Whenever someone buys an electric car, the first question is, “How many kilometers will the car run on full charge?” Although you get information about its driving range in the showroom, there are many factors which can affect this range. One of the biggest factors is the use of air conditioner (AC). Just like use of AC in petrol, diesel and CNG cars reduces mileage, similarly use of AC in electric cars also affects the range.
Recently, a CarDekho report revealed how much battery is consumed by running the AC continuously for 30 minutes in Tata Curvv EV and Tata Nexon EV and what effect it has on the driving range.
Testing Report: Effect of AC on Electric Car
According to the report, 55kWh variant of Tata Curvv EV and 40.5kWh variant of Tata Nexon EV were used for testing. Before testing, Curvv EV had 61% battery and Nexon EV had 75% battery. The AC was set at 24°C and the fan speed was kept at level 2.
After 30 minutes it was found that the batteries of both the vehicles had dropped to only 1%. The battery of Tata Curvv EV went from 61% to 60%, while the battery of Nexon EV went from 75% to 74%. This makes it clear that running the AC does not have much impact on the battery, especially for short periods of time.
Tata Curvv EV range and price
This 55kWh variant of this electric car from Tata Motors gives a driving range of 585 kilometers (ARAI certified) on full charge. Its price ranges from Rs 17.49 lakh (ex-showroom) to Rs 21.99 lakh (ex-showroom).
Tata Nexon EV range and price
The 40.5kWh variant of Tata's popular SUV, Nexon EV gives a range of 465 km on full charge (ARAI certified). The price of this car ranges from Rs 12.49 lakh (ex-showroom) to Rs 17.49 lakh (ex-showroom).
It is clear from the testing results that running AC for 30 minutes in electric cars has very minor impact on the battery, and there is no major loss in driving range. Therefore, the use of AC in an electric car has less impact on the driving experience, but it may be necessary to pay attention on long distances.
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