Electric cars are by and large ridiculously fast with pretty poor range, especially the news trucks if they are going truck like things such as towing and hauling. Wouldn’t making them a bit slower increase range and/or reduce battery size and charging time/cost?
In: 0
I’ll try to give in easy answer, but this might get a little bit wordy. Sorry I didn’t have time to trim it down.
Yes and no. Electric motors are more powerful horsepower per horsepower than gas cars because the way they deliver their energy is more linear compared to the heavy curves of most gasoline engines.
That being said, a lower powered electric motor does take less energy than a high-powered motor, but running a high-powered motor in a low power doesn’t produce as much waste as a gas motor. Therefore, it’s not less efficient to put a bigger motor in your EV, if you have a mode that restricts the max power usage, you’ll get the benefits of a smaller motor.
As an example, a powerful sports car with an 8 cylinder engine will waste a lot of energy idling and when driving slow. Some newer gas engines can turn off cylinders, turning your 8 cylinder into a 4 cylinder temporarily. But with an EV motor, you just put less electrons through, you don’t need to change anything about the motor itself. Although, some electric cars have multiple motors, and will turn one motor off to be more efficient, so it’s not completely uncomparable.
So we actually know exactly what it looks like to have a less powerful EV motor, and the efficiency isn’t that significantly different. Because electric motors are already so incredibly efficient, You don’t gain significantly more by putting in a smaller motor or having less horsepower.
When driving slow, your electric car will be very efficient. However, the majority of the energy used in driving fast is wasted by wind resistance and tire resistance. No matter how efficient your motor is, if you’re going 70 mph, you will use significantly more energy than going 60 miles an hour, which is quite a bit more than going 50, which is still a bit more than going 40, and under 40 I find it’s all pretty efficient, But Ev’s tend to have peak efficiency in the twenties or ’30s miles per hour.
— more details —
However, having less batteries does mean having less weight, and that can make you more efficient overall. And aerodynamics is a significant factor. Most EVs get under four miles per kilowatt hour, but an efficient EV can get up to 5 miles per kilowatt hour. However, the aptera, a teardrop shaped car, can get 10 miles per kilowatt hour, And even has a big battery in one of its configurations.
A truck is generally pretty square by comparison (and tall! Meaning it will have to push even more air out of the way), it’s going to take a lot of energy to cut through the air. They tend to have high friction tires for towing and slip resistance. There’s only so much you can do about efficiency when the truck is shaped and sized like that. They’re always going to get two to three miles per kilowatt hour most of the time (You can max out around 4 I’m sure, but that won’t be how most people drive). The best you could do is have a dual motor configuration that runs in a one motor configuration when you want to be more efficient.
Hope this helps!
Latest Answers