Brains
With electric vehicles (EVs) becoming more popular and less expensive, more people are turning to them. But for skiers, there is one main hesitation: do they charge well when things get cold?
One Canadian man had the same question, so he tested the effectiveness of a Supercharger for his Tesla Model Y in extremely cold weather. Here is what popular YouTuber Tesla Camping Canada found.
Preconditioning the Battery
The first thing he found was that, to receive electricity, the car’s battery had to precondition itself in a process that consumes a lot of energy. Electric car batteries use preconditioning to warm or cool the battery pack to its optimal temperature before charging. In the extremely cold weather, the car already had to use lots of power to precondition itself to charge.
Over his 50-minute drive to the Supercharger, the battery used 11% of its charge to precondition before reaching the Supercharger—energy that didn’t go toward driving.
The YouTuber also found that, even after nearly an hour of preconditioning, his EV battery still couldn’t warm itself up enough. With temperatures dropping to -35 C during the experiment, the battery was struggling to reach peak charging speeds.
Initially, it was charging at nearly its normal speed of 140 kW at 40%, but as time went on, this slowed down to 110 kW. To make matters worse, using the Supercharger was expensive, with the driver spending $12 for only 62% charge.
He then moved on to cheaper chargers in the area and eventually finished off his charging.
Key Findings
In the end, he spent $15.11 for a full charge, spending an average of $0.36 per kilowatt across the 32 minutes it took to complete. His fastest charging speed came at 140kW per hour, which came directly after preconditioning. For comparison, Tesla Model Ys peak at 225 kW per hour using a Supercharger.
A Tesla Model Y charges to 80% in about 25 to 30 minutes, so his 32-minute charge was not too far off. But the real kicker of the entire experiment was the preconditioning time. In normal weather, driving to a Supercharger typically requires a small amount of energy. But in the test, the car spent 50 minutes heating the battery, consuming 11% of its charge before ever getting plugged in. Even after the preconditioning, the battery still experienced slower charging speeds.
Overall, the experiment shows that extreme cold has its largest effect on charging time, with lots of energy being put into preconditioning. In extreme conditions, like temperatures of -35 C (-31 F), the impacts are much larger than in typical winter conditions.
Cold Weather and Cars
Cold weather is a killer for all cars—not just EVs. In extreme cold, many cars (electric or not) struggle to start. In places where temperatures often dip below freezing, drivers often use a combination of gasoline (or diesel) and alcohol-based additives just to ensure the fuel does not freeze.
Think about a car like a human. When you get cold, your body burns a significant amount of energy to keep you warm. Cars behave similarly, needing lots of energy just to start and function correctly.
Ultimately, the experiment shows that while extreme cold can significantly affect EV charging, with a little patience, they do eventually charge. For skiers and snowboarders considering EVs, it is important to remember just how much temperatures drop, which is typically not to -35 C. But as EV technology continues to improve, cold-weather performance might become less of an issue.
