Driving into the Future: Which electric vehicles are best in winter?

Experts say it is not a myth that electric vehicles generally lose range in colder months.

But some perform better than others.

The EV research firm Recurrent compared 34 different makes and models by analyzing the electric vehicles’ range in freezing temperatures to ideal conditions.

“People are really tuned into thinking about how far the car can go,” said Liz Naiman with Recurrent.

Liz said two main things cause electric vehicles to lose range in the winter.

The first is the same, even in gas cars.

“There’s just lower efficiency when it’s cold out. In a gas car, the oil is thicker,” she said.

And while gas vehicles use heat from the engine to keep the cabin warm, an EV needs to rely on the battery, which can drain it further as it tries to get the vehicle warmer.

Recurrent analyzed more than 30,000 vehicle on-board systems in northern climates at 20 and 32 degrees.

“This basically is a way to give EV shoppers, EV drivers, transparency and confidence in what they can expect in their car in the winter,” she added.

One automaker stood out from the pack:

“So year after year, we have found that Tesla is a top performer when it comes to winter range,” she added.

The Cybertruck is the best performer overall, keeping 88% of its range at 32 degrees and 84% at 20 degrees.

It’s followed by the Tesla Model S and Model X.

The Rivian R1S, Ford F-150 Lightning, Hyundai Ioniqs 5 and 6, plus the Kia Niro, Audi e-tron and Nissan Leaf, also performed well.

“It’s not a bad thing if your car performs more poorly in the cold. It just means that the automaker has decided to optimize driver and passenger comfort over range,” she added.

Liz also points out that colder temperatures do not hurt the vehicle’s battery long term.