Electric vehicles are easier and cheaper to maintain than internal combustion cars.
But do electric vehicles require coolant just like conventional gas-powered cars?
EV batteries need to be cooled in some fashion, so this is a great question.
Image Credit:Lucid Motors
What Is Coolant Used for in a Traditional Vehicle?
Coolant is super important in these vehicles because it helps keep the engine at an appropriate operating temperature.
This is no easy task, especially considering that gasoline engines waste tons of energy as heat.
Image Credit: Tennen Gas/Wikimedia Commons
This is why it’s a wise move to use the proper coolant for your vehicle during the wintertime.
However, it must be noted coolant isn’t only for cold climates.
Coolants also have anti-corrosive properties to prevent the corrosion of the different metals they interact with.
Image Credit: Tennen Gas/Wikimedia Commons
On the other hand, tap water does not have any of these anti-corrosive additives.
Do EVs Need Coolant?
Electric vehicles also produce heat, but the main component that needs cooling in an EV is the battery.
Internal combustion engines produce a lot more heat than EVs do.
Not all electric vehicles use coolant, though.
Some EVs rely on air cooling, which many consider inferior to liquid cooling methods.
The Nissan Leaf uses air cooling, many of which are still on the road and functioning well.
This is just physics; water is a superior heat conductor to air.
Electric vehicles with water cooling use a similar method to ICE cars to cool their batteries.
This helps to keep the engine from experiencing catastrophic failure from excess heat.
EVs also require cooling methods to keep their batteries from experiencing premature failure.
This is called indirect cooling in an EV.
There are other methods as well, such as direct cooling.
Unfortunately, direct cooling isn’t found in production vehicles at the moment.
What key in of Coolant Does an EV Use?
Most electric vehicles, just like internal combustion cars, use glycol-based coolants.
Therefore, the coolant used in your EV must be a low-conductivity coolant.
There are specially made low conductivity coolants sold specifically for EVs, preventing possibly catastrophic events.
Does an EV’s Coolant Need to Be Changed?
Still, removing regular coolant changes from the equation can also be considered anotheradvantage of owning an EV.
Under no circumstances should you remove the filler cap and/or add coolant.
If the touchscreen warns you that the fluid level is low, contact Tesla immediately.
Regardless, changing the coolant periodically won’t harm the vehicle.
An electric vehicle’s cooling system is its main defense against premature battery degradation.
