Worried about running out of charge in your electric car? You’re not alone! “Range anxiety” is a common concern, especially for those new to electric vehicles (EVs). But the good news is there are plenty of ways to ditch those worries, get the most out of your car’s battery, and embrace the freedom of electric driving. Let’s dive into some simple tips and strategies to help you conquer range anxiety for good!
Understand Your Car and its Real-World Range
The actual range of any electric vehicle is almost never the same as the official range. Battery health, charge capacity and maximum range will change regularly. For example, how much range you get in the spring will be different from the winter, when your heating is on. Car journeys in the hills use more juice than driving in the city. You’ll get used to this, though. A few weeks with your EV batteries and you’ll get an intuitive feel for how far you can go on a battery charge.
For a complete picture of everything to do with driving distance, check out our EV Range Guide.
Don’t Rely on Advertised Range
Manufacturers get their big range numbers by testing under strictly controlled conditions. In reality, everyday driving almost always results in a lower range. Expect your real-world range to be about 10-20% less than advertised. Extreme temperatures, aggressive driving, and utilising accessories will drain your battery power faster.
Embrace Learning
The most reliable way to understand your EV’s true range is to learn from your daily driving. Observe the mileage you achieve under various conditions:
- Temperature: Just staying comfortable takes some battery power. Running the heating and cooling uses juice because there’s no motor to generate heat for you. In some cases, heating/cooling can reduce range by up to 40%!
- Speed: EVs achieve optimal efficiency at around 50-60 mph. Of course, this is slow on the motorway. But every five miles per hour faster starts to eat into your battery faster. All that happens is you’ll get to wait at the next charging station sooner.
- Accessories: Features like heated seats, powerful sound systems, and even headlights marginally impact your range.
Lithium ion batteries do best when charged between 10% and 85%. So don’t feel too pressured to hit 100% at any charge points. Get your range up quickly at charging stations but stop at 85% or so. The time it takes to charge that last 15% is better spent on the road.
Resources for Improving Your Battery Range
Fortunately, you have tools to help you predict how far you can go. If you connect your in-car or phone apps to the charging infrastructure, you can plan journeys much better.
- In-Car Estimator: Most modern electric cars have built-in range calculators that analyse your driving style, recent energy use, and external factors to provide an accurate, real-time range estimate.
- Apps: Apps like ABRP (“A Better Route Planner”) and ChargePoint offer advanced features like factoring in elevation changes and live traffic conditions when calculating potential range.
- Owner’s Manual: Your car’s manual always contains valuable information and often includes tips specific to your model for maximising its electric car batteries.
Electric car drivers don’t have to guess about their battery power. Your electric motor should give you information about how it’s doing. This will help you improve your EV range and plan your trips to charging points.
Charging Strategies to Ease Your Mind
Think of your EV a bit like your smartphone. Most days, you just plug it in overnight, so you wake up ready to go. Electric cars are pretty similar. Home charging is the easiest way to make sure you almost always have ‘a full tank,’ so to speak. But what about road trips or those days you forget? Let’s break down your options.
Home is Base
If you have a home charger, this should cover most of your daily driving. But how quickly does that charger actually replenish your battery?
- Level 1 charging: This uses a standard outlet and adds roughly 1 – 2 kWh per hour. For context, an average-sized EV battery (around 60 kWh) needs almost two full days to charge from empty to full using Level 1. For topping up, think of it this way: a 10-hour overnight charge could give you 10-20% of your battery back.
- Level 2 charging: This needs a dedicated 240V circuit (like what a dryer uses) and is significantly faster, adding somewhere around 6-12 kWh per hour. With Level 2, that same 10-hour overnight charge could get you 60-120% of your battery capacity – more than enough for most daily needs, and maybe even a decent road trip!
- No driveway? Don’t despair! There might be local schemes to install public chargers on streets or in communal parking areas. It’s also worth checking if your workplace offers EV charging.
If you can reach a standard outlet, even if it means running a longer cable, EV Cable Shop offers a range of extra-long options, like the 20M EV charging cable, to make home charging possible.
Map It Out
For those longer trips, planning is key. Major charging networks are growing by the day, making it much easier to find places to plug in.
- App Attack: PlugShare is a popular free option that shows chargers from multiple networks. Network-specific apps like ChargePoint or Tesla’s app are also handy.
- Car Integration: Many EVs connect navigation with charging locations. Some even plan your route with charging stops automatically!
- Brand Bias: Networks are expanding, but some brands do have a head start. Tesla has the most extensive Supercharger network, which currently only Tesla owners can use.
It’s getting easier to find a public charging point. EV owners can usually find a place to charge up, especially in bigger cities.
Power Up While You Park
Think about all the places you park for a bit anyway – the grocery store, the mall, even the gym. More and more places are adding EV chargers. This is like finding extra bits of range while you go about your day, making it even less likely you’ll need to worry about making a special trip just for charging.
- Managing the Search: Apps like PlugShare let you search or filter specifically for chargers at certain location types (shopping, etc.).
- The Multi-Stop: True, finding a charger at every stop is tricky. Instead, think about where you could park for a decent stretch (a restaurant meal, a movie) near a cluster of things you need to do.
- Easy Payment: Most charging apps let you link payment details, so you can plug in and go without messing with cards or codes at the station.
Public charging points have fast chargers and are more common than ever. This should remove the major psychological barriers caused by range anxiety.
Efficient Driving Habits Make a Difference
How you drive your EV makes a surprising difference in how far you can go on a charge. It’s a little different from a traditional gas-powered car, but with some tweaks to your driving style, you can easily stretch your battery’s range.
Smooth and Steady
Think of your EV like an energy efficiency game. Hard acceleration and heavy braking waste energy. Instead, aim to drive smoothly:
- Gentle on the ‘Gas’: Ease onto the accelerator pedal when pulling away from a stop.
- Coasting is Key: Anticipate traffic ahead and lift off the accelerator early to let the car slow down gradually.
- Avoid the Urge to Speed: Highways gobble up battery power because of the faster speeds. Keep it as close to the legal limit as possible for the best range.
Here’s a common scenario and how to drive in a battery friendly way. Imagine driving in your average UK town. You’ve got roundabouts, traffic lights, and other cars all around. The key to driving here is not to accelerate really fast, only to brake hard at the next light. That hurts your battery twice by draining it during the fast start and starving it of that little bit of regenerative braking.
Regenerative Braking is Your Friend
Most EVs have regenerative braking, which captures energy when you slow down and puts it back into your battery. It’s like getting a tiny recharge every time you lift off the accelerator!
- Understanding Regen: Different EVs offer various levels of regen. Stronger settings feel more like traditional braking, while weaker settings let the car coast further.
- Practice Makes Perfect: Experiment with different regen settings in your car to find what you like best. Stronger regen can be useful for stop-and-go city driving, while less regen might be better on the highway.
Regen isn’t going to turn your car into a long-distance racer. But it could add up to 10% more range. That’s another 20-30 miles on a single charge. So, it’s worth taking the time to learn how to make it your friend.
Plan for the Weather
Extreme temperatures mean your car will work harder to keep you comfortable, which uses up battery power. Here’s how to minimise the impact:
- Precondition While Plugged In: If your car offers it, precondition the cabin (heating it up or cooling it down) while you’re still connected to a charger. This uses less of your actual battery for driving.
- Park Strategically: In the heat, seek out shade. In the cold, park in the sun if possible so your car doesn’t have to work as hard to warm up.
- Minimise Accessory Use: Seat heaters are more efficient than cabin heat, so use those when you can. Blast the AC or crank the heater only when you really need to – moderation helps stretch your range.
Of course, we’re not suggesting you sit around in a hot or cold car. Unless you’re really creating a rolling sauna or mobile icebox, your heating and cooling are not a big drain on your battery. But they are one of several different factors you can keep an eye on.
Conclusion
The best way to combat range anxiety is to rely on your battery technology and infrastructure to keep your car charged. EV drivers are smart and we’re confident you can get to charging stations before running out of charge.
EV Cable Shop can help you even more. Pick up an extra type 1 charging cable or type 2 charging cable. Then you’ll have one for your car and one for your home base. Buy an extra long EV charging cable and connect to the charging network even at longer distances.
