What Car? Report Suggests That Cold Weather Can Cut EV Range By 20%

Friday, 27. May 2022

Cold weather had reduce an electric vehicle’s range by more than 20%, research by What Car? has found.

However, the magazine’s research also suggested an EV fitted with a heat pump significantly improves cold weather efficiency.

Steve Huntingford, editor of What Car?, said: “Range remains one of the key considerations for electric car buyers, but when deciding whether a particular model can go far enough on a charge to fit into your life, it’s important to bear in mind that batteries don’t work as well in cooler conditions.”

The magazine, together with its sister title Move Electric, put cars through a real-world winter range test and then compared the results with those for identically-specced models tested last summer.

In the winter range test, the Porsche Taycan 4S Performance Battery Plus managed 224 miles on a full charge. That’s a 20.1% drop on the 281 miles that the same model on the same-sized wheels achieved when What Car? tested it last summer.

Other models retested included the Ford Mustang Mach-E Extended Range RWD (which fell 18.0% short of its summer figure), the Skoda Enyaq iV 60 (15.7%) and the Fiat 500 42kWh (15.2%).

What Car? and Move Electric also found that if you specify your electric car with a heat pump, drivers were able to get significantly closer to the official WLTP range.

A heat pump reduces strain on the battery by drawing excess heat from the electric drivetrain, distributing it around the interior of the car through the air conditioning.

Five models so equipped were tested, with these falling short of their official WLTP mileage figures by an average of 25.4%.

By comparison, five models that relied on a regular interior heater suffered an average deficit of 33.6%.

The tests were conducted on a closed vehicle proving ground, on a 15-mile route consisting of 2.6 miles of simulated stop-start urban traffic, four miles of steady 50mph driving and eight miles driving at a constant speed of 70mph, to simulate motorway journeys.

In July last year, What Car? research found EVs fell short of their WLTP range by 14.8%.

Winter vs summer range test results

Model	Variant	Usable battery size	Summer range	Winter range	Shortfall
Porsche Taycan	4S Performance Battery Plus	83.7kWh	281 miles	224 miles	20.10%
Ford Mustang Mach-E	Extended Range RWD	88.0kWh	302 miles	247 miles	18.00%
Skoda Enyaq iV	60	58.0kWh	207 miles	174 miles	15.70%
Fiat 500	42kWh Icon	7.3kWh	140 miles	118 miles	15.20%

Ranges of cars with and without heat pumps

Model	Variant	Usable battery size	Heat pump	Official (WLTP) range	Winter test range	Shortfall
Fiat 500	42kWh Icon	37.3kWh	No	198 miles	118 miles	40.00%
Ford Mustang Mach-E	Extended Range RWD	88.0kWh	No	379 miles	247 miles	34.60%
MG 5	Long Range Exclusive	57.0kWh	No	250 miles	167 miles	33.10%
Audi Q4 e-tron	50 quattro S line	76.6kWh	No	290 miles	201 miles	30.60%
Kia EV6	GT-Line RWD	72.5kWh	Yes	328 miles	228 miles	30.40%
Skoda Enyaq iV	60	58.0kWh	No	249 miles	174 miles	29.80%
Tesla Model Y	Long Range	75.0kWh	Yes	331 miles	247 miles	25.20%
Tesla Model 3	Long Range	75.0kWh	Yes	374 miles	281 miles	24.80%
BMW iX3	M Sport	74.0kWh	Yes	282 miles	212 miles	24.70%
Porsche Taycan	4S Performance battery Plus	83.7kWh	Yes	287 miles	224 miles	21.80%