The cold heats up the spirits. On Facebook, a viral post viewed more than 1.2 million times brings to light a false story about electric vehicles supposedly stuck in the snow. The photo, published on January 9 on a page of a Val-d’Oise collective, shows an electric car charging and is accompanied by the phrase “a thought for the electric cars stuck last night in the snow”.
On the night of January 8 to 9, hundreds of Ile-de-France residents were stranded on the A12 and A13 motorways due to accidents caused by snow and ice. The fact that the vehicles are thermal or electric therefore has no relation to this event. The photo is, moreover, dated: it has been circulating on the Internet since 2012, and has also been used misleadingly in posts on X to criticize electric vehicles. Except that the initial context was completely different: the image illustrates an article from the site Clean automobilewhich showed that it was possible to travel in an electric vehicle in the mountains.
A test trip carried out in 2012
In the latter, Gérard, a reader of the information site on carbon-free mobility, recounts a journey he made in a Nissan Leaf in Alsace in February 2012. It was a test to “better understand the impact of meteorological and topographical conditions on the autonomy of an electric car”, with this 115 km journey carried out in the Haut-Rhin, near Colmar, and which passed through the mountains while it was snowing.
And according to this story from 2012, there was no blockage: the reader explains that he recharged his electric car for two hours with a 50 m extension cord out of caution, because the dashboard indicated a low range. In the end, he emphasizes, he could have done without it, and he criticizes the display of autonomy, “total rubbish”. According to the website of Nissanthe autonomy of this vehicle is given at 270 km today.
“Electric vehicles have evolved significantly over the past eleven years”
Contacted, Yoann Nussbaumer, the founder of Automobile Propre, confirms that the photo is indeed that of the user who had testified. “That was eleven years ago, and electric vehicles have evolved a lot since then,” he emphasizes to 20 minutes. They have better, more efficient heating systems, larger capacity batteries, etc. »
In a guide published in 2019, Renault gave advice on optimizing the range of electric cars in winter. A decrease in battery life or an increase in charging time may occur when temperatures drop below 0 degrees. The manufacturer advises preheating the car, when it is charging, half an hour before departure to leave warm and without affecting the battery’s capital.
Even better: it is recommended to activate the eco-driving mode, which allows you to “avoid too sharp accelerations which consume a lot of energy and too sudden braking”, notes the guide. The battery can also be recharged thanks to the regenerative braking system.