The Electric: Why ONE’s Pitch for a Cheap 600-Mile Battery Remains Compelling

For four years, Mujeeb Ijaz has argued that the world needs a mainstream-priced electric vehicle with 600 miles of driving range. While that seemed excessive to rivals—much greater than the 300 or so miles that most motorists consider sufficient—Ijaz argued that few were considering how people really drive and how EVs really perform. Real people turn on the heat or air conditioning, Ijaz said. They punch the accelerator, slam on the brakes, tow things and tool around in the snow. And when you considered those driving habits—all significant drains on a battery—your EV actually delivered only half or so the range its manufacturer claimed. A 600-mile EV, in other words, would actually be the 300-mile vehicle that most people wanted all along.

Today, Ijaz’s company—Our Next Energy, which he co-founded in 2020—is regrouping along with the rest of the industry amid slowing EV sales growth. ONE, based in Novi, Mich., is attempting to bounce back from a failed Series C raise in November that left it massively short of cash, forcing Ijaz to step down as CEO and become the company’s chief technology officer, as we highlight in a new Org Chart we are publishing today. But the auto industry’s current malaise gives Ijaz’s thesis new credibility: If EV makers want mainstream customers, they will have to deliver genuine 300-mile EVs.