this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2024
34 points (92.5% liked)
Electric Vehicles
420 readers
223 users here now
Electric Vehicles are a key part of our tomorrow and how we get there. If we can get all the fossil fuel vehicles off our roads, out of our seas and out of our skies, we'll have a much better environment. This community is where we discuss the various different vehicles and news stories regarding electric transportation.
Related communities:
- [email protected]
- BYD
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
founded 6 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
If they are able to produce cars with 1248 km / 776 miles of range at a similar cost, I would strongly suggest to rather build cars with a smaller battery at a lower cost, lower weight and a better usable room per size ratio.
I would say that range is already now no longer an issue of modern EVs. I drive a Hyundai Ioniq 6 which is pretty efficient. I have a range of 550 km / 341 miles at 100% and it charges in less than 20 minutes to 80%. Compared to combustion engine vehicles there is no additional waiting time on long distance journeys. If I go to the toilet, grab a snack or walk a few steps to move my muscles, I already have to hurry to be back in time and not to block a charger unnecessarily.
Who the heck needs 776 miles of range? If that would be a common use case, why are there (almost) no combustion engine cars with such a range? You could also easily double the tank size of a petrol car. Yet, no one asked for that.
Range is no longer an issue IMO. Fast charging is fast enough. Now, we have to make EVs more affordable, lighter and smaller and improve the footprint of battery production in terms of rare materials, recycability, pollution etc.
Range may not be an issue for your use case, but it absolutely is still an issue for many. Range is certainly an issue for anyone who tows any kind of trailer. Anyone who lives in cold climates and wants heat in their car while traveling. Etc. I'll absolutely jump in on EVs when those things are no longer an issue, but I absolutely do not want a vehicle that forces me to stop for 20 min every 120 miles when I'm towing my camper somewhere.
I agree on towing, that's a big deal for sure. Heating the car is not a big deal though. Even if you lose like 20% your range, for most people that just means plugging it in a day sooner in the winter, every 3 days instead of 4 etc.
Towing a camper is a reasonable argument that I can get behind. Thanks for bringing that up.
There are vehicles with a realistic (not the manufacturer's claim) combined range of 660 km / 410 miles (without the trailer) and which can tow 1700 kg (~3700 lbs). Based on what I found online, the consumption is increased by 80% if you tow a camping trailer. That leaves you at 230 miles of range with the camping trailer. If you travel at 55 mph that gives you 3.5 to 4.5 hours of driving between charging stops. So I guess that's not too bad.
IMHO bigger concern would be that chargers will be very hard to reach with a camper van attached. At least in Europe, chargers near the highway are mostly arranged like a parking lot. There's no room for a trailer. So either you have to de- and reattach it all the time or you'll need one that's meant for big, commercial trucks. No clue if these are accessible to the general public though. (Re-)attaching the trailer every couple of hours indeed sucks if you do such long-haul trips a lot.
https://ev-database.org/car/2194/Mercedes-Benz-EQS-450-4MATIC