Data from thousands of EVs shows the average daily driving distance is a small percentage of the EPA range of most EVs.
For years, range anxiety has been a major barrier to wider EV adoption in the U.S. It’s a common fear: imagine being in the middle of nowhere, with 5% juice remaining in your battery, and nowhere to charge. A nightmare nobody ever wants to experience, right? But a new study proves that in the real world, that’s a highly improbable scenario.
After analyzing information from 18,000 EVs across all 50 U.S. states, battery health and data start-up Recurrent found something we sort of knew but took for granted. The average distance Americans cover daily constitutes only a small percentage of what EVs are capable of covering thanks to modern-day battery and powertrain systems.
The study revealed that depending on the state, the average daily driving distance for EVs was between 20 and 45 miles, consuming only 8 to 16% of a battery’s EPA-rated range. Most EVs on sale today in the U.S. offer around 250 miles of range, and many models are capable of covering over 300 miles.
But that cross-country trip I make every few years! Am I supposed to like borrow a regular car or something?
Data from thousands of EVs shows the average daily driving distance is a small percentage of the EPA range of most EVs.
It just boggles my mind that these people can’t understand that no one cares about maximum range as it pertains to their daily commutes.
Maximum range only matters when you’re traveling away from home.
Also not accounted for: the myriad of factors that affect maximum range like temperature, wind, elevation, external cargo, internal cargo weight etc. etc.
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.
Upton Sinclair,
These studies come from the wrong angle to convince anyone. Average isn’t what people are concerned about. It’s getting to grandma’s house, who lives 150 miles away.
However, that isn’t insurmountable, either. 250 mi range with some charging infrastructure upgrades can cover almost all of North America just fine. Yes, even when it gets cold. Plenty of EVs on the market can do this.
Get more charge stations out there, and tell the industry to stop making only $45k base price SUVs for EVs.
Bingo. We bought a PHEV with a smaller 26 mile battery because 1) that’s more than enough for our daily range, 2) when we need to travel or do a lot of errands in a day we have the range to do it, and 3) it’s much cheaper than a full EV of the same size (7-8 person vehicle).
The less range the longer the charge times too, although some of the newer lower power density chemistries like the sodium ones seem to charge a bit faster.
Those 10-80% charge times don’t magically get better if the battery gets smaller they stay roughly the same.
I drive every month over 1100km one way and then few days later back home. It’s almost impossible to do it with EV
We have a PHEV with a paltry 26 mile range for a family of 5 but that still means we go over 700 miles on a tank before filling because my wife works 5 miles from where we live. See how we aren’t the same?
But that makes you:
1.) not an average motorist, in no country 2.) not really the target group for current EVs
There will never be a perfect solution for everyone, but that doesn’t mean that most people couldn’t just switch to an EV without any problems at all
I think owning a commuter car with shorter range and renting anytime you need longer range makes a lot of sense. I don’t know why more people don’t do it.
Because it doesn’t make sense, if a rental car is $59 a day, and you leave town one day a month, an take 1 week of vacation, that’s 18 days a year, or $1062 extra cost per year, over the life of the car that’s $10-15k so unless the commuter car is at least $10,000 cheaper it doesn’t make sense.
And if you need it more than one day a month the math falls apart really quick, 2 weekends a month is $3k a year or at least $30,000 over the life of the car.
Your selective math is not doing you any favors and I’m not sure you fully understand what I’m suggesting. Do you know what TCO is?
I actually did this for a while and it worked out well for me. My divorcemobile was a very old and very used 1st generation Prius. I rented pickup trucks for vacations. I didn’t leave town 1x/month, not sure why that is a need. But this points out that everyone has very different scenarios and needs.
More recently I’ve took a vacation by train and rented a car at my destination which worked out well.
When the day comes where we can buy econobox EVs this seems like a viable solution to me. But it does depend on a person’s transportation needs.
once a month was a conservative estimate for me, and $59 is a low end car rental, I’m living in a small town if you cant get it at Walmart or the grocery store it’s 100 miles to the nearest city. also medical resources are limited so anything more then a GP visit or an ER means the same drive.
If you have an EV and regularly rent a car for longer drives it completely eats the TCO savings of an EV. https://nickelinstitute.org/media/8d993d0fd3dfd5b/tco-north-american-automotive-final.pdf
I don’t where you live but it’s over 200 miles for me to get to a passenger rail terminal.
Rural living does come with challenges that urban living does not. A hybrid might be the best solution for that situation.
I don’t think EV is the solution for everyone everywhere in its current state. Perhaps one day it will be as the tech improves.
I do think that most urban commuting could and should be done in EVs.
I want to buy electric when my ICE vehicles die in 10-15 years. But if I were in the market for a car today, I wouldn’t purchase electric. The fuck am I supposed to do when I visit my family 200 miles away from home? In the winter, when battery performance sucks, and with a loaded car and 4 passengers?
Rent a van or take a train for such trips.
Not sure why you’re being down voted. Rental cars exist and can be a better option that spewing emissions 360 days/year just so your can take your one long vacation, that isn’t really even that long…
Realistically though, a 200 mi trip, even if op lives in Alaska, is going to be at most 1 stop, and only if it’s really really cold.
Yeah, it’s like people who own a pickup truck only so they can tow a boat once or twice a year. It’s unnecessary.
How about they have a pickup to tow a boat any time they want during the season, and also be able to get firewood, mulch or a Christmas tree?
Just tossed 1/8 cord of firewood in the back of my EV6, and it’s pretty easy/common to toss a tree on the roof of a car. How often are you getting mulch?
Every year
So 3 big hauls a year? 2 of which could probably be done with most mid-size or larger cars, and one that could be handled with a $20 home Depot pickup rental annually? You’re probably spending quite a bit more in gas than you’re “saving” by not just renting a pickup for those 1-3 needs annually.
You know, I don’t know about this exact situation, but I just did a ski vacation with my model Y. The distances weren’t super long but the mountain climb was significant. Basically we rented a place at 1400ft and every day drove to the lodge at 6000+ ft. We had snow tires on admittedly dumb 20" wheels, car loaded with 5 people and all the gear. We did this routine for 4 days in a row. I think the actual distance was only like 20 miles or so but I don’t remember exactly.
Leaving the rental at 80% battery every morning and then returning at the end of the day at about 61%. The temperature ranged from 23F at the coldest to 36F on the warmest day.
Obviously a bit of a worst situation for EV efficiency.
All in all the efficiency didn’t really matter much, there were 6 ev chargers at the top of the mountain, though usually full ( one time a jeep double parked blocking two of them, fuck that guy). Though I didn’t used them this trip as I would just charge at the rental overnight.
Our trip to the rental is probably also a terrible situation, we left with 80% and arrived with ~40% on a somewhat short 60 miles. It took over two hours though due to heavy traffic.
We’ve done a bunch of road trips in this car over the last two years and what I’ve learned is that none of this stuff really matters for our lifestyle and location. Yeah winter wrecks efficiency. Yeah large wheels and snow tires wreck efficiency, stop and go with 5 people and all their gear in the freezing cold wrecks efficiency ,but even doing day trips to the mountains is fine, that’s when I plug into the charger while I ski. I had to get gas in my previous car for the same trip (Hyundai suv) which is annoyingly at the bottom of the mountain.
Stop half way, charge for thirty minutes and smell the roses? We’ve been programmed to all be type-A drivers, where the journey is just a burden. I drove 600 miles in my EV, made three stops I wouldn’t normally make along the way and saw some new places.
This is a nonstarter. Stopping for 30min to charge is not acceptable for a majority of people.
When we drive long distances, stop time is minimized. Fill up gas, while someone goes to get food while others go to the bathroom. The stop is done in under 10 min and we are in the way.
If I have to stop twice per direction, that’s an additional 40+ min on my drive. No fucking thanks.
Remember how I said we were all programmed to be type-A drivers? I rest my case.
That’s fair, but I have no desire to make the trip take longer. The trip is the price to pay for the destination. Driving sucks, so I want it to be over as fast as possible.
I get it. Some people are willing to enjoy the journey. I am not. I suspect I’m not in the minority here.
I was like you until I got an EV!
Not even. We exclusively roadtrip in an EV now. The whole family gets out to pee, grab snacks, and by the time we are ready, so is the car. As the driver, if it’s mealtime I might eat the harder to manage portion before we leave, and we aren’t rushing, but there was certainly no time to smell roses!
When we go on long trips, we routinely stop every 1.5-2h for a pee break and/or food, and that usually takes 20-30 minutes. Most times we don’t need gas, but if we had an EV, it wouldn’t really impact our road trip itinerary much if we could plug in during those stops. What would be nice maybe is if there could be highway stops with outdoor picnic areas as well as chargers.
Absolutely! And a place for the dog to do her business!
So you’re saying that the people who don’t average longer driving range needs are the ones who bought EVs?
That tracks.
It absolutely doesn’t translate to any useful information for everyone else, though.
Also, average drive length is completely irrelevant for this question. People are not worried about their typical daily trips when evaluating a new car’s range, they’re worried about the occasional longer trip they might have to make and not having to have a separate car or other accommodation for that.
Agreed. Traveling to my boyfriend’s parents’ place is a nightmare in my EV and renting a car for the trip every year is expensive and uncomfortable comparatively. It adds like 6 hours to the trip or an overnight stay in the middle.
This is such a bone-headed approach. Averages are meaningless. People don’t have one car for short trips and a different one for long trips.
You’re worried about range but did you know that range is only a problem for 3% of the journeys you make? Just stop visiting people, going on holiday, or travelling for work and it’s fine!
is only a problem for 3% of the journeys
If each trip is one day, you’re telling me the car will not be useful ten days every year? Phrase it like that and it becomes much more obvious how useful that is
Except it doesn’t. Because your fancy electric car demands $700/month already.
Now you want them to have an extra 2 grand to throw at rental cars for 10 days. On top of the car payments, and the actual vacation expenses.
Your salary pays your bills everyday of the year except the first of the month. How odd. That’s only 12 days per year. Nothing to worry about.
Your salary pays your bills everyday of the year except the first of the month. How odd. That’s only 12 days per year. Nothing to worry about.
The Ontario NDP mandated 12 days a year unpaid leave for certain government workers to avoid layoffs, and that single act has prevented them from taking office for the last 30+ years. Not really a comment on 12 days missed pay, or how EV range can be a problem in a minority of situations, more of how the public can be whipped up into a disproportionate response to a minor inconvenience endured by a relatively tiny group of people.
an extra 2 grand to throw at rental cars for 10 days.
Who’s your rental car guy? You need a new rental car guy.
OP: Your car should only get you to work and back because what else are you good for?
I get shit on every fucking time I say this. Forcing people to EVs is stupid as fuck. PHEV is the sweet spot to reduce emissions.
From a use perspective, yes. But do you really want to produce and carry around all parts needed for a combustion engine when you need it 10% percent of the time? It’s like constantly driving around with a trailer attached because you might need to sleep in it three days a year.
In my experience, it is more like 50% of the time.
Not really. In practice it has zero effect on my daily commute. I might lose a few kwh due to weight but it’s nearly trivial. Engine maintenance might be 1-2k over 5 years and that’s well worth the ability to drive electric 98% of the time and not having an ounce of range anxiety. Far less cumbersome than adding hours to my traveling when I need range. I believe the vast majority of Americans probably fall into this use case.
The PHEV f150 is the perfect truck for most truck owners and believing folks are going to deal with 100 miles of range just ain’t happening.
What you say is right, but I’m not only talking about enrgy consumption i use but also during production. There is a lot of stuff you dont need for a EV-only car that you have to manufacture additonally and a lot of that stuff consumes significant amounts of energy and materials.
I’m fine with an EV that only has a 100 mile range. Im just not willing to pay more that $15k for it. It obviously can be sold for that much. I don’t need a seat warmer or even powered windows, just a box with windows.
This. Ffs why doesn’t this exist. A friend of mine bought a used Leaf. They are pretty cheap and he barely drives anywhere. Perfect for that situation.
Because the industry focused on the segment of the market that makes the best margins, not the most volume. Then they started prices at $45k, but only made five of them. All the ones you could actually buy were premium models that added at least another $20k.
A bunch of people buy them on 10 year/20% APR loans, but even that market is only so big. They’re then left with a bunch of excess stock. Headlines run about how nobody wants EVs as if the industry didn’t create this mess for themselves.
Now that kind of thinking will get us in trouble. How will the wealthy CEOs and shareholders make money?
Honestly this would be an ideal car option. I own a hybrid now that gets between 45-50 miles with a 10 gal tank. Paid 28k total. I plan on using it as my long distance traveler and an EV as my daily driver, once prices come down.
I would have seriously considered this when I was married. That’s a perfect choice for a two car family. I already had the smaller, more efficient, cheaper car for my commute, and splurged on the other car so the whole family would be comfortable on trips. Same thing.
Of course now that it’s just me, and only one car, that car has to cover almost all of my use cases.
This study is brought to you by greedy corporations in an attempt to justify shitty products for large sums of your money.
I went with a plug-in hybrid and it feels like the optimal solution at this point in time. I get enough electric range to cover my commute and local driving (i.e. maybe 90%+ of my driving) and gas for when I need more range. I barely burn gasoline and the battery is on the smaller end so it didn’t take so many resources to manufacture. The downside is having the complexity of both IC and EV drivetrains within the same vehicle, but so far it’s been pretty low maintenance (about 6 years so far).
Another happy PHEV driver here. It’s really the best of both worlds as the charging infrastructure is built out and vehicle costs come down. Wife went 700 miles last fill up because she travels to the country once a week. If we stayed in the city we’d be well over 1000 miles before filling.
No, I’m pretty sure me and most everyone else have a pretty firm grasp on how far we need to go regularly, dude bros in jacked up F350s that live in the suburbs notwithstanding…
Yeah. Average trips most days amounts to not needing much.
But that’s just most days. To be a replacement for a vehicle it has to also handle the rest of the days, and if it can’t, that means you’ll have to have two vehicles instead of just one, and one of them will have to be an overpriced 1,100 pound giant battery, or an ice vehicle.
In other words, saving the planet with ev’s means you’ll have to own more vehicles.
Phev ftw?
It would be much more useful for a study to look at the outliers, since that’s what people decide by. How many trips, how many days in a typical year will I not have the range.
My EV theoretically can go 330 miles. Last month I drove to a town 110 miles away, drove around for the weekend, and came back. But I needed a recharge enroute. The first month of the year and I already had a trip not handled by home charging. In theory it should have but the reality is I already have two days where range became a concern. People have made decisions on less
