Consumers Underestimate EV Battery Range For Their Daily Commute, Study Says
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A recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Geneva in Switzerland indicates many consumers underestimate the range capabilities of today’s EV offerings and overestimate how much electric range they would need for day-to-day driving.
The University of Geneva researchers interviewed more than 2,000 motorists of different backgrounds and ages in both Germany and the United States and found that many drivers were unaware of the capabilities of the current crop of electric vehicles and underestimated them in comparison with their needs. They also found that more than 90 percent of car trips could be completed with vehicles with a driving range of 200 kilometers, or 124 miles, which would be considered a very low maximum usable range for an EV by today’s standards.
One of the researchers, Mario Herberz, said that while many automakers are focused on creating more energy-dense batteries to increase the range of their products, this should not be needed based on many consumers’ current driving habits.
“The trend is to increase performance, but we have observed that a greater range, beyond 300 kilometers (186 miles) for example, does not increase the fit to daily needs. It would only have a minimal impact on the number of additional trips that can be completed with one electric charge. Increasing the size of the batteries is therefore not a key element in the energy transition.”
The answer to this problem, Herberz said, is to educate consumers on the capabilities of electric vehicles in comparison to their driving habits.
“To reassure people, the solution is not only to densify the network of charging stations or to increase the size of batteries, which require scarcer resources such as lithium and cobalt,” he said. “It is the provision of information adapted to the concrete needs of drivers that will reduce their concern and increase their willingness to adopt an electric vehicle.”
Another kay barrier to EV adoption at the moment is price. While EVs are beginning to come down in price compared to internal combustion engine equivalents, they still carry a steep price premium that makes them hard to justify for many Americans. It’s therefore likely that EV adoption will begin to increase in the U.S. once more affordable offerings are on the market. GM is making an effort to offer more affordable EVs, significantly lowering the price of the Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV for the 2023 model year and teaming up with Honda to develop budget-minded EVs for both North America and Europe.
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Sorry, but studies like this upset me for their arrogance. They conclude the problem is not that EVs have too little range but that consumers need to be “educated” (i.e. indoctrinated) why they should accept less range than current ICE offerings. That’s stupid. Imagine if car companies argued you needed to be “educated” why 0-60mph should take no less than 15 seconds. 98% of time most drivers don’t use acceleration beyond that. You only *really* need more speed when passing. Right? So consumers should be educated on why slow cars are right for them…….except they shouldn’t. Consumers decided long ago that more speed is better. They also decided more range is better.
The problem is not with how consumers are educated. The problem is EVs don’t have the range. Make a car that matches/exceeds ICE range. Don’t blame the consumer for not wanting an expensive car with no range.
And really it goes against *everything* I was taught by my parents. My fathered drilled into me ALWAYS have 1/4 tank of gas. ALWAYS. Because you never know when something may come up and you are going to need it. And so I almost always fill up at 3/8s or even 1/2 tank left if convenient. As a result, I’ve never run out and been stranded. Dad had some nuggets of knowledge from time to time.
It’s not the range that’s the problem for me, its the recharging/filling up. Right now I can do that practically anywhere in 5 minutes.
Not at yer house….
You’re not always at your house!!!!!! I take trips to the black hills in SD and the trip is over 6 hours long. No EV will make it there on one charge and stopping halfway for 3-4 hours to charge is ridiculous, when my 6.2L takes 4 minutes to fill. My time is precious and would rather spend it enjoying it with my family instead of sitting there charging an EV.
Plus with all the blackouts going on and coming….,how you going to charge you EV then?
Also what powers electricity?? Coal and crude oil!!!!
These EVs are great for larger metropolitan areas. They are not so friendly or useful to smaller midwestern areas. We don’t have the surplus for them. Plus, what’s that EV battery going to do here in Iowa when we have a full week of -20 degrees in the winter. I bet it doesn’t start or drains real quick.
Or maybe they’re more educated then some would like to believe. I would need 350 miles of range. Why? Because I know I will get less range in the winter and we definitely have a long winter here. I also know my range will be less in 5 years. So I know in 5 years my winter range will not be great.
So sure, I only need 250 miles, which is why I would require 350 miles.
Blazer EV interests me if the price is right. To be honest, for the 60k I know they will want, I need a rebate to consider it as well.
SO correct and right on target Richard P. Well said. I take offense to having my transportation choices and their limitations dictated by arrogant lefties in Geneva…
The bottom line is they want us to accept a less functional solution because, reasons. If they want to make these cars and sell them and they make some people happy, great, but they shouldn’t be forcing it down everyone’s throats. And when I say they it’s a combination of the government and manufacturers. I don’t totally blame the manufacturers because I think they know that CAFE is going to be impossible to meet eventually, so they had to run up the white flag and go EV…just like the government intended.
Okay, first of all, education = indoctrination? Sez the guy on his computer, a device which is the result of cumulative centuries of education….
Second, okay, you’ve demonstrated you can set up a flawed argument and then knock it down. Hooray! Just like when ya knocked down all three milk bottles at the fair and won yer best girl a teddy bear!
Third, the problem is, for just about everyone who doesn’t live in rural areas, most days that involve driving a car simply don’t require being able to drive hundreds of miles. So, yes, the problem actually is people who don’t understand their own daily needs.
A key, although understated, point of the article, however, is that batteries with less range weigh less, so a) you can go farther, and b) you can charge more quickly. A smaller battery with a higher charging rate would cut charging times dramatically. Not to mention smaller batteries would make the cars less expensive.
And, let’s face it: most gas cars don’t have such great range, anyway. My Dakota pickup gets about 225 miles per tankful. Enough to get to the cabin.
Okay, first of all, education = indoctrination? Sez the guy on his computer, a device which is the result of cumulative centuries of education….
Second, okay, you’ve demonstrated you can set up a flawed argument and then knock it down. Hooray! Just like when ya knocked down all three milk bottles at the fair and won yer best girl a teddy bear!
Third, the problem is, for just about everyone who doesn’t live in rural areas, most days that involve driving a car simply don’t require being able to drive hundreds of miles. So, yes, the problem actually is people who don’t understand their own daily needs.
A key, although understated, point of the article, however, is that batteries with less range weigh less, so a) you can go farther, and b) you can charge more quickly. A smaller battery with a higher charging rate would cut charging times dramatically. Not to mention smaller batteries would make the cars less expensive.
And, let’s face it: most gas cars don’t have such great range, anyway. My Dakota pickup gets about 225 miles per tankful. Enough to get to the cabin.
The real problem is there are so many lies on both sides of this story. You have the many EV people embellishing about the EV product.
But you also have the anti EV people that come up with so many false facts too.
The web is just filled with false stories and narratives that consumers really don’t know what to think. Too often these stories will have some true facts then close with a false conclusion just to give it credibility to those who really don’t know.
C8 I’ll agree with you even though I am more biased in favor of EVs. I think everyone will just have to see for themselves if an EV could work for them. And perhaps as the article suggests, they should do some due diligence before taking the plunge.
I wish that EV enthusiasts would get as excited about building lots of new, reliable nuclear power plants that will be needed to charge them. Wimpy, unreliable, unpredictable solar and wind can’t cut it. Regional, long term power blackouts will result. So whether you own an EV or not, you WILL be affected. This will prove especially deadly during summer in the south. Until enough continuous, reliable power generation is built, EVs should be shelved. Charging those things is like running a couple of electric ovens and clothes dryers all day and night… Thank you EV owners for your contribution to future chaos.
Wow! Some people, especially in the south east, seem to have inhaled way too much exhaust fumes.
Your poor intellect makes you think you know a lot about renewable energy where, like the orange idiot, you actually don’t know much – or nothing for the orange clown.
Do you realize how ridiculous your thinking is? No? Great, continue this way. You don’t even deserve to be educated.
With people like you, the country doesn’t even need enemies.
Bob in FL said, “Charging those things is like running a couple of electric ovens and clothes dryers all day and night… “.
That’s nonsense – although I do have ‘220 wallboxes’ (since I’m an electrician), most of the time I charge each of my EVs at a 960 watt rate… (8 amperes @ 120 volts).. Most people save at least this much if they have purchased an energy-saving refrigerator in the past 20 years and all their former incandescent light bulbs have been replaced (by now) with compact fluorescents and LEDs. Color TVs also no longer draw 400 watts a piece.
So that means essentially EVERY HOME HAVING ONE EV historically would cause no impact at all.
Right now there is a ‘shortage’ of not only Diesel Fuel ($6/gallon when you can get it), but also Diesel Engine Lubrication Oil. The powers that be better not let THAT run out otherwise no one will be able to buy or sell anything, including FOOD.
So maybe your efforts would be more productively spent finding enough fuel to keep your Diesel truck running. As far as Lubrication Oil goes – when THAT runs out Truckers will just garage their Semi trailers until the shortage is over.
There is more to it than range anxiety. How about the lack of places to charge up, the time it takes to charge up, the increasing costs of fast chargers, the greater cost of insurance and the upcoming road taxes that will inevitably be placed on EV driver’s to make up for the lack of gas tax. There is no free ride here, the government will see to that. It all boils down to what works for you and your preferences not what the government wants!
My 2018 Bolt EV was down to less than 110 miles of range during the coldest part of winter when we also had snow on the roads. An EV that’s marketed as 125 miles of range would have barely managed my commute under the same circumstances.
Good to know. That’s about 1/2 the range you’d get in summer?
Well, not really.
During winter, with intelligent use of heating (that is to favor heated seats, steering wheel and reduce cabin heat), you can limit the range loss to 30% ~ 40%.
To get 110 mi is exceptionally bad.
But why would we want to do that if we can drive ICE and have range and as much heat as we want?
TCFL:
Just to prove I know what I’m talking about, I have been totally PLUG-IN-CAR for the past 11 years… I have gone through 10 Buffalo New York Winters with ONLY plug-in cars…
“Intelligent Use of heated seats and Steering Wheel”…. (which my 2022 BOLT EUV *DOES NOT* have, by the way) – does not CLEAR the ICE off the windshield….. EXTENSIVE HEATER USAGE is NOT AN OPTION – as the DEFROSTER must constantly run. I never missed the lack of heated steering wheel, nor heated seats since my more than one year old BOLT EUV got along just fine with the electric heater – although battery usage was obviously substantial.
It is so cold that heated seats and heated steering wheel would make essentially no difference.
An efficient heat pump (such as supposedly exists in the GM new ULTIUM products) – using less than half the electricity of the current resistance heater – will make the best of an admittedly bad situation.
Joe Biden is the worst president of all time.
Yep…
Pretty much sums it up.
👍🏻
Let’s go Brandon!
Here is the deal. The technology is always changing. The abilities of these new vehicles will be all over as the range, costs and charge time will vary and I expect buyers will get to choose in many cases what combinations they want.
Those who just want a cheap city car can choose a car with a smaller battery. Those who want more range a larger battery. More power add a motor.
I just saw that companies are working with lithium batteries as an option for cheaper cars but the intent is you can option a Nickel battery.
Once these things get worked out we will have choices. Also there still is a good bit of time in this transition as well you may note all even GM has not announced the last ICE production date. GM has an inline six even coming.
When it come time that many hav3 to make a decision I expect we will be better informed and given patterns of how to configure vehicles for your needs.
As for the regular non mfg chatter take with care as there is dishonest both ways due to people being emotional on this topic.
Yes, I might get very emotional if I lose my home air conditioning during the summer for an extended period of time due to lack of adequate, reliable power generation – grid overloaded from charging EVs. Can you blame me?
What kind of id10t are you?
Oh wait… you’re from Florida. Now I get it.
He has a valid point, the infrastructure is not even close to adequate to be able to handle widespread EV use. This is another lib pipe dream not supported by sound planning or engineering. I’ll keep my ICE.
The grid is already overloaded . There is no question that we need more generation and far better long distance transmission systems
The arrogance of stating that people only need to be concerned about the day to day range is absurd. I would spend, maybe, $10000 on a toy to get me to and from work. In my case, I bought a motorcycle just for that. But to spend 30000-100000 on a vehicle that cannot allow me to do my near 500 mile overnight trips with the family, at highway speeds in the winter, without a long wait at a charger is just insane to me. Maybe these writers are so rich that they can afford multiple vehicles, but the average consumer cannot. The EV has to replace an ICE vehicle, not meet 80% of it’s ICE counterparts capability.
I do not have “range anxiety”. I know the range and limitations of the vehicles. I have a need to NOT be sitting waiting for 30 minutes to an hour at a fast charger while killing the life of the battery. Once battery chemistry catches up to he real world, then it’s a possibility.
And now with unprecedented inflation, now is not the time to coerce people into buying an EV.
Some people never go anywhere, and for them maybe that will work, but the technology just inst there for EVs yet.
I have to agree with you when the big three gets the charging down to 5 minutes on the EV then I would think about purchasing one. The Volt was a good idea maybe it was to good of a idea but Mary and GM did not want to improve the battery life and and up date the looks of the unit so they discontinued making the volt.
Manufacturers are rushing to EVs in large part because the profit margin is much greater. One moving part in an electric motor. Trying to justify due to “climate change” is laughable.
In Europe, people are used to dictators and have a “master/slave” mindset when it comes to government. You are a slave, so you only “need” to get back and forth to work. Don’t be so selfish… lol.
Another stupid comment.
Oh wait, it’s the same Florida guy.
If you have an EV for your daily commutes you need an ICE vehicle for your family trips. Problem solved.
The primary problem is that most people don’t want one. They are not as versatile or convenient as an ICE vehicle no matter how you sugarcoat it.
ICEs are holistically better.
Even with $5 gas, the math still doesn’t work when I can buy a new Malibu that gets 30+ mpg for under $30k It will last me at least 10 years compared to a $60k EV that will need new batteries within 10 years! Overall, I think the Malibu is still cheaper. I can buy a lot of gas for $30k!
So to take a moderate trip you need to keep an ICE vehicle or spend too much time charging on the road. An EV just for commutes and trips around town is OK but not for me. I need a vehicle to handle both types of trips. For me range is of top importance. I’m glad the Silverado EV will feature 400 miles of range.
That’s not really true.
There’s a lot of EV’s on the road with over 100k and still on the original battery.
You talk about cost, it cost a lot less to power an EV. It’s physics, electric motors are way more efficient.
You can purchase an EV for the same price or less comparable to the price on your car.
Funny people are using the same logic against electric cars that people used against gasoline cars over a century ago.
You know that bell curve where the really dumb people, and the really smart people get something, and in the middle are all the people who think they are smart, don’t get it? You’re in the middle. There is still energy loss. Feed natural gas into the plant, this creates steam which turns turbines, which then generates electricity. Then that is transferred over the grid for vast distances. All of the loss is still happening, it’s just not happening inside the vehicle.
biden is going to do the EV charging with sunshine and wind.
GMA: Referring to some prospects being uninformed as having “cognitive bias” is dismissive and inaccurate. Cognitive bias refers to how reality is misinterpreted in favor of a point of view with or without information — choosing to consider reality properly. Rational people are able to change or hone opinions with additional information. Certainly some people are uninformed about EV (as well as ICE) powered vehicles but preference based on information/facts is not “cognitive bias”. Even making uninformed decisions is not “cognitive bias”.
There probably is some “cognitive bias” surrounding the EV versus ICE debate but I suspect it’s not problematic informed people choosing ICE vehicles. It’s more of a cognitive bias to paint EVs as a panacea without considering the real world decision criteria used by ICE buyers.
I read all the comments, good discussion, but I am disappointed that nobody is asking the big question any more, and that is WHY are we doing this? ( electrification ) Much new research indicates that electric is worse in total than ICE. Just sayin—
I know someone with a Bolt and I believe his summer range is something like 228 miles, but his winter range is about 125. It’s a well known fact in the north, batteries lose capacity during the winter. The colder it gets the worst it gets.
Its not that the batteries lose capacity – the batteries are heated in the wintertime – but that will reduce capacity IF the battery is used to heat itself.
The larger issue is whether the car has a good heat pump or whether the heating is just electric resistance heat…
The resistance heat is the worst since it takes more juice to heat the cabin than it does to push the car down the road. Supposedly all the new ULTIUM models use heat pumps, and also use the heat pump to heat the battery.
Simpler to burn gas!
I drive 3 plug-in cars ONLY – but don’t suffer from ‘Cognitive Dissonance’ – the latest MIND NUMBINGLY DUMB phrase currently in-vogue. This replaces “NEW PARADIGM” that was popular 20 years ago.
The ‘stress’ I feel is not imagined, but real. I have to plan my trips so that I do not run out of juice…. The reason is simple:
1). Lack of RELIABLE public charging facilities (The reasons for this are exceedingly dopey).
2). Sparsely located facilities..Along with lack of cellular service in remote areas should I run out.
Gasoline stations are much better than the 2 reasons above.
Every other week a group of SELF-APPOINTED-BIG-EXPERTS comes up with essentially this:
“The average commute is 30 miles… Therefore, only a 35 mile battery is required.” – Those statements are so dopey its not worth commenting. I Used to respect the Swiss – but lately they have been spewing much malarchy.
I’m not going to let someone from a country 1/16 the size of Texas tell me how I should think or drive. For them a “long drive” is 30 miles, here that doesn’t get you from Ft. Worth to Dallas
i wonder how many of these EV enthusiasts even drive or let alone own a car. a lot of people are just looking for a so called cause to back
To me the issue is not the price of GAS nor the price of electric vehicles. It is air pollution and climate warming. The particles rejected in the air we breathe by internal combustion engines is the main cause of heart attacks, and most organic cancers in North America. Here in Quebc Province (Canada) our electricity is produced by tyrbines powered by water plants which is with windmills the cleanest electricity one can buy at the most compettive price. Believe me, once you’ve tried an electric vehicle for a few days, you nebver want to come back to Internal combustion in particular for long drives because the heat generated by the engine and its vibrations is transfered into the vehicule and stresses its occupants while none of this is experiences in an electric vehicle. I have been driving a GM BOLT EV Premier for 5 years, Nothing compares in terms of fun, comfort and satisdfasction. Not to say that in our cold winter days the car always starts at the touch of a button. No need to boost it ever.
I beg to differ, I believe that most heart attacks and strokes are caused by bad diet and lack of exercise.
Old school:
That USED to be the cause of most heart attacks and strokes…
Now the so-called ‘ClotShots’ are not so much normal blood clotting but ‘self-assembling biostructures’ (from the Moderna Patent) – obviously taking up space where normal blood-cells used to be. The number of athletes dying and the number of airline pilots having heart attacks and strokes (you have to be very, very fit to pass a commercial pilot’s license) puts the lie to ‘lack of exercise’ being the problem.
Of course, no one is overly concerned about it… Like Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, we now have a cutesy name to dispel all worry about it – namely SADS (how sad (!)) Sudden Adult Death Syndrome – which affects people of working age at a higher incidence than even older retired folks. I’m not trying to over-simplify a complex issue – as there are plenty of other things simultaneously occurring, but this is an auto blog, and its not germane here.
As far as particulates go – remember how all the ‘Greenies’ said ‘People should drive Clean Diesels’…. Then all the kids in London and Paris got Asthma. But late-model Gasoline vehicles are clean by comparison.
DEUX CORRECTIONS : Il faut lire “Une fois que vous avez essayé un véhicule électrique pendant quelques jours vous NE VOULEZ PAS REVENIR à la combustion interne” Il faut aussi lire :”Sans OUBLIER DE DIRE que dans les froides journées d’hiver la voiture démarre toujours en appuyant sur le bouton. Vous n’avez jamais besoin de survoltage”
An EV is like the old vintage convertible that some have covered up in the garage. They are great for an afternoon drive on a warm sunny Sunday. But not ideal for day to day summer, winter, wet, dry, and snow driving.