How much will your electric vehicle's operating range be reduced in winter? How to warm up your car efficiently on short journeys? Frans Junno and Timo Lehto, Product Managers at Veho, answer questions from electric car drivers.
"The electric car heats up very efficiently compared to an internal combustion engine car, making it a comfortable winter car - as long as the driver remembers to take advantage of the smart features the electric car offers." Frans Junno and Timo Lehto, Product Managers at Veho
"The operating range of a full electric car in winter frosts is usually 50-80% compared to summer temperatures. An accurate answer requires information on, among other things, how the vehicle is used; whether it is used for short trips in the city, long stretches of motorway or something in between. In addition, the operating distance is influenced by temperature and weather conditions, for example if there is snow on the road.
The efficiency of the electric motor is high (90-96%), which means that the electric car uses almost all of its energy to move. In this case, the percentage of driving performance affected by resistance is higher than in an internal combustion engine car, which has an efficiency of only 25-30%.
On the Mercedes-Benz Germany website you can find an illustrative tool to test how much temperature affects mileage in city, highway and motorway driving."
"In cold conditions, a large part of the battery's energy is used to heat the interior, which has a significant impact on the car's operating range. It is therefore recommended to preheat the interior when the car is connected to the charger to optimise the operating distance.
The best way is to time your departure, so that the car calculates the required heating time according to the conditions. Activation and timing of the pre-heating can be conveniently done remotely from your mobile phone using the Mercedes-Benz mobile app. If you leave at the same time every morning, you can set up a weekly profile in the system, which ensures that the preheating is carried out at the right time every day.
If you need to drive without time to plan, a 10-20 minute warm-up is usually enough, depending on the temperature outside.
The electric car heats up very efficiently compared to an internal combustion engine car and the electric motor is not affected by frost. In an internal combustion engine car, cold starts are always heavy on the engine.
It's safe to say that the electric car is a very comfortable winter car."
"Battery pre-heating is an important function that is found in all full-electric cars in the Mercedes-Benz passenger car range. It is part of the intelligent route planning system, which works very reliably in Mercedes-Benz. All the driver needs to do is select a charging station from the vehicle's navigation system and the system will preheat (i.e. heat or cool) the battery to the appropriate temperature to maximise charging performance.
On longer journeys, the navigation system automatically sets the charging pauses as "time-efficient" intermediate stops. Even then, the battery pre-conditioning (i.e. heating in winter) works intelligently and the car can estimate the time needed for heating so that the battery is at the right temperature at the start of the fast charge (DC charging).
Preheating has a significant impact on battery charging performance, which is more evident in winter weather. Charging is faster with a preheated battery.
Thanks to battery pre-heating, Mercedes-Benz can achieve virtually the same DC charging performance in winter as in summer. Without preheating, the charging break can last an hour instead of 20 minutes. In winter temperatures, the preheating can make or break a whole car journey. "
"The importance of pre-heating interior is particularly important in urban areas. Short periods of driving without preheating can double energy consumption in winter compared to summer temperatures. The difference is less significant for road driving.
The driver can extend the operating distance by sensibly adjusting the interior temperature of the car. For short journeys, it is pointless to set the temperature at 22°C; instead, use the seat heater and steering wheel heater as a priority to achieve a comfortable feeling of warmth. You can then set the interior temperature to, say, 17 degrees, saving battery energy for your mileage."
More reading for the electric car enthusiast:
Navigation is an electric car driver's best friend in winter