When maximizing the Autonomy of electric carsthere are two very clearly differentiated currents. The first commitment to brute force, by gigantic batteries or the improvement of their density to get a higher performance. The second option is what is committed to better aerodynamic efficiency and engines.
In this last route we have found companies like Mazda, who They were fully positioned against of the larger batteries Since, according to them, they suppose an overweight that not only must move, the dynamics of the vehicle also worsen.
Mercedes, although in some of his cars he has huge batteries, also explained the day we got into Spectacular Mercedes Vision EQXX that its strategy involves improving the efficiency of engines and aerodynamics. In fact, next Electric Mercedes It should be the best expression of the latter.
Now it has been the CEO of Lucid Air, one of the parents of Tesla Model S, who has positioned himself in this current of thought. The company aspires to fight for Tesla for offering the most efficient electric car in the market and its CEO is clear: “Many electric cars are why.”
A clear bet to consume less
The words of Peter Rawlinson, CEO of Lucid Air, are aimed at the concept of the electric car itself, which explains in an interview with Coach. According to Rawlinson, so far manufacturers have focused on offering electric cars as a way to reduce pollutants of CO2. That has forced them to include huge batteries if they want to achieve the greatest possible autonomy with the least effort.
But that, for the Lucid Air CEO, is a wrong approach. Your approach walks in the direction of betting on the electric car to get “a better car” And not an electric solution of the same thing we already have. And that inevitably goes through efficiency.
“Not only by making a car more efficient, it is using less energy in the world, but is also using less battery and mineral resources,” he explains in his interview. “He Lucid Air Pure is literally the most energetically efficient car in the world. It uses less energy to go from A B, whatever its fuel, than any mass production car in the 130 years of car history, “he defends.
To defend these data, Rawlinson is based on the MPGE calculation that is done in the United States. To compare the consumption of electric cars with gasoline, it compares how many miles would be able to travel an electric car if you used a gallon of gasoline (3,785 liters). In Car and Driver They also talk about Lucid Air Pure as the car with greater autonomy they have tried.
The point is that for the Lucid Air CEO this has huge advantages. First because “less minerals and resources are used (…) that means less lithium mines, less cobalt mining, less nickel” so, as we said, it is not only a matter of CO2. That also because if you need less electricity, it will produce a lower carbon footprint.
But, in addition, it assumes the Mazda approach. If the car is less heavy it is more agile and is more comfortable and pleasant to drive. It also specifies that it is a clear improvement in front of the gasoline car. Defends that a more efficient car is irremediable than present Worst benefits But this is not so with an electric car. If the latter manages to put smaller batteries, he wins in dynamism while maintaining benefits that leave behind the car moved by fossil fuels.
All this add reasons to leave us before many electric cars that “are why.” They have “very poor” autonomies because they have focused on reducing car costs to the maximum and, among them, the size of the batteries. However, without adequate technology, these batteries are removed less than they could deliver. If engines efficiency would be improved, those same cars could travel many more kilometers.
Rawlinson points out that this is one of the reasons why electric car sales are stagnant in the United States: “At this time, we do not have a safe infrastructure and we do not have enough cars with large autonomies. That is why it is a horrible experience.” Words that sound to us in Spain and that, luckily, we are leaving behind.
Photo | Lucid