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Why Tesla Batteries Are So Massive

Are insanely long ranges just a gimmick?

Sithindu Sirisooriya
4 min readOct 27, 2020
Image of Model S from Tesla’s website

With most Americans driving a daily commute between 20 and 40 miles on average, it’s easy to get extremely confused looking at modern electric vehicles. Tesla’s flagship vehicle, the Tesla Model S, boasts a range of a whopping 402 miles. I wouldn’t want to make a habit of driving 400 miles in one sitting unless I’m getting paid, and I wouldn’t recommend doing so to anyone, but this Tesla (currently priced at $69,420) can do it.

So the question must be raised: why?

We are Americans, of course. We also rely very heavily on our cars compared to the rest of the world. Tesla is based in America, so it makes sense to want a car that could make it from Austin to Houston without stopping to so much as think about charging.

But this car can make it back as well. On one charge.

One reason most think of when considering electric vehicles is range anxiety, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue with modern cars. Thanks to progress in both battery technology and efficiency, an EV with less than 200 miles of range is an increasingly rare sight, and the rapidly growing charging infrastructure easily blankets the entire United States. This combination allows the growing number of electric vehicles easy access to almost any location in…

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