What do you feel is the best range for an EV?

[DYohn]

My next EV (if I buy another vehicle in my lifetime) will have the longest range available on the market, hopefully in the 500+ mile area. Why? Just because it makes road trips more convenient.

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[Fremont Kid]

Your question to the forum really begs the question of your needs, which you state. I advise getting an EV that meets your longest range needs. If there are plenty of DCFCs along where you drive, then factor in the cost of smaller capacity batteries vs larger capacity batteries. Even if you are math challenged, a capacity/cost ratio should not be difficult.

 

[Mach-Lee]

After taking a road trip, my car will do 200 miles max @ 80 MPH for a 100-10% discharge. Yes I could go slower, but I'd really like to see a little bit more range, like 225-250 miles at 80 MPH as a target. That would equate to 300-350 mile EPA range. I'd like to be able to do 400 miles with one stop, and not have to drive significantly slower than the traffic. My trip was such that I needed to make a few short stops of +25% to make it, so I could have used a little bit more range.

Having the extra range will also make a big difference in the winter when I get -45% range loss.

If I lived in California, the current offering would probably be fine since it's warm and there are abundant charging stops everywhere. But up here in WI, it gets very cold and there are still long stretches between DC chargers, so you really need your range for road trips.

I'll probably be looking at something that can get 300+ miles @ 70 MPH as my next purchase. So looking for that magic 300 mile figure.

 

[ChehRob]

An adverse range (hills or cold) of 250 miles would ease the minds of most of us.

 

[AliRafiee]

I guess it depends on what you’re going to do with it. 99% of my usage is commuting 30 miles a day, so a 100 miles of range would be ok. I have taken it on 2-3 short trips a year from Seattle to Vancouver BC. For that the 300 mile range comes in handy. If I was to travel longer distances more often, I think I would like 500+ with today’s charging speeds. If I could charge in 5 minutes, 300 miles would be just fine.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Like others mentioned, weather plays a big factor. 300 miles is very comfortable in summer time, but a 35% range loss makes the Mach-E unusable in winter in some parts of the Midwest. Plus, we are destined to lose some 10% of our battery capacity during our vehicle holding period. These factors should be taken into account. So far, Tesla seems to understand these factors and how to adjust for them better than anyone else. Although I’d rather ride a donkey than buy a Tesla, unfortunately.

 

[AZBill]

Lucid gets 500 miles of range and peak charging is over 300kw. Just dig deep into your pockets.

 

[TRP]

Lucid gets 500 miles of range and peak charging is over 300kw. Just dig deep into your pockets.

LOL, my pockets aren't quite that deep. Not to mention, Lucid, Rivian kind of scare me in the sense I'm not sure they are gonna be around for the long term. I'd rather watch them and go with something I see as a bit more established.

I'm probably wrong on that from tho.....

 

[davem251]

My perspective is that it is less about range and more about charging speed/good infrastructure.

The MME (big battery) has adequate range and charging speed for ~400 miles in a day without being annoying. I did one yesterday and with the Tesla infrastructure it was fine.

Left at 100%, got ~225 miles in the first leg, and arrived at a Wawa (with supercharger) at 9%. Charged for 25-minutes while we hit the restroom and got custom subs (to go) and left at 53%.

Traveled another ~115 miles and arrived at another Wawa (with supercharger) at 8%. Went to the restroom, charged for 8-minutes and left at 25%.

Traveled the remaining ~45 miles home, and plugged into my L2 at 7%.

The infrastructure where and when you need it makes big range way less important.

 

[Tampamike]

More stations are great - you can always charge if you need to but do you want to? Really, how many times do you want to stop? For me, 2 to 2 1/2 hours works. Using the high end of that, at 80 mph, gives 200 miles of highway driving range. Leave, let’s say, 10ish % at the bottom, or 30 miles about, gives 230 miles leaving a DCFC at 80% which makes 100% equal 287.5miles. However, they don’t quote the range at 80mph, right? So, let’s say there’s a 15% hit for speed and you get a range of about 340 miles advertised to get that 2 1/2 hour highway leg length at 80mph. Soooo, I’m gonna say, for road trip purposes, minimum advertised range of 300, more desirable - 350. I’d be pretty comfortable with that 350 number traveling almost anywhere - not worrying about finding a station and being able to pick my stops where I want. Of course, none of that applies to Teslas because, who knows what their real range is. Cold winter temperatures also change things up quite bit.

 

[dbsb3233]

There's 100 ways to slice this. We road trip a ton, and play it pretty conservatively, using mostly EA stations. I like to plan to arrive at the next DCFC with at least 20% when possible, to account for headwinds, detours, and flexibility. And DCFC up to 80%.

Take another 20% off EPA for highway speed and possible cold weather. 80-20 is 60%, and 20% off that is 48%. Let's round that to 50% of EPA for my comfortable drive leg range between DCFCs. In my 270 EPA 2021 AWD ER, that's 135 miles of comfortable distance. We can make it further, of course, but that's the "with no concern" point. For a leg much further I might need to work a little more to check wind conditions, charge past 80%, get a little nervous, etc.

All that to say, take EPA and cut it in half for high comfortable level on a road trip leg. As for what makes a good DCFC gap, depends on your drive style and preferences. I'm ok with 135, but 150 would be nice. So 300 EPA. More is always better of course, but then you're talking more money for battery.

 

[Zardoz]

There is a lack of DCFC in the PNW. If one site is out of service, you can be in a heap of trouble. With that in mind (and having a GT), I would estimate 300+ for my next car, and 400+ (with winter driving in mind) as ideal.

However, with 300+ miles of range, my second consideration is how fast does the vehicle charge. Not the kW rating so much as how long will I be stopped. The 30-45 minute stops required with my GT are 'ok' but a 5-15 minute stop would be WAY better. Especially if you're in a hurry. And it frees up chargers more quickly. Do these cars exist? There are some, but most are expensive.

 

[Mjsabie]

My perspective is that it is less about range and more about charging speed/good infrastructure.

The MME (big battery) has adequate range and charging speed for ~400 miles in a day without being annoying. I did one yesterday and with the Tesla infrastructure it was fine.

Left at 100%, got ~225 miles in the first leg, and arrived at a Wawa (with supercharger) at 9%. Charged for 25-minutes while we hit the restroom and got custom subs (to go) and left at 53%.

Traveled another ~115 miles and arrived at another Wawa (with supercharger) at 8%. Went to the restroom, charged for 8-minutes and left at 25%.

Traveled the remaining ~45 miles home, and plugged into my L2 at 7%.

The infrastructure where and when you need it makes big range way less important.

I love my MME but the charging needs to be improved. My wife has an Ioniq 5 and the difference in charging is ridiculous. Today we charged for 20 minutes and went from 12 to 81%.

 

[SonicBlue]

I'm doing a bit of research for a future EV purchase. Looking at Luxury/Performance sedans mostly but am also considering SUVs from a couple manufacturers.

For me range is a focal point, maybe unnecessarily but still...

The routes I travel on have charging stations placed infrequently. Anyway, I'm seeing range for performance sedans topping at 240-250 +/- and SUVs closer to 300.

If DCFC options were better this wouldn't be a consideration for me.

So....1. What do you feel the optimal range is?
2. What do you think the DCFC world will look like in 2yrs time?

Optimal range? More than is currently technologically feasible.

What will DCFC look like in 2yrs? About the same as now.

This is the honest truth. Road tripping is NEVER going to be as easy as ICE with current battery tech. Repeat: Never.

So you have to decide if you’re willing to put up with this. Or wait for better battery tech in who knows how many years.

 

[tuminatr]

For me the range of these current cars is fine. What needs to be improved is charging speed. If you had an 800/1000v architecture and a car that could do 10-80% in under 20 minutes like the market leaders that would be ideal

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