Range anxiety is one of the primary concerns among drivers of electric vehicles (EVs). It refers to your fear that your battery will deplete before finding a charging station or reaching your desired destination.
To address these obstacles, EV drivers require continuous technological progress that includes deployment of widespread charging infrastructure and advancements in battery capacity and longevity. To succeed, drivers also must change their mindset in order to adjust to an EV’s limitations.
1. Know Your Battery’s Capacity
Your battery’s lifespan can decrease over time as its capacity decreases with use, but there are ways you can maximize its longevity and preserve its health.
One of the most important steps you can take to maximize battery capacity is understanding its fluctuation over time. Doing this will allow you to better plan out your usage and avoid running out of juice when it counts most.
An effective way of testing the capacity of your battery is with a USB meter. It will show exactly how much power is entering and exiting from your device when plugged into a charger, providing valuable insights.
Another key consideration when purchasing batteries is their C rating, which determines how quickly they charge and discharge. A higher C rating means less capacity in total capacity of the battery.
If you are uncertain as to the capacity of your battery, an easy way to determine this would be installing AccuBattery onto your phone and using it as a monitoring app to track its life and provide useful tips to maximize its performance. This free app offers continuous battery monitoring while offering useful advice and suggestions to optimize its life and maximize performance.
The app also gives an estimate of your battery’s capacity in milliamp-hours (mAh). While this does not represent its exact value, it will give an approximate indication of what capacity exists on your phone.
Mac users will automatically be provided with a battery report from their computer. To access it, click on the battery icon in your menu bar and select Battery Preferences; from there select Battery Health to view its current state and maximum capacity – these reports are then stored as HTML documents that you can open with File Explorer or Windows Search.
2. Know Your Route
Fear of running out of battery power is one of the primary deterrents to owning and driving an electric vehicle, unlike gasoline cars which typically have charging stations nearby.
Drivers facing electric range anxiety may feel powerless to respond when life throws them an unexpected curveball that requires them to drive without fully charging their vehicle. Luckily, there are ways to mitigate against this happening again in future.
Establishing a solid route can be one of the best ways to reduce electric vehicle range anxiety. Most EVs come equipped with navigation systems that enable you to select an energy-efficient route; popular apps like Google Maps also feature eco-friendly options.
Additionally, you should choose an efficient route and choose a destination near a charging station in order to reduce overall charging time and hassle – this way, you could potentially save time and money in fuel costs.
Road conditions, elevation changes and speed can all impact an electric car’s range. Colder climates tend to reduce an EV’s range as its power source must work harder in maintaining its power levels.
Consider all of these factors when mapping out your route, as each can have an effect on its total distance. A faster motorway, for instance, could drain an EV’s battery more quickly than taking slower roads.
Technology is rapidly adapting to this problem and offering solutions that can ease range anxiety. Mapbox’s Directions API, for instance, includes an EV routing feature which integrates topographical data, ambient temperature and road conditions into their predictions to optimize routes and predict how much charge drivers need at each stop. It also features an up-to-date map of charger stations providing real time updates regarding predicted range and charge station availability as users travel.
3. Map Out Long-Distance Trips
If you’re planning a long-distance journey, it is essential that you map out your route and know where you can charge up along the way. An electric vehicle (EV) road trip planner can assist with this by showing which charging stops will provide maximum battery power while also showing how long each charge stop will take and providing directions on where you can find an EV charging station.
Utilizing the navigation system of your vehicle is the ideal way to plan your route. It will give you a seamless and hassle-free driving experience by showing you the quickest routes between points within or beyond its range.
In-dash EV navigation systems with connected services technology can also assist in making sure that your EV is properly charged before and after each journey. These solutions use location data to detect nearby charging stations, showing their availability so you can locate them without leaving your vehicle.
Mapbox EV Routing connects vehicle, location and traffic data to identify an optimal EV charge plan for your entire journey – potentially saving up to 2 hours of travel time and one hour in charge time. Furthermore, it takes into account changing weather and driving conditions so your EV remains within its range throughout your entire route.
Also, this app can recompute your charge plan as conditions change so you won’t receive sudden low-range alerts along the way – particularly helpful for long distance or high traffic areas.
4. Have a Backup Plan
Range anxiety is one of the main psychological barriers to EV adoption. This stems from fear that there won’t be enough battery power available for an electric vehicle to cover its required distance.
Even though some EVs can cover 200 miles on one charge, drivers still face range anxiety. Luckily, there are ways you can relieve EV range anxiety so you can relax on the road and enjoy your journey without worry.
Understand how the miles per kWh number in your EV dashboard fluctuates as you drive. This will give you a general idea of its energy capacity at all times and enable you to plan drives efficiently.
Understanding your charging stations’ reliability is one way to reduce range anxiety. Charging stations may experience downtime due to factors like long queues during peak hours, vandalised equipment or simply being busy with multiple vehicles charging at the same time.
As more people adopt electric vehicles, more public charging stations have become available and increasingly popular. Access to a reliable charging network is essential to your peace of mind as both commuters and entrepreneurs use them on a regular basis.
5. Charge at the Right Time
Range anxiety is a common fear among new EV owners. It stems from fearing not finding an open public charging station on time to recharge your battery despite there being more charging stations than ever before; finding one may still prove challenging.
Even with an increased availability of electric vehicle charging stations, range anxiety is still one of the primary hurdles to wider adoption of electric vehicles. However, this situation is changing with expanding infrastructure of charging stations.
Drivers should remember that the speed at which they drive has an effect on how much power their EV uses; driving slowly may help extend its range and extend overall EV range.
Electric vehicle drivers should ensure they charge their cars during off-peak hours to minimize costs on energy bills and save money with TOU or other time-variable pricing (TVP) electricity tariffs that allow charging at off-peak hours when energy rates are cheaper. This may help save them money when paying their energy bills each month.
Electric vehicle (EV) drivers should take advantage of DC fast charging to quickly charge their cars within 15-45 minutes. This technology enables them to plug their EV in for charging while running errands or taking day trips, giving them peace of mind about range anxiety.
Before charging their vehicles, EV drivers should inspect their batteries’ temperatures to make sure that they aren’t too warm or too cold. Too warm batteries take longer to charge while too cold batteries drain energy more rapidly, leading to reduced range capabilities.