Will electric cars work in cold weather areas?

Question

See this great looking car: http://www.teslamotors.com/
But will battery powered cars run ok in cold weather?

Answer 1

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Of course they will work. Much progress has been made in battery design over the last few years, but even old technology electric cars work in cold weather, and if you think about it, you will see why it's not a problem.
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I drive a very old electric vehicle, built in 1981, and I live in Michigan (state slogan, the 'Winter Wonderland'.) I charge the car overnight, when electricity is cheaper. So in the morning, when I unplug it from the charger, the batteries are a little warm from charging, even in the winter.
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But even if they were cold, they would warm up fast. Do you know why? Driving the electric car pulls about 100 to 200 amps of current from the batteries, continuously. That's a lot of current, and just like an electric heater, it warms the batteries up. It only takes a few minutes for the batteries to reach peak performance.
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By the way, heating the cabin isn't a problem either. If you were running an old EV with a very small battery pack, it might take too much energy to run a heater, but modern electric cars have very large power packs, and the electric heater only requires a small part of that energy.
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Take a look at a state-of-the-art electric car:
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http://phoenixmotorcars.com/models/fleet...
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The Phoenix can travel up to 250 miles per charge, carries 5 passengers plus cargo at 95mph, charges in only 10 minutes, and has batteries that will last well over 200,000 miles (for the life of the car.) Yes, it's a real car, orders have been taken and they begin building cars this month.
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Answer 2

Sure, they'll run okay, but with today's battery technology they won't be heated. Bummer up north.