DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS?

Travel safely with Murray Skoda -Top Tips for driving your EV during the Winter months

Whether you’re embarking on a festive road trip or simply staying local this December, getting from A-B during the Winter can require a bit more preparation. Shorter days and inclement weather conditions can make the roads a little more difficult to navigate, so ensuring that your vehicle is up to the challenge is essential.

Most drivers are aware of the need to keep their cars in tip-top condition but if you’re an EV owner – or considering getting behind the wheel of one in the future, you might be wondering just how well they perform in colder, wetter conditions. Wonder no more! The team of experts at Murray Skoda have all of the information you need to ensure that you stay safe and comfortable in your EV over the festive season and beyond.

With any vehicle, it’s important to keep it well-maintained for Winter. Keeping anti-freeze topped up is a must. Keeping your car clean – especially the windscreen, lights and number plate areas will ensure maximum visibility for you and other road users. Check that your tyres have sufficient tread and ensure wiper blades aren’t too worn.

As with their ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) counterparts, electric cars become less efficient in the Winter. This is predominantly because the naturally darker, colder conditions increase usage of lights and heating, subsequently draining the battery. This, in turn, has an impact on the distance you can travel on a single charge. If you use public charging points, it is worth factoring in a little extra time as extremely cold weather can result in slightly longer charging times. So be prepared for them to be occupied for longer than normal.

The good news is, there are several things you can do to maintain the charge in your electric car. Making use of apps such as Skoda Connect to remotely pre-condition your vehicle has triple benefits – it saves time, makes your vehicle more comfortable and increases range. You can use the app to configure the climate in your car for the number of passengers so, if you’re driving alone, pre-conditioning allows you to only heat the driver’s seat, saving valuable battery energy. In addition to this, pre-conditioning your car will warm the battery, meaning that when you hit the road, it will immediately run more efficiently in the cold weather. If you set the remote conditioning whilst your vehicle is connected to a charging point, the energy will be drawn from the charger, not the battery. So you’ll be warm and cosy with a fully charged battery to boot – all co-ordinated from the comfort of your bed, if you so desire. What’s not to love about that?

One of the biggest concerns for anyone considering an electric vehicle is range. So it’s worth noting the impact of cold weather on the distance an EV can travel on a single charge. Most electric vehicles run on a Lithium Ion battery, which produce electricity by moving Lithium Ions from anode to cathode. Lower temperatures slow this process down and therefore reduce the performance of your car. The additional usage of heaters and lights also take their toll on the battery and contribute to limited range – overall around 20-30% less distance can be covered.

With the colder weather comes the possibility of icy roads and EVs can be a blessing in disguise. They have a lower centre of gravity owing to the battery being situated closer to the ground, which means much better tracking and handling. Models such as the award winning Skoda Enyaq come with 4 wheel drive, stability control and anti-lock braking – all of which help to keep you steady on slippery roads. However, it’s advisable to switch off regenerative braking as this may lead to unusual handling characteristics. It’s also worth noting that electric cars tend to be heavier than ICE ones, so if you do hit an icy patch, it can be harder to control slides. Steering into the direction of the slide and avoiding heavy braking can help if you find yourself in trouble.

Whilst we live in hope of a white Christmas, the reality is Devon is much more likely to be plagued with torrential rain during the Winter. As you’d expect, electric vehicles are well equipped to deal with rainy conditions, given that the drive units and batteries are sealed. However, if you find yourself having to drive through large areas of flood water, you’d be wise to exercise some caution – which is, of course, common sense and applies to ICE vehicles too! Water will eventually find it’s way in if you are driving in a very deep flood or through standing water for a prolonged period of time, so try and size up the obstacle first. As a general rule of thumb, if the water isn’t higher than the kerb, it should be safe to tackle if you take it slowly and steadily. Electric vehicles have the added benefit of not having an exhaust or air intake, so the propulsion system is not adversely affected by water. Charging your EV is also perfectly safe, even in heavy rain as both the cars and charging points have protective layers and covering shields to ensure the components are kept dry.

Whether you drive an EV, Hybrid or ICE vehicle, it really pays to keep your car maintained. Murray Skoda are here to help with a range of offers to get you ready for Winter. From now until 31st December 2022, wiper blades have 20% off and we’re encouraging customers to take advantage of our free Winter Health Check too.

Call us on 01752 349850 to book an appointment today!

Murray Skoda are based at Valley Road in Plympton and offer the latest Skoda EV models such as the award-winning Enyaq and Enyaq iV Coupe, as well as a large range of Approved Used Skoda vehicles.
Whatever your travel plans this Winter, Murray Skoda have got you covered!