Study: Cheaper Electric Vehicles Attainable by Increasing Efficiency Ratings, Reducing Battery Size

There’s much potential to build electric vehicles more efficiently, allowing for a smaller battery size and reduced costs, a recent study from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has suggested.

According to Inside EVs, ACEEE’s recent white paper is based on the current average mi/kWh rating of all EVs currently on the market, which turned out to be an average efficiency rating of 2.5 mi/kWh.

By improving the average efficiency rating of a 300-mile EV from 2.5 mi/kWh to 3.5 mi/kWh, ACEEE asserted, more vehicles could be created from the same amount of resources by allowing for smaller, more powerful batteries.

It’s far from something inconceivable to achieve, as EVs with such efficiency ratings do exist on the market, such as the Tesla Model Y: one of the most popular EV models, with an average efficiency rating of around 3.5 mi/kWh.

ACEEE estimated that such a shift could cut on average $4,800 off the price of an EV, as well as allow the battery to go further on less power from charging.

With the production of an EV rivaling the tailpipe emissions of an ICE vehicle, ACEEE suggested that policy holding manufacturers responsible for upstream CO2 emissions could help the industry move toward producing smaller, more affordable batteries.