<
https://electrek.co/2026/01/19/even-in-extreme-cold-evs-outperform-diesel-and-save-drivers-money/>
"Fleet managers don’t get paid to argue on Facebook. They get paid to look at
the numbers, and make decisions in the best financial interests of their
companies. According to studies that follow real-world fleets in the most
extreme, cold-weather conditions in America, EVs don’t just survive — they
thrive, beating out diesel on the balance sheet.
Backed by an NREL study that explored how EVs and EVSE perform in temperatures
as low as -40 degrees C (-40 degrees F), researchers from the University of
Alaska collected data from drivers in Kotzebue, Galena, and Bethel to determine
where and how electric vehicles may be most useful. The study was called, “Are
Electric Vehicles a Solution for Arctic Isolated Microgrid Communities?” When
the crunching was done, the numbers were brutal for diesel: even in some of the
coldest, most remote operating conditions in the world, electric vehicles
delivered lower total operating costs than diesel once fuel, idling, block
heaters, maintenance, and downtime were fully accounted for.
In only four of the 21 EV use cases, net fueling costs increased with a
switch to EV, mainly in communities with less renewable energy and
consequently higher electric rates (not subsidized rate), and for vehicles
with short daily driving distances, low block heater use, and short warm
idling.
WILBER, et al.
That said, just because EVs
can win on cost and reliability in bitterly cold
conditions, there’s a lot more nuance here than just, “EVs are better.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
