Should Tesla increase electric vehicle range to match gas-powered cars?

Posted on
10 March 2022
By
Zachary Visconti

Buyers are often afraid to switch to electric vehicles because of the range compared to gas cars. But the next few years may change that – for better or for worse.

Above: Tesla’s Model Y (Source: Evanex; Photo by Casey Murphy)

The same range of EVs could already be offered by gas vehicles by 2024, according to research from Bell Resources recently reported by Gizmodo.

As detailed by Mark Avery, CEO and founder of Bell Resources, there has been a jump in EV sales around the world, including a tripling of sales in Australia between 2020 and 2021.

“The alleviation of range anxiety is important because Australian cities occupy relatively large geographic areas, a limiting consideration that currently acts as a barrier to mainstream EV adoption,” Avery said. “We are also projecting that EVs will reach cost parity in Australia by 2030 – this will boost the infrastructure as well as the need for charging,” he added.

While most EVs in Australia top out between 500 and 600 kilometers (311 and 373 mi), petrol vehicles offer anywhere from 650 to 1,875 kilometers (404 to 1,165 mi) per gas tank.

Interestingly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk also said that the automaker could have produced its own 600-mile range vehicle. Still, Musk says he chose not because of the added weight and lack of performance as recently detailed by Business Insider.

“We could have made a 600-mile Model S 12 months ago, but that would have made the product worse,” Musk said, recently responding to a source about the Lucid Air with a range of 520 miles. He said, “99.9% of the time you will have unnecessary battery load, which makes acceleration, handling, and efficiency worse. Even our 400+ mile range car is more than a car used by almost anyone ,” They said.

Tesla’s long-range Model 3 variant weighs about 172 pounds more than the RWD version, and offers 358 miles of range for 272 miles per charge of RWD. Tesla’s vehicles tend toward the high-end end of the EV spectrum. However, pushing even more can add hundreds – if not thousands – of pounds to the vehicle.

In addition to decreased efficiency, excess battery weight can also increase the risk of death in case of accidents, as detailed by a UC Berkeley study published in the Review of Economic Studies (via CNET).

According to research, “being hit by a 1000 pound heavy vehicle increases the risk of death by 40-50%.”

And while many drivers with EVs buy primarily for the range, another factor that could make it easier for new buyers to go electric is the upcoming national EV charging infrastructure and added home and apartment charging support.

Still, the shortcomings of long-range EVs haven’t deterred some from developing solutions of their own, including a Michigan startup that developed a 750-mile Tesla Model S battery. For this reason, it is still quite possible that we will see advanced technologies and new vehicles offering a petrol-level range in the years to come.

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Source: Gizmodo/Business Insider/Review of Economic Studies (via CNET)

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Electric Vehicles, Elon Musk, Tesla, Tesla News, TSLA

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