Its one of the perceived drawbacks of electric cars – will they be able to handle our daily journeys, allowing us to charge them overnight? Now a statistical analysis of the National Household Travel Survey by two Columbia doctoral candidates has investigated the issue.
Looking at data from 150,147 households gathered between March 2008 and May 2009, they found that 61 per cent of all participating cars, SUVs, vans and pick-up trucks drove an average of 40miles per day. Meanwhile 95 per cent of individual trips are below 30miles, while 99 per cent are below 70 miles. This means that when driving distance is calculated for the whole day, 95 per cent of trips are below 120miles; while 99 per cent are below 250miles.
Typically, car commuting distances averaged 12.6miles; with 95 per cent below 40miles and 99 per cent shorter than 60miles.
As such, assuming that the electric car is a Nissan LEAF with a 62-138mile driving range, it would be able to satisfy 83-95 per cent of all travel days depending on the conditions. Meanwhile, a Tesla Roadster could satisfy more than 98.5 per cent of travel days.
According to the authors, the most important conclusion of the study is that the majority of US households have the luxury to simply pick a petrol car in case they plan on a long trip.
