I Left My EV Unplugged In The Chilly For Weeks. This is How A lot Vary I Misplaced

Upstate New York winters are not any joke. Up the place I stay, we began getting bombed with January- and February-style chilly climate as early as Thanksgiving, sending the excessive temperatures down into the low 30s most days if we have been fortunate. There are many methods to cope with this. One methodology I extremely suggest is to spend money on some high-quality wool socks; a good higher thought is to get a aircraft ticket to someplace hotter. 

However for those who’re an electrical automobile proprietor and you should depart your automobile alone for just a few weeks at a time, and you realize it should be parked someplace very chilly, what kind of vary are you able to count on once you return? We all know that chilly temperatures specifically are the enemy of lithium-ion batteries. Whereas they do not carry out particularly nicely in excessive warmth, they do even worse when the temperatures get low.

So when my spouse and I deliberate out a somewhat formidable vacation schedule—we might spend practically a month in our native Texas touring the state and seeing family and friends, all earlier than I’d head to Las Vegas to cowl CES 2025—we had the possibility to run a bit experiment with our Kia EV6. 

We’d be gone from Dec. 15 to Jan. 10. (Sure, the vacations have been a lot for us, in case you are curious.) Earlier than we left, we charged the EV6 to 80% as we do most days except we now have an extended drive forward to protect the automobile’s battery life. Then we might depart it unplugged, in our chilly indifferent storage, whereas temperatures have been within the 30s on common—generally as excessive as 54 levels Fahrenheit, generally as little as 12 levels. (Climate is bizarre.) 

There is a widespread concern amongst those that aren’t conversant in EVs: that they’re going to have to depart their automobile parked for a number of days or perhaps weeks for a visit, then come again to the airport to discover a utterly useless battery. In spite of everything, any battery will lose cost over time, even when it is not getting used. So if we left the EV6 unplugged, and in not significantly EV-friendly climate, what would we come again to? What a terrific alternative to search out out.

Photograph by: Patrick George

For context, my EV6 is a Twin-Motor AWD Wind mannequin. It is formally EPA-rated at 282 miles of vary, although its onboard laptop’s projections fluctuate extra broadly relying on the climate than many different EVs I’ve pushed. In reasonable fall and summer time climate, the automobile learn as having greater than 300 miles of vary many instances. These days in winter, it has been fairly a bit decrease than that. I am working to translate these projections into real-world vary outcomes, so keep tuned there. 

So once we left for Texas we made positive the Kia was charged to 80%, which learn as 183 miles of vary. Then the automobile sat there for 28 days, utterly unplugged from my residence ChargePoint Stage 2 charger, and by no means checked utilizing the Kia smartphone app (which briefly powers on the automobile and its 12-volt battery to see what is going on on.) 

And once we returned, the EV6 had… 180 miles of vary at a 78% cost. 

After which once I got here again a couple of minutes later to get photographic proof of this, the automobile’s laptop learn barely increased, as much as 183 miles of vary but once more. 

Photograph by: InsideEVs

In different phrases, we mainly did not lose any vary in any respect. Perhaps 2%, if the automobile’s vary calculator is to be believed, however that clearly did not translate into any misplaced miles. So, sure: You’ll be able to depart your EV unplugged for some time and the battery—together with the essential 12-volt battery—will not utterly die whilst you’re gone.

It is right here the place I ought to word that above all else, it is best to seek the advice of your proprietor’s handbook to know precisely what to do if you should retailer it long-term. Most manuals suggest you do depart them plugged in, if potential, as a result of the vehicles will then be robotically in a position to keep a correct cost stage as wanted. However as our pals at battery well being startup Recurrent word, some EVs are totally different than others; it recommends you permit a Hyundai (which is actually the identical automobile as my Kia) plugged in, however Ford recommends leaving a Mustang Mach-E unplugged beginning round 50% with the 12-volt battery disconnected if the automobile must be saved for greater than 30 days. Tesla additionally recommends leaving your automobile plugged in when it is being saved and never disturbed too usually with the app, and it’s also possible to disable options like Sentry Mode to maintain energy consumption down as nicely. 

This is what my handbook recommends for longer EV6 storage: If the automobile is not going to be in use for an prolonged time frame, cost the high-voltage battery as soon as each three months to forestall it from discharging. Additionally, if the automobile battery cost is inadequate, instantly cost the automobile to fill capability and repair the automobile.”

So if I actually have been to be gone from my EV6 for 3 months, I might most likely depart it plugged in at my storage, then verify on it periodically by way of my smartphone app, together with scheduling charging as wanted. 

Photograph by: Patrick George

This is the place I’d additionally remind those that it is not nice to retailer an inside combustion automobile for months at a time, both. A 12-volt battery can die, gasoline can evaporate, fluids can go unhealthy and so forth. However fairly frankly, my EV6 dealt with being parked for weeks higher than many older gas-powered vehicles I’ve owned would have achieved. It acquitted itself very nicely throughout our lengthy journey.

So this is the lesson: Seek the advice of your proprietor’s handbook, however leaving your EV parked within the chilly for a very long time most likely will not be that huge of a deal. 

Acquired different cold-weather driving and storage suggestions? Drop them within the feedback beneath. 

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