E-vehicles are an important component of the traffic turnaround and thus also of effective climate protection. Technological advances have made electric vehicles suitable for everyday use and increasingly affordable. Even in terms of range, long considered a disadvantage of the new generation of vehicles, electric cars have caught up enormously. Nevertheless, the range can vary not only by model, but also, for example, by season. We explain why the range of electric cars varies and how it can be influenced.
What range do e-cars have?
When buying an e-car, range plays an important role alongside price. a few years ago, it averaged about 150 kilometers, Current e-cars already have an average range of 250 to 300 kilometers. Some models can currently travel more than 500 kilometers at a time without an additional charge. Forecasts predict that the average battery range will increase to nearly 800 kilometers by 2025.
The increasing ranges of e-cars benefit in particular from continuous optimization of battery and accumulator technology. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are mostly used without performance-reducing memory effects, but more sustainable and even more efficient technologies such as sodium-ion batteries are already in the starting blocks. A pioneering future trend is the use of solar cells, which are integrated into the body of the vehicle and use solar energy to charge the batteries.
What affects the range of e-cars?
Despite technological advances the range of electric cars varies greatly. Technical and weather-related factors, but also behaviors in the everyday use of e-cars, have a not insignificant impact on range. Key influencing factors include:
- Charging strategies: the e-car should be charged properly to prevent loss of battery capacity and to prolong the life of an e-car, because frequent fast charging ages the battery more quickly.
- driving style: each battery is only designed for a certain number of charging cycles (in the case of a lithium-ion battery, this is approx. 1000 – 1500 cycles). Hectic and unsteady driving, increased speed and strong acceleration increase energy consumption and put additional strain on the battery of an electric car.
- Tire pressure: too low tire pressure increases the rolling resistance of a tire. The quality of a tire (rubber compound used) also has an impact on rolling resistance and thus also on energy consumption.
- Vehicle weight: a heavy car consumes more energy than a light vehicle.
- aerodynamics: already at a speed of 100 km/h, air resistance is the highest resistance factor when driving a car. This is why particularly streamlined models are more energy efficient.
- Energy consumption and efficiency: depending on the model, z. B. Construction, vehicle weight and the transmission technology used influence the performance of the battery.
- Use ofheating and air conditioning: especially in extreme temperatures in summer and winter, the electric car battery is heavily stressed by the electronic temperature control system.
- Outside temperature and time of year: the batteries of electric cars last much longer in summer than in winter. Even at 40 degrees heat they still keep approx. 80 percent of their efficiency. In winter, in turn, the range of an e-car is reduced by 10 – 30 percent.
A particularly important factor for the range of e-cars is their battery capacity:
- A new battery has a higher capacity than an old. Through many charging cycles, the storage capacity decreases over time.
- There are big differences depending on the model: common battery capacities vary from 32.3 kwh in small cars to 100.0 kwh in luxury cars.
- Larger battery have a longer lifespan, which results from the fact that larger batteries require fewer charging cycles for the same mileage. As a result, they age more slowly, depending on use, and have a longer service life. In addition, they can be charged more quickly at the fast charging station with a higher charging power.
Although a high battery capacity has advantages, especially for longer distances, it does not necessarily mean a long range. The interaction of many factors is important. For example, if you use the air conditioning and headlights at the same time for a long period of time on a long trip, if you tend to drive hectically, or if you drive with low tire pressure, you are more likely to need to recharge. Also, despite certain range advantages with a large battery, it must be remembered that more energy is needed to produce a larger battery. In addition, the car becomes heavier with each additional weight. Both factors tend to have a negative effect on the battery life CO₂-overall balance and the environmental footprint of an electric car from.
This is how the range of an e-car is calculated
When you choose the range of an e-car, you may be interested in these Calculate with a formula: battery capacity ÷ consumption/100 km = range. If you want to know more, you can also use a special range calculator that takes into account the factors of driving style, outside temperature and speed.
Our tips: how to get your electric car through the winter well
In electric cars, there are especially in winter sometimes considerable power and range fluctuations. The "feel-good" temperature of an e-car battery is approx. At 20 -40 deg. If this is significantly undercut in the cold season, efficiency decreases and the battery can even lose up to 41 percent of its performance at minus temperatures. This is due, among other things, to the fact that cooled batteries absorb less energy and at the same time deliver less power due to increased resistance. At the same time, the battery has to cover the increased energy requirements of electric cars in winter. Heating and lighting are used more intensively in a cold and dark season than in summer.
Drivers can, however, use our e-car tips optimize the range and prevent problems in winter: