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The masterplan to end EV “range anxiety” forever

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2024-09-28 15:30:07

This article is an installment of Future Explored, a weekly guide to world-changing technology. You can get stories like this one straight to your inbox every Saturday morning by subscribing above.

It’s 2028. It’s been one year since you bought your first electric vehicle, and the transition has gone far smoother than you expected. You’ve never come close to having your battery die on the road, and any time you’ve needed to power up, you’ve had your pick of convenient charging stations, thanks to the US’s now-robust charging network.

At the beginning of the 20th century, electric vehicles (EVs) were actually more popular than ones powered by gas, but by the 1930s, their higher cost, slower speeds, and shorter ranges, combined with the inconvenience of charging compared to filling up a gas tank, lost them the auto market.

At the time, environmental friendliness didn’t really factor into prospective car buyers’ decisions, but we now know that gasoline emissions are a major driver of both air pollution and climate change, generating about 16% of the US’s greenhouse gas emissions. The world needs to transition away from burning gas in order to build a sustainable future.