At sub-zero temperatures, the maximum driving range is reduced because the car consumes more energy to heat the interior and maintain the batteries at operating temperature. Heat has a similar effect: additional energy is spent on cooling the interior and batteries.
A study by the Geotab portal, which studied the travel data of 4,200 electric cars from different manufacturers, showed that in real life the optimal temperature for electric cars is 21.5 ° C, at which they can travel even slightly more on a full charge (by about 10–15%) than stated by the manufacturer. Heat and cold affect the power reserve negatively: at a temperature of plus 40 ˚С, the power reserve is reduced by approximately 20% of that declared by the manufacturer at these temperatures, and at a temperature of minus 20 ˚С - by approximately 40%.
For example, in northern European Norway, the share of sales of new cars with internal combustion engines fell to a record low of 9.6% over the eight months of 2021. Electric vehicles took up 60.1% of the market, and hybrids 30.3% (according to the Norwegian Traffic Information Board, OFV). And this despite the fact that the average winter temperature in the country is minus 6.8 °C, and in the north of Norway there are real frosts.