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⚡ This Week’s Big Charge
💡 The Bold Promise Of Extended-Range Electric Vehicles
They say that sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward. Maybe that explains why more and more automakers are turning to a proven but environmentally damaging technology—the internal-combustion engine—as they sort out what’s next for electric vehicles.
Welcome (maybe?) to the new era of extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs. They look and drive like fully electric cars, but with a twist: they’re also built with a conventional gas engine. And instead of powering the wheels, it serves only as a generator to recharge the battery that actually moves the car.
The idea behind EREVs is that Americans, in particular, who love to drive long distances, are hesitant about EVs over the usual concerns: fear of running out of range, not finding a charger nearby, or waiting too long to recharge. Perhaps allowing them to alleviate those fears with a stop at a gas station will help battery-powered vehicles gain traction over time.
Here’s why EREVs have been in the news a lot lately.
How 433 Investors Unlocked 400X Return Potential
Institutional investors back startups to unlock outsized returns. Regular investors have to wait. But not anymore. Thanks to regulatory updates, some companies are doing things differently.
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Founded by a former Zillow exec, Pacaso’s co-ownership tech reshapes the $1.3T vacation home market. They’ve earned $110M+ in gross profit to date, including 41% YoY growth in 2024 alone. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO.
The same institutional investors behind Uber, Venmo, and eBay backed Pacaso. And you can join them. But not for long. Pacaso’s investment opportunity ends September 18.
Paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.
🛻 What We Know About Who’s Getting Into The EREV Game:
Last week, Ram announced it was canceling its repeatedly delayed all-electric pickup truck. Instead, it’s moving forward with the Ram 1500 REV (formerly called the Ramcharger), which could be one of America’s first EREVs when it arrives in 2027.
Ram’s EREV truck carries a 92-kilowatt-hour battery pack, backed up by a 3.6-liter V6 engine that recharges it. The total range should be 690 miles—trumping any current EV.
Scout Motors, the revived retro truck and SUV brand from the Volkswagen Group, will launch its built-in-America EVs with an option called the Harvester: a four-cylinder generator engine that’ll make it good for more than 500 miles.
Scout executives have said pre-orders have been overwhelmingly in favor of the Harvester over their all-electric versions.
Hyundai Motor Group offered new details about its EREV plans this week, too. It’s working on EREVs for Hyundai and Genesis that aim to “achieve full EV power performance with less than half the battery capacity” of a standard EV, while “eliminating range anxiety.”
Ford, eventually, wants to get into this arena too. And in China, it’s making an EREV Ford Bronco, which assuredly won’t be sold in the West. (Bummer.)
Unsurprisingly, China is years ahead on EREVs already. Some boast 700-1,000 miles of range, albeit on China’s more generous testing cycle.
Multiple Chinese auto brands now offer EREVs. They’re becoming a big part of electrified vehicle sales—especially for larger SUVs, where a big battery can be a pain to live with.