Treehugger.com: True mass-adoption of EVs will probably require for even the most inexpensive models to have 150-200 miles of driving range.
But there's good news on that front. Volkswagen's head of powertrain development, Dr Heinz-Jakob Neusser, recently said that he believes that plug-in hybrids are only a stop-gap technology that is only bridging the past and the future on the road to 100% electric vehicles, and that as early as 2020, these could have between 310 and 370 miles of range (500-600 kilometers).
"Battery [technology] makes the biggest steps in very short time frames. If you look at when we started with the e-mobility of the Golf, and you look now to the Passat, we have done the first step," said Dr Neusser. "We have more energy density in the batteries [than before], and in 2015-16 will come the next step which means we come from 25-28 ampere hours (Ah) energy density to 36-37Ah. Now we are actually working on the next step to around 60Ah... with research will come a completely new electro-chemical chemistry inside the batteries, and this will come at the beginning of the next decade. We have to look to the e-Golf, which had an operating range of around 190km. I expect the next generation in 2015-17 will increase to around 300km and the following step will be around 500-600km."
Hopefully Dr. Neusser is right. Even just getting to $20k EVs that have 200 miles of range would be a huge milestone because of how cheap these vehicles would be once you factor in fuel savings. Who would want to get a gasoline vehicle when you can get an electric vehicle that is quieter, cleaner, and cheaper to own? The electric motor torque will also make it more fun to drive... It's a no brainer.
