5 Best Electric Cars That DON’T Lose Range in Winter
Electric cars are apparently known for losing their range in the winter. But is that actually true? And if you’re on the hunt for an electric car, which ones actually perform best in the winter? In this video, we’re going to break down all of this and cover which battery types are better in the winter. What can you do to help reduce the chance of losing any range and the fundamental problems with European testing when it comes to winter range tests, where instead I’ll show you a better resource where you can know more accurately the range you’re expected to get in the winter. and I’ll show you the top five cars that perform best in an advanced winter range test and then we’ll compare them to the more accurate range test to see what actually is the best car when it comes to winter. So, let’s get into it. Electric cars, just like petrol and diesel cars, lose a bit of range in the winter. Here’s why. Number one is temperature drop. Now, in order for optimal battery health, systems have to precondition and heat the battery to ensure that the health of the battery is maintained. The battery management systems all need to use a bit of power to do this. So, from this, you’re going to naturally lose some range having driven in cold temperatures. And of course, adding heating and climate control, demyisters, anti-fogging, whatever you want to call it, these systems add up. Heated seats, heated steering wheel, and all of them require energy and power to run. Although modern EVs have heat pump systems that are very, very efficient, just like you get in some modern homes, cold tires have higher rolling resistance, and also thick winter air creates more drag. Wet roads increase friction as well and therefore you need more power to drive the wheels. And also with electric cars, regen braking when the battery is cold is limited slightly. Therefore, instead of recouping energy back into the battery through the regen system, you’re going to have to use the mechanical brakes. Now, petrol cars have this too. In cold weather, it takes longer for the car to warm up and cold engines burn more fuel. And of course, just like electric cars, heating and defrost systems actually use power from the engine as well. Despite being electrical, a lot more idling happens in winter as well. Drivers typically idle longer because the cabin needs to get warm. They need to deise the car and do everything before they set off. Most petrol diesel cars lose range in the winter, but you hardly notice it because the fuel gauge kind of tricks you. It’s like paying cash versus paying on card. When you use cash, you hand over a£10 note and you get a bit of change back. You never really track what happens to that change. That’s an internal combustion engine car. the fuel needle just drifts down and you don’t really know where the money is going and where the fuel’s going and you just assume that you’ve done a few short trips. But driving an electric car is like paying on your phone and tapping where every transaction pops up on your phone instantly. You see every mile gained or lost in real time. So you feel like winter efficiency drops are even more dramatic than a petrol or diesel car even though the same thing happens in petrol cars. So why does winter affect battery specifically in electric cars? Now, when the temperature drops, the chemistry in the battery effectively slows down. With all the millions of chemical reactions happening at once inside a battery, warmer weather allows those chemical reactions to happen more quickly. But in the cold, those reactions slow down. The battery has a harder time releasing energy, and the car has to work harder to achieve the same power output. Think of it like trying to squeeze out honey on a cold winter day out of a bottle. It’s going to be thicker and more gloopy and therefore requires more energy and pressure to release that honey. A cold battery also has higher internal resistance. That means some of the energy inside the battery turns into heat, which could have instead gone to drive the wheels. Until the cells warm up, it’s just a bit less efficient. And that’s why in colder temperatures, the battery requires more energy just to warm itself up to have optimal running conditions. So then, which battery type is better? Now, based on the test I’m about to show you, the top five actually had two or three different battery types. In first place, the car had NMC battery chemistry just as it did in third and fourth. But in second and fifth, it actually had LFP. So, the answer is mixed and it depends on these factors. Number one, thermal management system. Cars with better liquid heating and cooling systems can heat out the battery faster as well as unlock the regen braking sooner. How the car preconditions the battery before setting off really affects how it does in a range test in the winter. Number two is heat pump and HVAC design. A well-designed heat pump can massively reduce energy use for interior heating. How effectively the system reuses waste heat from the battery and motors can matter way more than the battery chemistry in this case. In fact, the car that’s number one on this list does this very, very well. Then, of course, it’s the battery pack design and the software that controls it. The cell format, the layout, and how effectively it manages the constant temperature across all the cells can determine its efficiency and therefore the range. The battery management system also determines how much power and regen you can use when the car is cold to balance protection and performance. Then of course, it’s the vehicle efficiency itself and the aero design. Motor efficiency, gearing, rolling resistance of the tires, and the aerodynamics determine how efficient a car is. And a more efficient car will perform better in the cold, no matter what the battery type is. Then, of course, it’s your driving pattern and your usage depending on your scenario. Shorter trips repeatedly heat the cabin and the battery from the cold in the winter, which does affect efficiency. Longer continuous drives help to evenly warm up the battery, which also narrows the difference between the chemistries. If you’re looking to buy or already own an electric car, here’s what you can do in the winter to best preserve the battery range. Number one is to precondition the car while it’s still plugged in. Number two is use heated seats and heated steering wheel instead of actually warming up the whole cabin because that will use more energy. Of course, keep your tires properly inflated. Avoid multiple short trips with the cold battery. Don’t drive as fast on the motorway. Keep your battery between 20 to 80% for optimal day-to-day use. Use preset departure timers on your vehicle settings if you’ve got that capability. Clear snow and ice off the car and store the car indoors in a garage if you possibly can. So, what about this test then? So, every year in Norway in the winter, there’s a test called the AL PRI, which is considered one of the most trusted EV tests in the world. But later, I’ll show you why that’s not necessarily the case. So instead of EVs driving in the lab, they take them out on a realworld road conditions in the extreme cold temperatures after charging them to 100% and they all drive the same route. So you get a genuinely fair comparison across the whole EV lineup that are tested during that day. And they test it until the batteries run out or the cars no longer able to drive. The reason why it’s done in Norway, of course, is you can expose the EVs to extreme conditions and worstc case scenario situations here. So you’ve got cold air, wind, inclines, you’ve got like loose roads under the tires, wet roads, hills, slow, medium, high speed conditions as well. And these are the things that people in extremely cold countries actually exposed to in the winter. So it’s very accurate in that sense. It shows how the battery, the heat pump, the efficiency systems, how all the leaves in electric cars work in real life. And of course, because it’s the same test environment on the same day, you can see which ones actually are close to the real range figures given. But just like any test, this one in Norway isn’t perfect. And I’ll explain its limitations along with why WLTP is not a good test either. And I’ll go through what we actually can use instead to get a true accurate range estimate for your car. Now, the best performing cars on this list, some of them you can’t actually get in the UK, such as the BYD Tang, which is like an SUV, and that came second on this range test in Norway. At number five, it’s a car that’s lost 15% of its range compared to its WLTP figure of 366 mi. It achieved 310 mi on this test, and that’s of course the Kia EV3, specifically the longrange exclusive plus model, which has NMC battery chemistry. Now, 15% isn’t actually that bad, and we’re only going up from here. So, Kia EV3 is a relatively new car to the market, and Kia of course are well ahead of some manufacturers in the EV space. So, they’ve had years of battery chemistry technology testing and real world data that they can use to improve their efficiency of their batteries and the chemistry itself, which is why it’s done so well perhaps on this test. But it’s not the end of the story. Later, I’ll compare what all of these five cars are like when a lot more factors come into play. Used Kia EV3s currently are on sale from around £28,000 here in the UK. They have a 58.3 kWh version and an 81.4 kWh version. If you’re enjoying this video so far, please hit the subscribe button as it greatly helps out my channel. I’ve got lots more exciting content for you to come soon, and I wouldn’t want you to miss out. Hit subscribe and let’s get to the next car. So, next up is from a brand you can actually buy in the UK that’s been around for a little while now, but it’s a Chinese brand that’s known for making EV batteries. In recent years, it switched to putting those batteries in actual cars that they designed and built, and it’s only lost 13% on this Norwegian test, running out of battery after 271 mi. And this is after having an indicated range on WRTP of a 312 mi. And it is, of course, the BYD Sea Lion 7, specifically the Excellence four-wheel drive model. Now, of course, we know BYD are known for making batteries. And of course, with these cars, they know what they’re doing when it comes to range because this and the Tang both did very well in the test. The Sea Lion 7 uses LFP battery chemistry, or also known as the blade battery. In the UK, they start from around £36,000 for a used 2025 model, and it has an 82.5 kWh battery. Next is a luxury or more sporty brand that’s British and is new into the EV space altogether. It lost again 13% compared to its WLTP range, but it had 2 mi less WLTP range than the BYD, so that’s why it’s come closer on this list. So, it did 271 mi before running out of range. And it is, of course, the Lotus EMA, specifically the S four-wheel drive model. Yes, it’s more of a luxury, higher priced car, but it did very well in the test. Unfortunately, there’s no conclusive reports on which battery chemistry this car uses. Now, we think that it’s NMC doing some research online, but don’t quote me on that. Now, the Lotus Ma isn’t cheap and it’s quite a unique car. So, for a sporty saloon coupe, like crossover car, you can pick one up in the UK from around £67,000 on the secondhand market. And considering it’s got a massive 102 kWh battery, it didn’t do very well in terms of efficiency on this test either. Number two is actually from another British brand which traveled 220 mi on a single charge before running out. Comparing it to the 247 mi of range according to WLTP, it only lost 11% on this test. So seeen as the IPACE is definitely not on this list, it cannot be a JLR product because they don’t have any other electric cars at the moment. So it is of course the Mini. Specifically, it’s the Countryman SE All4 John Cooper Works model, which is also four-wheel drive, and it has NMC chemistry with 66.5 kWh battery. These can be picked up from around 30,000 in the UK secondhand, and they have a unique style and interior compared to others on this list. Now, before I do number one on this list, let’s compare this with the WLTP and why that test is very misleading when it comes to giving you a range figure. And with that, let’s give you what we’re actually going to be using later to predict an accurate range drop in the winter. Now, WRTP has been around for a while to standardize EV range testing. But we all know it’s very, very overestimated and doesn’t give you an accurate reading. This is because it’s done at 23° fixed temperature in a lab. No heating, no air con, no wind, no hills, and extremely gentle acceleration as well. The average speed in the test is only around 29 mph, and it hardly travels at motorway speeds. Now, that means WRTP represents a best case scenario, not actually how you drive a car in the UK or any part of the world that you’re living in, especially in cold weather and on motorway high-speed journeys. So, obviously, like I said, they’re way overestimated. Now, what we’re going to use instead doesn’t rely on a single lab test. Instead, it uses six different realworld range scenarios at two different temperature points as well. These numbers are based on a detailed efficiency model that they have built and refined over many many years using thousands of user reports, real world data and their own road testing. And they take all of these factors into account. So the air temperature, the AC, steady motorway speeds, stop start driving in towns, tire wheel variations, weight and optional equipment, wet versus dry roads, and battery warm-up behavior. They compare vehicle efficiency across all these conditions, feed that data back into the model, and adjust until the numbers match what the driver effectively sees in real life. The result is a realistic range index showing how far the car goes in real conditions, in different seasons, and on different types of roads. Now, before I reveal that source, let’s go to the number one car during that Norway test, and let’s see which one lost the least range. The number one on this list is a car from a company that’s actually yet to make a profit despite making such excellent cars. So, they’re struggling a bit financially, but not when it comes to promised range. As the car that won the winter range test only actually lost 5% compared to its WRTP figure, which was 348 mi, and it did 330 mi on the test, which is remarkable considering the cold temperatures. The car that won it was the Polestar 3, specifically the longrange dual motor version. These have NMC battery packs of 111 kilwatt hours, so it’s massive, and they can be picked up in the UK from around 47,000. These are used cars with a few miles on the clock. Now, a car that’s a little older but much more affordable, which is the Polestar 2, is still a very capable car, and these are on sale for as low as £14,000 now in the UK, which is remarkable. Now, there seems to be a bit of scrutiny and discrepancy on the Norwegian test because it only compares it to the WRTP range figures. Now, let’s see how these five cars actually compare against a much more accurate real world situation and range test results. And let’s use, of course, the EV database. Now, I’m taking the combined cold weather situation to get a best estimate as to how much range these cars actually lose in the winter. And we’re going to compare it to the real world combined range that the EV database shows you as well and has done modeling on in mild weather. And the results are surprising because the list does not stay the same. At number five is still the Kia EV3, but according to the EV database, the realistic range is 325 mi in mild weather. And in cold weather, this drops to 235 miles in the combined range, according to the EV database, which loses 27.7% of its range. Number four is the Lotus, but on EV database, they sometimes have to do an estimated range figure based on only the models that they’ve got and the information they’ve got so far. So, there’s a little caveat with that. It says it will do 370 mi realistic range in mild weather and it drops to 270 mi in extreme cold weather, losing 27%. Number three is the Mini, which has a combined realistic mild weather range of 260 mi and cold weather range of 190 mi. So that loses 26.9% of its range. Number two is actually the BYD Sea Lion 7 with 310 estimated miles of range in mild weather and 230 mi in extreme cold weather, losing 25.8% 8% of its range. And still number one is still the Polestar 3. But unlike Norway’s test of only losing 5% compared to its WLTP figure, according to EV database, its mild combined weather range is 360 mi. And when cold weather hits, it drops to 270 mi, only losing exactly 25% in extreme conditions. So what can we conclude here? Well, the WRTP range is not a reasonable accurate representation of what actually happens in real world scenarios. And it’s hard to compare that to the Norway test and to the EV database scores because they of course all use different data points. Every country has different speed limits, weather, hills, and inclines. So, it’s hard to compare what the true represented ranges in the winter in your country. I suppose the only constant is you in this list. So if you drive all the different cars on the same road in the same conditions in the same way, then you’ll be able to get an accurate representation, but at the same time, every different type of day and time of day is different. So even if you drive a car a few hours later on the same route, things are different and you’re going to stop in different places and stuff like that. So it’s very, very hard to get an accurate representation of true winter range. It’s more about how you condition the car, how you drive it, how you treat it, and how new it is, you know, i.e. the state of health of the battery. But the EV database seems to have the best conditions and most realistic range figures. And we know we definitely can’t trust the WLTP range, which is a shame because that’s the only figure that the manufacturers can use when they’re selling a car and putting on a brochure. So, watch out because I think in a few years there’ll be an updated test which gives you a more accurate representation of the range. So, with that, thanks so much for watching. Watch this video next and I’ll see you on the next one. Peace out.
What if some EVs never lose their range in the winter? If you’re looking to buy one, here are the top 5 that performed best on a real world test, along with numbers you’ll actually expect to see..
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EV Database: https://ev-database.org/uk/
EL PRIX: https://www.motor.no/bil/vinterens-store-rekkeviddetest-2025/302344
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I’m Alex, a British guy sharing what it’s really like living with a budget electric car.
Former automotive engineer turned traveller + digital nomad.
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📖 Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:38 Why all cars lose range in winter
03:30 Which battery type is best?
05:00 Winter range tips
05:35 Test explained
06:57 Results
10:45 WLTP problem & alternative …
13:07 the best resource
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