Yeah, this kind of headline is stupid. Any battery can offer any given range if it's large enough. This kind of thing should be written as distance/mass or, for consumer products, cost/distance.

[–] nBodyProblem@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Even that is meaningless because the vehicle you put a battery in is as important or moreso than the battery.

Aptera has a claimed 1,000+ mile range with a 100 kWh lithium battery. Meanwhile, the Rivian R1S has a claimed 270 mile range when equipped with a 106 kWh battery.

The main difference is that the Aptera is a light and aerodynamic car built for maximum efficiency instead of a 6,000 lb pickup truck. Any battery can boast amazing numbers if you are flexible enough with the use case.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 2 points 7 months ago

That's true. I guess it should just be kWh/mass. Either that or we should have a standard vehicle all batteries are tested on for headlines if they want to talk about distance, which is obviously more understandable to the average reader.