The driving range of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is the most controversial barrier limiting U.S. citizens from adopting this technology. The good news is that it has already been proven that range anxiety is an irrational fear and EVs can entirely be adopted to drive short and long distances.
Properly answering the question of how far can an electric car go on one charge, can do wonders for range anxiety. This is why in this article we answer the question, explaining the main and secondary factors that affect driving range, we also answer some of the most frequently asked questions on the subject, and an additional interesting section for you.
If you are looking to answer more accurately the question of how far does an electric car go on one charge, you could consider additional factors that increase energy consumption. These include the following:
- Driving efficiency: The driving efficiency is almost unique for every EV model. This factor determines the conversion efficiency at which the EV demands electric power to drive from one place to another, it can be presented in kWh/miles or miles/kWh.
- Battery capacity: The battery capacity for an EV works like the gas tank, the bigger the battery the longer the distance. This can be used alongside the driving efficiency to estimate the driving range. The battery capacity is presented in kilowatt-hours (kWh).
Electric Car Range
The driving range for an EV is the distance you can drive on a single battery charge. EVs can easily deliver their estimated driving range as long as you do not turn on heavy loads like the Heat Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) System, which rapidly consumes battery and impacts the driving range. Other loads consume battery, but the impact is not as heavy on the electric car range. There are different categories used to classify the driving range of EVs, these include: short, average, and longest. The driving range is usually determined by the efficiency of the vehicle and the battery capacity. Let us see what the actual driving range per category is.– Shortest
If you are going for an EV as your new vehicle, we recommend not choosing EVs with the shortest driving range of 100 miles or below. While statistically, 80 to 100 miles is all you need from an EV to go to work, the grocery store, home, and other close locations, this is not a suitable driving range for emergency drives or road trips. Some EVs featuring this driving range include the 2022 Mazda MX-30 (100) and most Plug-In Hybrids (less than 100 miles).– Average
The average EV will deliver a driving range of around 216 miles, which is more than what you might usually need. Considering the 11,443 miles driven per year or an average of 31.35 miles per day, this means that a 216 miles EV will only need to be recharged once or twice a week. EVs fitting into this category include the 2022 Nissan Leaf Plus (226 miles), the 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV (247 miles), and many others.– Longest
As you would expect, just like there are EVs that take you for 100 miles and 200 miles drives on a single battery charge, there is a selected range of EVs that go for twice or more that distance. Some EVs featuring the longest driving range include the 2022 Tesla Model S Dual-Motor AWD (405 miles) and the 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition R all-wheel drive (520 miles).
If you are looking to answer more accurately the question of how far does an electric car go on one charge, you could consider additional factors that increase energy consumption. These include the following:
Driving Speed
The driving speed can impact the driving range. If you want to estimate how far will an electric car go on one charge, you should know that the faster you go, the more energy you consume per mile. It is important to note that speed, is not the only variable increasing the power consumption of the battery, rapidly accelerating an EV will increase the energy consumption of the battery, regardless of the speed.Temperature
Temperature can also impact the performance of EV batteries. An EV battery works perfectly in a temperature range of 77ºF up to 104ºF, driving at lower or higher ambient temperatures affects how the battery discharges. EV battery performance is heavily affected at below 65ºF temperatures, but the real damage is caused by heat, using EV batteries above 122ºF can heavily impact the lifespan of the battery.Electrical-Powered Features
Another important factor affecting how far can an electric car drive on one charge is the usage of electrically powered features installed in the EV. This includes the music player and other electronics powered by the battery, but the real battery drainage is caused by the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system.
Just like many EV enthusiasts wonder how far will an electric car go on one charge, there are many other frequently asked questions on the subject. In this section, we aim to answer some of them.
1. Should You Drive An Electric Car To Empty?
Driving an EV to empty is never a good idea if you want to extend the lifespan of your battery. Some researchers recommend driving an EV to 10% of the State of Charge (SOC) as a minimum, however most specialists agree that the best is to keep the battery percentage below 20%.2. How Do You Know What Range To Look For In An EV?
Something you should consider if you are wondering how far can electric cars travel on one charge is to match your driving habits to the driving range of your future EV. In most cases, estimating a few days to a week of driving range on a single charge is enough to cover your daily routine.3. How Far Can An Electric Car Go?
To estimate how far can an electric vehicle go on one charge you should consider the driving efficiency and the battery size of the EV. This is a good but rough estimate since there are other factors (speed, temperature, acceleration, consumption of electronics, etc.) that will affect the driving range, although their impact is harder to estimate.4. How Far Do Electric Cars Go On Average?
According to the EPA efficiency standard, the median driving range is estimated above 250 miles, which means most EVs deliver this driving range or a fairly close distance. This does not limit the maximum driving range offered by EV manufacturers, since some EVs feature driving ranges of 400 – 500 miles.
Up to this point, you know most EVs can deliver around 250 miles for their driving range, but there are a few luxury options that can go a little further. In this section we present the 5 EVs that can deliver the longest electric car distance on one charge:
- The 1st place is entirely taken by the Lucid Air Dream Edition. This is the only EV that with its 520 miles driving range, has surpassed the 500 miles limit.
- The 2nd place goes for the Tesla Model S Dual-Motor AWD, an EV that can deliver 405 miles.
- The 3rd place is taken by the Tesla Model 3 Long Range Dual-Motor AWD, an EV that can deliver up to 358 miles.
- The 4th EV is a close call to the 3rd one, this place goes to the Tesla Model X Dual-Motor AWD with its 351 miles.
- Finally, the 5th place is for the Mercedes Benz EQS, which can deliver up to 350 miles.
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Nick Zamanov is a head of sales and business development at Cyber Switching. He is an expert in EV infrastructure space and he is an EV enthusiast since 2012, Since then Nick strongly believed that electric vehicles would eventually replace Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars.