The Impact of Extreme Ambient Temperatures on Electric Vehicle Performance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The rapid expansion of Saudi Arabia’s electric vehicle sector driven by manufacturers such as CEER Lucid Tesla and BYD necessitates evaluating vehicle performance under extreme thermal conditions. This study investigates the impact of high ambient temperatures on electric vehicle operation by analyzing a 60 kWh NMC battery pack under representative Riyadh summer conditions of up to 47 °C using MATLAB Simulink simulations. The results show that elevated temperatures accelerate state of charge (SOC) depletion and increase battery internal resistance. To maintain safe operating limits the BTMS must operate continuously consuming up to 20 percent of the available energy. Cooling demand increases nonlinearly with temperature exceeding 40 kW at 50 °C which leads to significant parasitic losses and a 15 to 20 percent reduction in driving range. At the system level this increased energy demand raises charging frequency and intensifies electricity load during peak summer periods thereby increasing grid stress. These findings highlight the importance of adaptive thermal management and temperature aware charging strategies to support reliable electric vehicle deployment and grid resilience in Saudi Arabia.