The AAA’s report is extremely misleading for the reasons others have described. I really don’t understand the efforts to defend the AAA by saying the test was accurate for the conditions tested because the AAA did not mention the limitations of the test in its press release, abstract or the study’s results, findings and conclusions. Instead it made false statements about the conclusions to be drawn from the tests.
For example, the press release states:
“New research from AAA reveals that when the mercury dips to 20°F and the HVAC system is used to heat the inside of the vehicle, the average driving range is decreased by 41 percent. This means for every 100 miles of combined urban/highway driving, the range at 20°F would be reduced to 59 miles. When colder temperatures hit, AAA urges electric vehicle owners to be aware of a reduction in range and the need to charge more often to minimize the chance of being stranded by a dead battery.”
“Additionally, an electric vehicle with a compromised driving range will require charging more often, which increases the cost to operate the vehicle.”
“‘The research clearly shows that electric vehicles thrive in more moderate climates, except the reality is most Americans live in an area where temperature fluctuates,’ said Megan McKernan, manager of Automotive Research Center.”
Cold Weather Reduces Electric Vehicle Range | AAA NewsRoom
These statements clearly give the false impression that the efficiency losses found in the study applied to long trips — not just the first few miles. And in the press release’s description of the study’s methods it said nothing about the study’s limitations:
Methodology
AAA conducted primary research in partnership with the Automotive Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center (ARC) in Los Angeles, California to understand impacts of ambient temperature on electric vehicle driving range with and without the use of the HVAC system. The vehicles were tested using the ARC’s climate controlled test cell and state of the art chassis dynamometer and data logging equipment.
Test vehicles were selected using a pre-determined set of criteria such as availability for sale throughout the United States with a minimum EPA estimated driving range of 100 miles. One vehicle per manufacturer was tested to prevent overrepresentation of a single brand. Additional information on methodology can be found in the full report
here.
While there is a link to the full study the AAA knows that busy reporters would likely just regurgitate what was in the press release, which is exactly what they did with tons of misleading articles published that parrot the misleading press release. And even if they clicked the link to the study the abstract, key findings and results all make sweeping conclusions without mentioning the limitations of the study. Even if they read the study front to back 99% of reporters would likely not pick up on its limitations.
The AAA should have highlighted the limitations of the study or better yet performed a more meaningful study for long trips if they were going to study cold weather effects on range. They did not study effects of cold weather on range but only on efficiency for short trips (or the first few miles of a long trip.)
Worth noting that the AAA is likely another business being disrupted by Tesla. Its membership is very likely getting hammered by Tesla’s success. With Tesla’s Roadside Service free for 4 years/50000 miles, there is little need for a AAA membership for most new Tesla owners. My fiancé cancelled her AAA membership when our second Model 3 arrived in December.
