As electric cars continue to slowly creep into the market, we certainly haven't reached the point at which any EV offers too much driving range. More often than not, the best EVs hover around 300 miles.
Eventually, we'll find a sweet spot as customers discover how much range makes the most sense and engineers hone in on what's most cost-effective. That's what Siegfried Pint, head of Audi powertrains, told Autocar in a Tuesday report. He noted that electric car ranges won't continue to increase. Specifically, something like a 600-mile range doesn't make sense, he said.
Longer ranges mean bigger batteries, and at some point, necessity and a figure that makes customers feel comfortable will converge. Part of that will likely have something to do with a widespread network of fast chargers. Today, some consumers see long ranges as necessary since charging stations can be hard to come by across much of the U.S. With a major network of chargers that could juice a battery up in around 15 minutes, incredibly long ranges suddenly wouldn't be necessary.
Audi's first electric car, the e-tron SUV, provides 249 miles of range, a figure that's seemingly on par with today's first crop of electric vehicles. What tomorrow's limit for range development is, remains unclear. It could conceivably creep past 300 miles or even past 400 miles to make the electric car equivalent to a traditional car with a full tank of fuel. Consumers will partially dictate where the sweet spot settles.
The brand has been clear it will be at the forefront of premium electric cars. With the e-tron readying for launch, the e-tron Sportback will be the next model. The e-tron GT will arrive in 2020 and two more electric crossovers will come in 2021.