In the field of electric cars, it is essential to get used to the phenomenon that consumption is not measured in refueling and liters but rather in charging cycles, range, and energy use. The Voltie blog answers questions that almost every electric car owner has in mind. Whether you are planning to purchase your first electric vehicle or you are an experienced e-car user, you will find thoughts here that will bring you closer to understanding.

To get an answer to the question of "how long does it take for the car's battery to drain," several factors need to be analyzed. You can read about this in the following paragraphs. 

City, highway, or hilly terrain?

The speed at which the car battery discharges also depends on how and where you use the vehicle. In city traffic, where it is often necessary to slow down and speed up, you consume more energy per kilometer. In urban traffic, consumption is low, as braking and slowing down recharge the battery. On the highway, consumption increases due to air resistance at higher speeds. 

In hilly areas, climbing drains the battery. It is also true that on downhill sections, you can regain some energy through regeneration (when you slow down or brake, the car is able to partially recover kinetic energy), but this does not significantly impact average consumption. 

External factors: temperature and weather

In cold weather, heating consumes battery energy, while in hot weather, air conditioning also drains it. The operational efficiency of lithium-ion batteries also decreases during the winter, meaning the same distance can be covered with more energy at lower temperatures. For this reason, in winter, the battery drains faster in the cold than in milder weather. In summer, while high temperatures do not pose a problem, the use of air conditioning and the performance demand due to hot asphalt can increase energy consumption.