Rod Parkzin: No More Range Anxiety Thanks To JERR.E

One of the main obstacles in the fast adoption of electric vehicles is the fear of driving range. The most common question we get asked when driving our i3 is what’s the mileage. For those customers with range anxiety or needs to drive longer daily commutes, BMW offers the i3 with a Range Extender. The little gasoline tank offers 1.9 gallons in the U.S. and 2.4 gallons in Europe, for an extended range of at least 50 miles per refuel.

But what if you don’t have the Range Extender version or you just want to recharge your i8 to run on electric power? This is what the startup Star Engines envisioned when they started working on a range extending battery pack. We all remember seeing the gas cans hauled around, especially in earliest years of motoring. Now there is Jerr.e.; the contemporary brother of the jerry can. The Jerr.e is a portable charger for your EV. This unprecedented performance extends your EV range and acts as a safe guard if you miscalculate your range overall. The familiar looks and utilization make it an even more attractive product as well.

It’s a simple portable generator that runs on gasoline. When you run out of power, you plug it in your electric vehicle and charge it up. It has a 5 liter fuel tank and can be utilized pretty much wherever there is a gas station – further extending your range and working as in-car range extenders. While the exact specifications are yet to be revealed, the design, utilization and the overall idea is ingenuous, if proven to work.

Here is how the startup describes their product:

Star Engines is an innovative start-up that revolutionizes the combustion engine. Inspired by the Wankel engine, the engineers of Star Engine completely redesigned the combustion engine basics. This results in a – patented – small size, low weight 3D rotary engine with an unequalled performance. The principle opens a world of applications. Star Engines is open to explore partnership and dealership opportunities.