Been thinking about how EV trucks seem to get more range than cars/SUVs. Is this because of the surface area of the vehicle compared to the weight (with an empty truck bed)? Would an unloaded EV El Camino theoretically get better “mileage” than something like a Bolt?

  • @[email protected]
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    fedilink
    11 year ago

    You’re confusing mileage and range. Range is a function of the vehicle’s energy capacity, whether it be fuel or electricity, whereas mileage relates the energy expended by the vehicle to travel a certain distance.

    It might be correct to say an F150 has better range than a Corolla (which might not even be true), just because the F150 has a much larger fuel tank. But, as is obvious, the fuel an F150 expends to travel a certain distance is much larger than that expended by the Corolla, or you’d say the Corolla gets better mileage than the F150.

    It’s the same in EVs. Simply, an F150 Lightning has a higher capacity battery (fuel tank) than a Bolt, but the ‘mileage’ of the Lightning is much worse than the Bolt.