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Stuck In The Cold | What Happens In An EV?

You hope it never happens to you (a minimum of we don't) however every year there appears to be a story of a freeway full of motorists who are stuck in the snow. How long will they exist? How will they stay warm? What happens if they run out of fuel/electricity? Well I sat in the cold for a few hours to take some measurements and see what someone may be in for if they discovered themselves stranded in their EV.

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00:00 Imagine Yourself … 01:00 Phase 1 – Your EV "Idling".
02:06 Phase 2 – Heated Seats On.
04:12 Phase 3 – Running the Heating system.
06:39 The Results and Breakdown.

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29 responses to “Stuck In The Cold | What Happens In An EV?”

  1. @techups3082 Avatar
    @techups3082

    appreciated

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      Happy to try and provide some useful information. -Travis

      Reply
  2. @james2042 Avatar
    @james2042

    Heated seat and heated wheel is a must in an ev for me. I honestly do just fine with those two and no air on at all. But if you are going to run a heater in an ev, please make sure to have it recycle air vs take in new air. (Unless its an extended time and getting stuffy) because then it uses significantly more energy to heat incoming air, and it first has to run it through the ac to dry it or it will just turn to condensate on the windows.

    Cold alone in my ioniq made it go from 170ish miles to 130, running the heater would drop it down to 100ish.

    Now any modern ev with battery heating while charging, combined with strategic use of the cabin heater, can have very little range impact from cold weather.

    Also remember no matter how big the vehicle or battery, these heating cost are fixed, which is why a hummer ev will ignore the cold entirely while an ioniq 6 will suffer

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      Great point on the air recirculation. I most often set the temperature to 68 F, set the system to Auto, and don’t think about it again. If I want to be a little warmer I kick on the heated seat (or if my back hurts, silly aging). -Travis

      Reply
  3. @barney2001 Avatar
    @barney2001

    Living in Canada, this is not an abstract exercise. We travel with a fuller battery in the winter. If stuck in traffic or a jam, we reduce cabin heat to 60°F as we have coats, mitts and hats so it’s a comfortable temp. This means we have 3 to 4 days of energy on hand. With an ICE vehicle, it uses 0.4 gal per hour of fuel when idling. So a 14 gallon tank means you can idle for 1.5 days. I’ll take the EV thank you.

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      That’s what I would have liked to have tested, an idling ICE vehicle at the same time but there was only one of me to try and make that work. -Travis

      Reply
  4. @Rioichi4 Avatar
    @Rioichi4

    68, or 72 or 74. Or 60 or 64. Ah, I see another member of the even numbers club!

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      Indeed! Though there are some vehicles that only allow even number temperatures. -Travis

      Reply
    2. @mikus4242 Avatar
      @mikus4242

      @@EVBuyersGuideshould choose prime numbers only! 😬

      Reply
  5. @rabayl01 Avatar
    @rabayl01

    Bring some of that snow over here!!!

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      Sadly this was a few months ago and I don’t think that snow is still there. -Travis

      Reply
  6. @OhTheNormanity Avatar
    @OhTheNormanity

    My 2022 C40 at 90% charge gets 150 miles when it is below 32ºF. Now we are in the 70s, it gets 220 miles at 90% charge.

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      Thanks for the numbers for reference1 -Travis

      Reply
  7. @itsDatguy650 Avatar
    @itsDatguy650

    I remember a video on this channel in which Alex ran the A.C of a Mach E at full speed for a couple hours to show the power usage.

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      Sort of like that, but the opposite direction. -Travis

      Reply
  8. @r5LgxTbQ Avatar
    @r5LgxTbQ

    I think the heated seat uses 12V so unless your 12V is low and activates the DC-DC converter it won’t appear to use the high voltage battery

    Reply
  9. @CIRCLEDARK Avatar
    @CIRCLEDARK

    Someone is definitely running a little behind with the backlog of video editing. 😂

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      It happens from time to time. -Travis

      Reply
  10. @junehanzawa5165 Avatar
    @junehanzawa5165

    How many people have inadvertently killed themselves stuck in a snow storm when their tailpipe gets blocked by the snow? That’s all you need to know.

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      I can’t say I’ve considered that before but I also don’t get that kind of snow in my area. -Travis

      Reply
    2. @junehanzawa5165 Avatar
      @junehanzawa5165

      ​@EVBuyersGuide Google it or look it up in the news. Happens every year around the world. And you don’t even have to be IN the car to be susceptible to it. In 2017 in Montreal, 4 people passed away from carbon monoxide poisoning just while clearing their cars after a snowstorm.

      Reply
    3. @junehanzawa5165 Avatar
      @junehanzawa5165

      ​@EVBuyersGuide Google it or look it up in the news. Happens every year around the world.

      And you don’t even have to be IN the car to be susceptible to it. In 2017 in Montreal, 4 people were killed by carbon monoxide just while clearing their cars after a snowstorm.

      Reply
    4. @junehanzawa5165 Avatar
      @junehanzawa5165

      ​@EVBuyersGuide Google it or look it up in the news. Happens every year around the world.

      Reply
  11. @BearsinGamesNeo Avatar
    @BearsinGamesNeo

    I’ve got a blanket in my car for the winter fast charging and in case of emergencies so I don’t have to run the vehicle, but I also am a heat generator and emit way too much heat at all times.

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      It’s always good to have a plan and options available. -Travis

      Reply
  12. @GregP30 Avatar
    @GregP30

    It will take days for the battery to drain… Don’t even need to watch the video.. Also, in 50 years of living, never once been stuck for days or even hours. This is not a scenario that affects my car buying decisions.

    Reply
    1. @EVBuyersGuide Avatar
      @EVBuyersGuide

      Hopefully it’s not one that most people will find themselves in but since there are always questions/concerned about EV’s in the cold why not find some answers? -Travis

      Reply
  13. @MarkThomasVA Avatar
    @MarkThomasVA

    kWh per hour = kWh/h = just kilowatts 😂

    Reply
  14. @hereigoagain5050 Avatar
    @hereigoagain5050

    How about an episode on how long you can survive while stuck in a forest fire? Those seem ever more frequent, unfortunately.

    Reply

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