Effects of regional temperature on electric vehicle efficiency, range, and emissions in the United States
Abstract
We characterize the effect of regional temperature differences on battery electric vehicle (BEV) efficiency, range, and use-phase power plant CO2 emissions in the U.S. The efficiency of a BEV varies with ambient temperature due to battery efficiency and cabin climate control. We find that annual energy consumption of BEVs can increase by an average of 15% in the Upper Midwest or in the Southwest compared to the Pacific Coast due to temperature differences. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from BEVs vary primarily with marginal regional grid mix, which has three times the GHG intensity in the Upper Midwest as on the Pacific Coast. However, even within a grid region, BEV emissions vary by up to 22% due to spatial and temporal ambient temperature variation and its implications for vehicle efficiency and charging duration and timing. Cold climate regions also encounter days with substantial reduction in EV range: the average range of a Nissan Leaf on the coldest day of the year drops from 70 miles on the Pacific Coast to less than 45 miles in the Upper Midwest. These regional differences are large enough to affect adoption patterns and energy and environmental implications of BEVs relative to alternatives.
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Battery electric vehicles have a sharply decreased driving range at low temperatures compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines.
“A significant disadvantage of battery electric vehicles compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines is their sharply decreased driving range at low temperatures.”
From Effect of Low Temperature on Electric Vehicle Range (2021) · cites this paper as [10]
Besides trip characteristics and driving style, a BEV's range is primarily influenced by three factors: battery energy storage capacity, vehicle energy efficiency, and auxiliary energy consumption.
“Besides trip characteristics and driving style, a BEV's range is primarily influenced by three factors: the amount of energy that can be stored in the vehicle's battery, the vehicle's energy efficiency [10], and the auxiliary energy consumption [11].”
From Effect of Low Temperature on Electric Vehicle Range (2021) · cites this paper as [10]
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- Authors
- Yuksel, T., & Michalek, J. J.
- Affiliations
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Michalek, Jeremy J.
- ORCID
- Michalek, Jeremy J.
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2015-02-24
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 3974-3980
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2105299332
- Cited by
- 380
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 9
- FWCI
- 10.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Toyota Motor Corporation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Vehicle emissions and performance
- Keywords
- battery electric vehicles, ambient temperature effects, driving range, battery efficiency, cabin climate control, power plant CO2 emissions, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, electric vehicle adoption, United States
- MeSH terms
- Air Pollutants, Vehicle Emissions, Automobiles, Carbon Dioxide, Geography, Electric Power Supplies, Temperature, United States
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