CAA recently conducted the ultimate stress test for electric vehicles in a real-world winter environment. CAA spokesperson, Kristine D’Arbelles, says a recent poll they conducted indicated that the drop in driving range during winter is a top barrier to buying an EV and among Canadian EV owners, more than 65 per cent say they have experienced lower batter range in the extreme cold.

D’Arbelles explains that right now Canadian EV ranges are based on overall, year-round numbers. She adds, “One of the things that CAA has been calling for is a made-in-Canada standardized labelling system for electric vehicles that include a winter driving performance rather than just a single average.”

Across the board, the EVs drove 14 to 39 per cent less than their official range. The two vehicles who only lost 14 per cent of the range were the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the Polestar 2. CAA also looked at charging speed, with 40 per cent of drivers having told CAA the charges are slower in extreme cold. In a 15 minute charge, EVs managed to add around 100 kilometres of range. The Tesla Model 3 topped the list with over 200 kilometres.