In addition, the climate's impact on your car's battery chemistry, and the power drawn when you heat the cabin and seats can together sap about 25% of range when you're cruising at 70 mph (113 km/h), compared with driving at that speed in mild weather.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have a way to tackle the first problem. By slightly altering the manufacturing process for lithium-ion EV batteries, their technique can enable rapid charging at awfully low temperatures – up to five times as fast – without reducing their energy density.

To be precise, the team's method enables '6C' charging at temperatures as low as 14 °F (-10 °C). The 'C' here is a way to express the charging speed relative to the battery's capacity. So, for example, for a car with a 50-kWh battery, a 1C charging rate would mean charging at 50 kW, and a 6C charging rate would mean charging at 300 kW (6 × 50 kW). That's ridiculously fast – and potentially good news for future EV owners in cold climes.