And the writer of the WaPo bit had been stuck in traffic in an EV? He was honest enough to call it his “hunch”. I’ll take the opinion of someone who has lived 50K with an EV over one who just has a hunch.
OTOH the manufacturers have more than hunches: they have done cold weather testing. And indeed range is less in cold weather sitting in traffic with the heat blasting. Nissan’s range goes from 138 miles if “cruising at 38 miles per hour with ambient temps of 68 degrees” to 62 miles if stuck creeping stop and go at 15 mph at 14 degrees. Stuck going slowly in hot weather with the AC blasting, even worse - 47 mile range.
Some more real world experience. The Volt driven without AC in fair weather gets near 50 miles EV only range pretty consistently. Many of its early owners have had only cold weather experiences however and they are reporting mid to upper twenties EV under those conditions.
Stop and go is not the problem - the motor does not draw if it is not moving the vehicle - the issue is the draw of the heater and the same factors that cause an ICE to give poorer mpg in cold weather. The range in those conditions is allegedly improved some by bringing the car’s interior to comfortable conditions while still attached to the grid - it uses much less power to maintain the temp than to get it there.
The Nissan loses over half of it’s energy in your example at 14 degrees. In colder states that would be a warm day. It’s simply not a good fit. And if it dies on the road it will have to be towed versus an ice vehicle that only needs a little gas to continue on.
Dollar for dollar it would be better to have 40 mpg ice engines on the market without the overpriced and unprofitable hybrid technology tacked on. That is what the new engines are capable of.
Not to dismiss it as a not a significant issue, but more precisely, it loses half its range, not half its energy. Mostly it is having to spend a lot of its energy heating the car. That takes a lot of energy when most of the time is otherwise just sitting there, stuck in traffic.
An ICE loses a lot of range in the cold too, btw. Often by 10-15% or more. Dense cold air outside, more wind, slush, altered tire pressure, more viscous fluids in the engine and transmission, and so on. And blasting the AC in stop and go really lowers an ICE’s range substantially. We accept both because we are going to get from here to there just fine anyway. Gas is energy dense enough that a tank will more than do it and it is easy to fill up on the way if need be.
Real world EV range is important to know when deciding what vehicle is right for you. If you expect to be stuck in traffic for hours with the heater or the AC blasting then you should know that your EV’s range will be much less than its advertised typical number. And that could be a real problem for some of its urban commuter target market niche. You need to either be able to be sure that that range is still enough for you on those days, or be willing to go with less heat or AC to get the range you need, or not buy a pure EV. A Volt style PHEV/EREV may be more to your needs, or one of the newer clean diesels with start-stop technology. And each person will decide based on what they feel is most important to them.
How would you know what to expect? There is no way to know if a jack-knifed truck is going to shut down an interstate. SOP in bad weather is to top off a tank. EV’s are not a good winter fit in the northern states. They are also not financially viable at this time. It would be better to focus the short term automotive needs on cars people can afford and deliver high mileage. ICE engines provide the full spectrum of consumer needs.
The technology for EV cars is already on the shelf. They are waiting for batteries to catch up and that will happen independent of the cars themselves. Better to shelve the financially inefficient vehicle until it is a profitable venture and focus on cars that people can afford. A 40 mpg car in high production is better than a car that nobody will buy. We are spending tax dollars to fund cars don’t make a difference because they cost too much.
I’ve been commuting the same route for 23 years. I know what to expect. Worst case days and usual case. If it cannot handle my commute on the worst case days then it would be a poor fit for me.
And indeed a good diesel or a PHEV/EREV would save me from, on that one day out of ten years or so, having to consider turning my heater down and getting by on just the seat warmer and my coat to be sure of making it home.
You see I really value my time, and those service visits annoy me even more than the having to stop to fill up every other week. When it comes time to buy a new car (and my Civic hybrid is only just under 8 years old and just had its NiCad assist battery replaced under warranty, so I’ve got a few years) that consideration will definitely be part of my calculus.