Every electric vehicle loses some range in the cold. Here's exactly what that looks like across our fleet, and how we plan around it so it doesn't cost you a job.
| Van | Rated range | Winter range | % retained |
|---|---|---|---|
| BrightDrop 600 | 438 km | ~330 km | ~75% |
| Ford E-Transit | 230 km | ~175 km | ~76% |
| Lion 6 | 350 km | ~265 km | ~76% |
| Mercedes eSprinter | 332 km | ~250 km | ~75% |
Across the board, plan on retaining roughly three-quarters of rated range in cold weather. That's the conservative number we use for route planning — not a worst case, just the honest one.
This isn't specific to our fleet — it's how lithium-ion batteries and electric drivetrains behave generally. Two things happen in the cold:
Both effects are well documented across the EV industry — it's physics, not a defect, and it applies to every electric vehicle on the road, not just work vans.
We don't quote rated range and hope for the best. Vans are matched to routes with range to spare, and every van leaves the depot at 100% — so you start each job with the full winter number in the tank, not a partial charge eating into your margin.
BC Interior winters (Kamloops) run colder and longer than coastal winters (Nanaimo) — Interior cold snaps are more extreme, so give routes a bit more range margin there than you would on the coast.
We use a 180 km reference route on our homepage — roughly a Kamloops–Kelowna round trip. Checked against winter range, every van in the fleet clears it with room to spare, including the E-Transit at its lowest winter figure of ~175 km — though on a route that close to the E-Transit's floor, we'd typically point you to a longer-range van instead.
DC fast charging is generally slower in extreme cold — another standard EV characteristic, not a fleet-specific issue. When the forecast is cold, plan overnight AC charging at the depot or yard where possible, and save DC fast charging for mid-route top-ups rather than relying on it as the primary method on the coldest days.
For long winter routes or routes close to a van's winter-range floor, we'll usually recommend the BrightDrop 600 (~330 km winter) or Lion 6 (~265 km winter) for extra margin over the E-Transit or eSprinter.
Picture a Monday-to-Friday delivery schedule out of Kamloops with a mix of in-town stops and one longer regional run each week. On the shorter in-town days, every van in the fleet — even the E-Transit at its ~175 km winter floor — clears the day without a second thought. It's the one longer regional day that deserves planning: check the route distance against the winter-range column in the table above, not the rated-range number, and if it's close, either size up to a longer-range van for that day or plan a single DC fast top-up along the way. That's the entire winter planning process — no guesswork, no surprises, because the numbers are conservative to begin with.
We also don't leave this to chance at booking: tell us the route when you book and we'll match a van with winter range to spare, the same way we do for any other job.
Across our fleet, winter range runs about 75-76% of rated range — the BrightDrop 600 drops from 438 km to roughly 330 km, the Ford E-Transit from 230 km to roughly 175 km.
The BrightDrop 600, at roughly 330 km winter range — the most in the fleet, followed by the Lion 6 at roughly 265 km.
Yes, DC fast charging is generally slower in extreme cold — a standard EV characteristic, not specific to any one van. Planning overnight AC charging when possible helps avoid it.
Tell us your route, we match a van that clears it — winter included.