The world’s largest-ever electric vehicle winter test just concluded in China, and the results show how extreme cold punishes driving range. Chinese EVs dominated the rankings, but one American and one Japanese model still cracked the top ten.
The test was conducted by Autohome, China’s largest automotive media outlet, which drove roughly 67 new EVs and hybrids to Yakeshi, Inner Mongolia. There, about 100 car experts subjected the vehicles to rigorous tests to examine their range, charging performance, driveability on icy surfaces, acceleration, and safety.
Not happy
The tests were conducted at temperatures ranging from -10° to -20° centigrade. EV batteries are not at their happiest when the mercury drops. Modern EVs are engineered to survive extreme cold, with sophisticated thermal management systems and broad operating temperature windows, but today’s lithium-ion chemistry still has inherent limitations.
Those limits showed up most clearly in reduced driving range, as the car had to expend a significant portion of its energy just to heat its own battery. By the way, ICE cars aren’t immune to an efficiency drop in extreme winters either, and diesel fuel has to be specially prepared to prevent it from solidifying.
Sharp fall in range
One of the main goals of this test was to measure how much range EVs could retain in extreme cold compared with their manufacturer-rated figures. Nearly every vehicle saw its range fall sharply. Most of them lost more than half of their claimed range.
Cold temperatures increase the viscosity of the electrolyte in lithium-ion batteries, the liquid that allows ions to shuttle during charging and discharging. This creates internal resistance in the battery, slowing ion movement. As a result, the battery has to work harder to keep the wheels turning, leading to higher energy consumption. It also has to use a heat pump or a resistive heater to keep its own battery warm.
The methodology was also very different. These results compare real-world winter driving range against the (Chinese) CLTC ratings, which are clearly overoptimistic. So the gap is bound to look bigger than it actually is if stacked against the comparatively more accurate EPA (USA) or WLTP (Europe) ratings.
The testers have conducted the tests at around 70-80 kph. Icy surfaces and severe sub-zero temperatures meant the batteries were under continuous extreme duress.
In the end, sedans emerged as the clear winners, thanks to their superior aerodynamics and lower weight. The Xpeng P7 came out on top, covering 366.7 km on a full charge, retaining nearly 53.9% of its CLTC range of 680 km. The Yangwang U7 achieved 51.8% of its original range, followed by the Zeekr 001 at 49.6%.
The Tesla Model 3 and Nissan N7 rounded out the top five, retaining about 48% and 47.4% of their rated range. Interestingly, the new Mercedes-Benz CLA fell far short of its 866 km CLTC range, trailing the Tesla and other Chinese EVs and retaining only 37% of its claimed range under complex testing. That can be seen as slightly disappointing given that it’s among the newest and one of the most modern and sophisticated EVs in this group.
Mongolia’s extreme weather, strong winds, unpaved surfaces, and the fact that the testers kept the cabins warm meant the testing conditions differed from typical winter driving conditions and had to be carefully accounted for.
Energy consumption
Another revealing metric was energy consumption per 100 kilometers. In this category, smaller, more affordable EVs outperformed their heavier siblings thanks to their lower weight and simpler architectures.
The BYD Seagull and the Geely Xingyuan were tied for first, consuming about 23.5 kilowatt hours of electricity to cover 100 km. The BYD Seal 06 (24.6 kWh/100 km), Wuling Bingo S (24.9 kWh/100 km), and Tesla Model 3 (24.9 kWh/100 km) completed the top five in this test. Other, much larger and heavier cars easily consumed 35 or even 40 kWh/100 km in these extreme conditions.
The Autohome test involved driving 67 cars in winter in Inner Mongolia. Most of them were EVs and hybrids, and, of course, Chinese. If the test is confirming one thing, it’s the fact that, regarding EVs, the Chinese seem to be very much in a league of their own.
Nevertheless, the results also underscore that Tesla, the American electric pioneer, remains competitive and show that the Model 3 is still one of the most efficient EVs on the market.
There weren’t many European EVs involved in the test, also because they’re mostly not available on the Chinese market. Only the Mercedes CLA and the electric G-Class were the European contenders.
It would be interesting to take the top contenders of this comparison, along with some European rivals, to wintry Lapland to verify findings. One can be sure that most OEMs are actually doing it. Until now, they have kept the results safely guarded, for internal use only. That’s meaningful, too.
