Posted on 03/02/2022 12:56:32 PM PST by Red Badger
Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded today to a tweet from one of his prominent supporters - Whole Mars Catalog - related to the range of electric cars.
Whole Mars Catalog wrote that Lucid delivered the first series-produced electric car with a range of roughly 500 miles (EPA range), but Tesla "will be the first to mass-produce one."
The longest-range version of the Lucid Air has an EPA Combined range of 520 miles (837 km). The longest range Tesla Model S has an EPA Combined range of 405 miles (652 km).
Well, Elon Musk responded that a 600-mile (965 km) Tesla Model S could've been made 12 months ago (let's assume February 2021), but "that would’ve made the product worse."
Elon Musk pointed out that it would essentially require a higher battery capacity, which would mean a bigger, heavier, and more expensive battery pack. This battery would be "unneeded" on a daily basis, as even the current 400+ mile range is more than enough. Handling and efficiency would be substantially affected too with a bigger battery.
It's not the first time when Elon Musk cooled down expectations, which exceeds rationality and we fully agree with that.
Electric cars are already quite heavy (usually heavier than internal combustion engine counterparts) and expensive, so the right way to do this is to address those issues first, instead of increasing the range to such high values. Especially since the fast-charging networks are growing nicely.
Tesla appears to be on the right path in terms of range balance and weight-reduction approaches through the introduction of a structural battery pack (the weight of the remaining structure of the car would be lowered).
This is one of the most important directions for the mainstream electric car market, in terms of costs, performance, and also the environment.
After crossing 400 miles (300 miles in many cases), the race to extend the range is not the priority. It might be in some niche segments, including luxury cars like the Lucid Air, but even in the case of Lucid, many customers preferred the Performance version of the car (with about 50 miles less EPA range) instead of the Range version of the car.
Some range race probably is ahead of us in the case of vehicles that have to tow - they really need bigger batteries to work in challenging conditions.
600 mile range sounds really good ... until, once you include the mid point charging time, you realize how long it would take to do a 1200 mile trip
Why not have a trunk full of hamsters on wheels ? They you can relax...
You can charge an Ev while you are sleeping.
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Should provide plenty of nap time on a trip ... maybe open nap containers for drivers waiting for the car to charge or else they’d have to watch IC cars zip in and out in less than 5 minutes - the horror!
There are batteries that can do that now, they just haven't gotten to the technology readiness level where the cost is agreeable to the market and it's also acceptably safe for an untrained consumer to use them in a passenger car. There's also the whole infrastructure issue, but there was a petroleum station issue at one point in history too, and it really wasn't all that long ago.
I guess Benjamin Franklin had it right all along eh friend? Lol
What do you think the sail in the trunk is for?
“If your EV runs out of battery power, you can pump away on your generator bike and recharge your vehicle.”
Don’t know why they haven’t figured out a way to add small Sterling Power generators to help recharge. All you is a good heat differential and there is plenty of friction and during the day sunlight that can be focus. No peddling required.
Technological advancements would have to be made to make them lighter, but nobody really tried to make them more efficient and less bulky.
Lol!
How many ice cars are there out there vs hybrid and electric cars. You’ll find the chance of an ice car combusting are significantly less.
Computers will give faulty data if their sensors are wrong. Too many Computers are the reason I tow so many new cars with “keys not detected”
Computers can and have been programmed to display faulty data.
At least if my jeep says its got half a tank, unless the wire is broken, its got half a tank
All you have to do is add a few rubber bands to store otherwise wasted energy, ie, use braking power to wind them up. Electronics can automatically switch to rubber at appropriate times to get an extra mile for every five or six on your battery.
If someone isn’t a tax paying property owner then they should not be permitted to use the roads. Or sidewalks.
You can charge an Ev while you are sleeping.
How about building a wind turbine into the grille assembly?
“If someone isn’t a tax paying property owne”
I hate to tell you this, but most roadways are not paid for by any property taxes. The gas taxes and vehicle registrations usually pay for roadways.
Interestingly, one thing people hoping to get a F-150 Lightning EV are looking forward to is the heavy batteries in the extended range version hopefully increasing handling. The idea is that all of that extra weight at the bottom of the truck (where the batteries will be) will lower the center of gravity. If they're right it'll be the first truck that looks like a truck (the F-150 Lightning is shaped like a run-of-the-mill gas F-150) and handles like a car around curves.
https://hooniverse.com/2022-ford-f-150-lightning-electric-trucks-just-got-serious/
Some model needs to come along with a battery module that can be swapped out by a AAA roadside rescue. Going for maybe 5% of total capacity. Make it industry standard so even swaps occur at almost no cost.
So, assuming rational ‘range anxiety’, how long does one sit and wait for a full charge, after 500 miles?
Bigger battery, bigger fires.
“You’ll find the chance of an ice car combusting are significantly less.”
Not according to data. And gas cars tend to go up in flames quicker.
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