VIDEO: EXTREME Cold Weather In An Electric Volvo, Losses Half Of Its Battery But Warms Up Fast

One aspect of electric cars that isn't commonly discussed is how long they take to heat up. Hell, I wasn't even aware until a recent guest appearance on a show where we discussed EVs. I just haven't had a profound amount of seat time in an electric model. The other two journalists quibbled about which was the worst out of the Leaf, Prius plug-in hybrid and Volt.

Soon I found out the hard way when I had the joy of a week-long visitor, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Damn that car takes a while to heat up! Thankfully, heated seats softened the blow.

Volvo, however, is trying to battle this by testing the new C30 electric in the extreme cold. We have to admit that Volvo deserves a pat on the backside for being so forthcoming with their findings. In the video below, Volvo says that its car only gets about 50 miles on a charge in the extreme cold, even though it is suppose to nab about 100 on a charge in normal temperatures.

With that said, onto the video!


There are those predicting doom and gloom for electric cars when temperatures drop, and those steadfastedly saying that frigid batteries will not be the end of the road when it comes to fuel-free transportation. The reality lies somewhere in between, but Volvo's at least doing the right thing: testing the frozen snot out of its C30 Electric way up north of the Arctic Circle...