To stay warm, you’ll likely turn on the heaters, right? When you do so, this further drains the energy from the battery. Let’s say you’re driving in the wintry Northeastern United States, with freezing outside temperatures. Extreme temperature affects electric cars energy use. One thing that could further compound your range problems on the highway is temperature. What if there were no charging station within the range you needed? You might end up stranded along the way. Imagine believing you could make it from LA to San Francisco comfortably in two charges (381.9 miles needed in total) only to find you needed a third stop along the way. The worst of the bunch was the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric, which is reported to have 258 miles of range on a single charge. In the test done by Car and Driver, the best performer was the 2019 Audi e-tron, which achieved 190 miles of its reported 204-mile range. It means that the distances they want to cover might not be achievable despite what the advertised range of the car is. This presents a problem to those who want to use their electric vehicle on the highway. In fact, of the 12 cars tested, not one reached its designated range limit when traveling at speed.
#Chevy volt range highway 75mph driver#
Car and Driver did a highway-specific test, however, and found that many cars when travelling at a consistent speed of 75mph over a long distance fell short of their EPA rating. They usually represent a combined figure based on city and highway driving, much the same way that fuel consumption is calculated. These are ratings issued by the companies themselves, usually from EPA-conducted range tests. A long-range Tesla Model S, on the other hand, carries a 90kWh battery that can travel up to 346 miles on a single charge. The Nissan Leaf, for instance, carries a 30kWh battery that has a range of 155 miles. The range of an electric car depends entirely on the battery and how efficiently the power is used for the car’s propulsion and other systems. On the highway, however, it’s a different story for EVs. Regular internal-combustion-engine cars are unable to do this, since driving in low gears and regular idling are conditions in which much gas is wasted, and fast. With the technology in its current state, EVs gain an advantage in the city which is the ability to maintain low power output while also reclaiming power through systems like regenerative braking. Many of the problems I describe today apply specifically to highway driving and not city driving, because the EV, in truth, is currently best-suited to city driving. These are further factors I will explore in this article. I’ll cover that in more detail below.īesides range, there are others who wonder about charging and safety when it comes to EVs and highway driving.
In May 20202, Car and Driver did research into how driving at speed continuously over some distance impacts the range of electric vehicles.
#Chevy volt range highway 75mph full#
The fact remains that the official range of the electric vehicle - usually the one rated by the EPA - does not give you the full picture. With this kind of available range, can there be any question as to the viability of EVs on the highway? Companies like Tesla appear to be leading the way with new models whose range stretches up to 379 miles on the new long-range Model S and Model X vehicles. The range of electric cars seems to be going up all the time. The main issue is practicality: highway speeds mean that large distances are covered, leading to range anxiety with more electric cars.ĥ Are Electric Vehicles Good for Highway Driving? What’s the problem? There’s no physical limitation that make EVs “unsuitable” for highway driving. This raises the question – are electric cars good for highway driving? Are they up to the challenge? In this article, I will explore these very questions in more detail. There are many in America who regularly traverse greater distances in a single day. For many, using a highway means you are traveling some distance, possibly as many as 100 miles or more in a single day. Nowhere is range more important than when you are driving on the highway. Range, on the other hand, persistently worries drivers. The price of EVs is another big reason, but we can expect that to come down as technology is mass-produced, as is the story of just about every new technology that emerges. One issue remains at the heart of whether or not people will finally embrace electric vehicles - range.