From the Wall Street Journal via MSN, September 6:
The auto industry has a new solution to Americans’ fear that electric vehicles will run out of juice: a gasoline engine.
Hyundai, Ford Motor and Jeep parent Stellantis are among the first U.S.-market automakers planning to roll out a new kind of plug-in vehicle called an extended-range EV. It is a fully electric car with the security blanket of a gas-powered generator to charge the battery, if needed—ensuring you won’t end up stranded as long as a gas station is nearby.
“It is simply a good answer,” said Micky Bly, head of propulsion systems at Stellantis, which aims to kick off the “EREV” trend in the U.S. later this year or early next with its Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV. A second range-extended vehicle, a pickup truck called the Ram 1500 REV, will follow it. The truck couples a large EV battery with a gas V-6 to recharge it, promising up to 690 miles of driving—more than twice the typical EV in the U.S.
In late August, Korean giant Hyundai announced that its next Santa Fe SUV will offer an EREV version in 2027. Hyundai has said it would provide about 600 miles of driving. Its luxury brand Genesis will offer a similar vehicle. And after canceling its money-losing electric F-150 Lightning truck last December, Ford says it will resurrect that truck as an EREV....
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