News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Norway's electric cars zip to new record: almost a third of all sales. Parent comment

Re:Norway's electric cars zip to new record: almost a third ... by pi-rat on Wednesday January 02, 2019 @02:30PM (#18809266)
I don't have any actual numbers, sorry. I just remember being warned to be careful about cars from hot climates (like southern europe, and some US locations) a few years ago when I was looking for a used Leaf. Demands for EVs were very high in Norway, and resellers had to import (and still do) used EVs from other countries.

I found a life expectation chart for 3 US cities at [0].

It's well know that high temperatures (while in use and while in storage) degrade li-ion batteries[1]. However, electric cars have thermal management systems to try to protect the batteries from this effect (extreme heat and cold). Tesla have active water cooling, while Nissan Leaf use a simpler air cooling.

They also use different battery chemistries that handle temperatures differently. If you have a look quick look at this talk[2] you'll hear that Nissan is using a chemistry that experience higher degradation under high temperatures than for example Tesla's choice.

[0]: https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/hot-weather-bad-for-electric...

[1]: https://www.plugincars.com/lithium-ion-batteries-can’t-stand...

[2]: https://youtu.be/pxP0Cu00sZs?t=1516

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Norway's electric cars zip to new record: almost a third ... by pedrocr on Wednesday January 02, 2019 @02:50PM (#18809468)
> a few years ago when I was looking for a used Leaf

The Leaf was notorious for not actually cooling the battery so I can see how they would do better in Norway. Maybe the newest generations have improved on that. I'd be curious if that was the same for Tesla though, which supposedly keeps the battery temperate under much better control.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Norway's electric cars zip to new record: almost a third ... by outworlder on Wednesday January 02, 2019 @03:47PM (#18810017)
Some Leaf generations are more sensitive than others (chemistry was slightly different). Sustained heat will still degrade them more quickly than expected though. Tesla has active temperature management, but also has a different chemistry which should be more sensitive than the one used in the Leaf.
[ Parent | on HN ]