EV makers eye 600-mile dream
In the race to try to catch Tesla when it comes to electric car supremacy, automakers are literally going the extra mile – at least when it comes to battery output.
With the auto industry turning its full attention to the development of stylish long-range electric vehicles, car companies are looking to be able to boast about gains in how far their cars and SUVS can travel on a single charge as the way to separate themselves from the pack.
This week, Mercedes-benz unveiled a concept vehicle for the CES tech trade show in Las Vegas that it says is capable of going up to 620 miles before it runs out of juice.
While Mercedes’ Vision EQXX is only a prototype – it’s not clear when or if its technology can be transferred to a production vehicle – it is surrounded by real-world competitors showing impressive gains in going the distance.
The new electric Lucid Air luxury car has an estimated EPA range of up to 520 miles. The latest long-range version of Tesla’s luxury Model S sedan can travel up to 406 miles. Ford Mustang Mach-e SUV can go up to 314 miles. And Mercedes’ new EQS sedan can slide along the highway for up to
350 miles.
They are the kind of numbers automakers hope will light up indifferent buyers.
“They are trying to make a splash . ... They are trying to stand out,” said Jessica Caldwell, director of insights for Edmunds.com. “It’s giving them that ‘wow’ factor.”
Despite all the attention they have received, electric cars remain only a blip on sales charts. But with a slew of new models on the way amid pressure from the government’s fuel economy rules, there’s hope the electric transportation future is finally taking shape.
Range isn’t just a gimmick to entice motorists to trade gas pumps for power plugs. It helps allay car shoppers’ fears that batteries will run dry on a long trip and leave them stranded miles from the nearest charging station.
Next comes the question of how much range is enough.
The first round of the industry’s electric cars about a decade ago couldn’t go much further than 80 to 100 miles depending on conditions. That was “barely acceptable,” said Ron Cogan, publisher of the Green Car Journal.
The jump to 200 miles of range made more sense and 300 miles “takes away a lot of the range anxiety,” Cogan said.
But 600? That’s far enough to drive from Dallas to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Or Nashville to Pittsburgh. Or San Francisco to Las Vegas.
A range of 500 or 600 miles could allow people to be assured they can take their electric cars across the country and get to the destination even if a charging station is closed en route. While Tesla has created its high-speed Supercharger network, the nation’s charging infrastructure isn’t fully built.
Six hundred miles of range could also allow motorists to skip charging along the way altogether, avoiding having to sit for an hour while their batteries gulp enough electrons to get them zipping along the highway again. They could charge in their own garages then not again until they reach their destination.
Think of driving from Dallas to Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Nashville to Pittsburgh or San Francisco to Las Vegas one day in the near-term future. Your batteries could make it nonstop even if your bladder can’t.
Mercedes-benz isn’t alone in chasing the 600-mile dream. General Motors is after it too.
Last year, the company unveiled a new generation of batteries packing 60% more energy and costing 40% less than the previous one. They would be good for up to 450 miles of driving per charge. It’s the generation after that one that could produce 500 to 600 miles per charge with twice the battery energy density, announced Mei Cai, GM’S Lab Group general manager.
Mercedes-benz said it achieved a 600-mile range in the Vision EQXX through a raft of improvements, including improving the battery’s chemistry, packing the cells tighter and moving electrical and electronic components to a separate compartment.
The car also has wind-cheating aerodynamics, roof panels that collect solar power and lightweight aluminum brakes.
“Electric range sounds easy but is a complex technical challenge,” said Joerg Bartels, Mercedes vice president for vehicle engineering, in a statement. “With Vision EQXX, we’re presenting the results of an extraordinary challenge: we pushed efficiency to a totally new level.”