Driving into the Future: Electric Vehicle Battery Drain

This week’s edition of Driving Into The Future lays out what impacts the life and charge of your battery in an electric vehicle.

In an EV, almost all of the vehicle’s systems are powered by an electric battery.

Combustion engines, on the other hand, use fuel – like gasoline – for propulsion and generate electricity through a generator to power the systems.

Automotive instructor, Jason Barnes with the Community College of Philadelphia showed us just how quickly a battery can lose life in an EV.

Simply turning on the air conditioning can drop the mileage range.

“The range on this vehicle is 77 miles right now,” said Barnes. “As soon as I turn on the AC unit, it dropped down to 62 miles as far as range is concerned.”

Your AC, heater, and operating systems like navigation and infotainment all contribute to drain.

As does how often and long you charge the battery.

“Your battery will deteriorate over time,” he said.

Experts advise owners that they should keep the charge on an EV between 20% to 80% at all times.

Think of it sort of like your mobile phone.

Many vehicles have safeguards to protect from overcharging but doing so will stress the battery in many others.

“Heat takes a toll on the battery, cold has an impact on the battery. All these factors are contributing factors to the deterioration of the battery,” said Barnes.

Obviously, the weight inside an EV and any towing will impact battery ranges as well.

The US Department of Energy says consult your owners manual or mobile app to start maximizing battery range with every drive.