Snow Driving an Electric Vehicle

Our friend Leslie asked the question with a look of mild worry---she doesn’t like to drive in snow anyway, just talking about it made her wince. But she and her husband had just bought their first electric car---a late-model Leaf. It was sitting in our driveway, a sporty, shiny EV parked in a world of white.
It had been snowing for a week in North Central Washington. We don’t scrimp on weather here, we get the full-on four seasons. Leslie knew snow driving was in her future. “Piece of cake.” I said. “Best car I’ve ever had---well, certainly equal to the best car I’ve ever driven on snow and ice.”

I was lucky with my first EV winter driving experience in 2016. Our Leaf was brand-new and I was at the wheel, driving from Chelan to a Plug In NCW meeting in Wenatchee with Randy Brooks riding shotgun. He was clicking through all the info on the console screen between us, marveling at the difference in energy used by LEDs, now standard, and the incandescent lighting in his and his wife’s first store-bought EV, a 2012 Leaf. They now own a Tesla.

“Are you in ECO mode?” Randy asked. “It’s perfect for these conditions.” ECO mode was designed to save power, he explained. It gentled the cars’ response and smoothed out acceleration. It was like the old trick of taking off in second gear on icy roads. No sudden moves. It made a big difference. In Drive mode, the Leaf handles like a sports car. It was great fun, but the car has more than one winter asset. It handled icy roads as well as our 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk. One reason was that both cars carry weight down low. The Leaf’s Lithium-Ion batteries under the floor keep it on its feet helping it corner like the proverbial freight train, as sure on ice as an Olympic skater. The Silver Hawk was also low and powerful. And heavy. It forgave my teenage Inexperience on snowy roads, kept my passengers safe, pre-seat belts, and delivered me intact past my stupid driving years. From grill to fins, I loved that car.

But I had to admit the Leaf beat the Silver Hawk when it came to creature comfort in the winter. In NCW, winter temperatures can be in the single digits for weeks, so you have to let your internal combustion engine warm up before driving anywhere, even to the grocery store a few blocks away. The oil needs to
warm and circulate or you can ruin an ICE engine. Although the Leaf has a blue tooth connection that allows you to warm the seats and steering wheel from the kitchen table while you finish your second cup
of coffee, it’s not mandatory. Even from a cold start, the car is happy and will have the heat on and the seats and car interior comfortably warm within half a block. “You’ll be fighting over who gets to drive the Leaf next December,” I said to my friend. “You’ll be saying, ‘Bring on the snow!’”