Consider it ironic, or at least a little poetic: Electric vehicles, great for combating climate change, don’t do well in extreme heat. It’s a paradox being thrown into relief as multiple US states bake under heat waves that are becoming more frequent and more intense.
To some degree, this happens with any fast-charging cycle. Using a Tesla Supercharger will move ions more quickly than plugging into a wall outlet, and the heat generated by rapid charging is one reason smartphone batteries aren’t speedier. But on extremely hot days, the ions in an EV battery whizz around even when the car isn’t driving or plugged in, and that can curtail range irreversibly.
“You can coach people, but you can’t say ‘Don’t live in Phoenix,’” Case says. “That one feels a little bit unfair.”Here comes the heat: Bay Area temperatures to ramp up as summer sizzle arrives Williams also follows other good rules of thumb: He only charges at fast stations when he has to, always leaves his truck plugged in when it’s parked in the garage, seldom charges the battery past 80% and uses Rivian’s app to open the windows if he’s away from the truck on a hot day. After almost a year, his car hasn’t lost any range, which bodes well for resale value.
Recurrent, meanwhile, is a step ahead. Three times a day, the company scrapes battery metrics from more than 17,000 EVs signed up to its service. Using that data, Recurrent can quickly assign a score to any particular EV by looking at its estimated range, state of charge and odometer. If its system is able to capture a car while charging, even better.
Regulators in California are already weighing a proposal that would require a measure of battery health on each EV for sale. To date, some of Recurrent’s best customers are dealerships in hot climates, where the difference can be stark between actual range and the official, “certified” range as outlined by the US Environmental Protection Agency.