How to Beat Range Anxiety and Buy the Right Electric Vehicle

Range anxiety is a real thing. But it’s not just something that is an electric vehicle phenomenon. It exists whether you’re driving a gas vehicle on a long road trip or flying a drone and wondering if there’s enough battery for it to make its return. But in both of those cases, gas stations and a charger are relatively close at hand. The key with an electric vehicle is to ensure that its range, your driving, and the ability to recharge, are considered in your ownership experience. And it all starts with some basic fact-gathering.

One of the best methods that you can use to figure out which electric vehicle will work for you is by tracking your daily commutes. If your commutes are less than 30 KMs a day, a modern Electric Vehicle will provide up to 10 days of trips to the office before requiring a charge. That means you can go an entire week without a visit to a charging station. If you have a charger at home and top up every night, you are well covered by most electric vehicles on the market.

The terrain is also a factor that is often not thought about. If you are travelling mainly highways, you are constantly depleting your battery. Whereas in the city, your stop and go travels at lower speeds can increase efficiency through regenerative braking. If you live in a rather hilly area, you’ll use more electricity going up, so it’s important to recover your range from coming down. Electric vehicles are very good at regenerating spent electricity by braking and turning when power isn’t applied.

The other things that should be considered are weather and temperature. Cold weather makes electric vehicles work harder to keep the battery at an optimum temperature. Add the need to turn on the heat, and you might lose up to 20% of your range. But this can be mitigated with modern conveniences like heated seats and steering wheels that make a negligible impact on the battery versus heating the entire cabin. You should be aware of range anxiety. But with some facts and smart driving, it shouldn’t be something that should keep you from having the electric vehicle you want.

What have been some of your real-world experiences with range anxiety? Was it all just in your head? Or was it a real thing where you drive? Share your experiences in the comments below.