The 200-Mile Electric Car Field Could Be Crowded by 2018

by Steph Willems

Published: June 2nd, 2016

If you’re still holding on to that copy of Who Killed the Electric Car? you bought back in your university days, it might be time to toss it in the trash.

In just two years, there could be four 200-plus mile electric vehicles on the market, now that Hyundai plans to jump into the long-range EV game.

The South Korean automaker doesn’t want to be an also-ran in the emerging field, so it’s planning a 2018 introduction of an EV designed to battle the 215-mile Tesla Model 3. It’s an ambitious goal for a company whose green car chief once called EVs and hybrids “a headache.”

Reuters reports Hyundai wants a vehicle that goes at least 200 miles on a charge, putting it on par with the Model 3 (due out in late 2017), the Chevrolet Bolt (due out this fall), and the next-generation Nissan Leaf, which is expected to receive a similar range in 2018.

In April, Ford CEO Mark Fields said his company was developing a 200-mile EV, even after his electrification chief said the 100-mile range of the 2017 Focus Electric was good enough. There’s no word on when that model will appear.

Apparently, automakers decided 200 miles is enough range to eliminate most cases of “range anxiety” and be useful for most driving tasks. It’s also a nice, round number and is achievable with existing technology.

Hyundai hasn’t been resting on its electric laurels this whole time. Earlier this year, the company revealed its 2017 Ioniq, which comes in hybrid, plug-in and fully electric versions. The Ioniq Electric will have an estimate range of 110 miles when it goes on sale later this year.

Whether the automaker’s shadowy 200-mile EV is a new model or a battery-crammed version of the Ioniq remains to be seen.

[Source: Reuters] [Image: Hyundai Motor Company]

#ElectricCars #ElectricVehicles #Environment #EVs #FutureVehicles #Green #Hyundai #HyundaiIoniq

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Tstag on Jun 03, 2016

This field will be much more crowded in 2 years time. All the premium cars makers, e.g. JLR plus the big German 3 are working on new models to be launched over the next 2 years. The market is growing but until recharge times fall then this will remain a niche market. If I want to drive across Europe or America I don't want to have to stop for 30 mins to recharge my car whilst also looking for a plug socket. If the recharge times fall then my guess is that's the end of petrol and diesel.

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- Orenwolf on Jun 03, 2016
  
  "The market is growing but until recharge times fall then this will remain a niche market." People keep saying this, but I think most of the first purchasers will be home charging, which will take care of the vast majority of day-to-day use without *ever* thinking about charging - they plug-in when they get home, unplug when they leave, making "recharge times" irrelevant. For tesla anyway, the supercharger network has been repeatedly shown to be dense enough to handle the occasional road-trip and still have multiple options to stop and charge. Yes, it'll take you ~25 minutes to get 170 miles or so of charge, but who doesn't stop to use the restroom every few hours anyway. I agree, if you can't home-charge, the infrastructure isn't there today to reliably own an electric vehicle. But that network is growing organically every day, and several orgs are talking about "pay-to-charge" stalls in malls/gas stations/etc - the infrastructure is going to be there eventually, just from inertia, especially with the increase an model availability about to happen. I personally believe it's more a story of mainstream adoption happening *despite* these limitations. for a lot of folks, it feels like being a part of "the future", or enjoying a new torque profile unlike any (attainable) ICE, or just like the idea of weaning themselves off of oil.
  
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05lgt on Jun 03, 2016

a company whose green car chief once called EVs and hybrids “a headache.” "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy" Remember aspiration? It was a good thing.

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