- How fast can an EV charge after sitting in freezing temperatures for half a day?
- That’s what one Canadian Tesla Model 3 owner wanted to find out.
- Despite the bitter cold, the result was surprising.
Freezing temperatures and electric car batteries aren’t besties. That’s not news by any stretch of the imagination, but contrary to popular belief, things have improved vastly over the past decade.
There’s no getting around the fact that EV batteries lose a good chunk of their range when the temperature dips below freezing, but when it comes to charging them back up, there should be next to no issues—at least in the case of EVs that have actively cooled and heated battery packs.
Take the Tesla Model 3. The pre-facelift model also had a battery preconditioning system, so there’s no huge leap forward here. It ensures the pack is nice and toasty when arriving at a Supercharger so that owners spend as little time as possible charging and as much time as possible on the road.
But what happens when the car has been sitting outside for several hours in temperatures as low as -26 F (-32 C)? How does a brand-new Tesla Model 3 Long Range All-Wheel Drive handle the harsh Canadian winter and how does it fare when it’s time to put back some energy into the battery? These are all questions that have been answered in the FrozenTesla video embedded below.
The Tesla was parked outside for roughly six hours. When the owner hopped inside, the battery’s state of charge was down to 25%. He chose a nearby Supercharger and started driving there; this activated the car’s preconditioning system, ensuring that the battery temperature was up to spec when it was time to plug in.
The trip to the Supercharger was just eight miles (13 km) long and took about 15 minutes, but it was enough to eat through 7% of the battery level–thanks in no small part to the battery heating that uses quite a bit of energy. The regenerative braking did not work at all during the short trip, which goes to show that the battery was plenty cold. Meanwhile, the cabin temperature was set to 68 F (20 C).
All this being said, after arriving at the Supercharger, things could not have gone more smoothly, despite the bitter cold. The charge door opened automatically without any issue and the car started charging immediately. At the beginning of the session, the car was taking in around 50 kilowatts but ramped up to 130 kW within a minute.
Four minutes in, the charge rate dropped slightly to 119 kW, while the state of charge percentage went from 17% to 27%. Fast-forward another 12 minutes and the SoC was already at 49%. Meanwhile, the charge rate dropped down again to slightly less than 100 kW.
The test ended after 35 minutes. The car’s battery went from a 17% state of charge to 77%, with 48 kWh of energy going into the battery. This means the average charging speed for this particular charging session was 82.2 kW.
While not record-breaking, it’s a solid performance considering the very low temperatures. And it proves that despite range losses, winter is hardly a total dealbreaker when you’re driving electric.
