How much range does an electric car lose in winter?
Electric cars lose range in the cold. We publish no mean yet: fewer than ten models carry a collected winter figure with an official range to set it against.
What measurements show at different temperatures
Each source measures its own thing, so each point keeps its own words instead of sharing one loss scale.
Published winter data by air temperature, from the warm test of the official range to a hard frost
test cell set to 296 K, at most 5 K deviation
documents.un.org ·- 32 °F (0 °C)78%
on average 78% of the maximum range (32 °F)
Recurrent · real-world driving data, 34 EV models
- 19 °F (-7 °C)70%
on average 70% of the maximum range (20 °F)
Recurrent · real-world driving data, 34 EV models
- 5 °F (-15 °C)54%
on average 54% of the rated range (5 °F)
Geotab · telemetry of 4,200 connected EVs, 5.2 million trips
Single-car tests
- 32 °F (0 °C)
the winner, Audi A6 Avant e-tron Performance, covers 274 mi (441 km) non-stop at motorway speed
ADAC · winter test of 14 family cars, simulated Munich-Berlin route, 0 degrees C
adac.de ·
- 19 °F (-7 °C)
Dacia Spring, mixed trip: 112 mi (180 km) in warm weather, 83 mi (133 km) in cold winter weather
Green NCAP · "Cold Winter Performance" tests at -7 degrees C
How far does your model go in winter?
Figure taken for: RWD/AWD mixed owner fleet
- In winter
- RWD/AWD mixed owner fleet
- Official range
- EPA
How much does each model lose in winter?
1 model. Every winter figure carries its source and date. A share of the official range rests on a collected figure and is marked as not verified.
| # Place in the winter list | Model | In winter | Official range | Kept | Heat pump |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | | RWD/AWD mixed owner fleet | EPA | — | not stated |
Dotted underline: not verified (collected, not re-checked) - tap the figure for its source and date. A share computed from such a figure is not verified either.
Why does range drop in winter?
Several causes act at once, and all of them draw energy from the same battery.
- Cold batteryIn the cold the battery gives less energy until it warms up.
- Cabin heatingThe heat for the cabin comes out of the same range.
- Tyres and dense airWinter tyres and cold, dense air raise consumption.
- Slower chargingA cold battery accepts less power, so charging takes longer.
Why the official range is measured warm
The test temperature is set by the regulation, not by the maker.
UN GTR No. 15 (WLTP), para. 7.1.1.2 "Room temperature": the set point of the test cell is 296 K and must not deviate by more than 5 K during the test, unless the following test requires another temperature. (Our translation of the official text.)
296 K is +22.85 °C. So the official range is always a warm-cell number, never a winter one.
How to reduce winter losses
Four habits that matter most.
Precondition
Warm the battery and the cabin from the grid before you leave, so the energy comes from the socket and not from the range.Show more
Green NCAP measured 46 km of extra mixed-trip range in the cold from pre-warming the VW ID.4 (greenncap.com, November 2025).Charge in the cold
Plan extra time to charge.Show more
To protect the battery many cars limit the charging voltage while it is cold, and the normal speed returns once it has warmed up (recurrentauto.com, November 2025).Motorway speed
Take the motorway a little slower than you would in summer.Show more
Fast driving cuts into range, and the cold comes on top of it (geotab.com, October 2025).Where the car sleeps
Leave the car plugged in overnight when you can: it then draws energy from the wall to keep warm instead of from the battery (recurrentauto.com, November 2025).
How is this winter page computed?
- 1Two kinds of winter figure are kept apart. An independent instrumented test is listed only with its method, sample size, temperature and source note. A collected figure is a number taken from a public page, with its link and date, not yet re-checked by us; it is marked as not verified and every share computed from it is marked the same way.
- 2The share kept is the winter figure divided by the model's official range brought to a WLTP-equivalent basis (the factors the ranking uses), or by the exact real-world measurement when an independent test supplies one. A mean is published only over models of the card's own named version and only when at least ten models carry a share.
- 3Listed today - collected figures: 1; independent tests: 0. Collected figures shown without a share for exceeding the model's official range: 0. Listed with another version's name and no share: 1. Without an official range to compare with: 0.
Questions
It depends on the car, the temperature and the speed. We publish no mean yet: fewer than ten models carry a collected winter figure with an official range to set it against.
EV range falls in the cold for two physical reasons. Below freezing, lithium-ion cells slow their internal chemistry: ion movement through the electrolyte stiffens, internal resistance climbs, and the pack delivers less usable energy while charging more slowly. At the same time, cabin and battery heating draw power straight from the pack — there is no waste engine heat to borrow. A resistive heater can pull 3–6 kW, whereas a heat pump moves the same warmth for roughly a third of the energy, which is why heat-pump cars hold range far better. In typical real-world winter driving, EVs lose roughly 10–40% of their rated range; a car keeping 75% of its official figure still loses a quarter of its kilometres. These are general EV characteristics, not a per-model measurement.
A heat pump moves the same warmth for roughly a third of the energy a resistive heater needs; Recurrent reports about 10% more range at 0 °C with one (recurrentauto.com, November 2025).
Because the regulation says so, not the maker: UN GTR No. 15 (WLTP), para. 7.1.1.2, sets the test cell to 296 K (+22.85 °C), with at most 5 K deviation. The official range is therefore always a warm-weather number; a winter figure is a different measurement.
Precondition the battery and cabin while the car is plugged in, plan extra time for charging in the cold, take the motorway a little slower, and leave the car plugged in overnight when you can.
From public pages that state a winter range for a model; each figure is listed with its link and the date we saw it, and marked as not verified. A figure above the model's official range stays visible without a share, and a figure taken for another version of the car is listed with that version but gives no share. Figures from independent instrumented tests are kept apart and marked as such.
Sources of the collected winter figures: 5 sites
Data sources
5 sources
Every row links the page the winter figure was read from.