Earlier this week I got to experience a phenomenon very unique to electric vehicles.

I was driving out of the parking deck at work on a warm day that had started much cooler. Batteries are sensitive to temperature and don’t provide less power when it’s cooler. My electric car had dialed back its expected range on my cooler morning commute and kept it there as my car waited in the cool parking deck for me to get off of work.

As I drove out at the end of the day, the car’s thermometer rose briskly as it went from the cool parking deck to the warm afternoon air. I watched in amusement as my car’s range began increasing as I drove! It was like someone was adding fuel to my tank! I gained 20 miles of range on a six-mile drive.

Only in an electric car can one drive somewhere and actually get an increase in range!