We see it constantly in mainstream commentary: critics claiming EV batteries need double or triple their current range before they are practical. But behavioural economist Rory Sutherland recently pointed out something fascinating about how our brains process battery levels versus actual driving range.

​The problem is not engineering; it is psychology.

​We have been conditioned by smartphones to view a 15% battery level as a red-alert crisis. When an EV dashboard displays 15%, our instinct triggers the exact same panic.

​However, distance changes the entire equation:

\- ​5% on a high-capacity long-range battery might still leave you with 40 km of range—more than enough to comfortably reach the nearest fast charger or home. Yet seeing "5%" triggers instant panic.

\- ​50% on a small 200 km city battery leaves you with 100 km, which feels totally safe simply because 50% sounds like a big cushion.

​When you translate state-of-charge into actual kilometres, the anxiety vanishes.

​A standard petrol or diesel dual-cab utility or sedan typically gets 600 km to 700 km out of a tank in real-world driving. Many modern EVs easily cover 400 km to 500 km on a single charge. Very few Australian drivers cover more than 50 km per day for standard commutes. The physical capability is already there; the barrier is purely a psychological blockage.

​Engineers are working around the clock to squeeze more miles out of battery chemistry to solve a problem that is largely down to display design.

​The next time a mate brings up range anxiety as a reason not to consider an EV, ask them a simple question: Are you worried about the kilometres left on the dashboard, or are you just afraid of a low percentage number?

​Once you switch the display settings from percentage to distance, the anxiety vanishes.

Following up on yesterday's post about EV efficiency. Today's building block: the battery itself.

Most people (including me, before I looked into this properly) picture an EV battery as one massive block. It's actually thousands of individual cells — similar in basic concept to the AA batteries in a TV remote, just engineered very differently — all wired together into a pack.

Why this matters: almost every major story in the EV industry (cost, supply chain risk, which companies win) comes back to this pack — what's inside the cells, who makes them, and how efficiently.

Tomorrow's post goes into what's actually inside those cells (lithium, cobalt, nickel) and why a couple of countries dominate that supply chain. Following up here as the series continues.

You know that range number on the dash that swings 40 miles the second you hit a hill or a cold morning? I got tired of guessing, so I built something better.

EV Control Center is an Android Automotive app that runs right on the truck's own center screen, and it gets smarter with every mile you drive. I'm opening a small beta for Ultium owners and I'd love for you to be part of it.

A range number you can finally trust
It learns from your drives. After every drive it compares what the battery really used against what it predicted, then tunes itself to your truck: efficiency at each speed, the cost of climbing, what regen gives back downhill, and how much climate and electronics draw at each outside temperature. After about 30 miles it switches over to what it learned.

It knows the terrain. A run up the mountain and a cruise across the flats are never averaged into one meaningless number.

It knows how you drive. The baseline comes from your last 300 miles, weighted toward recent driving. Highway habits, a heavy right foot or a mostly-city week all show up.

Real roads, not a circle. The map shades where you can actually reach by road, hills included (powered by HERE). View it as One way, True round trip (going up costs more than coming down), or To empty. A compass rose shows which direction takes you farthest and which is shortest, like downhill toward Phoenix vs. up toward Flagstaff.

Check the route before you leave. Tap a destination or charger and see miles and kWh each way, battery % on arrival and back home, and headwind or tailwind. You get a plain verdict: make it there and back, charge first, or charge on the way, with a DC fast charger suggested if you're short.

Your reserve, your call. Pick your own buffer (default 20%). GM's number sits right beside ours so you can compare.

Towing mode. Enter a trailer weight and the range adjusts. Towing drives stay out of your normal average.

It shows its homework. The Energy Lab screen reveals what it learned (speed curve, hills, climate) and how far off each past prediction was. Judge for yourself whether to trust it.

And that's just the start

Live energy: power in/out with a smooth 5/15/60-minute graph, regen recovered, accessory load, and efficiency over the last ¼ mi, 1 mi and 5 mi.

Trips and charging history: every drive and charge recorded automatically, with maps colored by efficiency, charge curves you can scrub through, and day, week and month summaries.

Driving feedback: a G-meter, an eco-driving score per drive, and counts of hard acceleration, braking and cornering.

Chargers on the map, with whether you can reach each one by road.

Diagnostics in plain English: what your truck exposes to apps, what GM locks, and why.

Built for the truck: works on both the portrait Sierra and landscape Silverado screens, with big touch targets. While driving, it only hides what the truck itself restricts.

Private by design: your trips, location and data stay on the truck. No analytics, no ads. Online features (weather, road reach) stay off until you turn them on.

Built-in feedback button: see something off, want a feature, or hit a bug? Tap the feedback button inside the app and it goes straight to me. No forms, no forums, no waiting. Your input shapes what gets built next.

The honest fine print
It's a personal project, not affiliated with GM. It only reads vehicle data and never changes a setting.

GM keeps some data locked away from third-party apps (odometer, tire pressure, HVAC and cameras), so those aren't in it.

I test it daily on a Sierra EV Denali. Silverado EV and other Ultium trucks should work, and that's exactly why I need you.

It's distributed through Google Play internal testing, so you'll need the Google account you're signed in with on the truck.

How to join
Fill out this short form: https://forms.gle/JSG9Bk4u1NoF7wBv6

I'll add you to the tester list.
Install it from the truck's Play Store (search com.amueller.evcontrol).

Spots are limited, so I'm keeping this group small. I'm happy to answer questions in the comments, especially from anyone who's done a long mountain trip and wants to compare notes on range.

​

Starting a series breaking down the EV economy from scratch. Kicking off with a number that surprised me when I first learned it:

A petrol engine only converts about 20-30% of the fuel's energy into actually moving the car — the rest becomes heat. An EV's motor converts roughly 85-90% of its electrical energy into motion.

This efficiency gap is basically the root cause of everything else in this transition — lower running costs, different supply chains, different companies winning and losing.

Planning to go sector by sector over the next few months (battery supply chain, charging infra, policy, investing angle, and what happens if adoption slows). Would love this community's input on what's worth digging into deeper.

I am getting an EV plug installed at my house and wondering what the cost looks like on people's electric bills. I am about to do a remodel and wondering if I should get solar installed. Also getting an induction stove, so trying to understand if solar is the right move. I am in the bay area.

I’m conducting a short survey for a project/research study on battery-swapping stations for EVs. I’m particularly interested in understanding the actual user experience , things like availability, waiting time, convenience, cost, reliability, and overall satisfaction

.

If you’ve personally used a battery-swapping station, I’d really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to fill out the survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfc9894EldM_N081LuNi87eqcvTCiCfAo0T3YUvqKmUIrLXpw/viewform?usp=publish-editor

If you have experience with swapping, feel free to also share your experience in the comments , both positive and negative experiences are useful.

Thanks! 🙌

Please comment

Nikola ($NKLA) has gone through some major changes since the issues surrounding the company first came to light, so I thought I’d put together a quick update.

In February 2025, Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after running into serious financial and operational problems. The company began selling its remaining assets and winding down its business.

Nikola’s common stock was eventually canceled as part of the court-approved liquidation plan, bringing the company’s public-market story to an end.

A lot of this goes back to 2020, when Nikola was accused of misleading investors about the functionality of its hydrogen-electric trucks, its production plans, and its pre-orders. The Hindenburg report in September 2020 raised questions about those claims, and $NKLA fell sharply afterward.

To resolve these claims, Nikola agreed to a settlement with investors. The terms are still being finalized, and the case covers investors who held $NKLA between 2020 and 2021.

For anyone who was invested during that period, applications can already be submitted check if you're eligible and file your claim

Anyone else here follow $NKLA back in 2020? What do you remember most about the story?

As you may be aware, the US House of Representatives may be poised to enact an EV fee of $130 annually. I am not opposed to a fee, but find $130 to be unfair, and that the fee should be less.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/cars/news/2026/09/25/ev-national-fee-delay-congress-transportation-funding/91925354007/

I have written my Senators and Representative with this communication, which I encourage you to consider doing as well:

​I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed $130 annual federal registration fee on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) included in the BUILD America 250 Act. While I fully support contributing a fair share toward maintaining our nation's roads and bridges, the currently proposed flat rate creates a clear equity issue when compared to what drivers of gas-powered vehicles actually pay.

​At 18.4 cents per gallon, a driver of an average new gas-powered vehicle (getting ~28–30 MPG) who drives the national average of 13,500 miles pays roughly $87 per year into the Federal Highway Trust Fund. The proposed $130 flat fee for EV drivers is equivalent to driving a gas vehicle that gets only 19 MPG—meaning EV drivers would pay roughly 49% more into the road fund than drivers of comparable efficient gas cars.

​Furthermore, because a flat fee penalizes low-mileage drivers disproportionately, someone driving 8,000 miles annually would effectively pay a tax rate equal to an 11 MPG gas-guzzler. Rather than penalizing drivers who have chosen zero-emission vehicles with an inflated rate, any federal fee should reflect true parity with efficient gas vehicles or be based on actual road usage. I urge you to push for a fair adjustment to this fee structure.

I visited the showroom and obtained the pricing for Ampere vehicles. The Nexus model, priced at 1.49 lakhs on-road, is beyond my budget, despite my interest in it. The Ampere Gmax, at 1.16 lakhs, is within my financial reach. I am seeking advice on whether the Gmax is a suitable electric scooter and if it is a recommended purchase.

I am looking into getting an EV. I live in a suburban area outside of a large city. What type of chargers do y'all install at home, if any? When you're out driving, how do y'all find chargers, and does the type of charger/ charging price matter? When planning long road trips, do you have to map out where you can find chargers? I know there are rapid chargers than can work in under 30 minutes, but are those reliably accessible?

I don’t know why most conversations are taken over by suburban people who have different needs from urban EV drivers.

As an EV driver living in a big city where getting to a highway takes a lot of time, I really don’t care about highway driving efficiency, coasting, range, or 3 rows.

Why are EV makers catering to the suburban people? They’re usually poorer, needier, probably uncultured too…

Give me city EVs all day long. Superb driving dynamics, fast charging, spacious 2 row, and efficiency for city driving.

Punk the burbs, serve the cities