Colour choice affecting range?

[Slashergash]

Firstly Hi everyone!
Have decided to make the switch to EV and I have a question regarding colour of the vehicle, I guess this applies to all EV vehicles hence putting this here!
Seeing as the air con unit draws energy directly from the battery would a black car in summer need more energy to keep cool compared to, say, a white one?
Is the difference so small as to not be relevant?

 

[MG Clive]

Hi @Slashergash, welcome to MGEVs, I've never heard of the colour of a car having any affect on the A/C or the battery, so it's probably so insignificant that it makes no difference.

 

[Ian Key]

Conversely would a black EV in winter use less power to keep it warm?

 

[T1 Terry]

Firstly Hi everyone!
Have decided to make the switch to EV and I have a question regarding colour of the vehicle, I guess this applies to all EV vehicles hence putting this here!
Seeing as the air con unit draws energy directly from the battery would a black car in summer need more energy to keep cool compared to, say, a white one?
Is the difference so small as to not be relevant?

Welcome to the forum.
Red ones go faster, so they would use more battery
In Australia, a black car with a sunroof would be a sign of having a few sheep short in the top paddock, but in the UK, I can't see it affecting range much, if anything at all, and as @Ian Key has mentioned, it might even help in winter ....

T1 Terry

 

[Slashergash]

Conversely would a black EV in winter use less power to keep it warm?

Not as daft a question as it first seemed then?!

 

[T1 Terry]

Not as daft a question as it first seemed then?!

You'll have to try better than that to get the daft question of the mth award

T1 Terry

 

[Ian Key]

Red ones go faster, so they would use more battery

Not quite right. If it's a van then white is the fastest colour

 

[MG Clive]

We often had the 'fastest colour' discussion on another forum, and the car only came in Green, White, or Blue, anyway it turned out that White was the fastest.

 

[Rolfe]

I remember back when @QLeo got Goth Leo, he said he had the choice of black or white (because that was what his dealer had in stock). He chose black on the grounds that it's generally cold in Scotland so it might keep a bit warmer. Whether the effect is more than negligible I have no idea.

 

[siteguru]

I went for Grey as it helps in both seasons .. absorb some heat during winter, and the metallic particles reflect sun-borne heat during summer.

 

[Giller]

Firstly Hi everyone!
Have decided to make the switch to EV and I have a question regarding colour of the vehicle, I guess this applies to all EV vehicles hence putting this here!
Seeing as the air con unit draws energy directly from the battery would a black car in summer need more energy to keep cool compared to, say, a white one?
Is the difference so small as to not be relevant?

Negligible I’d say, but interesting question, air con is a big user of battery power, with the S6 I’ll be using the seat cooling function as an alternative as it uses very little from testing it against the change in range.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Orange always seems to goad other road users into wanting a " tete a tete " a correct response of course means a more vigorous use of the go faster pedal and subsequent loss of efficiency.
Perhaps a secondary relevant question could be , . Is their a colloration between the cars colour and amount of points on the owners licence. ?

 

[salty]

Perhaps a secondary relevant question could be , . Is their a colloration between the cars colour and amount of points on the owners licence. ?

Nope, just the loud pedal. Particularly in the X Power.

 

[decrep]

Theory says a white car is cooler in the sun but warmer at night, and black is hotter in sunshine but colder at night.
So it's swings and roundabouts, depends if you'll be driving during the day or during the night.
And how much difference it makes, who knows. depends on the climate extremes
I buy white cars here in Aus, because they are definitely cooler in Summer through the day.
But I wouldn't let colour affect my choice in terms of range.

 

[Everest]

Obviously MG need to add the option to specify the colour 'chameleon', with Chinese AI adjusting the hue accordingly.

 

[slmorgan42]

My wife got us wool seat covers, more common in Australia, which I was dubious of but I have to say they keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer.