Electric cars consume less and less electricity
Published: Wednesday, Feb 14th 2024, 10:11
Updated At: Thursday, Feb 15th 2024, 00:59
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The power consumption of electric cars has fallen in recent years. Car manufacturers are increasingly offering smaller, more efficient models. However, the high demand for large cars is slowing down progress.
Newly registered e-cars in Switzerland consumed an average of 18.6 kilowatt hours of electricity per 100 kilometers last year. This is slightly less than in the previous year (18.7 kWh). This is according to new figures from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
According to experts from the non-governmental organization Transport & Environment (T&E), this is likely to continue: "We are currently assuming an efficiency improvement of around 0.5 percent per year," said Katharina Dirr from T&E when asked by the news agency AWP. Models of the new generation are trimmed for efficiency. Not least thanks to technical optimizations.
Low power consumption saves money
Optimizations have taken place, for example, in what is known as thermal management, confirms car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from the Center Automotive Research in Bochum. Thermal management ensures that the sensitive batteries are not exposed to heat or extreme cold. As a result, the batteries remain powerful for longer.
Generally speaking, the lower the power consumption or the larger the battery, the better the range. This is why manufacturers are very interested in efficient models. Because if an electric car becomes more economical, a smaller battery is also sufficient. This in turn reduces weight and costs.
In addition to optimized drives and efficient temperature control, the energy consumption of electric cars is also falling because more and more smaller models are being built, according to Dudenhöffer. According to him, such compact models will probably play a greater role in the coming years. For example, the Model 2 from Tesla, which is scheduled for the end of 2025 and will cost around 25,000 dollars, according to Tesla boss Elon Musk.
Industry trend towards smaller models
Smaller and more affordable electric cars have recently become very popular with manufacturers. Citroën, for example, is launching the all-electric ë-C3 on the market in 2024. This is expected to cost less than CHF 25,000 and drive up to 320 kilometers on a single charge.
US car giant Ford also wants to invest more money in the development of smaller electric cars in the future, which according to Group CEO Jim Farley is "an industry-wide trend", as he recently announced on the occasion of the annual results. Competitors Dacia, Renault and Fiat also already have small electric cars on offer.
Increasing demand for large cars
But there is also another trend. Large cars are still in demand among many customers. According to the non-governmental organization T&E, this is likely to continue. This in turn puts the improvements in energy efficiency in e-cars into perspective.
The scientists at the EMPA research institute are not expecting any major leaps in the near future either: "Unfortunately, there are no consumption reduction targets for electric vehicles in the vehicle legislation," comments spokesman Michael Hagmann. "Since batteries are becoming cheaper and electric cars are getting bigger, and reducing consumption is always associated with costs, we do not expect to see any noticeable reductions in consumption in the next few years."
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