The Automobile Propre website has analyzed the elements that consume the most energy in an electric car. And they are not always what you think. But, be that as it may, and if some consume a lot of energy, it is not necessarily relevant to stop using them. Especially since some are simply essential.
We often hear that to drive an electric car with peace of mind, turn off air conditioning and all comfort equipment. It is true that during the certification tests for the European WLTP, for example, all these elements are turned off, in order tooptimize consumption, and therefore autonomy and being able to facilitate comparisons between cars. This allows manufacturers to communicate more optimistic data, not always close to reality. This even earned Tesla a lawsuit, resulting in the plaintiffs’ obligation to compensate the manufacturer.
a simple method
In fact, we know that many factors affect range of an electric car, such as temperature, and especially cold, or even speed. The equipment used also has an impact, because its use is directly based on the traction battery. A small 12 volt battery. It is also present, but it simply serves as a shock absorber and is only used when the car is stationary. And in this case, it’s fast enough.
It is recognized that certain equipment generates an increase in consumption, such as air conditioning. This is one of the reasons why many electric cars have a heat pump, such as the Renault Mégane E-Tech or the Kia EV6. This system allows to consume less battery of the vehicle, sinceuses the calories contained in the cold air to generate heat and conversely. But what are the other items that consume a lot?
This is the question the site wanted to answer. automotive cleaningwhich carried out a full-size test with the new Hyundai Ioniq 6. Indeed, the electric sedan shows very precisely the power assigned to the different elements related to driving, electronics, air conditioning or even vehicle maintenance, such as the battery, such as pre-conditioning, among others.
To perform this test, journalists stabilized the car at cruising speed and measured differences in consumption by activating and cutting certain elements. The data obtained was then combined with a more precise measurement tool (without mentioning which one), although the site specifies that this method is still relatively rudimentary. However, it gives us a little idea of the equipment that consumes the most energy in an electric car.
What results?
After these tests, the journalists demonstrated that on-board electronic systems are the ones that consume the most, with approximately 380 watts when the vehicle is in motion. A figure that drops to about 240 watts once the car is stopped. A difference that is probably explained by the fact that the various sensors essential for driving are put into standby mode. But what about in detail? If we do not take air conditioning into account, it is the rear defroster that consumes the most.
| Equipment | Power (in watts) |
|---|---|
| rear defrost | 500 |
| On-board electronics (on the way) | 380 |
| Integrated electronics (in P) | 240 |
| Brake lights | 130 |
| heated seat | 120 |
| Wiper washer | 120 |
| heated steering wheel | 90 |
| complete headlight | 70 |
| electric glass | 70 |
| turn signal | fifty |
| headlights | 30 |
| Radio | 30 |
| USB smartphone recharge | twenty |
| Honk | 10 |
Indeed, this system requires a power of 500 W and is followed by the heated seats, with 120 W each. Finally, the heated steering wheel consumes 90 W. Another solution is being developed by equipment manufacturer ZF, which presented an unprecedented heated seat belt at CES in Las Vegas, designed to reduce consumption of electric cars who will be equipped
Turning on the lights also consumes a lot of energy, since the full headlights would consume about 70 W and the indicators about 50 W. But that’s not all, because the brake lights consume no less than 130 W. A figure, however, offset by the braking regeneration present in the most electric cars today. In any case, these raw numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. Indeed, You also have to take into account the time of useusually very short. For example, a honk consumes 10 W, but lasts only a fraction of a second.
In other words, it would be possible to honk for 5800 hours (241 days) before completely depleting a 58 kWh battery. With the 77 kWh version of the Hyundai Ioniq 6 we tested, this figure rises to 7,700 hours or 320 days.
As Automobile Propre specifies, cutting the electronic systems of your electric car only has a negligible impact about autonomy. In fact, the engine is responsible for 90% of the total consumption, compared to only 2 or 3% with respect to the elements on board. So don’t panic, especially since the network of express terminals is constantly expanding in France.
On the other hand, in winter, if you are fond of eco-driving, it is interesting to favor heated seats and steering wheel instead of heating the passenger compartment. Indeed, the feeling of comfort is better in the first case, with lower consumption.
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