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Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge
(interestingengineering.com)
this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2024
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See the math here: https://midwest.social/comment/6976296
You have to look for incredibly specific situations in North America for current EVs to not be able to make a stretch of road. So much so that many ICE cars would fail at it. We do need better charging infrastructure. Better batteries are desirable for many other reasons, but not required.
Trailers have a habit of cutting the range by 66%. Someone I know has an EV and tows their bikes to a nearby city. They have to charge mid trip in both directions. That's unacceptable to me and a lot of others. I'm fine with a vehicle with 300 miles of range. But 100 miles of range to tow a boat? I wouldn't make it back without a recharge. Probably two charges because charging stations wouldn't be anywhere near the lake in rural areas. So in that scenario I would have to give up boating for an electric vehicle because I'm not about to do that.
The towing range of an F150 Lightning is actually twice as far as its ICE cousin.
We're also not fully utilizing the possibilities of trailers yet. They can bring extra battery. We just need the hookups to make it happen. The aerodynamic cost is already paid by having a trailer, and extra weight is less meaningful for highway travel.
I'm calling bullshit on that. Here's an article from motortrend showing it has a towing range of just about 100 miles. I've seen that backed up by numerous other tests. https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/ford-f150-lightning-electric-truck-towing-test/
I've seen references to the ICE getting 9-10 with a 23 gallon tank. That's more than double the range with a refuel time being an order of magnitude faster.
Batteries in trailers would help. However now you have a battery to tow, which would still have an impact both because of stopping and going and the DOE estimates for each 100lbs extra weight in your vehicle, your MPGs gets a ~2% reduction. Additionally I would not recommend strapping a battery to a boat trailer unless you are sure it was waterproof. Even then it would make it sink into sand easier.