Fully electric cars and crossovers typically have batteries between 50 kWh and 100 kWh, while pickup trucks and SUVs could have batteries as large as 200 kWh. Of course, a larger battery will take longer to charge than a smaller battery, and it will cost you more in electricity to do so.
While we measure a fuel tank in gallons, we measure battery capacity in kilowatt hours (kWh). We already explained that a watt-hour is a measurement of energy, so a kilowatt-hour is simply 1,000 of those watt-hours. As an example let’s take a car that has an efficiency rating of 235 wh/mi. Let's say this car has a 50 kWh battery.
Battery capacity or Energy capacity is the ability of a battery to deliver a certain amount of power over a while. It is measured in kilowatt-hours (product of voltage and ampere-hours). It determines the energy available to the motor and other elements.
Let’s say your real-time mountain-driving efficiency is 450Wh/mi. If you can see that you have 50% battery remaining, and know that you have a 75 kWh battery pack, you can use your current efficiency to estimate how much real-world range you’d have if the terrain continues to be mountainous. 50% of a 75kWh battery remaining = 37.5 kWh energy.
That’s why a typical lead-acid car battery only weighs between 11 kg (25 pounds) and 22 kg (50 lbs), while EV batteries typically weigh hundreds of kilograms. Are electric cars heavier than gas cars?
The weight of an EV battery significantly contributes to the overall vehicle weight. Typically, passenger EVs range from 600kg to 2600kg in gross weight, with battery weights varying from 100kg to 550kg. A more powerful battery correlates with a greater weight, as it contains more energy.