Are electric cars safe for winter travel where there are hard winters?

I am a firm believer that electric vehicles are the right way for America to go and I'll be the first to admit electric cars will have a difficult time in the colder states. They have limited heat resources for keeping the passenger cabin warm. If I was building an EV conversion, in North Dakota for example, I would look for some kind of fuel burning heater for the cabin. Possibly one that runs on those green barbecue propane bottles. I know this goes against the concept of a emission free vehicle but batteries can't deliver great amounts of heat without affecting range. It would only be used during the winter.

We recently had a bad snow storm here (rare event). Traffic on I-5 was at a crawl and it took some people more than 5 hours to get home (one bus took 10 hours to reach the end of its route). It was calculated that the Nissan Leaf battery would have died in as little as 3 hours. Not from driving but running the heater to keep warm.

This is one sacrifice I will make to my carbon footprint. It would be nice to fuel my heater with some kind of renewable energy. Right now these choices are limited so I might have to go with a product used in trucks that runs on diesel. It's intended to preheat the engine before starting in cold areas. Diesel engines require a minimum amount of heat in order to start and when it's really cold you can't start them.

ICE Vehicles are inefficient. The have a tank to wheel efficiency of about 15%. So the "extra" heat you get to use to heat the cabin in the winter you pay for with an 85% loss in motive efficiency.

An electric car is about 90% efficient and will use 5% to 15% of its energy to heat seats, a cabin, or a to run a heat pump. Either way the energy is not "free" but you pay more for it with an ICE vehicle because the vehicle is far less efficient.

If either vehicle runs out of energy in the middle of a snowstorm and the occupants are stranded it can be a bad situation. But with all the publicity the electric vehicle driver is likely to be more conscious of the energy level in the car than an ICE driver. It being more conscious of the energy level in the car makes it more safe than the electric vehicle will be safer.

I don't see how one vehicle is inherently "safer" in this situation except by the attitudes of the drivers.

I would not feel safe in good weather. Electric cars do not have internal combustion engines to get heat from like regular cars therefor they have to use resistance heaters which will use ALOT of electricity greatly reducing the distance you can travel.

ELECTRIC CARS IN WINTER SHOULD BE FINE.

AVERAGE RIDE 30 MILES AT 70 DEGREES SUMMER.

AVERAGE RIDE 7 MILES TO THE MALL . AT -4 .. IF YOU STORE THE ELEC. CAR IN A HEATED BUILDING AT 70 DEGREES. FLASH OUT TO THE MALL ,STAY THERE ONE HOUR .. YOU MIGHT MAKE IT BACK, WITH ZERO CHARGE.

I HAVE A ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE PULL ALMOST 2,000 MILES ON IT. IN 3 YEARS. RUNS WELL IN 70 DEGREE WEATHER, HITS 25 MILES HILLS, FLAT LAND 30 MILES.. 40 DEGREES I CAN GO MAYBE 4 MILES . IF I KEEP MY BATTERIES WARM AT 70 DEGREES. AT 40 DEGREES I CAN GO 15 MILES.. AND THAT IS WITH LITH-ION BATTERIES...... GELS DO NOT GO THERE.

YOU CAN HAVE A ELECTRIC TOY CAR FOR THE KIDS, ELECTRIC RAZZOR, ELECTRIC SCOOTER, ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE, OR A ELECTRIC CAR ... THEY ARE ALMOST THE SAME , WEIGHT, MOTOR, BATTERIES.. IF YOU DID THE NUMBERS . 1= 2=3=4=5=6=7 .

A TOY 100 LBS, RAZOR 200 LBS, SCOOTER 300 LBS, MOTORCYCLE 400 LBS, 1,000 2,000 3,000 LBS CAR .

AGAIN 1,2,3,4,5,6 TYPE OF MOTOR 36 DC VOLTS / RUNNING ON 48 DC VOLTS, OR A 48 DC VOLTS MOTOR / RUNNING ON 48 DC VOLTS.

FIRST ONE JUST NEED RUNNING AMPS SAY 50 AH =30 MILES 30 MPH

SECOND ONE 2.5X RUN AMPS SAY 125 AH =30 MILES 30 MPH

OR GO

THIRD ONE 3X 2.5 RUN AMPS PLUS 1 RUNNING AMPS AND JUST SCREAM DOWN THE ROAD, WITH NO CARE OF THE WEATHER.. 30 MPH

IF THIS IS WAY BEYOND, GO WITH THE IDEA OF, A KIDS ELECTRIC CAR. HOW FAR CAN IT GO, SITTING OUT IN THE COLD FOR ONE WEEK, NOT FAR.

ELECTRIC CAR HEATER TO KEEP WARM 24 HOURS A DAY. PRICELESS.

POSSIBLE 1 BUCK 50 TO 3 BUCKS MAYBE, A DAY. I WOULD NOT WONT TO SEE THAT LIGHT BILL.. MY LIGHT BILL 20 BUCKS A MONTH.

FOR ME, IT COST , ME A BUCK A MILE, TO DRIVE MY ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE, WINTER TIME IT SETS IN MY HOUSE . WARM & DRY.

Not very good since at freezing temperature (Zero C), you've lost 40% of your (EV) batteries capacity..

their are not to bad but ,very economically, the Next 10 years they will be moor perfect