Why does fuel economy get better on the highway, but EV range gets worse?
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When you drive on the highway, your car or gas-powered vehicle goes at a steady speed for a long time without stopping much. This helps with fuel economy because your car doesn’t need to use a lot of energy to keep starting and stopping like in city driving. It’s like when you walk at a constant pace for a long distance—it’s easier and doesn’t make you as tired as walking and stopping frequently.
Now, when it comes to electric cars (EVs), the range—the distance the car can go on a full charge—can be affected on the highway. This happens because highway driving requires the car to maintain a higher speed, and the energy needed to push the car against air resistance increases. It’s similar to when you ride a bicycle and try to go really fast—it becomes harder to pedal because the air pushes against you more. So, when an EV goes faster on the highway, it needs to use more energy from the battery to overcome that air resistance, which can reduce the overall range.
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