A lot of attention is turned to more efficient ways of heating up the cabin like heat pumps, using waste heat from motor(s) and battery etc, but I don’t see as many people talking about another important factor which is how well the car is insulated. Are there any companies which claim their EVs are better insulated than others or something like that?
The Audi etron has lots of double pain glass and the doors are crazy heavy with insulation. In addition it has an automatic slide to cover the top glass. It’s mostly to cut down on noise and it is really plush and silent. It probably helps with insulation too. They also have a very good heat pump with electric back up.
The etron list almost no range hit at colder temperatures.
Unfortunately all that weight takes a toll on efficiency. It’s just not very efficient to start with. It just doesn’t get worse with temperature.
“almost no range hit” thats wildly misleading, the etron has very similar loss of range as other ev’s in cold weather as many tests show, e.g. https://www-motor-no.translate.goog/audi-elbil-lading/bor-du-velge-stor-eller-liten-audi-e-tron/119970?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp if you correct for battery size, heat pump teslas and the korean cars are very efficient in the cold.