The Blog Hyyperlic picks up on today's Autobild article, which reports on the broken reach of electric cars in winter.
Lisa (the blog author) describes the processing of the Autobild test values as “shock” – but is that really a shock? I don't have today's Autobild (Friday January 3, 2014) yet, but I will of course read there what scientifically based findings the Autobild testers have discovered. Lisa published the table of results on her blog:
I do not recognize a shock. Just simple chemistry. And physics. And cold feet. On the one hand the chemistry:
As in cold weather, the chemical processes (including the decomposition of the accumulator during aging) run more slowly and the Viscosity the electrolytes used in Li cells increases strongly, the lithium-ion battery also increases in the cold of the internal resistance, whereby the deliverable power decreases. Source: Wikipedia
Add to that the physics: in winter the driving resistance is higher. Cold shock absorbers, winter tires with more rolling resistance etc.
More importantly though: the cold feet.
Many electric cars have a heater that builds quite simply on the fact that the heat comes from an electrically operated Heizöfchen. In addition, the ventilation runs stronger and possibly also the possibly existing seat heating was used. When electricity is consumed for the heater, then the range of the electric car decreases. Simple. And no shock at all.
But - the biggest surprise from the table inserted above is a completely different circumstance:
The BMW i3 with its 21.6 kWh battery is exactly 100 meters further than the Mitsubishi i-MiEV with its 16 kWh battery. The one (Mitsubishi i-MiEV) is four years old. The other an ultra-high-tech premium e-car from Munich. That's what I call a real statement in this test!
However - and the first ones in my Facebook timeline correctly inserted it - without knowing the exact test circumstances and criteria, the table does not say enough. First of all, she only confirms: Yes, an electric car has less range in winter than in summer (no surprise!) And the biggest e-car failure comes from Munich.
