(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

By Derek Craddock

Cold weather, hot cars

EV users not fazed by bitter extreme cold says Sask. Electric Vehicle Association

Jan 20, 2024 | 8:00 AM

The extreme cold temperatures that bit in central and northern Saskatchewan last week didn’t hinder those driving their electric vehicles.

As base temperatures approached the minus 40 range in the cold spell, drivers had a tough time boosting their batteries with CAA reporting thousands of calls for service in a matter of days.

But how was the chilly weather for those who rely on a vehicle that plugs in to keep it going?

According to President of the Saskatchewan Electric Vehicles Association (SEVA) Matt Pointer, many drivers in their community didn’t have trouble with their cars. Pointer instead told paNOW about how the pros outweighed the cons.

“The electric vehicle drive train is a lot more simple compared to an internal combustion engine and so because there’s less moving parts, it was a lot easier for us to keep our cars warm,” he said. “The heaters are a lot more simple, it’s got great traction control, the batteries actually have heaters in them so they’re all thermally managed and kind of taken care of at all times, even if the car is sitting outside unplugged.”

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Anthony Penner who travels occasionally from Warman to Prince Albert in his electric vehicle said the car continues to travel well in the extreme cold.

“I still drive 200 km per work day, but most people don’t and they would be quite happy never worrying if their vehicle will start,” he said. An EV makes sense for 95% of people 99% of the time. Especially if you’re a two-vehicle home. Keep one gas vehicle for the rare long winter drives. At least until infrastructure grows in our province and neighbouring provinces.”

That lack of infrastructure continues to be a concern for electric vehicle drivers, especially those who drive long distances. Pointer said that 90 per cent of EV users charge at home and that the province is making headway when it comes to more charging options.

“Five years ago, there wasn’t any fast chargers at all in Saskatchewan and now I believe we’ve got close to 50 or 60 and we’ve got 2,000 people that are driving electric every single day and they seem to be not having too much issue at all.”

READ MORE: Can electric vehicles survive the harsh Saskatchewan cold?

Pointer did mention that one issue that cold weather brings to electric vehicles is the driving range, which can diminish as the mercury drops.

“Let’s say for an average car you would go down from 450 kilometres of driving range, maybe down to that 300 to 350 kilometres driving,” he said. “But that’s also very similar with gasoline cars that have winter blends of fuel, you know, increased wind resistance due to the colder temperatures and stuff like that with aerodynamics.”

Despite the popularity of electric vehicles, the industry is not without its skeptics. This came to the forefront after the federal government announced its plan to phase out gas-powered vehicle sales by 2035.

The new regulations released on Tuesday will require automakers to gradually phase out the sales of combustion-engine vehicles in favour of electric models or plug-in hybrids.

“There are so many issues around this, and legislation has only touched on some of them,” said automotive journalist Charles Renny in a recent radio interview. “What happens to heavy-duty trucks with diesel, 2500 series and up? And they are also currently available in gasoline, so what happens to them?”

Some provinces and cities throughout the country are also looking at changing building codes to accommodate the installation of electric vehicle chargers in condos and apartment buildings. It has become mandatory for some new buildings, but not for older ones.

Pointer said he and SEVA have heard many of those concerns and acknowledged there is still a lot of work to do to grow the electric vehicle industry. He said many critics are not seeing the full story of the government’s plan which includes plug-in hybrid vehicles.

“We’re still going to be burning gasoline past 2035 or we’re not encouraging people to give up their car, just for the sake of going electric,” he said. “Logistically the power grid will increase its capacity and that’s the beautiful thing about these cars going into the future is that electric vehicles will actually be able to share power with the grid going forward.”

-With files from The Canadian Press and 980 CJME

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com