Let’s Speak Winter Vary And Efficiency

I am from San Antonio, Texas. I do know a factor or two about sizzling climate. Lengthy stretches of 100-degree temperatures, generally properly into the autumn, weren’t precisely nice rising up, however they have been enterprise as regular. However life took me to New York Metropolis, after which the Catskill Mountains past it, the place digging my automobile out of a two-foot-high pile of snow grew to become the brand new enterprise as regular. That is positively not one thing I skilled as a child.

Lately, I am used to the upstate New York winters. The chilly does not actually hassle me anymore. Nevertheless, proudly owning an electrical automobile in one in every of these winters—it’s -4 levels F (-20 C) round dawn as I write this—is a really new expertise on many ranges. Nevertheless it’s additionally been an effective way to study what my 2024 Kia EV6 can do when the temperatures get extra-low.

As a recap, I leased a dual-motor, EV6 AWD Wind as my private automobile final summer time; that is my automobile, not a press tester on mortgage from a automobile firm. To date, I have been extraordinarily impressed with its fast-charging prowess, vary in additional temperate climate and how properly it handles a highway journey.

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

My automobile is EPA-estimated to ship 282 miles of vary. Through the hotter months of 2024, I used to be frequently seeing 300 to 320 miles of vary at a full cost and as a lot as 4 miles per kWh in general effectivity.

The downsides have been the software program suite, each the infotainment system and the smartphone app, the frustratingly outdated navigation system, and door handles; these solely come out routinely in the event you spring for a GT-Line or GT mannequin. (Fortunately, Kia fastened this on the 2025 replace.) 

2024 Kia EV6 Wind AWD Lengthy-Time period Check Replace: January 2025
Distance pushed: 7,260 miles (11,684 km) 
Common anticipated vary: ~240 miles in winter
Common noticed effectivity: 3.3 miles per kWh (lifetime)
Fuel saved: 310 gallons

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

General, my spouse and I’ve beloved the EV6. We each assume it is one of the best automobile that is ever referred to as our storage residence. It is a very good day by day with glorious type, efficiency and effectivity. I feel it is nonetheless an underrated gem within the EV world, particularly as its barely extra sensible cousin, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, steals a lot of the limelight. 

However every part’s nice when the climate is nice. How does this EV do when it will get actually chilly out? 

How The Kia EV6 Performs In Winter

And after I say “actually chilly,” I imply it. My nook of the Empire State began getting January- and February-levels of snow round Thanksgiving. Over the previous month, day by day excessive temperatures have largely been under 30 levels F (-1 C) and have simply sunk into the single-digits or negatives at night time. 

However the EV6 has dealt with all of it very properly, for essentially the most half. Every part I wrote concerning the Honda Prologue’s efficiency within the snow and on icy roads holds true right here: the EV6’s low heart of gravity and dual-motor AWD, with traction and stability management that may act extra shortly than any gas-powered automobile, all imply it is remarkably secure and predictable when situations get unhealthy. 

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

I’d argue the AWD Prologue Elite was somewhat extra assured in snow than my automobile is; each have all-season tires, however the Prologue’s Bridgestone Alenzas put the traction down higher.

(Typically, I proceed to be largely unimpressed with the EV6’s inventory Kuhmo Crugen tires. Whereas they’re very quiet, I do not assume they do a lot for the automobile’s typically glorious efficiency, dealing with or stability, and I stay up for changing them after I can.) 

General, traction hasn’t been an issue. We’ve got devoted snow tires on our different automobile, a gas-powered Mazda 3 hatchback, and it most likely grips higher in unhealthy situations. However the EV6’s inherent strengths—plus the “backup” automobile with precise winter rubber—have not made snow tires a necessity fairly but.

The EV6 additionally has a devoted Snow Mode that different EVs don’t. It is activated by holding down the Drive Mode button on the steering wheel for a couple of seconds. This mode retains the entrance motor engaged for fixed AWD and lowers the throttle response for steadier acceleration to keep away from having the wheels slip. It additionally dials down the automobile’s regenerative braking energy; I do not truly like this as I take pleasure in the additional diploma of acceleration management that one-pedal driving offers me, however I am going to assume Kia’s engineers are smarter than I’m.

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

Then there are the opposite benefits that any EV has within the winter. The cabin barely takes any time in any respect to heat up, since doing so is not depending on a fuel engine. And although the EV6’s smartphone app is not as quick or feature-rich as what Tesla or Rivian affords, however I can nonetheless pre-condition the cabin temperature earlier than I get in—together with whereas the automobile is plugged in, so I am not losing any power. 

Upon getting a automobile that may set the inside local weather out of your telephone, you will not ever return. 

How The Kia EV6’s Vary Holds Up In Winter

Snow efficiency and luxury are one factor. Vary is one other.

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

As we have coated extensively right here, EVs lose vary in excessive temperatures—warmth is not nice however chilly is particularly unhealthy—due to battery chemistry. Chilly temperatures decelerate the chemical reactions inside a lithium-ion battery, making it tougher for electrons to circulate and ship energy to the motors. Add in the truth that utilizing a cabin heater consumes power too and also you merely will not be capable to drive so far as you’ll in additional average climate. 

Since I typically cost my automobile solely to 80% to protect its battery well being until I do know I’ve an extended journey forward of me, here is some temperature and most vary information I recorded over the previous few months to provide you an instance of what I have been coping with:

These are the vary readings I acquired when the EV6 was at “full” (which means both 80% or 100%, typically) and sitting in my storage. Clearly, that is fairly a bit off from the 300-320 miles of vary I used to be getting when it was hotter out. 

However as with all issues EVs, there are some caveats.

Many carmakers calculate their estimated ranges in numerous methods. Some will learn the “full” EPA-estimated quantity, or near it, when it is chilly outdoors, at the same time as they lose extra precise vary as a result of their effectivity drops. The Kia’s projected vary estimates actually are likely to fluctuate with the climate.

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

In different phrases—and maybe to state the plain—some EVs might say you may get 300 miles of vary when it is freezing out, however with their miles-per-kWh effectivity taking successful, they positively will not get an precise 300 miles of vary on the highway. 

My effectivity score has definitely dropped with the temperatures. I am down from the excessive 3.0 miles to 4.0 miles per kWh vary to 2.2-2.5 miles per kWh—about 30% to 40% within the winter. However math solely will get you thus far. I needed to see what this truly meant for my automobile.

An Precise Winter Vary Check

On Monday, with a piece vacation and temperatures within the space being within the teenagers, I made a decision to place it to the check by going to go to a buddy in Warwick, New York, about 65 miles away. Spherical-trip, I’d cowl about 130 miles. 

I charged the EV6 to 100%, which gave me an estimated 216 miles of vary. After a fast errand on the town, I hit the freeway with 193 miles and a 91% battery (already not nice, frankly) and headed south to Warwick at a gentle 70 to 75 mph. It was solely 14 levels F (-10 C) out, so the chilly was positively working in opposition to me.

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

Within the automobile’s Regular drive setting, with the heated seats and heated steering wheel on and the cabin set to an agreeable 67 levels F, I acquired my effectivity common as much as about 2.7 miles per kWh by arrival. At my buddy’s home, the EV6 claimed a 69% cost and 150 miles of remaining vary. (By the best way, turning the cabin heater off provides about 15 to twenty miles of vary to this automobile; it is doable, simply not all the time essentially the most comfy factor.)

On the best way residence, I attempted Eco Mode, which limits using the entrance motor and cuts energy to focus extra on effectivity. I used this to nice impact on my final highway journey, however right here, it wasn’t as useful as I had hoped; I nonetheless ended my journey at 2.7 miles per kWh. I returned residence with a 32% battery cost and 62 miles of vary left. Whereas it wasn’t a stable 70 mph vary check, I might say 70% of that drive was on the freeway at these speeds. 

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

In the long run, a “beginning” full battery with an estimated 216 miles of vary is a few 25% decline from the automobile’s EPA-rated 282 miles. And I used a complete of 48.65 kWh on the spherical journey, out of my automobile’s 74 kWh usable battery pack when absolutely charged—about 65% of its complete power. 

So, sure. My expertise is that in one of these climate, my EV6 loses between 25% and 30% of its complete vary, which roughly tracks with current information from battery well being firm Recurrent. 

The Verdict

Chilly-weather vary losses are among the many most controversial subjects we cope with at InsideEVs.

They’re amongst our most-read tales, on the prime of the checklist of considerations of potential homeowners, a frequent punching bag for the anti-EV crowd, and in addition one thing that many pro-EV folks would fairly we simply by no means speak about. On prime of that, because the outdated saying goes, your mileage might range; EV vary losses depend upon a ton of things, together with highway situations, driving type, climate, power use contained in the automobile, and naturally, the automobile itself.

Our purpose at InsideEVs is to report actually, pretty and precisely concerning the power transition. It is to not sugar-coat issues. So that is my sincere and truthful evaluation, as correct as I can get it myself: the EV6 does take a wide array hit within the winter. It is positively disappointing, however for the driving I do, surmountable. In case you are looking for an EV, take your individual driving wants and charging entry under consideration. If my driving concerned a whole lot of common, long-distance journey in very chilly climate, and I had no fast-charging or home-charging choices, I would contemplate a hybrid for that job too. However for many of my functions, the EV6’s vary hit is surmountable. 

Is it a good tradeoff for one of the best automobile I’ve ever owned, and one which does a whole lot of issues in unhealthy climate than an inside combustion automobile can? Maybe so. I do not just like the EV6 any much less. It is simply the price of doing enterprise—for now, anyway. 

The auto business has spent greater than 100 years on inside combustion improvement; it has barely scratched the floor of what trendy battery tech is able to. Perhaps the reply is solid-state batteries, or perhaps it will be one thing else. However that is an impediment that may, and should, be overcome sometime for wider EV adoption to occur.

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

And sure, I’ll wash it later at this time. Approach forward of you on that. 

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