OAK CREEK, Wis. — Saminu Abubakar said he was glad he wasn’t in a rush.

The Madison resident said his Tesla can usually make the round-trip to and from Milwaukee on one charge, but Abubakar’s electric vehicle needed a 30-minute recharge before the return trip.

“When I left, it was at 94%,” Abubakar said. “When I got to Milwaukee, it was about 37%.”

In the spring and summer, Abubakar said the range for his Tesla is between 220 and 250 miles. As temperatures plunged toward single digits Monday, he was paying close attention to his battery percentage.

“It normally tops out at around 150-160, so maybe a 20-25% drop in range,” Abubakar said of the mileage change in cold temperatures.

According to the American Automobile Association, electric vehicles can lose up to 40% of their range when heating systems are in use with sub-freezing external temperatures.

Jim Nawrocki, an electric vehicle specialist at Silver Lake Auto Center in Oconomowoc, said cold weather slows the flow of electricity on a molecular level. EV batteries also drain quickly because there is more work for them to do in the winter.

“Everything from the heat, the heated seats and steering wheel drains mileage from your car,” Nawrocki said. “Instead of an internal combustion engine heating up when you have warm coolant to keep the car warm, you’re constantly running a hair dryer almost — a heater, basically — to keep the car warm.”

Nawrocki said despite the drop in range, Wisconsin winters should not scare prospective customers away from an electric vehicle.

Abubakar said the heater in his Tesla is not as effective as his old vehicle’s, so he also advised EV drivers to pack an extra blanket and something to pass the time in case of an unplanned charging session in the middle of winter.