- Electric vehicles can lose up to 20% of their maximum range in freezing temperatures.
- This can be tricky to deal with, but it is not a dealbreaker. And some EVs handle cold-weather losses better than others.
- What you really want is an EV with a heat pump. Here's why.
For anyone who might be worried about winter range losses on their electric vehicle, let me get this out of the way first: Yes, it's a real thing, unfortunately. But it is surmountable. And with the right EV, it doesn't have to be as existential an issue as it used to be.
Recent data from the battery health startup Recurrent dives into the latest trends around winter-related electric range losses, and there's good news and bad news. The 34 popular, newer EVs that Recurrent analyzed were found to average 78% of their normal range in freezing temperatures. In other words, if your EV normally sees 300 miles of range—what we consider table-stakes for a good, modern battery-powered car in America—you're looking at about 234 miles of actual range.
"All cars lose efficiency in the cold weather," Recurrent's study said, accurately. "Whether gas or electric, overall range decreases and fueling costs increase in harsher winter climates. That’s the unfortunate news for all drivers, regardless of powertrain."
Of course, an EV's range losses will vary depending on actual temperatures, speeds traveled, elevation, driving style, the car's overall efficiency, and much more. And they're not all created equal: "Each model performs differently based on available features and battery chemistry," Recurrent's study said. "The best winter range EV gets 88% of its maximum range at 32 degrees F and the worst gets only 69%."
So what you really want is an EV with a heat pump.
On an electric car, a heat pump is just like the increasingly popular electric home heating and cooling device: a system that extracts heat from the outside air, even when temperatures are low, and transfers it into the car’s cabin. It helps with cooling, too, by working in reverse from a standard air conditioner, moving heat out of the cabin to cool it down.
This takes a great deal of strain off your EV's climate system, which consumes a significant amount of its power and this reduces your overall range. (In fact, you may even see your EV's range estimate tick up when you turn the heat or A/C off; on my Kia EV6, it can account for 10-12 miles of estimated range.)
The good news is that heat pumps are now increasingly standard equipment on modern EVs. Older cars—even ones from the early 2020s—didn't always have heat pumps, but the auto industry has figured out that they're pretty crucial for maximizing winter range.
So how do you know if an EV has a heat pump? Well, Recurrent has a list for that, too, although you should always check the manufacturer's website to be sure. Audi, for example, now puts heat pumps on its EVs but briefly stopped on the Q4 E-Tron due to supply chain issues.
Here's some of them:
- 2024+ Acura ZDX
- 2025+ Audi E-Tron models
- 2024+ BMW i4, iX, i7, and iX3
- 2023+ Cadillac Lyriq
- Chevrolet Blazer EV
- Chevrolet Equinox EV
- 2024+ Ford F-150 Lightning
- 2025+ Ford Mustang MachE
- Hyundai, Kia, Genesis EVs
- 2024+ Honda Prologue EV
- 2024+ Lucid Motors EVs
- 2026+ Nissan Leaf (SV+, Platinum)
- Polestar 2 with Plus Pack/Climate Pack
- Polestar 3, Polestar 4
- 2021+ Tesla Model 3, Y, S, X
- 2024+ Tesla Cybertruck
- Volvo EX30, EX90, EX40 Recharge, C40 Recharge
And so on. Again, do your research to make sure your EV is up to the task, especially when shopping for a used one. These weren't quite as common as they are today, so it can make a big difference in overall winter range performance.
Take Tesla, for example. The Tesla Model 3 received a heat pump starting with the 2021 model year refresh, which began in late 2020. Recurrent's chart below shows the difference in winter performance between the two models:
Over time, as battery chemistries, heating systems and even charging infrastructure improve, cold-weather range losses hopefully won't be too much of an issue. For now, it's best to make sure your car has a heat pump so it can use energy where it's meant to—actually moving the car.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
