would have been news a dozen years ago (Score:2)
IIRC there was a German auto mag that tested a 1/2 dozen EVs in winter including a Tesla and reported on range loss
Is this news? (Score:2)
I live near the arctic circle and this is common knowledge.
Re: (Score:2)
> I live near the arctic circle and this is common knowledge.
Lucky you - I used to love their [1]hamburgers [acburger.com]!
[1] https://acburger.com/
In other news... (Score:1)
Water is wet
Nobody? (Score:2)
I think it is pretty clear, even from the summary, that Norway could see the problem before it happened.
Also, I think everybody on the planet except the marketing people knew about batteries losing effectiveness when cold.
Probably worth reminding people (Score:2)
In cold weather, [1]fuel efficiency in gasoline-powered cars goes down as well [cars.com]... by 15% on average.
[1] https://www.cars.com/articles/why-do-cars-get-worse-fuel-economy-in-cold-weather-475436/
Really??!! (Score:5, Insightful)
> a global crisis nobody anticipated
If that's really true, then I'm gobsmacked. But I'm fairly sure that it's just ill-informed hyperbole.
The negative effects of cold temperatures on the useful capacity of various battery chemistries has been know for many decades. If this was news to any significant number of people - and/or nobody put two and two together to predict the "crisis" and mitigate - then educational institutions and governments the world over, as well as electric car companies, have a lot to answer for.
Re: Really??!! (Score:2)
Turbines are great at power density. They are not especially efficient compared to ICE.
Re: (Score:2)
No. Turbines are efficient operating at near maximum power output. They're abysmally inefficient below that.
Reciprocating engines have a compression stroke. Your gas turbine requires a minimum operational speed (and therefor fuel) for the compressor.
This makes the reciprocating engine far more efficient in overall usage.
A gas turbine can match a reciprocating engine, but not really exceed. The exception is in combined-cycle turbines, where they can easily double the efficiency of a reciprocating engine,
Re: (Score:1)
> For example, we know that a turbine engine is the absolute best thing going for a vehicle, and has been proven to be a very workable design, especially with CVTs that can handle the fact that a turbine has a narrow power band. However, we still use piston engines and loads of emissions.
Legislation on NOx emissions killed the turbine engine for cars. Turbine engines moved a lot of air to work and it was impractical to put a catalytic converter on a car that could allow for that kind of air volume. Turbine engines are great for their fuel flexibility for one thing. Maybe there were other ways to mitigate the NOx emissions from turbines but without some driving need to use them the reciprocating piston engine dominated. At least that's my recollection on the history. Jay Leno and a few
Re: (Score:2)
A turbine isn't the best motor for a vehicle. They use about twice the fuel for the same amount of work output. Their main advantages are that they produce a lot of power with small size and low weight. This means that for an aircraft, they're more efficient above a certain power output because the fuel you save from reducing weight and drag more than offsets the increased fuel consumption.
Gas turbines were used in railway locos occasionally. Their main advantage there was that they could burn heavy fue
Re: (Score:1)
It's almost as if Slashdot has discovered battery chemistry.
Re: Really??!! (Score:2)
This isnâ(TM)t new at all â" itâ(TM)s been well understood for decades. Cold doesnâ(TM)t permanently reduce a batteryâ(TM)s capacity, it just makes part of it temporarily inaccessible because the chemistry slows down. Thatâ(TM)s why EVs have battery heaters: they use a bit of energy to warm the pack so it can deliver higher current and more of its rated capacity. Once the pack warms up, the âoemissingâ energy is right there again. Anyone writing this up like itâ(
Keep it plugged in (Score:2)
I've had a PHEV for six years. It was well known when I bought the car that cold lowered the battery range. The solution is to keep it plugged in. When you tell the car what time you will be leaving in the morning, it will pre-warm the car and batteries using shore power to keep your range up. It will still be less than when it's warm, but it will be far better than starting from freezing.
Re: (Score:1)
> I've had a PHEV for six years. It was well known when I bought the car that cold lowered the battery range. The solution is to keep it plugged in. When you tell the car what time you will be leaving in the morning, it will pre-warm the car and batteries using shore power to keep your range up. It will still be less than when it's warm, but it will be far better than starting from freezing.
That's an example on why I expect the ICEV as we know it to become a rarity.
Once we get to where the BEV is no longer a rarity then we'd have more houses where there's a 240 VAC outlet for EV charging in a garage or an outdoor parking pad. With heavy duty shore power that means PHEVs and "electrified" ICEVs can use that shore power for things like automated pre-warming the cabin or whatever to avoid needing to burn fuel for that. I can expect people upset about the thought that a vehicle would be plugged
Re: (Score:1)
Fortunately, cold temperatures are a crisis that will soon fix itself thanks to your Dear Orange Leader's foresight.
Re: (Score:2)
> The negative effects of cold temperatures on the useful capacity of various battery chemistries has been know for many decades. If this was news to any significant number of people - and/or nobody put two and two together to predict the "crisis" and mitigate - then educational institutions and governments the world over, as well as electric car companies, have a lot to answer for.
The last statement in the summary is the key one: "These features are standard in Norway's mature market, but remain absent from basic models exported to developing countries." That is, the need for heater blocks has been known for a very long time. However, many of the cheap Chinese exports flooding the world are cheap for several reasons, including not including those heater blocks.
Re: (Score:2)
It's funny because TFS summary says it's not an issue in Scandinavia...
Re: (Score:2)
It's news for the common person, who doesn't know anything about battery tech. And that's what happens when you sell products mainstream, as opposed to products for hobbyists.
The article references this being a problem for the 3rd world most of all. For cheap markets. And it is, but we've also seen this in the first world, from companies such as Mitsubishi cutting costs:
[1]https://topclassactions.com/la... [topclassactions.com]
The long story short of the above, if you dig, is that they simply removed the battery warmer. "Why wo
[1] https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/auto-news/mitsubishi-class-action-alleges-outlander-phevs-contain-battery-defect/
Re: (Score:2)
It's also not just an EV issue, vehicles sold for use in cold climates often come with plug-in heaters where you plug your (non-electric) car in overnight to make sure it'll still run the next morning. Sounds like someone just discovered this for EVs and decided to make it onto a scare story.