If electric car owners think that the winter cold takes the most range out of the battery, they should fear the summer heat even more, new research shows.
An investigation by the data company Reccurrent has come to something that probably surprises many electric car owners. The battery packs in their cars suffer from the summer heat.
In fact, the battery packs suffer so much that the range disappears faster in plus degrees than in the colder winter months.
It shows data from a total of 7,500 cars, whose mileage, consumption and range were included in the survey.
The range that motorists are told when they look at, for example, a new electric car, is created based on artificially favorable conditions. The so-called WLTP test takes place at a constant 23 degrees Celsius.
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Close to optimal conditions for a battery pack. But when it gets hotter, it goes really hard out of range. This is because the battery packs, like humans, have a hard time in massive heat.
The battery cells can simply kill themselves if it gets too hot. Therefore, car brands also spend fortunes on temperature control of battery packs. The charging operators do the same.
However, some Tesla owners are trying to destroy the charging stations with a new, viral 'trick'. Read more about it here.
Back at Reccurrent's latest investigation, it's actually not that surprising that heat levels eat away at the battery packs' ability.
The car brands have installed safety mechanisms in electric cars to protect against overheating. And it is this kind of decarbonization that really costs the range.
The hotter it gets, the more energy must also be used to cool the cabin down to a comfortable temperature for the car's passengers. And in this way, a vicious circle begins its own prelude.
Already at 27 degrees Celsius, which is otherwise not an unreasonably high temperature during a Danish summer, motorists must expect their electric cars to lose 2.8 percent of their range.
And it only gets worse from here. At 32 degrees, which can easily be further down in southern Europe, the battery packs lose 5 percent of their range. And at 38 degrees, there is as much as 31 percent less to catch up on in the battery packs.
Keeping the car cool while it is parked or for the sake of pets, for example, also eats up considerable parts of the range.
Read more exciting news from and about the world of cars right here!
