Car changing is a big deal
There鈥檚 new tech that predicts EV battery range in real time. Could this cut range anxiety in electric cars for good?
If you鈥檝e ever driven an electric car and anxiously watched the battery percentage tick down, you know the fear of running out of charge isn鈥檛 always easy to shake. But engineers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) may have just come up with a smarter way to keep that anxiety at bay.
They鈥檝e developed a system called State of Mission (SOM), which goes beyond the simple 鈥渂attery percentage鈥 readouts we鈥檙e used to. Instead, it predicts whether your battery can actually handle the trip you鈥檝e planned 鈥 taking into account real-world factors such as hills, temperature, traffic, and even your driving habits.
Remember, you can buy an electric car right here on 莲花直播. We鈥檙e here to help you through every step of your car-changing journey.
How it works
The SOM system is a mission-aware measure that combines data and physics to predict whether the battery can complete a planned task under real-world conditions, said UCR engineering professor Mihri Ozkan.
It uses a hybrid approach, mixing traditional physics with machine learning. Physics keeps the predictions grounded in reality, while machine learning helps it adapt to changing situations.
鈥淏y combining them, we get the best of both worlds: a model that learns from data but always stays realistic,鈥 said Cengiz Ozkan, who co-led the research. 鈥淭he predictions are not just accurate 鈥 they鈥檙e trustworthy.鈥
But how does it work? The system watches how batteries charge, discharge, and heat up over time, while still following the basic laws of chemistry and thermodynamics. That means it can make smarter predictions even if the temperature drops suddenly or you鈥檙e climbing a steep hill.

The team tested SOM using real-world battery data from NASA and Oxford University. It looked at charge cycles, temperature swings, voltage, current, and long-term performance trends. Compared to old-school battery indicators, SOM cut prediction errors significantly: 0.018 volts for voltage, 1.37掳C for temperature, and 2.42% for charge state, according to the research.
So, instead of just telling you 鈥50% charged,鈥 SOM can say things such as: 鈥淵es, you can finish this trip,鈥 or 鈥淏etter recharge halfway.鈥 Ozkan sums it up: 鈥淚t turns abstract battery data into actionable decisions, making vehicles, drones, and energy systems safer and more reliable.鈥
What does this mean for you?
This new tech could be a gamechanger for electric car drivers. Imagine knowing for sure that your car can make a 50-mile uphill drive instead of nervously guessing based on a percentage. Trips get less stressful, and range anxiety could finally become a thing of the past.
The catch? SOM is more complex than current battery systems and needs more processing power. But the researchers are working on making it work for EVs, as well as drones, home solar setups, and even future battery types such as sodium-ion or solid-state.
Still, the potential is huge: if paired with something such as a smartphone that can run AI models, SOM could become a must-have tool for EV owners 鈥 which means you won鈥檛 have to guess how far you can go anymore.
You can read more about this new research in the journal .
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