How Far Can Modern Electric Vehicles Go at a Speed of 70 mph?
Imagine that you are escaping prison together with three other inmates, and on your way out, there are four electric cars available to take you as far as possible. There’s only one police car to chase all four cars, so the first one to come to a stop would be the only one arrested. All cars are limited to 70 mph, so there’s no way that your option would result in falling behind or leading the pack. Among Polestar 2, Tesla Model 3 Performance, Jaguar I-Pace, and Audi e-tron, which one would you choose?
This is the scenario that Polestar’s executives wanted to study, having good faith in their model, so they decided to conduct a range test on the aforementioned EVs. Polestar took the cars to the Fowlerville Proving Ground in Michigan, charged them to 100%, set the drive mode to its default settings, and disabled regenerative braking. Also, they set the internal temperature to a typical 72˚F (22˚C) on all cars, the tires to the recommended inflation pressure, and the headlights turned on (the prison escape would take place during the night).
The cars started at 25 mph for 1.3 miles, and were then taken up to 70 mph with the verification of a GPS system. From there, cruise control took over until the battery packs were out of juice.
The first car to see its battery depleted was the Audi e-tron, which managed to travel 187 miles. So, if you picked the Audi, you’re busted. Third place was won by the Jaguar I-Pace, which traveled a mile longer than the Audi, reaching 188 miles.
That was a close call, but nowhere near the second-best car which was the Polestar 2. The Sino-Swedish model managed to travel 205 miles in the oval circuit, so it beat the other two by about 10%. This leaves us with the winner, which is the Tesla Model 3 of course, reaching 234 miles, or 78 laps on the Fowlerville track if you prefer. Tesla is an experienced player in this field, so catching up with them in range performance is next to impossible.
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