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Protecting Your Tesla EV
All of the EV vehicles that are out there have been tested in cold weather temperatures and have withstood those cold temperatures. There is some testing you can do still in the extreme cold and some protection for your vehicle you can do.
When it is 30 degress Farenheit, that is considered warm in many places right now. Even with temperatures at freezing (32 degress Farenheit and 0 degrees Celsius), an EV will still run fine. The first thing to do is to put your car in the garage.
Another tip is if you leave your EV outside, keep your state of charge above 30%. Keep the state of charge higher - charge it more. In cold temperatures, you will have less range. You will use climate controls and your battery will need to condition itself for the cold. You'll use a lot more energy in the cold.
A Tesla EV that doesn't use any climate controls or extras will have less range in the cold, but it won't be that much. The best solution is, if you can, to keep your car plugged in. This is something I can't do because I live in a condo with no charging. But I can charge twice a week instead of once a week.
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Cold Weather and EVs
It's good to have your cars at a higher state of charge. A Tesla vehicle can set a scheduled charging time as well as a scheduled departure time in order to have the battery pre conditioned. There are some people like me who can't charge their car at home. Just make sure your car is charged higher than usual. EVs can take -50 degrees Farenheit if needed.
If you are going to leave your car unplugged, try to get as much battery charge as possible and pre condition your battery. Try to limit extreme acceleration and extreme de-acceleration. There will be very little regenerative braking in the cold, which will reduce range. Once the battery gets warmer, you will get some regenerative braking. That's been my experience.
Just drive your car gently. You can force the battery to warm up by navigating to a Tesla Supercharger, but that shouldn't be necessary as long as you drive with care and with slowness. It's just like your body - especially when cold, you need to warm up and stretch before you run or go fast.
Other than these things, just drive with care, keep your car charged above 30%, and don't accelerate or slow down too fast. I don't run the climate controls too much in the cold, I just wear warm clothes and that can save on range as well.
Regardless of what you do, you'll get a little less range or a lot less range in the cold with your EV, especially if you use all the climate controls, battery pre conditioning, or warm up your car before you get in it.
Does the cold weather affect your EV energy usage? What are some other tips for EV driving?
For more information, see this video from Out of Spec Reviews:
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Jeremy Johnson is a Tesla investor and supporter. He first invested in Tesla in 2017 after years of following Elon Musk and admiring his work ethic and intelligence. Since then, he's become a Tesla bull, covering anything about Tesla he can find, while also dabbling in other electric vehicle companies. Jeremy covers Tesla developments at Torque News. You can follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn to stay in touch and follow his Tesla news coverage on Torque News.
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