The battery life of electric vehicles (EV) has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years. In 2022, if you want to impress consumers, it is difficult to succeed without high enough battery life. How much is high enough? Maybe 480 kilometers is a reference standard.

Looking back to 2016, there was only one pure electric car in the world market, with a range of 480 kilometers (EPA standard), which was the Tesla Model S. Various car manufacturers worked hard to catch up. In 2022, there are 14 vehicles that can achieve this result..

For Taiwanese, the EPA cruising range is a great reference value because this standard is extremely strict, and the calculation also takes into account the low temperature factor in winter and it is very close to actual road mileage in Taiwan. Therefore, EPA 300 miles (about 480 kilometers) can be used as a watershed and it is also the endurance that owners’ surveys consider "enough."

▲Cruising range of commercially available small electric vehicles is higher than 480 kilometers (U.S. Department of Energy)

In 2022, four of Tesla's electric vehicles exceed the standard, while Ford has Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, Rivian's R1S and R1T, and BMW's iX and i4 also meet the standard. Taiwan's hot-selling Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 can also run more than 480 kilometers on one charge (depending on the model).

Today’s three battery life kings: Tesla Model S, Lucid Air Dream, and Merceds-Benz EQS can even run more than 700 kilometers, so driving back and worth the length of Taiwan is not a problem without speeding.

Why is 480 kilometers of battery life particularly important? Most car owners drive far less than this number every day. Too much battery life means more batteries. Unused batteries will only waste energy consumption and increase costs. However, when traveling far, considering the right foot of the car owner may not be heavy, the power consumption will increase rapidly and, at the same time, he is also worried that the density of charging stations is insufficient and charging not so easy. Therefore, a slightly longer battery life is required to meet the needs of long-distance driving.

Is 450 kilometers of battery life not enough? Of course, this figure is based on the EPA 300 miles. For Taiwanese cars, 400-kilometer battery life is basically enough to handle 85% of situations but a little more reserve power can allow you to turn on the air conditioner, speed or not worry when you get lost.

There is also a kind of car owner who do not need to care too much about battery life. There are other cars at home that can be driven. It is a very cost-effective option to purchase a low-endurance electric vehicle as a commuter scooter. Based on a daily commute of 50 kilometers, it is about 10,000 kilometers a year. With electric vehicle maintenance at 30,000 kilometers, it will only need to revisit the manufacturer one every three years, saving on taxes and gas. This is a plan worth considering.

If you only want one car for commuting, travel, and long-distance travel, it is recommended that you choose a car with a range of more than 480 kilometers and it is better to drive a car with a range of more than 450 kilometers, which make life much easier.

（Image：Hyundai-Motor ）