The Motor Isn’t the Only Power-Hungry Component In An EV
Power consumption is a major concern for most people. It determines how far they can travel on a single tank of fuel or a full charge. In the case of electric vehicles, the motor draws the most power as it works to get the car moving or keep it at the required speed.
Driving behaviour makes a significant difference in overall vehicle range. Being frugal with the use of the accelerator pedal and coasting, when possible, can-do wonders for maintaining good power consumption. That said, it isn’t the only offending article when it comes to power drain.
There’s A Price To Pay For Cooling
The use of the air-conditioning unit and other vehicle accessories play a significant role in drawing power away from the battery pack. This in turn reduces the overall range that is available to said EV. An AC unit can take between 2kW-5kW of power to get the cabin temperature to a comfortable level. However, keeping it at said level requires far less electricity.
This is because the AC unit needs to work extremely hard to bring down the temperature to the desired level. Having a decent amount of tint on your windows can help insulate the cabin and prevent the temperature from rising to an uncomfortable level.
What You Can Do To Help Your AC System
In addition to this, you could pre-cool your EV while it’s still plugged into your wall outlet. That way, the AC unit uses an external power source to cool down the cabin instead of relying on the battery pack. Once you leave on your journey, it will require little power to keep the temperature constant.
Cooling Or Heating Of Battery Pack
EV battery packs have their own cooling/heating system, like that used by traditional vehicles for their engines. The ethylene glycol (WEG) mixture is often used as a liquid based solution to keep temperatures in check. That’s because Lithium-ion batteries have a narrow temperature window with which they work at optimum levels(15-35 degrees Celsius).
This is why they can deliver electricity at a constant rate and be effectively recharged when the time comes to plug into the charger. Also, the harder an EV is driven, the hotter the battery becomes. Hence the reason for a cooling system, which also robs power from the battery. Depending on the outside temperature, it might range from several hundred watts to several kilowatts of power.
As you can see, though an EV’s motor takes up the most power, there are other power-hungry components that “chime in” to ruin your overall driving range. However, by driving sensibly as well as tempering the use of the heating/AC unit, you should be able to get closer to the WLTP range stated in the brochure.
