EV acceptable range and future range

[Benz17]

So doing research on my next car in 2 years being a EV, at the moment top of the list is the GLC 400 (406 miles range, appreciate will be less in the winter), for me this is totally acceptable, I do the odd trip to Manchester and no further in the uk, and the odd European road trips, would have to make a couple of stops for that, but for general day to day stuff, the range would be near a months equivalent.

The other highest range are as follows:

IX3 500m
Cla 484
EQS481
Tesla 3 466

In the real world I am assuming the above ranges should be sufficient for the average person.

As battery technology is always changing, In the next 2 years what do people think the top range will be , 600-700 maybe, would this in turn effect used/new car prices for those in the 400-500 range cars of today.

Would love to know thoughts on the above, and what range would be acceptable to EV owners, and future owners.

[otolith]

Mine does 250 in winter conditions and 300 in summer - range I'm happy to push it to, not range until it stops or goes into limp mode. It's pretty much sufficient.

The range of the latest cars is more than enough - if energy density or efficiency increases further, I'd rather have the same range and a bit less weight than the same weight and more range.

[Rafka]

Benz17 said:

So doing research on my next car in 2 years being a EV, at the moment top of the list is the GLC 400 (406 miles range, appreciate will be less in the winter), for me this is totally acceptable, I do the odd trip to Manchester and no further in the uk, and the odd European road trips, would have to make a couple of stops for that, but for general day to day stuff, the range would be near a months equivalent.

The other highest range are as follows:

IX3 500m
Cla 484
EQS481
Tesla 3 466

In the real world I am assuming the above ranges should be sufficient for the average person.

As battery technology is always changing, In the next 2 years what do people think the top range will be , 600-700 maybe, would this in turn effect used/new car prices for those in the 400-500 range cars of today.

Would love to know thoughts on the above, and what range would be acceptable to EV owners, and future owners.

I looked a few EV’s when I changed my car nearly 3 years ago. The ranges were sufficient for my needs but the poor charging infrastructure when away from my home was the main reason I stayed with petrol.

[pteron]

I agree with Otolith.

My GF needs food and the loo before my car runs out of range.

[Ham_and_Jam]

pteron said:

I agree with Otolith.

My GF needs food and the loo before my car runs out of range.

Do you not need food and the loo?

[spondulick]

Once the range of the vehicle is longer than the range of your bladder, then the range is sufficient. Personally, I need a break every couple of hours to stretch legs, empty bladder, or have a cup of coffee, so the car can charge while I’m doing that. No time wasted. Extra range only matters if out in the wilds; anything over 300 miles is big enough IMO

[Benz17]

otolith said:

Mine does 250 in winter conditions and 300 in summer - range I'm happy to push it to, not range until it stops or goes into limp mode. It's pretty much sufficient.

The range of the latest cars is more than enough - if energy density or efficiency increases further, I'd rather have the same range and a bit less weight than the same weight and more range.

Could higher range mean larger batteries, meaning more weight, or would new battery technology mean less heavy batteries and increased range.

[SteBrown91]

Most people do not need a 6-700 mile range. Mine has a real world 250 in optimal conditions/smooth driving style and it would be nice to have about 300 ish but otherwise its absolutely fine.

What I am hoping is battery tech improves where we can have smaller batteries (so less weight) which also means faster charging as less kwh to put in.

So 300 miles from say 40-50kwh batteries rather than needing 80/90/100kwh etc.

[Benz17]

spondulick said:

Once the range of the vehicle is longer than the range of your bladder, then the range is sufficient. Personally, I need a break every couple of hours to stretch legs, empty bladder, or have a cup of coffee, so the car can charge while I m doing that. No time wasted. Extra range only matters if out in the wilds; anything over 300 miles is big enough IMO

Likewise with stretching legs, coffee and empty bladder😀

[pteron]

Ham_and_Jam said:

pteron said:

I agree with Otolith.

My GF needs food and the loo before my car runs out of range.

Do you not need food and the loo?

Nowhere near as often as my GF does

[JQ]

Benz17 said:

So doing research on my next car in 2 years being a EV, at the moment top of the list is the GLC 400 (406 miles range, appreciate will be less in the winter), for me this is totally acceptable, I do the odd trip to Manchester and no further in the uk, and the odd European road trips, would have to make a couple of stops for that, but for general day to day stuff, the range would be near a months equivalent.

The other highest range are as follows:

IX3 500m
Cla 484
EQS481
Tesla 3 466

In the real world I am assuming the above ranges should be sufficient for the average person.

As battery technology is always changing, In the next 2 years what do people think the top range will be , 600-700 maybe, would this in turn effect used/new car prices for those in the 400-500 range cars of today.

Would love to know thoughts on the above, and what range would be acceptable to EV owners, and future owners.

I think your range estimate on the Merc is a bit off - real world it's going to be 245-315 miles on the motorway, which is the only thing that matters - https://ev-database.org/uk/car/3296/Mercedes-Benz-...

Same goes for the other estimates. For EV's the around town range is a meaningless piece of data, no one's doing more than 200 miles of town driving per day so it skews the average.

For me 350 miles of range on the motorway in all conditions will be sweet spot and anything above that becomes a waste of dragging a heavy battery around for 90% of my journeys. I don't think we're going to see prices crashing for a car produced today when suddenly there are 600 mile cars out there. The big range cars will be present for the ICE diehards to persuade them to go EV. The biggest game changer to me will be charge speeds - a car with a 350 mile range that can be topped up in less than 5 mins will be the perfect car.

[JQ]

Rafka said:

I looked a few EV s when I changed my car nearly 3 years ago. The ranges were sufficient for my needs but the poor charging infrastructure when away from my home was the main reason I stayed with petrol.

I got my EV 2.5 years ago and the transformation in charging infrastructure over that period has been amazing. Fast chargers are everywhere now and I've never had an issue charging. In the last 12 months we've driven to the Scottish Highlands several times and to the French Alps all without issue.

[Rafka]

JQ said:

Rafka said:

I looked a few EV s when I changed my car nearly 3 years ago. The ranges were sufficient for my needs but the poor charging infrastructure when away from my home was the main reason I stayed with petrol.

I got my EV 2.5 years ago and the transformation in charging infrastructure over that period has been amazing. Fast chargers are everywhere now and I've never had an issue charging. In the last 12 months we've driven to the Scottish Highlands several times and to the French Alps all without issue.

Yes, I’ve seen that. I’ll certainly look a EV’s again when I change next in a year or so.

[otolith]

Benz17 said:

otolith said:

Mine does 250 in winter conditions and 300 in summer - range I'm happy to push it to, not range until it stops or goes into limp mode. It's pretty much sufficient.

The range of the latest cars is more than enough - if energy density or efficiency increases further, I'd rather have the same range and a bit less weight than the same weight and more range.

Could higher range mean larger batteries, meaning more weight, or would new battery technology mean less heavy batteries and increased range.

It's the same thing really. If today's car can do 500 miles on 600kg of batteries and in five years 600kg of batteries will take you 750 miles, give me 500 miles and a 400kg battery. Or actually, I'd probably be happy with a 240kg battery and 300 miles.

[hidetheelephants]

Yay, another EV range thread, with bonus mithering about charging availability.

[SWoll]

250-300 miles is perfect for our use. Allows us to do our regular longer round trips without having to charge, and for the occasional even longer jaunt stopping every 4 hours or so for a break seems about right, and is what we would have done before EV's anyway.

An EV with 500 miles of range would occasionally save us a few £ on public charging, but would make no difference to the time trips take.

[Benz17]

JQ said:

I think your range estimate on the Merc is a bit off - real world it's going to be 245-315 miles on the motorway, which is the only thing that matters - https://ev-database.org/uk/car/3296/Mercedes-Benz-...

Same goes for the other estimates. For EV's the around town range is a meaningless piece of data, no one's doing more than 200 miles of town driving per day so it skews the average.

For me 350 miles of range on the motorway in all conditions will be sweet spot and anything above that becomes a waste of dragging a heavy battery around for 90% of my journeys. I don't think we're going to see prices crashing for a car produced today when suddenly there are 600 mile cars out there. The big range cars will be present for the ICE diehards to persuade them to go EV. The biggest game changer to me will be charge speeds - a car with a 350 mile range that can be topped up in less than 5 mins will be the perfect car.

You could be correct in the GLC range, even those real world motorway figures would be fine for the odd trip up north, and I stop at least once when I venture there, so can top up the battery, so that range wouldn’t be an issue.

Reading up on European charging infrastructure, the consensus is that it is better then the uk, so the odd trip there also won’t seem to be a big issue, just need to top up as and when required.

Excellent point on the town driving, so that is also a non issue.

[SpeckledJim]

Benz17 said:

Could higher range mean larger batteries, meaning more weight, or would new battery technology mean less heavy batteries and increased range.

We're nearing the point where most 'normal' EVs have a range that the manufacturers and their customers deem 'optimal'.

Ever=greater range means a bigger battery which means more cost, more weight, and less interior space. 100kWh is more than the vast majority will need, on a small island with a well-developed charging infrastructure.

They're not going to just keep increasing the range instead of improving one or all of the other variables in play.

[hidetheelephants]

The weirdo range obsessives can buy Lucid Air etc., everyone else will make do with the entirely satisfactory range already available.

[AyBee]

If you're going to be buying an EV, don't go in expecting it will do the WLTP, not even in summer. The WLTP of mine is about 10% more than it will do in summer. I suspect the GLC400 will probably be at about 350ish in summer and 300ish in winter.

My car does about 210 in winter and 250 in summer and I've never really wished it had more. The only occasions where it would be handy if it had more range is where you're doing a trip which is <bladder range and then driving back the same day or next day but I probably do those a few times a year and destination charging is getting much better.