For the electric vehicles to find more acceptances among the car users, they must be able to do everything a gas run car is able to do. This includes the electric vehicles performance in winter must be the same as their gas based counterparts. These electric vehicles must be able to work well even in extreme temperatures and carry their occupants in full comfort. In the past the electric vehicles in cold weather were not able to give good performance and they lost their ability to run their full range in the cold weather. The drivers of these vehicles were also not used to the ways of running this plug-ins in the cold weather.
Though many improvements have taken place in the present day electric vehicles still you have to take more effort and know many things and adhere to certain operating procedures to get better performance from the electric vehicles in cold weather. If your electric car’s range is less than 100 miles then you are likely to face more problems during winter. You have to fine tune your driving abilities and be very careful in paying attention to your electric vehicle to successfully get its good performance during peak winter months.
Following are some of the tips that will help you get better electric vehicles performance winter by enhancing the power of your car’s battery as well as to get more out of the battery life:
- Pay attention to the climate control: the climate control inside your car is very important during the cold winter months. Your car will be spending more energy to get the heat required for keeping the passenger cabin warm, and more battery power is required to do this in the absence of inherent heat available from an internal combustion engine. To prevent more battery drain for heating you have to heat your car before you start keeping the car connected to the charging point. This will make your car warm from the mains supply and even after your car has become warm your batteries will still be full. You will be spending only less power to maintain the warmth during your journey. You can also go for heated seats that consume less power than heating the entire cabin. To reduce the need to heat the interior of your car, you can travel with layered clothing so that you stay at higher comfort level even if the cabin is not at its optimum heating range.
- Pay attention to the place of parking and charging : it is an admitted fact that the battery of an EV loses much of its range when it is parked in sub- zero temperature as well as when it is charged exposed to extreme temperatures. So, if you want to increase the electric vehicles performance in winter pays close attention to the place of parking as well as to the place where you are charging it.
- Make adjustments to your driving habits: Good driving habits are necessary to get the better out of your electric vehicle in cold weather. Rapid acceleration and frequent braking drains your batteries very fast. So, try to keep a steady pace and it is the best way to get good performance from your electric vehicle in winter.
- Maintain your EV car properly: to get best out of your EV during winter you have to maintain your vehicle in good condition and this includes checking air pressure often and keep it at recommended levels for better performance.
- Reduce weight: more weight needs more power and if you want to get good electric vehicles performance in winter make your car as lighter as possible and this can be achieved by removing the unwanted and unneeded accessories to reduce the overall weight and this will definitely give your car a better performance during winter.
Thus, follow certain good driving habits and pay close attention to the maintenance schedule of your EV to assure yourself of a good electric vehicles performance in winter.
