Chinese EVs use this tech to get up to 800 miles of range. U.S. automakers want in

[ResidentialBusiness]

Shop around for a new car and you’ll come across an array of acronyms. There’s BEVs (battery electric vehicles), HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles), PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles), and of course that’s all in contrast to ICE (internal combustion engine) cars. Soon, American shoppers could see another option on dealership floors: EREVs, or extended-range electric vehicles.

EREVs are like a cross between a gas car and an electric vehicle, but different from a hybrid. The technology has been around for years and has seen success in China. Now, automakers across Europe and the United States are showing interest in the technology, hoping it can help more people transition away from gas cars—as long as it doesn’t cause more customer confusion.

EREV vs hybrids

An extended-range electric vehicle has an electric motor that uses energy from a battery. But it also has an internal combustion engine that kicks in to generate electricity when the battery loses its charge. EREVs can be plugged into any EV charger—even fast chargers, which take between 20 minutes to an hour to get an EV battery to 80%. 

That’s different from hybrids in a few ways. Hybrid cars also have a gas engine and an electric motor, but the gas engine directly powers the wheels when driving at higher speeds. HEVs also rely on regenerative braking to recharge the battery, and are never plugged in to charge. Plug-in hybrids have a bigger battery and, as their name says, can be plugged in to charge—but most aren’t compatible with fast chargers, and tend to charge more slowly. 

The Mazda EZ-6 [Photo: Mazda]

EREVs then are even more of a middle ground between an electric vehicle and a gas car. The technology can extend a car’s range, alleviating that range anxiety that still plagues consumers. The Mazda EZ-6, an EREV currently available in China, boasts a total range of more than 800 miles with both its battery and gas engine, for example. But because they don’t solely rely on EV charging, they can also ease charging stress, especially in places that still don’t have enough EV chargers. 

EREVS aren’t new—but do consumers want them?

EREVs have been available in China for years, and sales there have been picking up speed. EV sales are strong in China in general—Chinese brands account for more than three-quarters of global EV sales—and technological advancements have made EVs there ultra affordable. EREV sales more than doubled in China over the prior year, Bloomberg reported in August 2024, accounting for 30% of the country’s plug-in hybrid sales.

But EREVs aren’t even that new to the U.S., says Patrick Hertzke, a partner at McKinsey & Company who focuses on the EV and automotive sector. The technology was in GM’s Chevy Volt and the Cadillac ELR, though production on those vehicles ended in February 2019 and February 2016, respectively. (The Cadillac ELR saw low sales of just over 3,000 units.)

A Chevy Volt [Photo: jetcityimage/Getty Images]

No EREVs are currently for sale stateside—but the concept is coming back. Ram has an EREV model in the works, as does Scout Motors, and Ford has hinted at looking into the tech. EREVs are still months or years away for U.S. customers, but the technology is taking hold as automakers look to amid concerns of charging stress and range anxiety, while also capitalizing on lower battery prices. “You have an ability to find this different blend that could be interesting to some consumers,” Hertzke says.

McKinsey surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. drivers about EREVs, and whether they’d be likely to choose one, in late 2024. First, the survey asked what vehicle drivers would be interested in buying next, without listing EREVs as an option. To that, 44% of respondents said they’d pick a gas car, while 27% said a hybrid, 17% a full battery EV, and 10% a plug-in hybrid. When they asked again and added EREVs to the list, and explained that they’d get a combined range of 400 to 500 miles, 18% said they’d pick an EREV. 

And it wasn’t just people interested in full battery EVs that switched over. “[EREVs] stole share from all the others,” Hertzke says; the amount of people picking a gas car dropped by 6 points, hybrids by 7, and full battery EVs by 4. “It was really across the board exciting consumers as something new that might fit their lifestyle.” 

EREV confusion

But getting consumers excited about EREVs means making sure they understand what they are, and that could be a challenge. Consumers are already inundated with multiple terms and lots of EV info, and so automakers need to clarify the differences with EREVs. Adding to that challenge is the fact that carmakers might brand their extended range options differently. “Some are saying EREV, some are saying REEV. Some are calling them super hybrids, some are going to call them hyper hybrids,” Hertzke says. 

Companies will have to make a decision about whether to brand these cars their own way or try to use an industry term. When talking to automaker clients, Hertzke says this is a big question they have about EREVs: “How do we communicate this appropriately to consumers and with our dealers, which are also now going to be inundated with more choice and more complexity?” 

Carmakers also have to figure out how to price these new models. Because they would use a smaller battery, the vehicles could potentially cost less than a full EV but more than a gas car. That could help entice more buyers, especially since EREVs could offer benefits that hybrid and gas cars don’t, like bidirectional charging. But automakers have been losing money on full battery EV sales, and so they may end up pricing EREVs a bit higher than necessary, as a way to make up some of those losses.

“It’ll be very interesting to see how they’re positioned, how they’re priced, how they’re communicated to consumers, and that’s one of the hottest debates raging at automakers today,” Hertzke says. 

What U.S. automakers are doing next

U.S. automakers are already working on rolling out some EREV options. Ram may be the closest; its 1500 Ramcharger is an EREV truck (though the Ram site calls it a “range-extended electric truck) expected in 2025. It’ll come with a range of 690 miles—higher than the current F150 Lightning range that tops out around 320 miles. 

Ford is also reportedly working on the technology for EREVs, though the company wouldn’t “speculate” about future products to Fast Company. A spokesperson noted that the brand has said that EREVs and other technologies “have the potential to offer more” when it comes to choices for customers. (Ford CEO Jim Farley has been vocal about driving—and loving—the Xiaomi SU7, a Chinese EV, and though that isn’t an EREV, Xiaomi has been working on such options, including an EREV SUV.)

Scout Motors, a U.S. offshoot of Volkswagen, is also working on an extended range electric truck, called the Terra, as well as an SUV (both with a range of 500 miles), though neither are expected until 2027. 

“We fully expect we’re going to see more [EREV] models in the U.S. and in Europe [in the next two to three years], and we’re going to see more auto brands adopt these,” he says. “It’s going to create some pretty exciting new products. And we do expect to see consumers pretty interested in these once they understand them over time.”

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