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 effectively into the autumn, weren’t precisely nice rising up, however they have been enterprise as standard. However life took me to New York Metropolis, after which the Catskill Mountains past it, the place digging my automotive out of a two-foot-high pile of snow grew to become the brand new enterprise as standard. That is positively not one thing I skilled as a child.

As of late, I am used to the upstate New York winters. The chilly does not actually hassle me anymore. Nonetheless, proudly owning an electrical automotive in one among these winters—it’s -4 levels F (-20 C) round dawn as I write this—is a really new expertise on many ranges. But it surely’s additionally been a good way to be taught 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 car final summer time; that is my automotive, not a press tester on mortgage from a automotive firm. Up to now, I have been extraordinarily impressed with its fast-charging prowess, vary in additional temperate climate and how effectively it handles a highway journey.

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

My automotive is EPA-estimated to ship 282 miles of vary. Through the hotter months of 2024, I used to be repeatedly 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downsides have been the software program suite, each the infotainment system and the smartphone app, the frustratingly outdated navigation system, and door handles; these solely come out mechanically when you spring for a GT-Line or GT mannequin.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)
Gasoline saved: 310 gallons

Photograph by: Patrick George

2024 Kia EV6 Lengthy-Time period Check January Replace

Total, my spouse and I’ve beloved the EV6. We each assume it is the most effective automotive that is ever referred to as our storage residence. It is a excellent day by day with glorious type, efficiency and effectivity. I believe 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 all the pieces’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 once 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 beneath 30 levels F (-1 C) and have simply sunk into the single-digits or negatives at evening. 

However the EV6 has dealt with all of it very effectively, for essentially the most half. All the pieces 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 automotive, all imply it is remarkably protected 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 just a little extra assured in snow than my automotive is; each have all-season tires, however the Prologue’s Bridgestone Alenzas put the traction down higher.

(Normally, 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 automotive’s typically glorious efficiency, dealing with or stability, and I look ahead to changing them once I can.) 

Total, traction hasn’t been an issue. We have now devoted snow tires on our different automotive, a gas-powered Mazda 3 hatchback, and it most likely grips higher in unhealthy situations. However the EV6’s inherent strengths—plus the “backup” automotive 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 number 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 automotive’s regenerative braking energy; I do not really like this as I take pleasure in the additional diploma of acceleration management that one-pedal driving provides 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 presents, however I can nonetheless pre-condition the cabin temperature earlier than I get in—together with whereas the automotive is plugged in, so I am not losing any vitality. 

After getting a automotive that may set the inside local weather out of your cellphone, 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 lined extensively right here, EVs lose vary in excessive temperatures—warmth is not nice however chilly is very unhealthy—due to battery chemistry. Chilly temperatures decelerate the chemical reactions inside a lithium-ion battery, making it more durable for electrons to circulate and ship energy to the motors. Add in the truth that utilizing a cabin heater consumes vitality too and also you merely will not be capable to drive so far as you’d in additional reasonable climate. 

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

These are the vary readings I received when the EV6 was at “full” (that 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 several 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 could say you will get 300 miles of vary when it is freezing out, however with their miles-per-kWh effectivity taking a success, they positively will not get an precise 300 miles of vary on the highway. 

My effectivity ranking 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 up to now. I wished to see what this really meant for my automotive.

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

On the way in which 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 strong 70 mph vary take a look at, 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

Ultimately, a “beginning” full battery with an estimated 216 miles of vary is a couple of 25% decline from the automotive’s EPA-rated 282 miles. And I used a complete of 48.65 kWh on the spherical journey, out of my automotive’s 74 kWh usable battery pack when totally charged—about 65% of its whole vitality. 

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

The Verdict

Chilly-weather vary losses are among the many most controversial matters we take care of at InsideEVs.

They’re amongst our most-read tales, on the prime of the record of considerations of potential house owners, a frequent punching bag for the anti-EV crowd, and likewise one thing that many pro-EV folks would relatively we simply by no means discuss. On prime of that, because the outdated saying goes, your mileage could range; EV vary losses rely on a ton of things, together with highway situations, driving type, climate, vitality use contained in the automotive, and naturally, the automotive itself.

Our objective at InsideEVs is to report actually, pretty and precisely concerning the vitality transition. It is to not sugar-coat issues. So that is my sincere and honest evaluation, as correct as I can get it myself: the EV6 does take a wide range hit within the winter. It is positively disappointing, however for the driving I do, surmountable. If you’re looking for an EV, take your personal driving wants and charging entry under consideration. If my driving concerned numerous 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 the most effective automotive I’ve ever owned, and one which does numerous issues in unhealthy climate than an inside combustion car 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 trade has spent greater than 100 years on inside combustion growth; it has barely scratched the floor of what trendy battery tech is able to. Possibly the reply is solid-state batteries, or perhaps it’s going to 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 will wash it later at the moment. Method forward of you on that. 

Contact the writer: [email protected]