Sufficient for certain markets and applications, but less weight and volume is always better.
Less energy to accelerate, and smaller motors, lower powered drive electronics, and less demand on the battery (and the less current you draw from a battery, the lower the internal resistance losses, so weight really does matter.)
It's better for roads, for one; heavier vehicles, with higher ground pressure, chew up roads faster. More weight means longer stopping distances and less handling capability for the same amount of tire (and you can't just slap bigger, stickier tires on. Efficiency plummets) so this relates to safety. And mass mattes in a crash, too. Drivers are stunningly good at crashing into all manner of stationary objects. I suspect as EVs get more popular we're going to see much more serious car vs building crashes, for example.
The market for an EV eighteen wheeler explodes once you surpass the range a driver can legally drive in one day (you need more because otherwise there's a huge efficiency loss if the driver has to stop early in order to get a charge before running out of range, even if he's got the time logbook-wise. Ideally he's charging the rig while sleeping, though.)
Work trucks like the Sierra HD or F250/F350/F450's, etc. can't yet be replaced because giving them the equivalent battery capacity would result in a truck with a fraction of its normal cargo and towing capacity.
The livery industry can't really use EVs because charging stations are too far apart and too unreliable and too unavailable; while the range might be relatively close to a typical towncar's for a single tank of gas, obviously a towncar can be refilled in under 5 minutes from a fuel source almost anywhere along where it needs to go, with little wait for a free pump.
Performance car segment - right now EVs are only seen in GT class cars and sedans. Lots of people like lightweight, responsive vehicles (Miata, BR-Z, "hot hatches", etc) and you can't do that with current battery tech.
In vehicles made on platforms not fully committed to an EV powertrain, the battery ends up eating up passenger compartment space, cargo space, or ground clearance. Handling is more stable due to lower Cg, but less capable due to a pretty massive increase in weight. So: minivans, cargo vans, passenger cars...
Less energy to accelerate, and smaller motors, lower powered drive electronics, and less demand on the battery (and the less current you draw from a battery, the lower the internal resistance losses, so weight really does matter.)
It's better for roads, for one; heavier vehicles, with higher ground pressure, chew up roads faster. More weight means longer stopping distances and less handling capability for the same amount of tire (and you can't just slap bigger, stickier tires on. Efficiency plummets) so this relates to safety. And mass mattes in a crash, too. Drivers are stunningly good at crashing into all manner of stationary objects. I suspect as EVs get more popular we're going to see much more serious car vs building crashes, for example.
The market for an EV eighteen wheeler explodes once you surpass the range a driver can legally drive in one day (you need more because otherwise there's a huge efficiency loss if the driver has to stop early in order to get a charge before running out of range, even if he's got the time logbook-wise. Ideally he's charging the rig while sleeping, though.)
Work trucks like the Sierra HD or F250/F350/F450's, etc. can't yet be replaced because giving them the equivalent battery capacity would result in a truck with a fraction of its normal cargo and towing capacity.
The livery industry can't really use EVs because charging stations are too far apart and too unreliable and too unavailable; while the range might be relatively close to a typical towncar's for a single tank of gas, obviously a towncar can be refilled in under 5 minutes from a fuel source almost anywhere along where it needs to go, with little wait for a free pump.
Performance car segment - right now EVs are only seen in GT class cars and sedans. Lots of people like lightweight, responsive vehicles (Miata, BR-Z, "hot hatches", etc) and you can't do that with current battery tech.
In vehicles made on platforms not fully committed to an EV powertrain, the battery ends up eating up passenger compartment space, cargo space, or ground clearance. Handling is more stable due to lower Cg, but less capable due to a pretty massive increase in weight. So: minivans, cargo vans, passenger cars...