Not only cold and heat limit the range of electric cars, rain is also a factor that cannot be ignored. The extent to which a heavy rain shower affects the range is higher than expected.
The French Automobile Propre investigated the decrease in range during extreme rainfall. It is clear that it is a limiting factor. Just like in cars with a combustion engine, the layer of water that accumulates in front of the tire provides rolling resistance. This means that the car needs more power to drive at the same speed.
Less visible, and therefore less obvious, is the hindering effect of high humidity. This also causes greater aerodynamic drag. Colder air is more dense, while a cold road surface affects the temperature of the tires. The colder it is, the more consumption increases.
20 percent extra consumption at 110 km/h
To obtain the best possible results, the tests were carried out on the same route, with an identical outside temperature and without air conditioning, to isolate as much as possible the excessive consumption due to rain. The measurements were carried out with, among others, the Cupra Born, the Peugeot e-3008, the Renault Scenic e-Tech and the Audi e-Tron GT RS.
The studies were conducted outside in the pouring rain, and therefore not under identical laboratory conditions. The results are therefore not exactly consistent, but as a whole they say something about the extra consumption during the rain. At a speed of 110 km/h, an average extra consumption of sometimes more than 20 percent was measured.
60 kilometers less range per charge
The additional consumption was 4 kWh per 100 kilometers, which reduces the range by an estimated 16.7 percent. This leads to almost 60 kilometers less driving range per charge. For comparison: driving faster (130 km/h) in dry conditions leads to an extra consumption of 1.2 kWh per 100 kilometers. This means that electric cars travel an average of 15 kilometers less.
Would you like to know more about electric driving? For more information, see Autoweek here.
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