New research shows going faster uses more EV range than blasting AC in the summer heat

New research has shown going faster uses more EV range than blasting AC in the summer heat.

Geotab, a global leader in connected vehicle solutions, has released data that shows that cooling an EV is essentially a non-issue in terms of energy usage.

Driving fast is the real culprit in draining your EV’s battery.

It turns out that the faster you drive, the more power will be drained to fight air resistance – making the air conditioning a speck by comparison.

EXPLORE SBX CARS – Supercar auctions starting soon powered by Supercar Blondie

Research shows that going faster uses more EV range than blasting AC

For a long while, it’s been assumed that air conditioning the ultimate battery drainer in EVs.

But this isn’t so – and research has shown that a vehicle’s speed plays a bigger role in energy usage.

Geotab collected data from more than three million EV trips to offer insight into how temperature and speed affect vehicle’s energy consumption.

The sedan was modeled based on 350,000 trips from 500 cars, whilst a light cargo van was represented from 2.8 million trips from 2,000 vans.

Both models were then adjusted to represent a 65kWh battery.

It found that even moderate increases in speed can cause significant range losses.

If a 65kWh electric van was cruising at 50mph in 86-degree weather with the AC on, it’d have a range of around 143 miles.

Should that van get faster by 10mph, the range would drop down to 121 miles.

If the van reaches 70mph, it hits 103 miles of range – then 88 miles at 80mph.

Between 50mph and 80mph, the vehicle’s range drops by 39 percent.

This is the same for sedans – starting a 277 mile range at 50mph, and dropping to 200 miles at 80mph, a 28 percent drop.

By way of comparison, running AC at full blast could cost you 10 miles of range per mile.

Going faster really does cost you more in energy than blasting AC.

Plus who wants to drive in a sweat box?

Moral of the story – if you want more EV range, ease up on the speed.

Energy efficiency in a electric car – it’s something drivers worry about

More and more cars are electric nowadays – in fact, more miles are being covered by EVs in the UK than gas cars.

So it only makes sense that people would want to know what’s eating up their battery.

And if you happen to live in a US state with higher charging costs, you want to limit your visits to the charging stations as much as possible.

Fortunately, there’s EVs like the Cadillac Escalade IQ, which have produced some promising results when put through range tests.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie