Edmunds' Green Car Advisor's Scott Doggett picked up an interesting story on Darryl Siry, former head of marketing for Tesla Motors, today. In a lengthy entry on his personal blog
, Siry writes that the EPA's mileage range estimates for electric cars are way off base.
He points out three big problems with the current methodology:
--Range estimates reflect upper-end limits and don't take into account varying driving styles and conditions. Obviously, this affects cars with internal combustion engines, too, but electric cars are more sensitive to aggressive throttle use.
--These range estimates are often developed with a full state of battery charge, something a normal owner will rarely if ever experience.
--As batteries age, their maximum charge capacity decreases, resulting in reduced range over the life of the car (or at least the life of its battery pack).
These problems will have to be resolved, says Siry, to avoid widespread disappointment among future electric car owners.
Green Car Advisor: Ex-Tesla Spokesman: EPA's Electric-Vehicle Range Figures Are Grossly Inaccurate
firstwagon says:
08:51 PM, 05/18/09
That's why I keep hoping Edmunds will get one as a long termer.
We know how far they go in a Prius or a Fit so we have a standard to compare to. Assuming they drive the electric car the same as their other cars, we will soon find out if the range is real.
If they keep it for a year or more, we'll get an idea if the range is starting to drop.
Any chance of getting a tesla or one of the other potential electic cars we keep hearing of?
billt9 says:
11:42 PM, 05/18/09
So max range 244 miles.
Take 50-75% = 122 to 183 miles.
Take 20% after 5 years = 97.6 miles to 146.4 miles.
These things sure are city/track cars. Don't try to drive out of the city.
Sometimes these engineer heads get too into theory and out of touch with reality.
You can state ranges. It doesn't have to be the bizarre arcane answer of "well it depends".
"It depends"? Do you mean it can go 6000 miles on one charge? No? Do you mean it only goes 10 miles on one charge? No? So you do have a range in your mind. You just won't say it because it gives you power over the people to hold knowledge.
MUA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
firstwagon says:
08:07 AM, 05/19/09
Trouble is people don't want a "range", they want a number. They expect engineers to say it will go X number of miles on a charge.
Engineers deal in accurate numbers and not guesses. Without all the conditions of each drivers style, city, traffic, weather, etc... they can't give you an answer.
PR people will give you an answer if you like. They will proudly tell you the car will go exactly 244 miles and if yours doesn't they will just blame you for it.
g8gtnorth says:
07:40 PM, 05/19/09
I can't wait for the first battery pack to enter the terminal stages of it's life.
You know, full charge in the morning, dead by lunch.
Laptop computer batteries are expecially prone to this problem when charged frequently often experiencing failure within a year. Wait, doesn't Tesla use those.....
pluckon says:
11:50 AM, 05/20/09
I'm frustrated by the relative lack of details on plug-in hybrids. All I see is the occasional story saying that they will be on the street in a year or two, but the year or two seems to continually move outward.
Forget Tesla. They're not a car company, they're a Silicon Valley, venture-financed computer concept. Nothing Telsa says or does has any relevance to me at all. I am interested in what real car companies are doing, not in what some computer company promises everyone.
A couple weeks ago, Nissan announced that it would be shipping a plug-in hybrid that will go the first 100 miles on the battery alone. The story said that Seattle would be one of the first markets, so I went to a Nissan dealer to ask if I could put down a deposit. They hadn't even heard of the car.
This is looking an awful lot like "all hat, no cattle" to me. I won't be terribly surprised, because I think the last thing the leaders of the oil-dependent American economy really want is a vehicle that wouldn't need gas for three-fourths of its driving.