Welcome back to the latest episode of The Future of Automotive on CBT News, where we put recent automotive and mobility news into the context of the broader themes impacting the industry.
I’m Steve Greenfield from Automotive Ventures, and I’m glad that you could join us.
If I had to wager a bet, you’re about to start hearing a lot more about a new category of electric vehicle, the Extended Range Electric Vehicle, or EREV.
Once shunned by EV makers, extended-range technology is booming as consumers look to overcome ‘range anxiety’.
An Extended Range Electric Vehicle is a type of electric vehicle that primarily runs on electric power but includes an additional internal combustion engine that runs a generator to recharge the battery.
The ICE engine does not drive the wheels directly, but is solely there to charge the battery to increase range — and thus reduce range anxiety.
These cars can typically travel as far as 900 miles on a single charge and are about 10% cheaper than pure-electric alternatives. They also can be charged up using a DC fast charger, like any EV battery.
The main disadvantages of EREVs are the added complexity of having both a battery and an ICE engine onboard, and the extra weight (although, EREV’s weigh less than if this were a standard plug-in hybrid, since EREVs don’t require multi-speed transmissions or big motors that can directly drive the wheels).
The latest automaker to announce it’s releasing an EREV is the Volkswagen spin-off brand Scout Motors.
The Scout extender will increase the vehicles’ ranges from around 350 miles per charge to more than 500 miles—enough for Scout owners to haul that boat to the lake without worrying about another charge.
Scout’s EREV seems to be stoking interest: apparently 25% of their pre-orders are with the EREV configuration.
And other automakers are getting into EREVs. Stellantis’ 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger electric truck has its not-so-great 141 mile charge supplemented by a V-6 engine that can power the battery to 690 miles.
Mazda sells the MX-30 R-EV in Europe.
And Hyundai says it will start selling a model into North American and Chinese markets in 2027 that has a top range of 560 miles.
With sales of pure battery EVs dramatically slowing down, the hybrid has emerged as a middle ground, with consumer not as concerned about charger availability and range anxiety.
Expect to hear a lot more about more Extended Range EVs as yet another viable bridge technology offered to consumers who otherwise aren’t ready to jump into full battery-electric-vehicle ownership.
So, with that, let’s transition to Our Companies to Watch.
Every week we highlight interesting companies in the automotive technology space to keep an eye on. If you read my weekly Intel Report, we showcase a company to watch, and take the opportunity here on this segment each week to share that company with you.
Today, our new company to watch is Sandra-AI.
The age of AI is upon us, and we’re seeing more and more AI-powered applications for car dealers.
Sandra-AI is in this fall’s Y Combinator cohort, so you’re about to start hearing a lot more from the early-stage company that comes out of France.
With Sandra-AI, you’ll never miss a call in your dealerships again.
Sandra-AI acts as the intelligent voice agent for your dealership.
Sandra answers the phone 24/7, ensuring your dealerships never miss a call again. Say goodbye to dissatisfied customers and lost opportunities.
Specifically designed for car dealerships, Sandra has extensive industry knowledge. Your customers will feel like they are talking to a real automotive expert!
Sandra integrates seamlessly with all your dealership software, ensuring a quick and smooth implementation.
If you’d like to learn more about Sandra-ai you can check them out at www.Sandra-ai.com
So that’s it for this week’s Future of Automotive segment.
If you’re an AutoTech entrepreneur working on a solution that helps car dealerships, we want to hear from you. We are actively investing out of our DealerFund.
If you’re interested in joining our Investment Club to make direct investments into AutoTech and Mobility startups, please join. There is no obligation to start seeing our deal flow, and we continue to have attractive investment deals available to our members.
Don’t forget to check out my book, The Future of Automotive Retail, which is available on Amazon.com. And keep an eye out for my new book, “The Future of Mobility”, which is almost done, and will be out soon.
Thanks (as always) for your ongoing support and for tuning into CBT News for this week’s Future of Automotive segment. We’ll see you next week!
