I felt the car tires lose grip on the surface of the frozen lake and my car start to spin out. I knew I'd pushed it too far. Despite the advice I'd been given, I entered the corner too fast and hit the brakes too late. I thought I had the driving talent to hold the slide I was now in, but physics had other ideas. Instead of my planned smooth drift across the ice, the car went into a full 360-degree spin that sent me off the track and into a deep snow ditch.Thankfully, the powdery snow that cushioned my crash meant I was unhurt as was the Volvo EX30 Cross Country I was testing. My location was a frozen lake about two hours outside of the northern Swedish city of Lulea. Volvo had invited me to put its new vehicle to the test in some of the most demanding weather conditions for any vehicle.It sounded exciting and, of course, great fun, but it gave me an opportunity to prove to myself something fundamental about electric cars: The miles of frozen roads and icebound lakes I drove across showed that EVs aren't just usable in winter they can thrive in harsh, cold conditions.The days of EVs being a rare sight on our roads are long gone. It's estimated that in 2024, more than 1.2 million EVs were sold in the US, a significant increase from the 326,000 estimated to have been sold in 2019. Electric cars have proven that they're not just a novelty driven by Ed Begley Jr. they're fully fledged vehicles in their own right, offering enjoyable, reliable, zero-emission driving for millions of people in all conditions the world over.But misconceptions remain around EV driving, especially in colder weather. A simple Google search on the topic will bring up a variety of US news reports on "stranded EV drivers in the snow," articles about EV drivers "wrestling with the cold," various YouTube videos, and Reddit and Quora threads often featuring inaccurate or misleading information all essentially telling potential EV owners that if they want to drive in colder months, they're better off buying a gas-powered car. When I told a friend of mine I was going to the Arctic to drive EVs, their response was: "Do they even work in the cold?"The answer, fundamentally, is yes. And while misconceptions around EVs aren't likely to ever go away completely, those in doubt about an EV's ability to handle colder temperatures need only look toward Norway. Despite the country's extreme winter temperatures, electric vehicles accounted for almost 90% of all new cars sold in Norway in 2024."Electric vehicles are getting better all the time," Maria Cecilia Pinto de Moura, a scientist in the Clean Transportation program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, tells me, "with new battery technology bringing down the cost of a new EV and increasing their range." In this article: The reality is that all cars struggle more in the winter, whether they're powered by electricity or gas. Colder temperatures make any vehicle less efficient, while icy roads reduce friction, increasing the possibility of accidents. It's especially problematic for people living in rural areas, who typically rely on their vehicles for longer routes, often across more difficult roads than urban users would face.And while EV drivers can experience more challenges than those driving gas-powered vehicles most notably, lesser availability of public charging stations driving EVs in tough winter conditions is perfectly manageable.To find out how EVs can thrive in the cold, I journeyed to Volvo's home country of Sweden to get behind the wheel of its latest EVs and see how they handle snowbound roads and freezing conditions and find out how EV owners can help their cars go further in the cold. The Volvo EX30 Cross Country shows off on a frozen lake. Andrew Lanxon/CNETElectric versus gas-powered vehiclesDespite the difference in power source, in many ways EVs don't differ that much from internal combustion engine cars when driven on the road. In some respects, EVs can actually be safer. The battery packs typically make EVs much heavier, which can increase braking time but can also result in better traction in slippery conditions. Most electric vehicles from all brands including Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Tesla, Volvo, VW and an increasing number of others have their batteries positioned low down in the chassis. This results in a more even weight distribution and a lower center of gravity, giving a planted stance on the road and providing improved grip on all wheels.Then there are the electric motors powering the cars, which provide instant torque to the wheels, allowing for smoother acceleration without loss of traction. Many EVs also have dual motors, powering the front and rear wheels independently, again increasing overall traction in poor conditions. Volvo / Treatment by Jeffrey Hazelwood/CNETStill, I did feel slightly nervous the first time I took the wheel of Volvo's EX90 in northern Sweden and headed out on a two-hour cross-country drive. The winding roads were flanked by huge snow drifts, road junction markings were invisible beneath the deeply packed snow and at one particularly odd-feeling moment when I glanced at the sat-nav, I realized I was driving straight across the middle of an enormous, frozen lake, which evidently just becomes a road during winter.But I needn't have worried: Driving the car in these conditions felt not just safe, it felt regular. Almost boring.The grip from the instant torque and dual motor drive was noticeable every time I pulled out at a junction, while the planted nature of the car from its whopping 2,800kg (6,200 pound) weight meant I never felt it was losing grip in the corners. It made the journey feel as enjoyable as any other and I didn't even feel like I needed to make many particular allowances for the snow, beyond keeping my speed in check."We are still learning how battery electric vehicles are to be optimized for different temperatures, including cold climates." Karin Almqvist, Volvo's head of propulsion and energy On one occasion, my co-driver had to brake hard when we came up on some reindeer lying down in the road. He braked hard, the car slowed and the reindeer simply got up and wandered off. No drama, no skidding off the road, no hard-to-explain reindeer-shaped dents in the car.Things changed when I arrived at the frozen lake where Volvo had carved a racetrack into the thick ice to allow us to test the cars off road. Here, the goal wasn't so much to feel how normal it is to drive EVs in winter but to push the limits of the vehicles and, quite frankly, to have some fun trying to make them go sideways. And it was fun; I've driven performance cars on regular tracks before when my aim at all times has been to try to avoid going into a slide and spinning into the barriers.But out on the ice, sliding became my goal. I loved the feel of powering into a corner, giving the steering wheel a quick flick and feeling the car's rear