The smallest range of an electric car could already satisfy 40% of drivers

Car manufacturers are currently competing for the greatest range. But if the current models were already sufficient ? This is what a study reveals.

Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular. Car manufacturers are trying to eliminate the famous stress of breakdown by adding more battery cells in their vehicles, which also allows them to increase their margins. However, the results of a study by the University of Delaware show that in many cases drivers could be content with models with low autonomy.

This study, published in the American newspaper Energies, followed 333 owners of thermal cars living around Atlanta, Georgia. The research team examined the driving habits of each of them since 2004, and compared their annual mileage requirements to the range of different electric models.

What are the results of the study ?

The researchers found that 37.9% of drivers could settle for a model with a real range of 230 km, a distance that most current models can achieve without having to change their daily habits. In other words, by charging their car exclusively at home, at work or in car parks where they would have parked anyway, more than a third of them would not have had to make a detour or stop specifically to plug in.

But why not have a little more autonomy, just in case ? In reality, there are many disadvantages to having a huge battery in your car: it will be more expensive to buy, less efficient and more difficult to produce, which not only makes it more polluting to assemble, but also half as interesting economically for the driver.

There are still scenarios where more autonomy is needed, but this only applies to drivers who frequently travel long distances and only a few drivers in the study fit this profile. For those who undertake large trips on a more punctual basis, for example for holidays, it would be much more economical to rent an adequate car to meet these exceptions.

This is true in the United States, but also across the Atlantic, where the average annual mileage is much lower. How many times a year will you travel more than 230 km in a row ?