Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

The 270 actually 120 is a bit dramatic, but it does highlight a lot of the fundamental problems with range in EVs, especially the "200 miles is enough" crowd.

1) for battery preservation, you generally do not fully charge every night. So, lose 10% from that

2) battery degradation, things are better, but 10% max loss is common I would say

3) people drive faster than testing. Knock off about 10% for that

4) cold? hot? AC? heat? another 10% off

5) there isn't a charger around every corner, so you have to plan ahead and to be safe get a charger when you're at like ... 10% left

Holy crap, 50% loss of range! And if you are in a scenario where you are recharging on the road, you are doing the "80% charge" which really is a loss of 10-20% more effective range. Ok, the poster isn't being that dramatic.

This is why for non-city non-commuter scenarios, especially in midwest/rural areas, a PHEV with a 50 mile all-electric range would simnply be a far better car, for far less battery supply. Daily city driving rarely exceeds 50%, the engine can do range extension on the rare long distance trips, and it can also help with heat/cooling that heat pumps can't help with. PHEV drivetrains will still have regen, peppy acceleration, and good torque if done correctly.

I'm hoping the Dodge Ramcharger does really well. 100 miles almost in all-electric, and an engine to recharge it for really long ranges and towing capacity.

A truly peer range EV will probably need another 50% density, so



I've done road trips on my SR+ model 3 and it hasn't been a big problem. What is a problem is if you're going somewhere that has no chargers (or no superchargers).

If you have a big trip then you can charge to 100% if you need to.

Yes, if you go faster you'll use more energy per km. If you're pushing it then you're going to want to slow down a little.

In my "daily" driving I use about 20%-30% of capacity max and I have a pretty long commute. I tend to keep my battery around 50% most of the time and not go too low or too high.

There are certainly trips to remote places that I can't do with my EV and I have made some adjustments to trip plans to accommodate but all in all it's been a non-issue.

Btw, if we're running down a list of issues then phantom drain is another one. I do worry about energy loss when camping e.g. I've had a situation where I got to the campground with ~20% and the next day in the cold was something like ~10% and barely made it to the charger.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: