Electric Vehicle Winter Driving Tips

Winter driving in any car, whether electric or combustion, needs a bit of preparation. In this article, we aim to go over the winter basics for electric vehicles to help you on your journey.

Does cold weather affect range?

Temperatures below freezing will reduce the range by as much as 20% of your electric vehicle battery. But we can get around this by preconditioning the car while it’s plugged in before setting off. It is also worth planning a better route, which we can look at further below.

When you plug in and start charging, set a departure time via the car’s app or in-car settings, this will warm the battery to its optimum operating temperature before you set off. Think of it like warming a car’s engine to get better efficiency. Even fuel cars burn through more petrol or diesel while they’re cold. An EV battery will warm up while driving anyway, but it’s best to use the grid power to prevent that initial drop in range. The cabin will warm up at the same time.

Range on the road

Now you’re driving, let’s keep that range in the battery.

Driving style

Keep your acceleration gradual to prevent sliding on ice, and give yourself enough distance from the car in front to use gentle regenerative braking. We want regen turned on to put power back into the battery. It also helps us from the hard use of our brakes to prevent a skid in snow and ice. Keep your speed down, and be gentle with the pedals.

Staying warm

Cabin heating will use a fair bit of your battery power unless your electric car comes with a heat pump. Keep the cabin heating to a minimum and use seat and steering wheel heaters.

Foggy windows

The air outside is colder than inside the car, so your windows mist. Therefore, we usually blast the AC to clear them. However, to conserve energy, we can instead do the following.

1. Avoid wearing wet clothes in the car. Put wet raincoats, jackets and umbrellas in the boot.
2. Precondition (pre-heat) the cabin interior before getting in. You can do this remotely via the app.
3. If you must run the AC, turn it down again when the windows have cleared. On a long journey, running an AC compressor will consume a few percent of your range.
4. Lastly, clean the windows inside with glass polish and a microfibre cloth to remove fine dust and residue. Oils and grease collect over time on the inside of the window and cause moisture to form more easily on the glass. You will be amazed at how much this helps. Spray-on windscreen anti-fog treatments work too.

Planning a better route in snow and ice

In freezing conditions and particularly in the snow, we want to plan a route that doesn’t take us down country roads or over steep hills, especially if these are areas are less likely to not be gritted by the council. We also want to drive on roads that can be accessed by emergency services, such as breakdown recovery. If the route is a bit farther than you normally take, but within your car’s range, then it is always advisable to give yourself more time and go the safest, if slightly longer route.

Charging speeds

In freezing conditions, your battery may not charge as quickly. However, your battery will warm up if you’re on a long journey, so charging speeds may not be an issue at this point. But overnight charging will be slower. So plug in as soon as you arrive. Always keep your battery topped up during winter. ABC — Always Be Charging.

Safety

In countries where EVs are popular, like Sweden and Norway, where it snows every year, winter tyres are compulsory. Having a set on your car in the UK is not altogether bad. They reduce braking distances in the wet by providing better traction and helping you get a better grip if it snows. In most cases, you don’t have to inform your insurer but check online to see if they’re signed up to the Association of British Insurers Winter Tyres Motor Insurance Commitment.

If you prefer snow chains or snow socks, it’s best to carry these in your car when snow is forecast.

Check your tyre pressures. As the air temperature begins to drop, your tyre pressure also drops by 1.9psi every 10ºC and lower inflated tyres are less efficient on range when longer distances are driven.

Make sure your wiper fluid is topped up too, and also begin to use a neat, undiluted solution straight from the bottle so any water left in the washer fluid tank doesn’t freeze your nozzles or your windows.

Use your EV app to warm the cabin of your electric car if it’s been a frosty night and you haven’t set a departure time. The cabin will warm up, melt the ice on your windows, and free up your electric windows and stuck wiper blades. You’ll also avoid having to scrape ice off your windows first thing in the morning. The beauty of the app is that the car can remain locked while it heats, unlike most combustion cars, which often get left unattended and are at risk of being stolen or fined for idling on public roads.

Can I drive my electric car in the snow?

You can. But you should dial back the regenerative braking strength if your EV has this as an option, or be careful when lifting off the accelerator and gently ease down your speed. You should be driving with extra awareness of what’s up ahead and give yourself time to slow in the snow to avoid skidding.

The lower, evenly spread centre of gravity gives all electric cars better traction to all four wheels than fuel cars can.

If your car has Traction Control, as an optional setting, it’s advisable to switch this on as EVs have a lot of motor torque, and you need to control that power to the wheels to prevent wheel spinning.

Happy EV winter driving!