Link: Electric cars have up to a third less range than advertised in real-life conditions, investigation finds The battery life of the cars tested was on average 29.9% less than advertised Electric cars have up to a third less battery life than advertised when driven in real-life conditions, an investigation has found. The official figures provided by car manufacturers for how many miles an EV can drive on full charge are based on a standardised test done only in warm conditions... ...The magazine mimicked how motorists really use their cars by parking twelve vehicles outside in the cold overnight. The team then drove the cars around a 60-mile test track in Bedfordshire until their batteries died. ...On average, the range of the electric cars was 29.9 per cent less than advertised, with the £57,000 Lexus UX 300e Takumi recording the biggest shortfall – 100 miles less than its official 273-mile figure... In other breaking news: political promises should not be relied on, he won't call the next time he's in town, and she only loves you for your money, Mr. Murdoch. If someone made a full-sized pickup that could haul 10 sheets of plywood, have a 400 mile range, include the gear I need to charge it at home, and price it around 20k I'd buy one right now. Until then, trading in my reliable wheels for duracell virtue signaling = stupid on steroids.
cold does a number on Lithium batteries. Electric cars a nice niche for those who can plan ahead the need to charge, take short runs around town etc. Sometimes it seems that the intent is to force Americans to change our behaviors. For example, our motorhome gets 10mpg. Sometimes we will travel 400 miles to our next destination. We could not do that powered by batteries. Also the weight alone would be significant. As for our boat. I know how far we can go offshore to fish with a full tank. I don't need depleting batteries to leave us stranded offshore. As I said, a niche
EVs are inherently inferior vehicles when it comes to doing work and there isn't a solution in sight. It's just the nature of a battery powered vehicle. They are, and will continue to be, playthings for people who are wealthy enough to afford the downsides.
Battery vehicles are still in the developmental stage. It is an uncomfortable stage because there are still major issues to overcome, but it is a necessary and inevitable stage that all new products have to get through. Think about cell phones from the 70's, and how they developed. It will improve, and electric will take over slowly, and we will be better off for it, eventually..................... They have improved dramatically the last 5 years, hopefully the next 5 years will see great improvement. Helium 3 will be mined from the moon in time, and electric power plants will go through a dramatic improvement, and by then electric vehicles and their batteries will be much improved. Change takes time, and it isn't just the technology, as @sec commented.
I drive a plug in hybrid that has 25 miles of electric only batteries, after that the engine starts. In very cold weather, my mileage dropped to 19 to 20, while in warm weather, it can go as high as 29 or 30.
I drive a plug in hybrid, because I can do all my local errands, and spend very little on electricity since I charge at home. The engine in for long distance travel, and the combination yields 71.4 mpg, consistantly.
This is nothing new, cars never get the advertised mileage. Their advertised mileage numbers typically come from the car being tested on machines, but when you factor in things like weather conditions, road conditions, weight haul, heater/air conditioner usage, driving habits, and wearing parts of the car such as tire thread/tire pressure, worn spark plugs, dirty filters, and everything else that needs to be tuned up or replaced over time, your mileage is drastically reduced.
"However the best-performing of the 12 cars tested was the £68,810 Mercedes-Benz EQE 300 Sport Edition. The car's battery went flat after 300 miles" 300 miles? Your link is beginning to encourage me in buying one. Nice looking car and not bad price Or this one looks good "The Volkswagen ID 7 Pro Match, priced at £51,550, had a real-life range of 254 miles"
There was also an article out not too long ago that the tires on EV's only last about 8,000 miles due to the car's weight (mostly from the battery). So, you have to buy new tires at least every year, if not twice (or more). This not only puts yet another huge dent in your pocketbook, but the more tires you use and produce, the more it hurts the environment.
And the more fuel in ICE cars used, the more it hurts the environment. Several friends have EVs and none complained about excess tire wear. One is a driving instructor and does tens of thousands of miles per year. Several of these friends have had more than one EV. One preferred his previous EV to his current one due to poorer range
