Electric vehicle batteries are a lot like people, in one important respect: They’re most comfortable in temperatures around 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the weather gets much colder or hotter than that, a battery works less efficiently. It has to work harder, too, to keep the vehicle’s cabin comfortable for its equally picky human occupants.
The result? Electric vehicles can’t drive as far or as efficiently in extremely hot or cold weather.
AAA has been testing exactly how big an effect temperatures have on modern EV batteries. In its latest research, shared exclusively with NPR, it found that hot temperatures reduced range by an average of 8.5%. Cold weather cut vehicles’ range by a whopping 39%.
I haven’t found that hot temperatures reduce the range of my EV, other than turning on the air conditioning. After all, most modern EVs have temperature regulation systems for the batteries to prevent these kinds of problems. I lose about 10 to 20 miles off my range by running the AC. I’m sure something similar happens in a gas powered vehicle, it’s just that you don’t have a guess-o-meter on the dashboard in a gas car showing you the immediate impact.
The nice thing about EVs, is you can pre-cool or preheat the cabin while they are plugged into the wall if you’re worried about it. In colder climates you can also pre-heat the battery while the car is still plugged in.
https://recharged.com/articles/ev-preconditioning-in-winter-explained/