Buying Guide

How much range do you need and what impacts on the range you have?

Do you really need 1000km range?

More range means bigger batteries which adds more weight to the car and more cost to your wallet. If your driving habits see you running around your largely urban city, you'd be surprised to see how little range you would actually need.

The current crop of full electric cars on sale in Australia offer an average range of around 400km. For urban dwellers, this is more than enough for most days, up to a week even, but if you are heading out on a country run, can this range be guaranteed?

Just as adding weight, carrying loads on the roof, or towing will impact the efficiency of a petrol or diesel car, these will impact the range of an EV. The same goes for a heavy right foot, as aggressive acceleration will use more energy just like it will chew more fuel.

Extreme temperatures, at both ends of the scale, will also impact an electric vehicle with energy needed to warm the battery to its operating temp during winter, and air conditioners drawing more power to cool the car in summer.

The benefit of an electric car is these can be set to precondition before you drive anywhere, even while the car is parked. Heading back to a cool cabin on a midsummer’s day is worth a few less kilometres between charges in our book!

Where a traditional petrol or diesel engine will operate more efficiently on long highway runs, an electric car tends to work better around town. Here, energy recaptured during braking is used to charge the battery, making a stop-start run in peak hour far more energy friendly than a sustained drive at highway speeds.

And just like a bigger fuel tank will extend your time between service station visits, a bigger battery will give an EV longer range. As noted the average is a bit over 400km, with the current range leader the 625km BMW i7 Limousine.

As to what lies in store, we’re already seeing claims of over 700km from EVs in other markets, and the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX concept car has managed an impressive 1000km run from a 100kWh battery. Plus, at the other end of the scale, we're seeing brands like Volvo look to offer smaller, lighter and cheaper batteries with less range to better suit urban drivers.

Can you drive from Melbourne to Sydney on a single charge? Not today, but it won’t be long until you can. You just need to ask whether you need to...