If you’re buying a fossil fuel-powered vehicle, chances are the specs you’ll most closely focus on will be something like power, cargo capacity, ground clearance, and everything in between – with cost being the primary driver behind most people’s choice. When it comes to EVs, though, one item is clearly the front-runner, and the one you actually want to focus on once you get past the mind-numbing power and acceleration figures from some of the fastest EVs out there. That, of course, is range. You might worry about your car’s fuel efficiency and how that’s going to affect your wallet, but the range of your EV might be the difference between making it home and Googling “how to jump start a Tesla?” on the side of the road. Given that this is such an important spec, surely it’s like a game of Top Trumps where bigger is better? The answer to that is most of the time, but there are still plenty of EVs with short ranges being sold, so what gives?
How short is short?
Before we get into whether low-range EVs make sense, let’s determine what should actually be considered short when it comes to how far EVs can go. We’ve come a long way since the lead acid-era, and most EVs worth their salt these days have ranges of over 350 kilometres. With 1.2 million sales globally (and over 20,000 in Australia), the Tesla Model Y is the world’s (and Australia’s) most popular EV of 2024, sporting a range of 455km to 550km, depending on the trim level.
With this in mind, we can assume a short range EV to be anything with 250 kilometres of range or less, though that number will grow rapidly. One example of this is the recently updated Mini Cooper SE, which went from its BMW i3-based powertrain with a measly 180 kilometres or range to over 400 kilometres in top spec.
Who could benefit
And speaking of the Mini, it brings us nicely to its target demographic – the city-dweller. Think of the green-parachute-pant-wearing and Salomon-hiking-sneaker-donning caffe latte enthusiast you see strolling around Melbourne’s Fitzroy and Brunswick neighbourhoods. These people tend to live and work in and around the city, and aren’t likely to be driving very far during the average week. In fact, looking at Australia’s biggest cities, the average commute is only 30 kilometres per day, which gives you plenty of headroom for anything but the lowest range vehicles, and that’s assuming you don’t charge while you’re parked at home or at work.
And that’s another important point to note. EVs with shorter ranges also tend to be smaller, targetting singles or childless couples who are more likely to be living in apartments. As such, they’re likely to have worse at-home charging capabilities, meaning they’ll have to rely on public chargers a lot more.
EVs with low ranges also tend to be more affordable, meaning that the price-conscious will also be potential customers. The average cost of a new car in Australia is around $37,000, which puts anything but the most affordable EVs out of reach. With that said, $37,000 is only the average price, which doesn’t consider those who can’t spend anywhere near that sum. If you look closer to the price point of Australia’s cheapest new cars overall – around $20,000 for an MG 3 – you’ll find yourself with naught but ICE options.
This brings up an interesting dilemma, as even the cheapest EVs sold in Australia boast ranges of 300 kilometres or more – so would an ultra-affordable EV with some 150kms of range be viable at an even more affordable price point? I’m not sure how many people out there would be willing to compromise on range so drastically simply because it’ll suit their green lifestyles. Keep in mind that we’re also only talking about new cars here – if you’re really strapped for cash but want an EV, there are plenty of used Nissan Leafs and Mitsubishi i-MiEVs for less than $10,000.
But how about the motorsport enthusiast? Often someone with a bit of cash to spend, who’s to say that they wouldn’t want a lightweight EV with instant power delivery to throw around the track for a weekend? Maybe that’s me projecting too much, but think of the possibilities! Sure, there are cars like the Ioniq 5N, and plenty of people track their Tesla Model 3Ps, but think of a world where a sub-1,000kg, electric Lotus is a reality. Power would not really be the primary consideration here, with the tech rather focusing on a car that can be driven on edge for a number of laps at a time without the batteries necessarily propelling you for more than 500 kilometres. Of course, this would be once again heavily reliant on trackside charging infrastructure, but one can dream.
The practical minimum
We’ve established that there could be real, practical uses for low-range EVs (yes, even outside of electrified track days), but how low can you actually go before it stops making sense? Considering the aforementioned 30km daily commute, that leaves us with 210km of driving for the week – and let’s round that up to 250 kilometres for a weekend trip somewhere. Even without charging at home, at work, or on the road somewhere, the majority of EVs these days will be able to do that comfortably.
But many people living in the city drive much less than that. ABS’ 2016 Census of Population and Housing shows that Melbourne’s inner suburbs regularly commute 5 kilometres or less, making EVs with ranges of 100-or-so kilometres potentially usable. That said, though, it seems like battery technology has simply progressed far enough that there’s no need for most manufacturers to make cars with such short ranges, as they’re able to offer an attractive enough price to performance ratio.
