鈥淭here鈥檚 never a long enough drive in a Tesla,鈥 Stephanie Lake likes to tell people who ask about her cherry red all-electric sedan.
Lake is referring to her car鈥檚 future-friendly, fun-to-drive character 鈥 although cynics might interpret her statement another way, suggesting that you can鈥檛 drive a Tesla too far before the battery runs down like a dollar-store flashlight.
鈥淚 used to go to the page to post questions about my car and got lots of good advice,鈥 Lake says. 鈥淏ut these days, there鈥檚 more trolls there just to say something negative.鈥
She senses there鈥檚 a palpable backlash to EV ownership, which she attributes to fear of anything new and different.
When , especially those new to the technology. Media headlines focused on the carnage of dead Teslas and other EVs frozen in the streets.
The negative publicity only reinforced the perception that EV technology is not ready for prime time.
And the notion is gaining traction.
A recent survey found growing reluctance by Canadians to make their next automobile purchase all electric, citing concerns about cold weather driving, battery life and the lack of charging stations. According to AutoTrader, 68 per cent of Canadians were interested in buying an EV in 2022, but that figure declined to 56 per cent in 2023, and fell to 46 per cent this year.
Lake says her 150-km drive from Buckhorn, Ont., north of Peterborough, to 91原创 is proof positive that an electric vehicle can be a reliable and cost-effective way of commuting from the hinterland, where many ex-91原创nians live affordably, to the big city.
Lake, a professional photographer, drives to her freelance jobs a couple times a week from her all-season cottage, where she spends a lot of her time. (She also lives in Scarborough.) Lake can make the round trip on a single charge, which costs about $10.
鈥淪ometimes I would top up the battery in Peterborough using , which is a Level 3 charger that takes 15 minutes,鈥 Lake says. The extra boost ensures she has plenty of range if the assignment takes her west of 91原创 in heavy traffic.
Lake and her husband Mike were among the first to take delivery of their 3 at the inaugural .
鈥淚t was so smooth and quiet coming home, I surprised myself doing 140 km/h on the highway while passing a truck,鈥 Lake smiles.
The first 3s were all equipped with a long-range 80.5 kWh (kilowatt-hour)聽battery and a 221-horsepower electric motor powering the rear wheels. Zero to 97 km/h (conversion from miles per hour) comes up in 5.1 seconds 鈥 quicker than a VW GTI or a Subaru WRX.
If rear-wheel drive sounds treacherous, Lake brushes it off. She says all-wheel drive isn鈥檛 necessary in winter if the car has four snow tires. The low-mounted battery, its near-perfect 48/52 weight distribution and the direct-drive powertrain (with no transmission) help the Tesla stay planted on slick roads.
Her car鈥檚 battery pack is susceptible to cold weather, though, which is why the Lakes invested in a charger at the cottage. Battery efficiency degrades as the ambient temperature drops, typically by 20 per cent or more. So the 3鈥檚 520-km range on a full charge may be 400 km or less, depending on how much the cabin heater, seat warmers and other accessories are used.
Not to mention that the battery relies on chemical reactions that slow down battery charging in very cold temperatures 鈥 an immutable law governing electrons. To address that, Lake says a home charger is a necessity, given that a battery pack can lose power overnight in cold weather, which has caught a lot of owners unaware.
鈥淥ur friends bought a Ford Mustang EV, but they don鈥檛 have a home charger. They decided to go up north in -20C weather and were completely gobsmacked when they discovered their range was depleted,鈥 recounts Lake.
But it would be a mistake to think electric vehicles don’t work well in cold climates; Northern nations Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland had the highest share of electric vehicle new-car registrations in 2022, according to the European Environment Agency.
In addition to having chargers at home and the cottage, the Lakes follow the recommended 80-20 rule: charge the car鈥檚 battery to 80 per cent capacity and don鈥檛 let it fall below 20 per cent before recharging. The practice optimizes battery life, though it doesn鈥檛 hurt to fully charge the battery occasionally.
George Iny, president of the , says it doesn鈥檛 help that many EV manufacturers have exaggerated their vehicles鈥 range numbers, and the U.S.-based EPA estimates haven鈥檛 been precise, either.
鈥淐ertain companies have inflated their range numbers,鈥 says Iny. 鈥淭he combined city/highway figure is not helpful, as highway range is all that buyers care about. We recommend automakers publish a cold-weather range estimate for each model, too.鈥
Plenty of factors can affect an EV鈥檚 range beyond temperature: wet or snowy roads, a strong headwind and deflated tires (typically set at 45 psi in an EV). And just like in a gas-powered car, excessive speed can degrade the range significantly.
When EV buyers do their homework, their ownership satisfaction often tops that of regular car buyers. Lake says electric cars are in their element as long-distance commuter vehicles.
鈥淓Vs sell well in the 905 suburbs of 91原创, where homes are easy to retrofit with a charger, families have multiple vehicles, and residents are accustomed to driving everywhere,鈥 says Iny.
Lake is enamoured with her Tesla and says her family will never go back to an internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. Her Model 3 racked up 155,000 km on the original battery that鈥檚 degraded by just seven per cent, with an average range of 485 km on a full charge after almost six years of driving.
Lake says she鈥檚 never experienced range anxiety, largely because they鈥檝e taken the time to learn about the proper care and feeding of an EV.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 say range anxiety only happens to EV owners,鈥 Lake says. 鈥淭here are horror stories about running out of gas, too.鈥
NOTE:聽There are and keeping range anxiety at bay here:聽
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