Winter & range

How much range do you lose in an EV in winter?

Short answer

Expect a meaningful winter hit, cold air, cabin heating and denser air all cost energy, but a heat pump softens it.

Full answer

Winter range loss is real and physical, not a fault. Three things stack up in the cold: the cabin heater draws power the battery would otherwise spend on miles; air is denser when it's cold, so aerodynamic drag rises; and the battery itself is less willing when cold.

Our model computes each of these separately. A resistive PTC heater can pull several kilowatts in a hard frost; a heat pump typically does the same job for well under half the energy above about −5 °C, which is why heat-pump cars lose less in winter.

Rather than a single scary percentage, every car page shows a winter range card and a range-vs-temperature curve for that exact model, adjusted for its battery health. See how we work it out.

Every figure in this answer is computed by the physics model. See how it works