What did the cold waves in Europe do to electric cars?

ArabiaWeather - A Norwegian company specialized in providing roadside assistance services announced that cold weather conditions caused technical problems for cars that rely on fuel to be more frequent compared to electric cars.

During the period of the strong cold wave that hit the country at the beginning of the year, maintenance company Viking handled more than 34,000 requests for assistance throughout Norway.

It is striking that a total of only 13 percent of these cars were electric, despite the fact that the percentage of use of electric cars in the country exceeds 24 percent, which highlights the challenges of adapting to cold weather conditions for traditional cars.

The latest statistics come from the Electrek website, which focuses on news about cars and electrical equipment. This comes in light of increasing reports indicating challenges to electric cars and their charging stations in cold weather conditions in various regions of the United States.

In this context, Tesla car owners in Chicago were forced to abandon their vehicles due to their inability to charge the batteries in subzero temperatures.

On the other hand, the travel distance of electric cars can decrease, and they may face difficulties in the charging process during cold weather conditions, and studies indicate that the decrease in travel distance may range between 10 and 36 percent.

In addition, batteries require to be at a minimum temperature to be chargeable at fast charging stations, which requires that the electrons be kept warm enough to stimulate their movement.

Tesla acknowledged the existence of this problem and provided advice to car owners through its official website. The company notes: “During cold weather conditions, energy consumption increases to heat the battery and cabin, and it is normal for power consumption to increase due to this. It is preferable to leave the car connected to the charging station when possible, and keep the charge level above 20 percent when not Connected to the circuit breaker reduces the impact of low temperatures on battery performance. He also stresses the importance of choosing a specific departure time to enable some electric car models to warm up the battery before departure, reducing the impact of cold conditions.

In a related context, experts encouraged car manufacturers to develop additional methods to protect batteries in cold weather conditions, and to devise ways to raise their temperatures before charging begins.

In this context, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Michigan, Neil Dasgupta, expressed his view this week, when he said: “All things made of chemicals slow down at low temperatures, and it is something that exists in nature and we have to adapt to it.” “People can definitely be electric car drivers in cold weather. You have to be optimistic and excited about what the future has to offer, and it will only get better from here.”

Source: independentarabia