Norwegian study revealed Electric cars are much more winter-resistant than expected
Electric cars generally have the reputation of being better equipped for the cold seasons than combustion vehicles. However, this is only partly true, as a study from Norway shows.
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- In winter, only 13% of breakdowns in Norway are attributable to electric cars, while 87% involve combustion engines.
- One reason for this is the less susceptible starting battery and the lack of cables that can freeze over.
- Nevertheless, electric cars have a significantly reduced range in winter, as all consumers run on the battery.
Electric cars often have the reputation of being more vulnerable in winter conditions. However, recent statistics from the breakdown service Viking now show a different picture.
In Norway, where the winter can be particularly cold and harsh, breakdown services such as Viking are often called out to fix vehicle starting problems. The cause is often weakening batteries - a classic problem in icy temperatures. According to the latest Viking statistics, however, only 13 percent of these call-outs are for electric cars, while a full 87 percent of breakdown assistance is required for combustion vehicles.
The result is surprising when you consider that electric vehicles make up 23 percent of the total vehicle population in Norway. Electric cars therefore seem to cope with the cold almost twice as well as vehicles powered by petrol or diesel.
One reason why electric cars are less prone to breakdowns in winter is their design. Many classic problems that occur with combustion engines - such as frozen fuel lines - simply do not affect electric vehicles. It has also been shown that the sensitive starter battery, which is often the weak point in combustion engines, is less critical in electric cars.
The shorter range remains a problem
Nevertheless, electric cars do not only have advantages in winter. The significantly reduced range in cold temperatures remains a major disadvantage. In the worst case, it can drop to up to a third of the usual capacity. The reason: all consumers in the electric car, from the heating to the windshield wipers, are operated via the battery.
The optimum operating temperatures of a battery also play a role in winter. While batteries work most efficiently at outside temperatures between 20 and 40 degrees Celsius, a lot of energy is used to bring the battery up to operating temperature at sub-zero temperatures.
Internal combustion vehicles also have to contend with these winter pitfalls. The heating, which runs on the battery in electric cars, is powered by the engine in combustion engines - which also costs additional energy. Nevertheless, the range of combustion engines does not drop as drastically as that of electric cars.
