What determines the range of an electric vehicle? How to increase it?

It's simple - from… many factors. From the capacity of the battery, through the power of the engine / motors, the ambient temperature, the operating conditions, and ending with the temperament of the driver. Here are some simple tricks to help you expand the range of your electric vehicle.

What is the electrical range?

Good news first. Today, when electric cars even urban, easily overcome 150-200 km without recharging and the most Long-range model boast a range of over 500 km , the question of the struggle for every kilometer - as it was. It's the beginning of the era of electromobility - it's not that important anymore. Nevertheless, even in the conditions of a poorly developed network of fast chargers in our country, it is worth taking a closer look at several aspects and thinking about how to increase the power reserve in your "electric traction". What factors influence this?

First - Battery capacity ... If it is small, then even the most environmentally friendly driver using the most advanced driving style does not benefit much. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, today batteries, even in electric models segments A and B can have a capacity of 35-40 kW / h and a real range of 200 km ... Unfortunately, the colder it gets (see also below), the battery capacity decreases, but this is exactly what manufacturers know how to deal with - batteries have their own heating / cooling system, thanks to which ambient temperature drops do not matter so much. influence on the real capacity of the battery. However, in severe frosts (less and less, but still happens!) Even the battery heating system can do little.

When does an electrician "burn" a little?

The second is weather conditions. Electric vehicle range will be lower in winter than in summer ... This is physics that we cannot fight. The battery heating system helps, which to some extent reduces losses. The problem is that in winter we use, for example, heating for the interior, seats and rear window, and this usually has a very negative effect on the range. If this model has a so-called heat pump, we will lose a little less, because it is much more efficient than conventional electric heaters. Falling power reserve for sure less if the car is left in a heated garage overnight.and once you get behind the wheel, you don't have to turn on the heating system. In the summer, weather conditions can also make a difference - heat means constant air-conditioned driving, heavy rains means we have to use wipers all the time. And from the air conditioner. Let's repeat again: each individual current receiver to a greater or lesser extent affects the range of our vehicle , and if you turn on several at the same time, you can feel the difference.

How many horses should an electrician have?

Thirdly - parameters and weight of the car ... Electricians with powerful drive units must have batteries that are large enough and efficient enough to exploit their full potential. However, if someone at every traffic light wants prove to other road users that the future belongs to electric vehicles , and versions with an internal combustion engine must go to the museum, this will definitely not get the power reserve that the manufacturer claims .

How do I drive an electrician to increase his range?

So we come to the fourth point - driving style ... In an electric vehicle, it is extremely important to anticipate the traffic situation and control the accelerator and brake pedals in this way so that the vehicle can recover as much energy as possible (recuperation) ... Thus, we slow down the engine as much as possible, avoid sudden accelerations, anticipate the situation on the road and drive the car so that energy consumption is minimal. Moreover, many electric vehicles are equipped with a special recuperation mode, in which, after removing the foot from the gas pedal, the car begins to lose speed very intensively, but at the same time restores the maximum possible amount of energy at a given moment .

Finally, one more good news - every year new models appear on the market with accumulators with increasing total capacity ... In a few years, we would have to reach such a level that the struggle for every kilometer would practically make no sense and with a smile on our face we will remember the times when you had to choose between range and ... freezing.