Is it possible to increase range

[T3slaOwner]

The most efficient ICE only get 40% efficiency. No way do they only have a 45% loss.

The hit from lights and A/C is more like a rounding error in a Tesla; heat is the only real energy hog.

There really isn't that much difference in vehicle weight between ICE and EV when you compare equal vehicle classes.

No way does the Tesla (or any EV) get up to 2000+ degrees when charging.

Your post is not at all clear. I don't agree that vehicle weight is not significantly more in the EVs. Maybe you consider vehicle "classes" to be weight classes???

I have no idea why you are talking about 2000°. It doesn't matter that some electrical uses would seem to be "trivial". The point is there are numerous power draws and they all add up to something that makes it hard to know how many miles you can drive given some amount of charging for anything other than a simple trip, right now. I charged last week in town and have not moved the car since. How much charge will it have in a week when I need to take it into town again? I have no idea. I do know my truck will have the same amount of fuel and range next week as when I last parked it. Oh, but I do need to worry about running down the ICE battery. After a month or two it might not start the truck and I'd have to jump it. But then I'd still have the same fuel and range.

What I do know is that in my truck I can take the number of gallons and multiply by the typical MPG to get my range. I'll get that day in and day out, night time, winter, summer, you name it. My model X will get me something within a factor or two depending on some other factors that I can neither measure or compensate for.

 

[T3slaOwner]

Inefficiencies multiply together. If wind resistance is a 20% loss, you are getting 80% left. If the car is 90% to begin with the new efficiency is 0.8*0.9 = 0.72 or 75%. If you are starting with 20%, then you get 0.8*0.2 = 0.16.

Sure, but no one cares about that number because it has no utility.

There are ICE with aerodynamics comparable to Tesla's, but they are mostly sports cars. The bulk of cars on the road are aerodynamic bricks in comparison. That's a major reason why the range of the iPace and eTron are so bad. Jaguar and Audi wanted something that looked like an ICE SUV/CUV.

I think you are thinking of coefficient of drag which is only part of the problem. This has to be multiplied by the car's cross section to get the actual drag which is what matters. The model S is the same as the Toyota Prius and similar to the Mercedes-Benz CLA250 and many other cars. I think you are making too big a deal about how much better the model S is. The model X is in a much worse category. The reality is EVs have to be better aerodynamically in order to even get close in terms of range, etc.

Most of the time the A/C is a minimal hit on range, but I've noticed when temps get up around 100F and the A/C has to crank up to max the range does take a hit. Most of this summer has been in the 80s here and the A/C can lope along at low settings, but we had a mini-heat wave last week (two days of 100F and the rest of the week in the 90s) and otherwise driving like I normally do my energy usage went from around 285 Wh/Mi to 330 and one time 350.

This is one of the wild cards that people like to play when I complain about range. People wave their arms and cry, Air Conditioning! I don't care why the range is bad... well, actually I do, but like Robert Palmer says about women "She's so fine, there's no tellin' where the money went", the car will never provide data to explain where the kWh went.

I believe Honda has announced a gasoline engine capable of 39% efficiency, but it isn't in any cars yet. I think the best non-hybrid gas powered ICE is around 25%. Diesels are better and hybrids can be up around 40%.

I don't know and I don't care because this particular number doesn't mean much to me. I care about usability of the vehicles. I get paid to be an engineer. I don't want to have to do it to drive a car.