The biggest weakness of electric cars is their relatively short range compared to combustion engines. A Detroit startup may have solved that problem by now.
Start-up employees from Detroit have covered more than 1,200 kilometers in a Tesla S – without charging or changing the battery in between. That should be a new record, because the maximum range of the model is around 652 kilometers, according to Tesla. So have the inventors of “Our Next Energy” (One) made a decisive breakthrough in storage technology?
For their test, the developers drove through wintry Michigan at an average speed of 90 kilometers per hour – in other words, under technically difficult conditions. Under controlled conditions on the test bench, the One battery lasted even longer – almost 1,420 kilometers. The module did not need more space than the original battery from Tesla. The engineers documented their test drive in this video shared on YouTube:
Mercedes Vision EQXX causes a stir with its range
The “Gemini 001” battery prototype consists of lithium iron phosphate, which enables a higher energy density than the lithium-ion batteries most commonly used to date. According to the company’s estimates, the new batteries might be installed as standard in small trucks by the end of the year.
“We want to promote electromobility by eliminating the fear of range that still keeps many customers from buying a Stromer,” says One boss Mujeeb Ijaz to the specialist magazine “Car and Driver”. “Now we want to further develop our concept study into a marketable battery and thus make long-distance travel possible with a single charge.”
Mercedes also caused a stir in terms of range at the beginning of the month. At the CES in Las Vegas, the manufacturer presented its Electric concept study Vision EQXX. This model has a range of around 1,000 kilometers. However, it is questionable whether it will ever go into series production.
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