Comment by IshKebab
12 hours ago
Those are quite niche environments. The success of LFP won't hinge on whether it works below -20C, obviously.
12 hours ago
Those are quite niche environments. The success of LFP won't hinge on whether it works below -20C, obviously.
Most of the US Midwest sees -20 C for at least a brief period each winter. Having reduced functionality at those temps would be pretty inconvenient for the many car dependent people that live in the region.
-20C is feasible. Charging will take a bit longer because the heater will need to work a bit longer, but as long as the batteries can reach about freezing temperature, you're good.
Charging being a couple minutes slower a few weeks a year is a minor convenience. If you have a house with a garage, like many people in the US Midwest, I doubt it even poses a problem even on the worst days. It's more in the winter-long -35C areas that (purpose-built) combustion engines have obvious benefits.
Cold climates suffer more from cold batteries having reduced range, but with modern battery ranges the problem isn't even that extreme anymore.
Inconvenient for those people. About 8 billion other people don’t live in that type of weather.
They also mostly can't afford $25,000 cars.
2 replies →
It entirely depends on the original range of the car.
Realistically you are looking at trimming 20->30% of the range. If you drive 20 miles a day but have a total range of 200 miles, then it's really not inconvenient. It only becomes inconvenient if you need to travel long distances.