Cold weather shows benefits and drawbacks of electric vehicles

He told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that electric vehicles are no different.

“In severely cold weather, you're going to lose range,” he said.

Range is the distance a car can travel on a charge.

RELATED: Minneapolis upgrading fleet with electric vehicles

A recent AAA study found that when temperatures dip below 20 degrees and a driver also has the heat on, the average range drops by 41 percent.

“The battery needs to be heated and so that takes energy to do,” said Burns.

There are benefits to driving electric vehicles. Burns said they will always start in the cold because they rely on an electric motor.

At the city of Minneapolis' Currie Maintenance Facility there were two electric vehicles plugged in Friday. 

The city plans to add 100 electric vehicles in the next five years. Fleet services director Al Thunberg said they considered range during colder temperatures.