Effects of Temperature on Battery Performance

Filmed on April 18, 2026 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. It has been a looooooooooong winter!!!

I am a big RC car fan, and I drive my cars throughout the whole year. In the winter, the battery drains very fast, which gives me little time to drive. So, I wanted to know how the cold affects my RC car batteries. This led me to have the question of how does temperature affect different types of battery performance?

In the real world, this information would clarify how temperatures can affect the performance of anything running on a battery, such as Electric cars and phones.

Materials used:

3 sets of Alkaline, Lithium and Nickel Metal Hydrate (NiMH) 9V batteries

Painter tape and Sharpie (to label batteries)

3 15 Ohm Resistors

9 Alligator wire clips

3 LED Lights

3 thermometers

1 Voltmeter

Fridge

Freezer

Wire cutters

Wire striper

Procedures:

1 Organize and label batteries by type and the temperature they will be exposed to.

2 Build three circuits in order to test 3 batteries at the same time so they don't warm up.

Cut three LED lights from Halloween lights with a wire length of approximately 2 inches

Strip off insulation to expose wire

Connect red alligator (positive) clip to left side of exposed wire

Connect black alligator (negative) clip to right side of exposed wire

On the other end of the red alligator clip connect the 15-ohm resister

Then attach another red alligator clip to the other side of the resister

Connect the red alligator clip the positive terminal of the battery and black to the negative terminal.

3 Test voltage all nine batteries with voltmeter.***

4 Connect each battery to a circuit and test the voltage under a load.***

5 Put the batteries into the different temperatures for 20 minutes. Then test both their voltage with and without load.***

6 Leave the batteries connected to the circuit (under load) for 15 minutes, then check both their voltage with and without load.***

7 Put the batteries into the different temperatures for 24 hours. Then test their voltage with and without load.***

8 Leave the batteries connected to the circuit (under load) for 15 minutes, then test their voltage with and without load.***

9 Leave the batteries connected to the circuit (under load) for 15 minutes, then check both their voltage with and without load.***

***After each step I recorded the voltages in a spreadsheet.

My testing showed that the cold temperatures did have an effect on the batteries performance, but the fridge temperatures (2 degrees Celius) had a greater effect than the freezer temperatures (-17.8 degrees Celius).

All the batteries showed a decrease in voltage over the testing. The most significant drop in voltage was the NiMH battery placed in the fridge. The Alkaline batteries voltage dropped the least in each of the 3 temperatures. The Lithium batteries had significant drops in voltage in each of the 3 temperatures. However, they started with a higher voltage output when new and still had 9 volts available after testing.

In conclusion, the results of my experiment were not as I originally hypothesized. It turned out that the fridge temperature had the biggest effect on the battery performance and not the freezer temperature.

I found the that the battery most affected by the cold was the NiMH batteries. This outcome could be because NiMH batteries have a water based electrolyte solution. We it gets cold it starts to freeze up and thicken, which slows down the movement of ions.

The results of my experiment were not as I originally hypothesized. It turned out that the fridge temperature had the biggest effect on the battery performance and not the freezer temperature. This could happened with a fault in my procedure leading to the batteries warmed up during testing. To prevent this from happening again, I would test in a walk in freezer. I could also run the testing multiple times.

If I were to conduct my experiment again, I would test the batteries in the temperatures. For example, I would test in a walk-in-freezer. This would be a more realistic test since the batteries would not have a chance to warm up while under testing.

I could also put each battery under more load in a circuit to draw more power and observe their performance.

Finally I would repeat my testing two more times on the batteries. This would give me the ability to compare more data together making more reliable results.

Thank you to my dad for helping me find the materials needed to conduct my research.

I would like to thank my mom for helping me edit my writing.

I would like to thank Mrs. Caruso for helping me understand the requirements of the Science Fair project.

Mr. Njini for allowing me to work on it in class time.

Thank you to Jordan Winter for her helpful feedback and getting me prepared for CWSF.

Thank you to Nadia Bowen for allowing me to film her Tesla.

Finally thank towards Nilah Moss and the whole Rotary Sault Ste. Marie team for this extraordinary opportunity!

Reference List

Research on different types of batteries:

Claude AI query on the 3 different types of batteries tested

https://claude.ai/share/7e2b7209-7cc8-482c-a8e8-25ada4fcdb46

Uniross Smart Energy Solutions, (March 2025), Complete Guide to 9V Batteries

https://uniross.com/complete-guide-to-9v-batteries/#:~:text=Alkaline%209V%20Batteries,cycle%2C%20ensuring%20consistent%20device%20performance.

Research on building circuits:

Boston Children's Museum, (February 2021), How to Build a Simple Electrical Circuit — At-Home Science Activity for Kids

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PduJnQkbkvY&t=4s

Paul Evans, (March 2023), Resistors Explained

https://theengineeringmindset.com/how-resistors-work/

Research on temperature effects on batteries:

HiMax-The Hidden Cost You Can’t Afford to Ignore: How Low Temperatures Shorten NiMH Battery Life and Drive Up the Total Cost of Ownership

https://www.himaxbattery.com/2025/11/21/the-hidden-cost-you-cant-afford-to-ignore-how-low-temperatures-shorten-nimh-battery-life-and-drive-up-the-total-cost-of-ownership/

Gary Does Solar, (December 2023), How Cold Weather Affects Home Battery Efficiency

YouTube·Gary Does Solar ☀️·Dec 20, 2023

University of Calgary, (September 2025), Do EVs Work in Cold Weather?

https://www.ucalgary.ca/sustainability/mobilizing-alberta/climate-action-blogs/do-evs-work-cold-weather

MotorTrend, (February 2026), How Much Range Do EVs Lose in Winter? We Tested in Real Cold to Find Out

https://www.motortrend.com/features/ev-winter-range-real-world-test

Volta charger, (December 2025), Why Phone Batteries Drain Faster in Cold Weather and How to Prevent It

https://www.voltacharger.com/blogs/news/why-phone-batteries-drain-faster-in-cold-weather-and-how-to-prevent-it?srsltid=AfmBOoqz3eUuPlLf8JjdKm39YNWoUO4yMM2xFMoAxVp_0NrJDUuaaEPT