Winter Weather and Electric Cars: Here's What You Need To Know.

It's November, which means (for those in the Norther Hemisphere at least) the winter is soon going to be here.

And that brings with it discussion about winter weather, snow, ice, and electric cars. 

In the last few months we've had many readers reach out to us to ask questions about the winter weather and if electric cars can cope. So We decided to make a video updating our annual winter tips!

Watch the video above to find out more, like, comment and subscribe, and let us know your thoughts in the Comments below.

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Please watch: "2023 Kia Niro EV: Why You'll Want To Drive This"
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[lucapacino]

Well... in Mongolia where temperature drops to minus 35, diesel and petrol freezes. But Nissan Leaf 1st generation is going strong!

[maximthemagnificent]

If you have two sets of tires (Winter and Summer), I'd suggest another set of rims as well. That way you don't need to pay to have tires mounted and balanced twice a year. If you use really basic rims they'll pay for themselves fairly quickly (at least they did for me given what the shops here charge for tire services). It's easy to swap them yourself (rotating them at the same time) if you're handy.

[Groaznic]

Holy jesus, big congrats for correct pronounciation of Nokian Hakkapeliitta! :) SUOMI MAINITTU Y'ALL!

[Joeltravels]

The guys from Now You Know also concluded that during a long trip, staying warm with seat warmers instead of using the AC saves a considerable amount of energy.
Great show as always!

[richard--s]

Just look at Bjørn Nyland's channel. He did many EV tests in the Norwegian winter. And yes, good winter tires are important. He also tested his model X in minus 36 degrees C. It handled it fine.

[gudfarfar]

Most EV's are heavy and that will help you. And also: good tires is a must. In deep snow, winter tires or snowchains helps too. EV's are just as good in winter as many of the ICE cars out there. Front, rear and all wheel drive cars all have different ways to behave on winter roads. "Drive like you have an egg under your foot", plan ahead and use more distance to obstacles ahead, and you have a better chance to avoid mishaps. If you are able to use less regenerative braking, driving on slippery roads may be less exciting. Range is an issue in winter time as most EV's batteries don't like the cold, so planning with this in mind is helpful.

[benedikt]

One thing that is EV-special in Winter might be the topic of regen braking. If your car is front-wheel-drive you might not want to configure it to extrem high regen when road are slippery.

[benjaminford]

I have Nokkian all weather on my LEAF and live in the Peak District in the UK which has some pretty harsh winter weather. I bought them after watching your winter tyre video last year. I have say they and the car perform superbly well in winter conditions, well all conditions actually!

[markhough]

I really like this channel. Well presented and interesting facts.

[LanceMace]

Thanks to your recommendations last year I made the decision to get Nokians this year. So I got the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3's which I read is their lastest studless tire. I'm hoping for all the great performance you have gotten on your R2'S!! Thanks for the help deciding!

[randycarter]

I've driven on the snow with the Leaf. The only problem is that creep function you can't turn off. It prevents the torque from going to zero. EV's do so much better in snow because the power plant can go to zero RPM. And also can have a much better control of torque.

[NationalChamps]

Thumbs up for the pronunciation of that tire brand.🤓

[johnchartrand]

Typical range loss in our Bolt or our Leaf is 40 to 50% with winter tires @ -15c and this is with preconditioning, 20% loss would be a dream come true

[FancyaBevMate]

Really looking forward to having my first bev winter complete with Goodyear Ultra Grip performance gen 1's ;)

[ronfischer]

I agree the nokian tyres are great and yes the bolt's anti slip is a little off, I thought I just had a lead foot maybe so!

[AjG]

The Jaguar i-pace is also a very good 4-wheel drive EV.

[volvocars]

I can really recommend the Nokian Hakka R2 tires as well. Works a treat!

[shadowpod]

One point that you missed in the "Keeping warm" section is that it takes way less energy using the heated seats and steering wheel than it does to heat up the air in the cabin of your car. If your car isn't plugged in try to avoid using the blower/fan to heat your car and just use the heated seats and grips to heat yourself.

[luckyy]

I know it's maybe more a specific Tesla thing, but it would also be good to do a write up on the limits the cold can apply to charging times, as well as other functionality like regen braking. I've noticed a good hit on regen brakes when the battery pack is below 40f or so.

[relativityboy]

"You'll all be set" - lol. Love it!