Electric Cars in Winter: 8 Tips

Slippery roads, cold weather, and snow pose an extra challenge when you want to drive from A to B. This is true not only for gasoline-powered cars but also for electric cars. Driving an electric car in the winter also presents additional challenges due to the reduced range. Still, you can easily and safely travel longer distances in an electric car during the winter. We’d like to share some tips with you.

How Can I Drive Safely in My Electric Car During the Winter? 5 Tips
Benefits of an Electric Car in Winter
Disadvantages of an electric car in the winter
How can I conserve battery life? 3 tips

How can I drive my electric car safely in the winter?

Tip 1: Put winter tires on your car

When temperatures drop below 7 degrees, it’s a good idea to switch to winter tires. They provide better traction, making driving much safer. They also help reduce energy loss and extend the driving range of your electric car in the winter.

Tip 2: Be careful on slippery roads

When you take your foot off the accelerator, an electric car recovers energy. This means you lose speed more quickly than in a diesel or gasoline-powered car. As a result, your car may start to slide more easily on slippery roads. To prevent this, it’s best to ease off the accelerator gradually in the winter.

Tip 3: Is your charging cable frozen?

A charging cable can freeze. It’s therefore best to park your electric car indoors as much as possible in the winter. If that’s not possible, keep the plug connection dry. If your cable does freeze, place a hot water bottle on the connection to thaw the plug. Make sure the hot water bottle isn’t leaking.

Tip 4: Bring an extra charging cable

An electric car's range decreases in the winter. Keep this in mind when you're on the road, and charge your car every day. Always carry a charging cable in your car so you can charge it on the go whenever necessary.

Tip 5: At home? Plug it in

Even when you're not using your electric car, the battery will always slowly lose its charge. So be sure to plug in your car when you get home. These days, smart features ensure that the battery doesn't get overcharged.

Benefits of an Electric Car in Winter

Unlike a diesel or gasoline-powered car, you’ll experience fewer breakdowns with an electric car in the winter. Fewer parts are likely to break due to the cold, because an electric car has fewer moving parts. In addition, an electric car is less susceptible to night frost. While the battery in a conventional car can sometimes fail due to the cold, an electric car isn’t affected by this. That’s because if you leave the car plugged in overnight, the battery stays warm.

Disadvantages of Electric Cars in Winter

In the Benelux, temperatures start to drop in October, and it can already get quite cold. Winter weather can even last into March. As you may already know, cars don’t like the cold at all. Not even electric cars. All cars experience greater air resistance in the winter. The air becomes denser at low temperatures, which means a car needs more energy to move through the air.
For an electric car in the winter, this means that the range decreases. The lower the temperature, the less capacity your electric car will have. Some car models handle this better than others, but in general, every electric car is affected by this. However, there are a few steps you can take to increase the range. Below, we’d like to share a few tips with you.

How can I conserve battery life?

Tip 1: Use as few electronic devices as possible

While driving, it's a good idea to use as few electronic devices as possible to conserve your battery. So, wait until later to listen to your favorite song on the radio, and use the heater as little as possible.

Tip 2: A Nice, Warm Car After All

Let your car warm up before you leave. Using your charging station, you can not only charge your battery but also run the heater in advance without draining your battery power. When you’re ready to leave, the battery will be fully charged and the interior will be nice and warm.
This will make it less necessary to turn on the heater while driving. That’s a good thing, because the heater draws a lot of power from your battery. Your driving range can therefore decrease if you have the heater on frequently.

Tip 3: Use heated seats

Seat heating is an ideal way to stay comfortably warm in your electric car during the winter. The advantage of heating just your seat is that it uses less energy than heating the entire car. That way, your battery uses less power.