The Aion S has a starting price of 160,000 Chinese yuan or 23,758 US dollars or 18,034 British pounds.
Also -
Adding to its arsenal of low-cost electric cars, BYD launched its updated 2025 Dolphin EV on Monday. The new Dolphin starts at the same $13,700 (RMB 99,800) price, but with a bigger battery, the updated model boasts a longer driving range.
https://electrek.co/2024/07/08/byd-launches-2025-dolphin-ev-14k-price-more-range/
Why go out for Tesla when you can get BYD at home?
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Battery technology is improving at a rapid rate and when they productionize solid-state should give the same output for a much smaller battery. One proposal is that in a few years time, third-party companies may retrofit older EVs with new batteries having the same geometry and connectors but weighing much less.
According to the specs for my vehicle -
The 82 kWh battery weighs 1,105 pounds; around a fifth of the larger battery’s weight is accounted for by the housing.
So if that 884 pounds is reduced by half (which could be possible with solid state) while staying at 82 kwH, that would be 442 pounds less that would need to be transported around. Should increase the range somewhat. Of course, if the vehicle was able to handle more than 82 kwH, even better.
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Might as well fill the area with a larger battery for more range.
Because, RANGE CONCERN IS A MAJOR BARRIER TO SALES.
We have a friend from NoCal driving down in an EV. About 300 miles. She’s working out where to stop. If she comes down the coast, she can make to about SLO.
If she goes through SJV, there’s always Harris Ranch about halfway.
I’ll report on her journey on Monday.
I assume the concern is really a combination of range and charging time. A larger battery that takes twice as long to charge is only a partial improvement.
I expect there is some math that suggests how much electricity can safely flow through a 50 amp 240v charging cable over a period of time, similar to an amount of gas that can flow through a hose into a tank, ie total energy transferred per minute. Where are we today on utilizing that capacity?
The big advantage of a bigger battery is I can charge an unattended car up to 100% while I sleep every night.
If I increased my battery capacity by 50% (and range from 280 to 420 miles), then charging would take 22.5 minutes to get from 5% to 55% (instead of the 15 minutes it takes me now), I would be able to go 819 miles (420 * (0.95 + 0.5 + 0.5)) with two stops totaling 45 minutes of charging, ending the day at 5%.
Currently, I would have to stop 4 times to charge from 5% to 55% to get 826 miles (280 * (0.95 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5)) with total 60 minutes of charging.
Two assumptions above -
Access to overnight charging.
No travel time to charging stations off the highway.
Both of these require a better network than we have now. The last few road trips I’ve taken had very little access to overnight charging but hotels are starting to put them in. Charging stations (for non-Teslas) are often a 3-5 minutes drive off the highway and not at service areas. This may be solved soon as most non-Tesla vehicles will be getting access to Tesla chargers in the next 6-18 months.
Added this, cuz I know cheap people who do this.
420 miles is getting pretty close to the limits of safe driving. If you fully charge, you might go ~350 miles before needing to charge, at 80mph that’s about four and a half hours. Then you stop to charge up to 80%, now you can go another ~300 miles, almost four hours at 80mph, then charge, good for 300 miles. You’ve stopped twice for ~30 minutes per, and driven 950 miles. I’ve never driven that far in a day.
I mean, could you do better in an ICE car? I guess if you’re only stopping for five minutes to gas up and grab a hot dog or something, Cannonball Run style, peeing in bottles (way of the road, Bubs) and chasing the end of the long white line, sure. But realistically, stopping for a half hour or so every 3-4 hours is pretty normal for me.
I agree. Personally I like to stop every couple of hours or three hours if I’m well-rested. If the network is good enough (which it is for most of the country), I believe 300 miles range is good enough for my needs.
75% of that is 225 miles which is a 3 hour stint at 75 mph. I rarely would average more than 75mph, even out west, because there are always a few slow sections. This would require me to charge from 5% to 80% (or less than that if I’m planning to stop sooner than 3 hours). The extra 20% would come in handy for more remote areas or very cold weather.
Soon we’ll have a choice to pay extra for a bigger battery (and heavier car) or a smaller battery that will satisfy 90% of drivers. A lighter car will likely be more efficient, so less money spent on charging during road trips.
Eh. For me, it depends on where I’m going, trip-wise. Anything short of 100 miles, and
Vegas can be non-stop for me. Peeing is a five-minute stop and no gas is needed in either of our cars. That’s 300 miles and a long uphill climb at Baker. Tesla station there has 68 juice pumps. Someone has listened to consumer demand. Under 200 miles for me.
Last year, went to Blues and Brews in Mammoth. We stopped in Lone Pine for a late breakfast. That was about 190 miles from where we started in The Valley. I suppose we could stop at the only charging station in Lone Pine, looks to be near the Film History Museum, where several Twilight Zone episodes, the desert ones, were filmed. That’s something to do. I mean, charging stations are more for tourists than they are for townsfolk, and Lone Pine depends heavily on tourist dollars. Another 100 miles UP to Mammoth. Could probably make it back DOWN to Lone Pine letting the batteries fill up on that downhill stretch. Or Bishop, since it will take an hour or so to get through the Schat’s bakery line. There are five charging stations in Bishop.
Last summer also went to Phoenix. That is over 400 miles. Six charging stations in Blythe, but that’s 250+ miles away. So, Desert Center, home to two charging stations (count?) about 200 miles away. Need more conservative estimate since highways and air conditioning and hot. Every single one of the eight seems to be in use right now, and doesn’t seem to be anything to do there. Oh, one is near the General Patton Museum. Fun.
As you can see, this requires a lot more planning.
And if we ever decide to get an EV, it won’t be a Tesla, for various reasons. That will result in fewer charging station choices and smaller numbers of juicers at those charging stations. Would look more at Bolt (Chevy, ugh) or as soon as the smaller batteries are available and Toyota finally blinks. Audi’s e-tron station wagon is nice, but no longer sold new. And only 200-mile range. Lexus RZ, 260 miles in the single-motor. Volvo looks like a good option, though that C40 needs to be dropped a good three inches.
Just looked through this for info and pics:
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g32463239/new-ev-models-us/
Big thing I want is a trunk and no frunk. Put some of the battery weight up front.
That’s news to me. I read that serious degradation won’t set in until between 300K and 400K.
Most of what I’ve read, and the data I’ve seen, looks something like the chart below. You get a decent hit the first year or two, and after that just a slow, steady decline in range. There is some data indicating that how full you charge and how empty you go before charging matters, second chart below.
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She has decided to take a different Vehicle trying to plan the trip with the EV.
Not sure what it is, but it seems to have a pretty small range. So, maybe the Mini or the Fiat? No way those should EVER take a trip as long as this.
It is about 360 taking The 5.
It is about 380 taking The 101.
Even those with a 200-mile range would require only one stop. She said the stops would take over an hour, but that doesn’t seem right.
Oh, and for comparison: both our family vehicles could do that with zero stops. (I’d have to work hard in my car to keep it at 70mph or so the whole way. Also, fill it to the top of the tank’s neck.)
For fairness, here are EVs to take cross-country:
Um, some form of Mustang is on both of these lists!
I’m sure most of those are good. However, the Bolt (with a max charging speed of 55kW and battery of 65kWh) takes about an hour to charge, maybe more (not the 30 minutes they quote).
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Tesla and Lucid are conspicuously absent on the cross country list. Lucid’s cars, afaik, all have 400+ miles of range, they are absurd.
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Especially considering that Tesla put charging stations in places specifically for Cannonball Runs. (/tfh)
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And just like that, the car has arrived. Lucid (as @Mathman referred to) can go 420 miles EPA on a 84kWh battery (our ID4 goes 280 miles on an 82kWh). You will pay more for it though - it starts at $69,900
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