EV Battery Size and Range

Let’s first start off by addressing the elephant in the room – “range anxiety”. Electric vehicles have become synonymous with the term “range anxiety” – used to express a fear of not being able to reach your destination before running out of power. However, almost as soon as this phrase became commonplace, it had already become a myth – if it ever was true in the first place.

Expectation vs reality. The average passenger vehicle in Australia travels just 33.2 km per day. This stat is mirrored in other western countries e.g. the UK (15 km per day) and the USA (40 km per day).

Evolution of technology. The first generation of EVs, e.g. the early Nissan Leaf, had a low range of less 100 km. This has rapidly changed with budget EVs today having a range of over 300 km and more premium models having a range in excess of 600 km. Models with a range of 1,000km+ are being prototyped.

Public charging points. One of the drivers of “range anxiety” was the availability of charging points. This situation has changed, and continues to change by the day. There are now over 2,400 public charging stations in Australia – growth by over 60% since last year. The UK has a whopping 45,000 public charging stations with the Government having set a target of 300,000 by 2030. And the USA has over 140,000 charging stations with Government legislation aiming to install 500,000 new ones by 2030.

Rapid charge. Both car battery technology and charging technology has advanced such that even the largest EV batteries can be charged in as little as the time it takes to get a coffee and visit the restroom. This continues to get quicker.

Battery size

Many EVs come with different battery options with the larger batteries generally offering further range. Just like your home electricity bill, battery size is measured in kilowatt hours or kWh.
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Below is a table which provides an overview of some typical market offerings: