Live data from Hacker News

Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

blog.forret.com

61–70 of 259 posts

Re: Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

#61
post #7

Author first assumes that only 60% of the available battery capacity is used (80% > 20%) and then arrives at the conclusion that the range is lower than expected. Well, no shit. I personally do charge my Ioniq BEV to 100%, and I often drive it to, say, 6%. In summer, I get a range of 220km, and in winter 160-180km, depending on temperature and number of cold starts (cold starts seem to trigger a battery warm-up). SOH…

What do you do when you arrive at the charger with 6% battery left and the charger doesn’t work? Or if there’s a significant queue?

Same thing as you do with a gas car and you can't get gas for any reason. Call AAA/roadside services?

Re: Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

#62
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That electric car is still creating a lot of particulate pollution from the tires on the road And brake dust, which includes a lot of metal

EVs make substantially less of that, due to regenerative braking.

What portion of drivers use one pedal?

Re: Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

#63
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

If you look outside of the USA lots of cities have good public transport systems that aren't plagued by poverty, crime, homelessness and mental illness. Just because Americans have decided to optimize their society to maximize misery of a minority for the benefit of an even smaller minority doesn't make it necessary.

It's the other way round: cities that aren't plagued by homelessness, rampant drug use, and criminality can have good public transit. Middle class people simply won't pay (in taxes or directly) for public transit that acts as a homeless shelter and routinely features crimes against them.

Re: Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

#64
post #49

My experience with EVs (Teslas): EVERYDAY CITY DRIVING - I drive whenever I need or want, without ever worrying about range. If I notice the expected range has dipped below ~60 miles, give or take, I plug it in at home at the end of my day. I'm delighted that I never have to go to a gas station, which reeks of all that smelly/poisonous/explosive stuff. LONG TRIPS - I charge to 100% the night before, get on the road,…

I'm not sure I agree that 325mi is a long trip. I used to live in FL and you can drive more than 600mi and stay in the state. I now live in Texas where that number jumps to about 900mi. I'm sure in California it's at least 500mi. EVs can be great if your commute is less than 30mi one way, but that doesn't make them good for road trips. At least in the US.

It's the longest trip I have taken in an EV. I'm speaking only about my own experience.

Re: Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

#65
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That electric car is still creating a lot of particulate pollution from the tires on the road I hear this a lot, but how much pollution is it really? It surely doesn't register on any municipal particulate measurement station.

https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/03/car-tyre...

Interesting that driving style has such an outsized impact. Perhaps aggressive driving and tire composition should be regulated.

Re: Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

#66
post #38

For occasional commutes, 115km one way is ok (not for me, but it's not unthinkable). But 115km each way (230km round trip) 5 days per week is a problem. We should not be doing this, at least not in individual cars. That electric car is still creating a lot of particulate pollution from the tires on the road, not to mention its contribution to general traffic. The focus should be on how to reduce the commute distance…

[flagged]

You're getting downvoted to hell, but there's some truth to this. No one wants to ride Hotel 22 as a passenger, and homeless people on Bart is at least a small negative for ridership. Caltrain doesn't have this problem because they do fare enforcement, a ticket only gets you one ride, and its mostly a commuter train. Caltrain even lets people drink on the train and its not a problem, but it's because of the crowd they serve.

Re: Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

#67
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP and drive a Tesla. Charging stations are pretty large at least where I live. 10–15 chargers minimum and the Tesla nav system tells you in advance how many are available to use.

[flagged]

Your gas gauge is pegged on E. There's no other gas station for miles. There's a significant queue. What do you do?

How about shut up, get in line, and remind yourself next time not to be stupid and run out of gas? Or electricity? Or diesel?

Re: Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

#68
The author says his average mileage is 184Wh/km. I've seen similar numbers in other sources: about 200Wh/km.

I am an avid cyclist. When I output 200W for an hour I can go 20-30km depending on the terrain. Maybe 15 if it's steep uphill all the way. Cyclists are not very aerodynamic. They sit high and have boxy shape. A small vehicle can be much more efficient (the reason recumbents beat standard bikes on a track).

It all seems so wasteful to me. It's true sometimes you need to carry load or more people, or go to very steep uphill, or maybe sometimes you really need to go fast. In vast majority of cases though, especially inside populated areas it's one person and a short trip. You carry your 2 ton metal box with you, use 20-30x more energy than a cyclist would and take so much space traffic jams are inevitable.

True innovation those electric cars. The very definition of missing the forest for a tree.

Re: Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

#69
"Cold weather has an influence on the battery capacity too."

I take this to mean that the author acknowledges GAS cars are also affected by cold weather. There's just no escaping thermodynamics. It's also like pointing out GAS cars' MPG is reduced by 20%+ in cold weather. While it's true, it's like pointing out a gotcha edge case for all cars. So the conclusion can also apply the same way to GAS cars. 'Next time you estimate the mileage, take a 20% discount!'

According to energy.gov[1]:

Cold weather and winter driving conditions can significantly reduce fuel economy. Fuel economy tests show that, in city driving, a conventional gasoline car's gas mileage is roughly 15% lower at 20°F than it would be at 77°F. It can drop as much as 24% for short (3- to 4-mile) trips.

[1] https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/fuel-economy-cold-weather....

Re: Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle

#70
post #49

My experience with EVs (Teslas): EVERYDAY CITY DRIVING - I drive whenever I need or want, without ever worrying about range. If I notice the expected range has dipped below ~60 miles, give or take, I plug it in at home at the end of my day. I'm delighted that I never have to go to a gas station, which reeks of all that smelly/poisonous/explosive stuff. LONG TRIPS - I charge to 100% the night before, get on the road,…

I'm not sure I agree that 325mi is a long trip. I used to live in FL and you can drive more than 600mi and stay in the state. I now live in Texas where that number jumps to about 900mi. I'm sure in California it's at least 500mi. EVs can be great if your commute is less than 30mi one way, but that doesn't make them good for road trips. At least in the US.

325mi is nearly 5 hours at 70mph. It's objectively a long trip.
Post reply on HN