[anjan_c2007]

"Every ounce of that weight reduction improves range," says Andrew Poliak, US chief technology officer of Panasonic Automotive. The company says it has developed components – such as the speakers and audio system used in cars – that not only weight between 30-60% less but also draw 60% less power from the car without affecting performance. At the currently ongoing Consumer Electronic Show (CES) at Las Vegas, Nevada, US, Panasonic Automotive revealed a 5 cm speaker that can replace a 15 cm one, with an equal audio output, that can be fitted to the car's doors. Optimising the car components with the"lightweighting" concept, both the car and its component makers are vying to resolve the weight riddle for EV's.

It seems like a simple enough choice. The widespread use of electric vehicles could trigger a potential "positive tipping point" in the efforts to limit global warming. But many motorists are still choosing not to make the switch to this low-carbon technology. It is a decision that has meant while electric vehicle uptake has been rapid, it's been slower than some car manufacturers anticipated. But with today's lithium-ion batteries, EVs can only go so far.

There are many reasons why consumers are not moving to electric vehicles as quickly as expected, including price, charging infrastructure and concerns about how far they can travel – so-called "range anxiety". Drivers want to be able to charge and go in the same time it takes to fill a tank with petrol or diesel, and they want the same mileage per charge of the battery, according to Achyut Jajoo, senior vice president and general manager of manufacturing and automotive at customer relations management software firm Salesforce, which recently surveyed 2,000 drivers on consumer preferences. EV makers are wary that many consumers are procrastinating while deciding to buy an EV, because of the baggage that these come appended with.

Link:

BBC News - Electric vehicles: Can 'lightweighting' combat range anxiety?
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...-range-anxiety

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

BBC News - Electric vehicles: Can 'lightweighting' combat range anxiety?

Yes, weight reduction can unlock more range. Weight reduction goes hand in hand with choosing the right EV architecture.

Omkar wrote a brilliant article on this topic - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/elect...es-matter.html (Electric Vehicle Architecture | Why does it matter?)

Cars like IONIQ5 running on 800V architecture can get charged to 80% in 18 mins on 250 KW charger and it has an minimum range of 400 kms.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

"Every ounce of that weight reduction improves range," says Andrew Poliak, US chief technology officer of Panasonic Automotive. The company says it has developed components – such as the speakers and audio system used in cars – that not only weight between 30-60% less but also draw 60% less power from the car without affecting performance. At the currently ongoing Consumer Electronic Show (CES) at Las Vegas, Nevada, US, Panasonic Automotive revealed a 5 cm speaker that can replace a 15 cm one, with an equal audio output, that can be fitted to the car's doors. Optimising the car components with the"lightweighting" concept, both the car and its component makers are vying to resolve the weight riddle for EV's.

Link:

BBC News - Electric vehicles: Can 'lightweighting' combat range anxiety?
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...-range-anxiety

While it is true that lightweighting should help in range, it is instructive to see what are the situations where the mass of the car matters. Here are some points to consider

1. At high speeds (highway driving) wind resistance is the biggest range killer and obviously is not dependent on mass but the shape (aero or not) of the car

2. Efficiency during steady cruising on flat highways should not depend on mass. Yes it takes energy to build up the speed and this is proportional to the mass but once you have attained the cruising speed mass has very less role. This means a heavy car will do significantly worse for lots of short drives but will be fine for long highway drives.

3. Loss due to acceleration-deceleration cycles are proportional to mass. This is because KE = 1/2 m (v^2 - u^2) and a portion of it is lost due to the regen efficiency (if regen efficiency was 100% then no loss)

4. Same argument with Cruise control on undulating terrain (proportional to mass).

5. Bad roads can really kill range and mass of the car makes a significant wastage. Think of it as a lot of small undulations that wastes a lot of energy as well as energy lost in the suspension system (No possibility of regen here I guess).

What does that mean when designing and driving cars ?

1. Aero design is very important if you want good high speed range. Saving on few grams here and there by tweaking the music system is not worth it.

2. When driving making sure that we do not indulge in Acceleration-Deceleration and when ever possible indulge in regen 0 driving on highways. This can mitigate a lot of the problems with heavy cars.

3. I would believe that the same car with two different batteries (Nexon LR vs MR) would roughly give the same Wh/Km figures as long as we do steady driving. One more reason to get the LR model of a given car if budget works out.

4. Better HVAC systems as well as radiation protection. Say no to sunroof . This will be a big energy sink. Even in moderate climate of Kerala it looks like about 9-10% power is taken by the AC system.

[DIY410]

Originally Posted by electric_eel

4. Better HVAC systems as well as radiation protection. Say no to sunroof . This will be a big energy sink. Even in moderate climate of Kerala it looks like about 9-10% power is taken by the AC system.

White color or silver color cars have lesser load on the time taken to cool the cabin and HVAC consume less power to maintain the set temperature.
Those buying dark editions or options with black roof are practically doing a seppuku as far as range.