Poll on what the minimum range is acceptable for EV's

[laev]

This was a neat poll done by green car

Green Car Reports @GreenCarReports
What's the minimum electric-car range required for mass acceptance?
1:35 PM - 31 Aug 2016
3% 120 miles

7% 150 miles

54% 200 miles

36% 300 miles

203 votes • Final results

 

[Geo]

Right in line with my thinking. 200+ miles with a decent fast charging infrastructure seems to be the tipping point. I think 250 is the real sweet spot. Once EVs hit that number affordably, then the days of gasoline are numbered.

That gives people plenty of range for the day to day stuff, plus enough capacity for a longer battery life. It is also enough range for a long day's drive with one or two "fill ups" (i.e. 300-500 miles). It gets people in Los Angeles to San Francisco and Vegas, it gets people in NYC to Boston and DC, it gets people in Chicago to St Louis, Detroit, Ohio, etc.. etc...

Much more than 500 miles and most people will fly or take multiple driving days.

 

[Rivu]

36% think the minimum range should be 300? :roll:

 

[WetEV]

36% think the minimum range should be 300? :roll:

This isn't a poll to find out what range people would personally find acceptable, but rather a poll to find what the readers of Green Car Reports think would be necessary for "mainstream acceptance".

 

[sam]

My hope is before I make my final decision on a EV (which will take a me awhile) a 300 range is standard Wishful maybe but I can hope

 

[oilerlord]

My hope is before I make my final decision on a EV (which will take a me awhile) a 300 [mile] range is standard

I shopped & researched EV's for a long time too. It's easy for the decision to become mired in the minutia of paralysis by analysis. If you have a 2nd (gasoline) car in the family, you probably don't need to wait for, or shell out big dough for a 300 mile EV.

Based on the poll, I'm probably in the 1% that thinks a 100 mile EV (like mine) works 99% of the time. I've only been driving my EV for a few months & 3,000 miles, but I've never had an issue with range or the so called "anxiety" that people apparently experience with them.

The deals are in the used market. I bought my 2014 B250e at 60% off MSRP...that for a nearly new car with only 6K miles on it. If history repeats itself, you'll be able pick up a used Bolt in 2019 for ~$17,000; that is, if you want to wait that long.

 

[SparkE]

My hope is before I make my final decision on a EV (which will take a me awhile) a 300 [mile] range is standard

I shopped & researched EV's for a long time too. It's easy for the decision to become mired in the minutia of paralysis by analysis. If you have a 2nd (gasoline) car in the family, you probably don't need to wait for, or shell out big dough for a 300 mile EV.

Based on the poll, I'm probably in the 1% that thinks a 100 mile EV (like mine) works 99% of the time. I've only been driving my EV for a few months & 3,000 miles, but I've never had an issue with range or the so called "anxiety" that people apparently experience with them.

The deals are in the used market. I bought my 2014 B250e at 60% off MSRP...that for a nearly new car with only 6K miles on it. If history repeats itself, you'll be able pick up a used Bolt in 2019 for ~$17,000; that is, if you want to wait that long.

Yup. I'm hoping that the 2020-model Bolt will have 290-350 mi of range, lowering the cost of used 2017 models. I'll be watching the used market on electrics in the coming year to see what effect the intro of the 238 mile Bolt will have on prices. Currently, before the first Bolt has even shipped, there are quite a few low-mileage Smarts (< 15K miles) to be had for under $7500. That's just fine for the 'around town' car (up to 60 miles round trip with no range anxiety). Almost all of our current trips are with the SparkEV, only using the gas vehicle if we both need a car at the same time, or we are driving more than 60 mi away (there are lots of fast-chargers available in the SF Bay Area for short-medium-distance up to 120 mi round trip). Raise your price up to $10K and there are a lot more choices of low-milage cars, and more makes.

There aren't that many SparkEVs on the secondary market as of yet, and tend to be in the $12K and over range. One can occasionally find an *extremely* low mileage one (under 3000 mi) for around $14K. I'm hoping that as the larger number of SparkEV leases hit the used market (model years 15 and 16) that prices will fall to $8000 or lower for under-15,000-mile vehicles, and I'll probably snap one of those up when my lease is over. (Why pay $13K when you can pay $8K?)

 

[oilerlord]

I started looking at used EV's at $7500 (Leaf), $10K (Focus Electric), and Spark EV ($14K) but in the end, getting the EV with the largest capacity battery (that I could afford) was important to me. It became a choice between the Kia Soul EV and the Mercedes B250e. As both (used) cars were similarly priced, we went with the Benz because it was a little more upscale and had a Tesla supplied powertrain.

We're hoping to keep the car for a long time, and though we might be able to live with a 60 mile range, 100 miles made more sense; especially since it will be a declining number as the years and miles go by.

 

[Rivu]

My hope is before I make my final decision on a EV (which will take a me awhile) a 300 range is standard Wishful maybe but I can hope

That's as good a goal as any.