While traditional hybrid vehicles use gas to turn the wheels, a new crop of cars are burning it exclusively to charge a large onboard battery. It’s a strategy one might expect from an 8-year-old’s brainstorm, and it’s not a particularly efficient solution or a cheap one. The large-format truck will travel 145 miles on a 92 kWh battery, enough to cover most daily commutes and then some. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) brought the strategy mainstream in 2013 when it launched the i3, which offered a two-gallon, two-cylinder gas engine. “Ninety percent of the time or more, people probably won’t need more than 100 miles a day.”Range-extending vehicles offer auto executives another unique value: help to navigate the culture wars.

Source: Economic Times July 29, 2024 00:14 UTC