Jun 26, 2019 It might not be the fastest extender at close range, but the dual-band RE305 is one of the best extenders for long range. Its two bands run at 2.4GHz (up to 300Mbps) + 5GHz (up to 867Mbps) and it has a Fast Ethernet port that lets you connect to a wired device. As most of us know, there were tons of rumors flying around about the ’16 Volt having a 75hp, 3 cylinder range extender, replacing the existing 1.4L 4 banger. All this speculation was based on GM announcing their new lineup or Eco tec engines, which included the 75 hp 3 cylinder.
I have a model 3 on order and this will be my first venture into the world of EV's.I think pure electric is the way to go, and Hydrogen seems a madly expensive option.So my only concern is range and refuelling time. My commute is fairly short - about 30 miles return so that's not a problem.Where I may have a problem is when I go further afield for client visits, days out etc. For that I'll have another car available running on petrol.The thing is, if electric is going to be the future we need to all be able to live with pure-electric cars and not have another petrol car waiting as a stand-by on the drive.Competitors have range extenders as small ICE engines and there's talk of swappable battery packs etc. But I think Tesla is missing a trick. If the trunk (or frunk) contained ports to allow connection of a portable range extender (hydrogen / battery / ICE / other) it then opens up a huge amount of possibilities. A battery range extender could be rented from a garage on longer trips just like picking up barbecue gas. Or you could have a small ICE and plug in an exhaust hose to use as a generator.
Or you could add a sealed hydrogen fuel cell rented from a store and just hand it back or swap it when no longer required.The point is that in most cases we'll just want to use the internal battery but sometimes we'll want more range. This doesn't have to mean we have to queue at a supercharger or plug in and wait for hours - we could just add modular capacity by plugging in an extra portable power source. All we need is a plug in the trunk and possibly a removable exhaust pipe for water / ICE emissions.It should be easy for manufactures to agree on a common plug and dimensions so retailers such as garage forecourts can profit by providing the swappable power sources.What do you think? Very early in the Model S development they considered a hybrid, but smartly decided to only offer electric. Tesla is now dedicated to EV only solutions. There is nothing wrong with hybrids, but it retains the complexity and cost of ICE, still generates pollution, and reduces the cargo space, adds significant cost and impacts the safety (less crush zones and fuel/oil fires).
I think GM's volt is likely the best EV/ICE combination available today if you want to go in that direction. Tesla has stated very clearly they are not going to go backwards into the ICE world.