This is how 23 models perform at low temperatures.
Electric cars are the future (in theory) but currently the industry is still struggling with multiple factors that are problematic. One that in Spain is not excessively worrying, but that is in other regions of the world, is how the cold affects the autonomy of these vehicles in a very negative way.
At very low temperatures, zero emissions vehicles suffer from various types of problems, right from the moment they try to recharge, since sometimes it may even be impossible to reach the optimal preheating temperature to start the process.
This became palpable recently in Chicago, where huge amounts of electric vehicles could be seen stranded due to the cold wave.
Low temperatures also mean that the range of action of a vehicle of this type is considerably reduced, but by how much specifically?
It is something that they wanted to verify in the Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF), a place where extremely low temperatures are reached, so they have carried out a competition to test the performance of no less than 23 different electric cars.
Among them were representatives of the most varied brands, but it was a practically unknown one that took the lead, showing much more outstanding performance than the rest of its rivals: Human Horizons.
This is a Chinese manufacturer whose models leave no one indifferent due to their peculiar and intricate designs. Take the Human Horizons HiPhi Z as an example, which is the one that has been crowned in this edition.
This approves a range of 555 km and in the test it managed to travel 521 km, which represents a loss of only 5.9%, a minimum reduction if one takes into account that the test was carried out at temperatures that ranged between -2 and -10 degrees Celsius. Its efficient thermal management system is the main responsible for the good results.
What’s more, it places it well ahead of the second classified, a BMW i5 that, from the 505 km approved to the 443 km achieved, decreased by 12.2%, more than double that of the Chinese representative.
All eyes were on Tesla, since the brand has dominated the test for the last two years, in 2022 with the Tesla Model 3 and in 2023 with the Tesla Model S. This year it was the turn to stick out its chest for the renewed version of the compact sedan, the Model 3 “Highland”, but the results are far from being good.
It finished in 19th place out of 23, registering a drop in autonomy of 29.9%, going from the approved 629 km to only 441 km.
Although it is said that “the evil of many, the consolation of fools”, at least one can console oneself with the fact that there are four other models with worse results, all of them experiencing a reduction in their range of more than 30% (and less than 32% ): Polestar 2 Long Range, Volvo C40, Toyota bZ4X and Volkswagen ID.7.