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Why Electric Vehicles Are Great Winter Cars

Why Electric Vehicles Are Great Winter Cars

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Winter is not the easiest season for getting around. Electric cars, like cars with internal combustion engines, function less efficiently in the cold. But while we accept and ignore the limitations of traditional vehicles, reports from groups like AAA misrepresent cold weather concerns about electric vehicles, fueling anxiety about vehicle range.

Being realistic about range
Cold weather range is becoming less of an issue with the rapid advancement of battery technologies. Every year, electric vehicle ranges get longer.

Take my family’s experience as an example. Our first 2012 Nissan LEAF had only 73 miles of driving range. This year the same vehicle has a battery that offers a 151-mile range and in a couple of months you will be able to get a LEAF with an even bigger battery and a range of well over 200 miles. So, range is becoming less of an issue and truthfully we never had any issues with it. My wife has a 35-mile round trip commute so she could manage it even with the 2012 LEAF, but nowadays with longer range electric vehicles, things are really easy. Battery electric vehicles available in Minnesota this year have ranges between 151 to 335 miles and people who want even more flexibility in their daily driving range should choose one of the plug-in hybrids that can take you up to 640 miles. See all plug-in EV models available in Minnesota here.

Many reasons to love electric vehicles in the winter
The best part of electric vehicles for me in the wintertime is the fast heating system. Many electric cars have a heat pump heating system that works like the traditional AC, but in reverse. This system is incredibly fast in heating up the car. I tried it the first time with our 2016 Nissan LEAF. It was a typical 16 degree Minnesota winter day. I went into our cold garage and reversed the car outside to the alley. While I waited for the garage door to close I wondered why the automatic fan was already running and to my surprise it was already pushing lukewarm air from the heating ducts. I drove less than a block and the air coming out was already hot. I had never experienced this kind of heating performance from any car before.

Another rocking feature is the preheating. These cars have a preheating function that we have set up so that when my wife walks to our cold garage at 7:20 in the morning her car is waiting with a warm interior, hot seat, and even a hot steering wheel. It is a nice way to start the commute to work. Naturally I don’t recommend trying this inside a garage with an internal combustion vehicle, because the exhaust gas emissions could be lethal. This feature also mitigates the effects of cold on the range, since the bulk of the heating was done using grid power. Another perk is that you can do this anywhere you want with your phone app. Whether you are ready to leave work or a restaurant, the only thing you have to do is to take your phone and tell your car to please heat up.

Electric vehicles are also fun to drive in the winter. Batteries make them a bit heavier than traditional cars and this improves the traction. Electric drivetrain is very smooth and although it produces full torque from standstill, controlling the power in slippery conditions is very easy. Just a fine touch on the accelerator pedal and the car starts to crawl slowly forward. If one side is on a more slippery surface, electronic traction control will move more power to the wheel that has more traction and electronic stability control keeps the car nicely in control in low traction driving conditions. Electric motors also make the all wheel drivetrains more simple, affordable and efficient so we can expect to see more all wheel drive cars in the future. Right now half of the 26 plug-in models sold in Minnesota are available in all wheel drive.

Electric vehicles are also so much more affordable to drive. Even in colder months when driving consumes more energy, driving an electric car for 1000 miles will cost you less than 40 dollars. Driving a traditional 25 MPG car for the same 1000 miles even with present day lower gas prices cost you well over 100 dollars.

You also have finally an opportunity to choose how your driving energy is produced. With an internal combustion engine, we are pretty much stuck with oil, and that is not getting any cleaner. But the energy for charging our electric vehicle can be produced in infinite number of ways. Our grid is getting cleaner every day and you can already power your drive with renewables by installing a solar PV system on your roof, by signing up on community solar garden or utility renewable energy program. The key here is that you now have the freedom to choose.

For our family, an electric vehicle is by far the best winter car choice. Maybe that might be true for you too. Go for a test drive and talk with other owners to learn more about the choices. Stay warm and drive safe.

About the author: A member of the Midwest EVOLVE team, Jukka Kukkonen is founder of PlugInConnect, an EV market and technology consulting company. Jukka works with utility companies, auto dealers and other stakeholders to advance transportation electrification in the US and Europe.

Source: cleantechnica
Anand Gupta Editor - EQ Int'l Media Network

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