Scorching climate could cause EV batteries to degrade quicker, however there are some easy issues house owners can do to assist defend their vehicles, in accordance battery-health evaluation agency Recurrent.

Recurrent publishes battery well being stories for used EVs, but additionally makes use of the info pulled from autos to check the affect of cold and hot climate on vary and battery well being. In a current examine of Teslas, Recurrent discovered that vehicles primarily based in sizzling local weather zones typically lose extra vary as they age than vehicles in chilly local weather zones.

That is as a result of larger ranges of environmental warmth contributes further vitality to the electrochemical reactions that make a battery work. This “can speed up undesirable chemical reactions that age the battery prematurely,” based on Recurrent. The corporate has discovered that chilly climate causes vary loss, however notes that chilly temperatures are unlikely to trigger everlasting injury. The “typically accepted” threshold for accelerated battery degradation is round 86 levels Fahrenheit, based on Recurrent.

2023 Tesla Mannequin S – Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.

With temperatures in lots of components of the U.S. simply reaching that mark throughout the summer season months, that appears dangerous. Similar to chilly climate impacts EV vary and batteries otherwise, extraordinarily sizzling climate will not all the time have the identical destructive results on vary or battery life.

That stated, there are steps house owners can take to make that extra doubtless.

As Inexperienced Automotive Reviews has emphasised, parking a automotive in a storage or within the shade when it is sizzling out could make a distinction. Nissan even moved to replace its battery chemistry early on within the Leaf, after earlier variations of the automotive proved very inclined to battery degradation from sizzling climates—and notably, sizzling parking heaps.

Leaving the battery half charged in sizzling climate can even defend it from degradation, because the battery might be extra secure at half cost than it could be totally charged.

2011 Nissan Leaf

For consumers in sizzling climates selecting a brand new EV and anxious about parking outdoors, Recurrent recommends autos with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry, because it tends to deal with excessive temperatures higher. Sure U.S.-market Tesla fashions, in addition to sure variations of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, now use LFP batteries.

In vehicles with energetic thermal administration of the battery pack, Recurrent additionally recommends leaving the automotive plugged in with a cost restrict set. For a lot of EVs, battery cooling begins at a decrease temperature when plugged in than when unplugged, based on Recurrent.

Whatever the trigger, Recurrent has discovered that battery degradation is not more likely to brick your EV, because it occurs regularly. Neither is frequent fast-charging more likely to considerably degrade batteries, though Recurrent has proven that sure fashions carry out higher on this regard.