New Study Shows Electric Cars are a Scam

**The Impact of Battery Age on Electric Vehicle Driving Range**

A Canadian researcher conducted an in-depth study to examine the effect of battery age on electric vehicle (EV) driving range. The test involved testing commercially manufactured lithium-ion prototype pouch battery cells, which underwent up to 1,500 cycles equivalent to between 120 to 450,000 miles. The results revealed significant wear and tear inside the cells, including cracks and mechanical degradation, as well as increased electrolyte leakage. These findings demonstrate that even commercially available EV batteries can experience a substantial decrease in range over time.

The study also used advanced imaging techniques, including detailed x-ray scans captured using a particle accelerator, to analyze the battery's condition. The x-rays revealed further signs of deterioration, such as cracks and reduced electric contact, which ultimately led to decreased battery capacity and range. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the long-term durability of EV batteries.

**The Cost of Replacing an EV Battery**

Another crucial aspect of EV ownership is the cost of replacing a battery pack. According to Elon Musk, replacing one of Tesla's battery models can cost anywhere between $5,000 to $7,000. Considering that each Tesla vehicle uses four to five battery modules per vehicle, the total cost of a complete battery replacement can range from $20,000 to $35,000. This significant expense is often compared to purchasing an entire gas-powered economy car.

Assuming an average annual driving distance of 14,000 miles in the United States, an EV's battery would need to last for approximately 14 years before it reaches 200,000 miles and experiences a 10% decrease in driving range. While this may seem like a long time, it underscores the importance of considering the overall cost and lifespan of an EV battery when making a purchase decision.

**The Effects of Running AC on EV Driving Range**

When it comes to running the air conditioning (AC) system while driving, Tesla recommends that drivers take precautions to minimize its impact on their vehicle's range. In temperatures as high as 95°F (35°C), the AC can decrease an EV's driving range by approximately one percent. However, a separate study conducted in 2019 found that when the temperature reached 95°F, the EV's driving range could decrease by up to 17%. This disparity highlights the importance of considering factors such as air conditioning usage and powertrain efficiency when optimizing an EV's driving range.

**Tips and Tricks for Improving EV Driving Range**

Fortunately, there are several practical tips and tricks that can help improve an EV's driving range. One effective method is to use cruise control or Autopilot while driving on highways. This not only provides a smoother ride but also helps conserve energy by minimizing throttle input and braking. When using these modes, it is essential to keep the throttle or brake pedal inputs gentle to avoid any unnecessary wear and tear on the vehicle.

Another factor that can impact EV range is air dynamics. The less wind resistance an EV experiences, the better its driving range will be. This means that adding roof racks or bike carriers to an EV can significantly decrease its efficiency, while rolling down windows while driving faster than 45 mph can also reduce driving range by up to 10 percent.

Finally, maintaining optimal tire pressure is crucial for improving an EV's driving range. Underinflated tires can lead to a decrease in mileage of two tenths of a percent, while overinflated tires can cause reduced grip and wear down the tires more quickly. Experts recommend checking tire pressure at least once a month, using the recommended pressure specified by the manufacturer or owner's manual.

**Wheel Alignment: A Critical Factor in EV Driving Range**

Proper wheel alignment is another often-overlooked aspect of maintaining an EV's driving range. If the wheels are out of alignment, it can cause the tires to wear down unevenly, leading to reduced grip and decreased efficiency. When driving, if you feel your vehicle pulling towards one side, it may be a sign that the wheels need to be realigned.

By following these tips and tricks, EV owners can optimize their vehicle's performance and maximize its driving range. While understanding the limitations of EV batteries is essential, there are many practical ways to improve an EV's efficiency and extend its lifespan.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enEV makers love to top their cars driving range but today I'll tell you why in reality you only get a fraction of the published driving range sometimes even half this is the stuff car makers and dealers really don't want to tell you when you're shopping for an EV that's why today I'll share with you some of the major factors to drain your EV battery faster and significantly reduce your driving range on the flip side I'll also share tips and tricks on how you can maximize your range put simply an ev's driving range is the number of miles it can travel on a fully charged battery let's put some context around it by looking at one of the best selling bevs in America Tesla Model y now the long range version of the model y can give you a driving range of up to 330 miles on paper the published driving range might sound pretty good and the car can theoretically give you that range in perfect driving conditions and in this real world this car or any EV for that matter will likely give you less range that's because many factors impact the actual driving range you get let me show you what I mean for example one of the factors that significantly impacts your ev's driving range is you or more specifically your speed and driving habits now I recognize a quick acceleration is a big Advantage all EVS have over standard gas powered cars it's one of the things that makes it fun to drive an EV but here's the thing if you have a Need for Speed just know that driving at high speeds drains your EV battery faster than not driving at higher sustained speeds drains more battery apart than if you're just doing any stop and goes around town this is counterintuitive for many people because it's the opposite to how a gasoline powered car Works many people already know the gas powered cars typically have higher Highway efficiency than City efficiency but EVS have higher City ranges and Highway ranges reason is EVS have regenerative braking that recapture some of the kinetic energy but simply EV range decreases with speed the fact remains currently no EV on the road has ever lived up to its full estimated range at highway speeds weather also has a large impact to your driving range because of its impact on the battery if you live in one of the colder states of this country this is an extra Factor you have to watch out for once the temperature drops below 41 degrees an EVS range to drop anywhere from 20 to 35 percent that's a sizable drop look at the Chevrolet bull TV for example it's driving range in the summer is around 259 miles but in Winter even with heat turned off the range on a full charge can go down to around 155 miles and once temperatures get down to around 14 degrees The Saga gets even worse if you're wondering why cold temperatures affect all these driving ranges even preconditioned ones the reason has to do with battery efficiency it's almost analogous to a runner if you're a runner you know it's harder to run in a cold you need more fuel and energy to keep you going and to keep your stamina off in a way batteries have a very similar story but simply battery efficiency is how well the battery can convert chemical energy into electrical energy the thing is electrons have to swim in a gel or gel electrolyte soil and electors can be generated but the colder the temperature the slower the electrons get and at the same time the denser the electrolyte gel gets this makes it harder for the electrons to move through the gel and so the electrons need more energy and that reduces an EV battery's performance if you live in a colder State you know the colder weather usually also means ice and snow and with that comes slippery roads many vehicles lose traction when driving on such roads no matter how hard you try to keep your vehicle straight your wheels inevitably spin which also reduces your ev's range but this can be controlled to a certain degree when you leave tracks you control the activated driving an EV it'll prevent excessive wheel spinning but that's not all that winter has working against you winter EV many people forget that winter tires are usually heavier than summer Tires driving through all that snow with the added weight of winter tires means added resistance when driving and adding resistance means you're EV needs to draw more power from its battery to keep rolling here's another major reason why EVS quickly lose driving range in colder temperatures heating when it's cold outside and you're like most people you'll like to be warm and toasty problem is unlike gasoline fueled cars theaters and you're eating if they're power from the main battery Annette lowers driving range to combat this problem some EVS like the Nissan Leaf is a heat pump that theoretically draws less energy from the battery and other EVS like the Kia Nero ev even completely shot off climate control and Eco plus mode to keep as much juice in your battery for as long as possible even though you might be freezing to this but you don't have to go that far to increase driving range in your Eevee some people choose to pre-condition their EV basically it's when you turn on the heater while your EV is still plugged in for a few minutes before you leave home that way you don't use the battery power for heating once you get in your car it's already heated so you can keep the Comfort without losing as much driving range as you would otherwise did you know that cold weather actually has an effect on all vehicles not just EVS the US Department of energy found out that at 20 degrees gasoline parked cars lose up to 24 percent of their fuel economy on short trips most people don't realize this since gas stations are fairly accessible the good news is that older weather shouldn't permanently affect your ev's driving range when a season passes and the temperatures rise then an ev's driving range should go back to its usual but now consider this in the wintertime as temperatures drop if you like to speed in the highway those two factors alone can drain your EV driving range down to half of course it depends on actual speed and outside temperature but it's a real scenario here's something else that has a big impact on your ev's driving range your battery's charging capacity when you plug in your smartphone the minute it hits 100 you know it's charged but it's a different story when it comes to an electric vehicle in a nutshell you shouldn't regularly charge your EV to the max your ev's driving range gets seriously impacted if you keep charging to 100 to help your prolonged battery life automakers install complex Battery Systems that limit just how much you can charge your battery and because of these systems it won't max out that's why it takes about the same amount of time for an EV battery to charge from 80 to 100 as it does the charge from 10 to 80 in most cases if your dashboard says your EV is 100 charged the actual charge level is usually close to 80 now if you need a quick power up then fast charging is an option many people take but be careful fast charging can seriously degrade your ev's battery life and driving range Lithium-ion batteries can only take so much power before it's too much they just can't tolerate high voltage just for extended periods of time Lithium-ion batteries are their optimal working capacity when they're around mid-range of charge that's why fast charging gets automatically cut off at 80 percent and then goes to slow charging for the remaining 20 so hold on being quick to jump to fast charging if you want to preserve your battery life range and money another factor that has a direct impact on EV driving range is the age of the battery it comes as no surprise the older the battery the lower the driving range this applies to all EVS regardless of brand for example back in 2019 Tesla published a chart that showed that after 200 000 miles model as the model X lost about 10 percent of their total driving range in the same year Tesla also promised the Revolutionary million mile battery but almost four years later it looks like they're still miles away for making that promise a reality one Canadian researcher did some in-depth tests to see how much driving range is impacted by a battery's age and the results are surprising in the test some commercially manufactured lithium-ion prototype pouch battery cells were put through up to 1500 cycles that comes out anywhere between 120 to 450 000 miles after the Cycles are complete detailed x-ray scans captured the wear inside the cells to the use of a particle accelerator the x-rays found cracks and mechanical degradation extra electrolyte the batteries had been in effect sucked up into the electrolyte assembly cracks with less Electric clip available in the battery batteries total capacity and range decrease now when it comes to old batteries there's always the option of completely replacing it and there they reset your ev's driving range but there's the thing EV battery replacement is nowhere cheap according to Elon Musk replacing one of the battery models in the Tesla cost anywhere between five and seven thousand dollars and each Tesla uses between four to five battery modules per vehicle so for a complete battery replacement you're looking at anywhere between 20 to 35 000 and that's the price of a gas powered Economy Car itself since the average American drives about 14 000 miles a year at that rate the average Tesla would take about 14 years before it hits 200 000 miles at which point it will have 10 percent less driving range so while replacing your battery is an option at that point it's likely it won't be necessary on average what about running your AC on hot summer days Tesla says that 95 degrees running the AC decreases your model S range by about one percent but a different study done in 2019 found that as soon as the temperature reached 95. the ev's driving range can decrease by 17 percent well that doesn't sound great it's actually not as bad compared to gas fire car traditional cars can actually lose over 25 percent when you drive with your AC on another factor is powertrain efficiency the powertrain is a system that provides power to an ev's Wheels the more efficient a Powertrain is the less energy that's required to get an EV moving on the flip side the less efficient of the powertrain the lower the EVS range will be but let me show you some of the tips and tricks to improve your ev's driving range first off use cruise control or autopilot well it won't give you the same feeling as pressing down on the pedal it'll save your driving range when these modes are engaged you should keep your throttle or input and braking to Gentle once you hit a flat Highway turn on cruise control is the best bet to getting a smooth ride and maintain driving range tip number two has to do with air dynamics the less wind resistance the better the driving range that's why each and every Eevee on the road is specifically shaped to reduce wind resistance it also means that anything you add on top of your car can create more resistance and negatively impact your car's range like a bike rack or kayak roof rack for example one study found that roof racks can actually affect the efficiency of wind resistance to introduce fuel efficiency in a gasoline fuel vehicle by up to 25 percent a similar logic applies when you roll down your windows when you're driving faster than 45. the wind energy vehicle and lowers your driving range it can decrease your driving range by up to 10 percent by added friction tip number three don't forget to check your EVS tire pressure for every pound per square inch under inflated tires can cause your mileage to drop by two tenths of a percent and on the opposite side of the spectrum over inflated tires are also bad news that's because having too much air pressure wears down your tires and reduces grip now low tire pressure warnings only appear when your tire pressure is significantly low but you want to catch the problem before it gets to that point that's why experts recommend you check your tire pressure at least once a month so how do you know what tire pressure is optimal for your EV check the tire pressure placard inside the driver's door game on your owner's manual your best bet is to use your automaker suggested tires on your ev2 you'll also want to check your ev's wheel alignment if you start to feel your EV pull towards left to the right as you're driving a straight line at highway speeds chances are your wheels are out of alignment the same applies to feeling a pull in your brake hard having your wheels properly aligned ensures the tires tread surface is flat on the road as possible if it's not it wears down and lowers your driving range but now you tell me if you own an EV how much driving range do you effectively get due to your driving habits compared to the published rates how much lower do you get in the winter please share by commenting below if you like this video please like share and subscribe thanks for your supportEV makers love to top their cars driving range but today I'll tell you why in reality you only get a fraction of the published driving range sometimes even half this is the stuff car makers and dealers really don't want to tell you when you're shopping for an EV that's why today I'll share with you some of the major factors to drain your EV battery faster and significantly reduce your driving range on the flip side I'll also share tips and tricks on how you can maximize your range put simply an ev's driving range is the number of miles it can travel on a fully charged battery let's put some context around it by looking at one of the best selling bevs in America Tesla Model y now the long range version of the model y can give you a driving range of up to 330 miles on paper the published driving range might sound pretty good and the car can theoretically give you that range in perfect driving conditions and in this real world this car or any EV for that matter will likely give you less range that's because many factors impact the actual driving range you get let me show you what I mean for example one of the factors that significantly impacts your ev's driving range is you or more specifically your speed and driving habits now I recognize a quick acceleration is a big Advantage all EVS have over standard gas powered cars it's one of the things that makes it fun to drive an EV but here's the thing if you have a Need for Speed just know that driving at high speeds drains your EV battery faster than not driving at higher sustained speeds drains more battery apart than if you're just doing any stop and goes around town this is counterintuitive for many people because it's the opposite to how a gasoline powered car Works many people already know the gas powered cars typically have higher Highway efficiency than City efficiency but EVS have higher City ranges and Highway ranges reason is EVS have regenerative braking that recapture some of the kinetic energy but simply EV range decreases with speed the fact remains currently no EV on the road has ever lived up to its full estimated range at highway speeds weather also has a large impact to your driving range because of its impact on the battery if you live in one of the colder states of this country this is an extra Factor you have to watch out for once the temperature drops below 41 degrees an EVS range to drop anywhere from 20 to 35 percent that's a sizable drop look at the Chevrolet bull TV for example it's driving range in the summer is around 259 miles but in Winter even with heat turned off the range on a full charge can go down to around 155 miles and once temperatures get down to around 14 degrees The Saga gets even worse if you're wondering why cold temperatures affect all these driving ranges even preconditioned ones the reason has to do with battery efficiency it's almost analogous to a runner if you're a runner you know it's harder to run in a cold you need more fuel and energy to keep you going and to keep your stamina off in a way batteries have a very similar story but simply battery efficiency is how well the battery can convert chemical energy into electrical energy the thing is electrons have to swim in a gel or gel electrolyte soil and electors can be generated but the colder the temperature the slower the electrons get and at the same time the denser the electrolyte gel gets this makes it harder for the electrons to move through the gel and so the electrons need more energy and that reduces an EV battery's performance if you live in a colder State you know the colder weather usually also means ice and snow and with that comes slippery roads many vehicles lose traction when driving on such roads no matter how hard you try to keep your vehicle straight your wheels inevitably spin which also reduces your ev's range but this can be controlled to a certain degree when you leave tracks you control the activated driving an EV it'll prevent excessive wheel spinning but that's not all that winter has working against you winter EV many people forget that winter tires are usually heavier than summer Tires driving through all that snow with the added weight of winter tires means added resistance when driving and adding resistance means you're EV needs to draw more power from its battery to keep rolling here's another major reason why EVS quickly lose driving range in colder temperatures heating when it's cold outside and you're like most people you'll like to be warm and toasty problem is unlike gasoline fueled cars theaters and you're eating if they're power from the main battery Annette lowers driving range to combat this problem some EVS like the Nissan Leaf is a heat pump that theoretically draws less energy from the battery and other EVS like the Kia Nero ev even completely shot off climate control and Eco plus mode to keep as much juice in your battery for as long as possible even though you might be freezing to this but you don't have to go that far to increase driving range in your Eevee some people choose to pre-condition their EV basically it's when you turn on the heater while your EV is still plugged in for a few minutes before you leave home that way you don't use the battery power for heating once you get in your car it's already heated so you can keep the Comfort without losing as much driving range as you would otherwise did you know that cold weather actually has an effect on all vehicles not just EVS the US Department of energy found out that at 20 degrees gasoline parked cars lose up to 24 percent of their fuel economy on short trips most people don't realize this since gas stations are fairly accessible the good news is that older weather shouldn't permanently affect your ev's driving range when a season passes and the temperatures rise then an ev's driving range should go back to its usual but now consider this in the wintertime as temperatures drop if you like to speed in the highway those two factors alone can drain your EV driving range down to half of course it depends on actual speed and outside temperature but it's a real scenario here's something else that has a big impact on your ev's driving range your battery's charging capacity when you plug in your smartphone the minute it hits 100 you know it's charged but it's a different story when it comes to an electric vehicle in a nutshell you shouldn't regularly charge your EV to the max your ev's driving range gets seriously impacted if you keep charging to 100 to help your prolonged battery life automakers install complex Battery Systems that limit just how much you can charge your battery and because of these systems it won't max out that's why it takes about the same amount of time for an EV battery to charge from 80 to 100 as it does the charge from 10 to 80 in most cases if your dashboard says your EV is 100 charged the actual charge level is usually close to 80 now if you need a quick power up then fast charging is an option many people take but be careful fast charging can seriously degrade your ev's battery life and driving range Lithium-ion batteries can only take so much power before it's too much they just can't tolerate high voltage just for extended periods of time Lithium-ion batteries are their optimal working capacity when they're around mid-range of charge that's why fast charging gets automatically cut off at 80 percent and then goes to slow charging for the remaining 20 so hold on being quick to jump to fast charging if you want to preserve your battery life range and money another factor that has a direct impact on EV driving range is the age of the battery it comes as no surprise the older the battery the lower the driving range this applies to all EVS regardless of brand for example back in 2019 Tesla published a chart that showed that after 200 000 miles model as the model X lost about 10 percent of their total driving range in the same year Tesla also promised the Revolutionary million mile battery but almost four years later it looks like they're still miles away for making that promise a reality one Canadian researcher did some in-depth tests to see how much driving range is impacted by a battery's age and the results are surprising in the test some commercially manufactured lithium-ion prototype pouch battery cells were put through up to 1500 cycles that comes out anywhere between 120 to 450 000 miles after the Cycles are complete detailed x-ray scans captured the wear inside the cells to the use of a particle accelerator the x-rays found cracks and mechanical degradation extra electrolyte the batteries had been in effect sucked up into the electrolyte assembly cracks with less Electric clip available in the battery batteries total capacity and range decrease now when it comes to old batteries there's always the option of completely replacing it and there they reset your ev's driving range but there's the thing EV battery replacement is nowhere cheap according to Elon Musk replacing one of the battery models in the Tesla cost anywhere between five and seven thousand dollars and each Tesla uses between four to five battery modules per vehicle so for a complete battery replacement you're looking at anywhere between 20 to 35 000 and that's the price of a gas powered Economy Car itself since the average American drives about 14 000 miles a year at that rate the average Tesla would take about 14 years before it hits 200 000 miles at which point it will have 10 percent less driving range so while replacing your battery is an option at that point it's likely it won't be necessary on average what about running your AC on hot summer days Tesla says that 95 degrees running the AC decreases your model S range by about one percent but a different study done in 2019 found that as soon as the temperature reached 95. the ev's driving range can decrease by 17 percent well that doesn't sound great it's actually not as bad compared to gas fire car traditional cars can actually lose over 25 percent when you drive with your AC on another factor is powertrain efficiency the powertrain is a system that provides power to an ev's Wheels the more efficient a Powertrain is the less energy that's required to get an EV moving on the flip side the less efficient of the powertrain the lower the EVS range will be but let me show you some of the tips and tricks to improve your ev's driving range first off use cruise control or autopilot well it won't give you the same feeling as pressing down on the pedal it'll save your driving range when these modes are engaged you should keep your throttle or input and braking to Gentle once you hit a flat Highway turn on cruise control is the best bet to getting a smooth ride and maintain driving range tip number two has to do with air dynamics the less wind resistance the better the driving range that's why each and every Eevee on the road is specifically shaped to reduce wind resistance it also means that anything you add on top of your car can create more resistance and negatively impact your car's range like a bike rack or kayak roof rack for example one study found that roof racks can actually affect the efficiency of wind resistance to introduce fuel efficiency in a gasoline fuel vehicle by up to 25 percent a similar logic applies when you roll down your windows when you're driving faster than 45. the wind energy vehicle and lowers your driving range it can decrease your driving range by up to 10 percent by added friction tip number three don't forget to check your EVS tire pressure for every pound per square inch under inflated tires can cause your mileage to drop by two tenths of a percent and on the opposite side of the spectrum over inflated tires are also bad news that's because having too much air pressure wears down your tires and reduces grip now low tire pressure warnings only appear when your tire pressure is significantly low but you want to catch the problem before it gets to that point that's why experts recommend you check your tire pressure at least once a month so how do you know what tire pressure is optimal for your EV check the tire pressure placard inside the driver's door game on your owner's manual your best bet is to use your automaker suggested tires on your ev2 you'll also want to check your ev's wheel alignment if you start to feel your EV pull towards left to the right as you're driving a straight line at highway speeds chances are your wheels are out of alignment the same applies to feeling a pull in your brake hard having your wheels properly aligned ensures the tires tread surface is flat on the road as possible if it's not it wears down and lowers your driving range but now you tell me if you own an EV how much driving range do you effectively get due to your driving habits compared to the published rates how much lower do you get in the winter please share by commenting below if you like this video please like share and subscribe thanks for your support\n"