7 Extreme (Cold & Hot) Weather Tips for your Electric Bike

Electric Vehicles have become quite popular in the past few years and have the potential to replace conventional gasoline and diesel-run vehicles in the coming years. Though the Electric vehicles have got great admiration for lowering the carbon emission, they have received equal criticism over their battery life, efficiency and performance in cold weather conditions. It is true that the driving range and the time taken to recharge the battery can be deteriorated during extremely cold weather conditions. The lithium-ion batteries that power the Electric Vehicles are temperature sensitive, just like humans. They deliver their peak performance when the temperature is around 60 to 80 degrees and it tends to decrease when the temperatures are below 40 or above 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Taking this into account, to warm or cool the battery, the modern electric cars come with battery thermal management systems. Unlike the internal combustion engine that generates its own heat which in turn warms the engine, an Electric Vehicle has to absorb the heat from motors or and inverters or by running a heater. This would need energy from the battery and hence making insufficient energy left to move the wheels. It might look like these are making the Electric Vehicle almost impossible to work in cold conditions, experienced Electric Vehicle owners have managed to swim through it comfortably by following some practices to improve performance. There is an opinion among people that Electric vehicles don’t work in cold weather, which is untrue.

Following a few weather tips for your electric vehicles can still help you keep going:

1. Make sure the battery doesn’t get too low - Make it a practice to have at least 20 percent charge so that the car has enough energy to warm the battery to start the process. 2. Plan ahead - Pre-heating or pre-cooling the cabin while it is plugged in for charging help in extending the range in extreme weather conditions. 3. Brake as little as possible - Though the braking doesn’t use up all the energy, allowing the car’s regenerative braking to take over reduces the unnecessary energy utilization to drive fast and then brake and then accelerate. 4. Keep it slow and smooth - Increasing speed can have a dramatic effect on the amount of energy being used. So it is advisable to drive in the speed limit. 5. Always keep your tires pumped up - Not inflating the tires enough increases the friction on the road and reduced the driving efficiency. 6. Use accessories wisely - Heating, air conditioning, and music systems in Electric vehicles affect the fuel economy and hence have to be used wisely. 7. Turn on the “Economy Mode” - Most Electric vehicles come with economy mode or a similar feature that increase the fuel economy of the vehicle.   Its a matter of fact that though these can help your Electric Vehicle stay out of trouble and just help you keep going even in the cold weather, a permanent solution is needed to make your electric vehicle give you the best driving experience at all times. Scientists are working on developing solid-state batteries that aren’t so sensitive like the liquid state batteries. We can hope to get them in at least 5- 10 years from now. Let us know in the comment section how do you keep your Electric Bikes Safe in Extreme weather conditions and we will update it in our Blog.