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I was under the impression that cars died in the cold due to the battery dying. Are evs more reliable because they are likely to be plugged in over night?

cmrdporcupine 4y ago
An EV battery is entirely different than a lead acid accessory battery in a combustion car. It has a whole system dedicated to maintaining its temperature within ideal ranges. They don't die in cold weather. I've never heard of one doing so. The only issue with cold weather is reduced range. So just make sure you buy one with a battery big enough to handle your commute even with reduced range in cold. Which is pretty much all of them these days, honestly.
- jeffreyrogers 4y ago
  Phones and laptops get worse battery performance in cold weather and use similar batteries to EVs.
  - hunter2_ 4y ago
    Those don't have "a whole system dedicated to maintaining its temperature within ideal ranges" although now you've got me wondering whether a laptop that expends some energy to keep its battery warm would actually last longer in extreme cold than an otherwise-identical laptop that doesn't... of course one would need to also consider whether the keep-warm energy is drawn while plugged in (which would obviously let it last longer) or not (which I'm not sure about).
Reason077 4y ago
Li-ion batteries perform better at low temperatures than Lead-acid. The traction battery is also a lot bigger so it retains heat for much longer. And in some models, the car's battery management software can kick in some heating to prevent it from getting excessively cold if necessary.
Retric 4y ago
It depends on how cold you are talking about. Lead acid batteries run into issues, but portable jump starter is a cheap and easy solution for that. However, if your talking -40C both oil and fuel both run into problems with ultra low temperatures so people need to use heating blankets. The nice thing about EV’s is you can have them warmup while plugged in an unheated parking space. The bad thing is cars are poorly insulated so at ultra low temperatures they need to use a lot of energy to keep warm.
- rosnd 4y ago
  > The nice thing about EV’s is you can have them warmup while plugged in an unheated parking space Just like people have been doing with ICE cars for literally decades? This has been super common since at least the 80s and probably even earlier, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Standheizung-Schweden.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Standhei... It's called a block heater, it's normal for most parking spaces in cold countries to have sockets for these.
  - Retric 4y ago
    That requires extra equipment or aftermarket upgrades. EV’s come out of the factory with everything already setup. It might not seem like much, but not everyone is local.
    - d_runs_far 4y ago
      Or a standard feature if you're living on the Canadian prairies. In the mid 70's my uncle left Edmonton to do his doctorate in the Bay Area, and had his classmates at Berkeley convinced that his big Dodge Charger was electric because of the block heater cord on the front of it :-)
lazide 4y ago
EVs are mechanically far simpler. Mechanical parts always have issues dealing with large temp ranges (it becomes a very hard engineering problem), and the simpler the better. It’s not just oil (not needed to the extent it is in ICE cars), but everything. For EV’s, the chemistry will have issues at low temps (fixed with battery warmers), and it has to use propulsion energy to heat the cabin, both of which will cause some loss of range. As long as the battery doesn’t run down too low though, it’s a decent choice if other things are engineered correctly.

cmrdporcupine 4y ago

An EV battery is entirely different than a lead acid accessory battery in a combustion car. It has a whole system dedicated to maintaining its temperature within ideal ranges. They don't die in cold weather. I've never heard of one doing so. The only issue with cold weather is reduced range. So just make sure you buy one with a battery big enough to handle your commute even with reduced range in cold. Which is pretty much all of them these days, honestly.

jeffreyrogers 4y ago
Phones and laptops get worse battery performance in cold weather and use similar batteries to EVs.
- hunter2_ 4y ago
  Those don't have "a whole system dedicated to maintaining its temperature within ideal ranges" although now you've got me wondering whether a laptop that expends some energy to keep its battery warm would actually last longer in extreme cold than an otherwise-identical laptop that doesn't... of course one would need to also consider whether the keep-warm energy is drawn while plugged in (which would obviously let it last longer) or not (which I'm not sure about).

Reason077 4y ago

Li-ion batteries perform better at low temperatures than Lead-acid. The traction battery is also a lot bigger so it retains heat for much longer. And in some models, the car's battery management software can kick in some heating to prevent it from getting excessively cold if necessary.

Retric 4y ago

It depends on how cold you are talking about. Lead acid batteries run into issues, but portable jump starter is a cheap and easy solution for that. However, if your talking -40C both oil and fuel both run into problems with ultra low temperatures so people need to use heating blankets. The nice thing about EV’s is you can have them warmup while plugged in an unheated parking space. The bad thing is cars are poorly insulated so at ultra low temperatures they need to use a lot of energy to keep warm.

rosnd 4y ago
> The nice thing about EV’s is you can have them warmup while plugged in an unheated parking space Just like people have been doing with ICE cars for literally decades? This has been super common since at least the 80s and probably even earlier, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Standheizung-Schweden.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Standhei... It's called a block heater, it's normal for most parking spaces in cold countries to have sockets for these.
- Retric 4y ago
  That requires extra equipment or aftermarket upgrades. EV’s come out of the factory with everything already setup. It might not seem like much, but not everyone is local.
  - d_runs_far 4y ago
    Or a standard feature if you're living on the Canadian prairies. In the mid 70's my uncle left Edmonton to do his doctorate in the Bay Area, and had his classmates at Berkeley convinced that his big Dodge Charger was electric because of the block heater cord on the front of it :-)

lazide 4y ago

EVs are mechanically far simpler. Mechanical parts always have issues dealing with large temp ranges (it becomes a very hard engineering problem), and the simpler the better. It’s not just oil (not needed to the extent it is in ICE cars), but everything. For EV’s, the chemistry will have issues at low temps (fixed with battery warmers), and it has to use propulsion energy to heat the cabin, both of which will cause some loss of range. As long as the battery doesn’t run down too low though, it’s a decent choice if other things are engineered correctly.