If 180 miles were sufficient, ICE cars would have settled into a rough 180-mile range average.
They settled into 425.
Mind you the article is a future prediction for when the infrastructure surrounding EV is a lot better than it is today!
I think even though the technology will improve and charging will be faster, that around 300 miles could become the sweet spot, for cheap family cars. Maybe even a bit above that.
300+ miles is nice enough for holidays and weekend trips too, a 300 mile battery has almost twice the duration of a 180 mile battery, which is probably needed to be good enough to last the lifetime of the rest of the car, and to be as durable as an ICE car.
Batteries are still getting cheaper, and there is no reason to think that won’t continue for at least a decade more. There will be less reason to make very short range cars, that people generally don’t want.Bigger batteries have better range (obviously), but also higher durability, and charge faster as in charging at higher watts.
Contrary to Lucid’s CEO I think we will see more cars with higher range, and 4-500 miles range will become the norm for mid-high end cars.Less than 200 miles will be mostly for people on a tight budget, or people that have more than 1 car. Where the better car will be chosen for mostly any trip that isn’t just local commute.
Especially in countries with high speed roads, the low range of 180 miles will become even lower at high speed, as the range is generally measured at lower speeds, and higher speed use way more battery, and enable longer ranges at shorter time, which will be ruined if you have to stop to charge every hour. Cold winters is also a problem for such short range cars. Meaning there are multiple places where such cars will only be sufficient for shorter daily commutes, and completely lack the versatility we expect from a car.
Not everywhere is like California.
Sounds reasonable. 180 miles (300 km) would last the average driver about one week. If charging options are plenty, fast and working well, this could be enough.
Totally insufficient for my use-case.
I commute 65 miles each way for work. Assuming a 50% range loss during the winter months, I’d need at least 195 miles of range at the barest possible minimum. I’d prefer at least 50 miles of buffer to account for any errands I might need to run in addition to the commute, that’s 245 miles.
This is a fading way of life, not progress.
Less travel, more energy, more time, less carbon output.
Great. Mandate WFH and build public transit then. Until that’s done, we need cars.
You’re preaching to the choir, but until I can find a full-remote job that pays the bills I’m stuck with this.
Cold weather performance has to improve a bit too. That 300km can easily become 200 or less in a Canadian prairie winter, which isn’t enough to be competitive with ICE vehicles, and given the state of charging infrastructure.
Don’t forget that this article mentions that cars with shorter range will be more useful by 2030. There are still a few years to improve charging tech and infrastructure.
Right, but having to stop to charge midway through a 2-300 km trip isn’t that practical for most around here. That length of drive isn’t uncommon and stopping would be a turnoff for people used to doing the whole trip with an ICE vehicle.
