Electric vehicles outperformed diesel in this winter's extreme cold

[Think. Again.]

Jo Borrás, Mar 1 2024 - 6:58 am PT
Full Article; https://electrek.co/2024/03/01/electric-vehicles-outperformed-diesel-in-this-winters-extreme-cold/

A lot of fuss was made this winter when some Tesla owners in Chicago experienced difficulty charging – but that wasn’t the experience for the majority of EV owners. In Colorado’s West Grand School District, electric school buses didn’t perform as well as their diesel counterparts. They performed better.

The town of Kremmling, Colorado is one of the coldest towns in the country, where high altitudes and northen winds combine to drive morning temperatures in the winter more than 30 degrees below zero. And it’s precisely in those super-cold temperatures that the school district’s electric school bus (which they’ve had since 2020) really shines.

-snip-

It’s little wonder that the Kremmling school district is pleased with the performance of its electric bus. Even though it’s true that EV experience reduced range in extreme weather conditions, gas and diesel vehicles do, too. And, in the case of diesel, the vehicles might not start at all in Colorado’s bitter winter cold.

“Most of the winter it’s 30 to 35 below (zero),” offers West Grand County School District Director of Transportation, Bethany Aurinwhen. “When it’s up to 20 below that’s good day, and (the electric school bus) has performed extremely well.”

-snip-

Full Article; https://electrek.co/2024/03/01/electric-vehicles-outperformed-diesel-in-this-winters-extreme-cold/

[2naSalit]

1. Good to hear...

I am hoping for some kind of trade-in program so I can trade in my newer car for one of those. My neighbor has a Prius and is currently on a five thousand mile round trip and she said it will cost her $50 for gas. I want one of those.

[RAB910]

2. This claim is at best misleading

Even though it’s true that EV experience reduced range in extreme weather conditions, gas and diesel vehicles do, too

There can be up to a 20% reduction in fuel economy until the vehicle is fully warmed up, but after that, they run normally. The reduction of this transient dip in fuel economy is insignificant compared to the range reduction of an EV

[RAB910]

3. I was talking to a service manager of a bus company a couple of months ago. They received some electric buses

He talked about how the range was misleading. When the charge got down to 20% the buses went into energy saving mode which did things like shut off the AC. Not ideal on warm days.

[Think. Again.]

4. I know, right?

When my gas vehicle runs out of fuel everything shuts off too! It's crazy!

[RAB910]

5. Your AC shuts off at a quarter tank?!?!

[Think. Again.]

6. No but there have been times I wish my gas car DID...

...start cutting back on gas usage when my tank got low!

[questionseverything]

7. So the buses must get charged inside, right?

[Think. Again.]

8. I'm not sure, but the article does say this....

" Yes, garage storage of the buses with moderate climate control is most helpful to precondition the battery and passenger space. But that also reduces the maintenance to keep the buses and their windows free of snow and ice."

But there's no mention where the charging stations are.