Whenever you go to buy a car, what do you do? Check the looks, space, and features and when you like it you finally ask one very important question - what’s the mileage. Now that is a question which you will have to change in case you’re buying an electric car.
I know what you’re thinking - Does an electric car not have mileage figures? Well, it does, but in a very different way. It has something called range which is the distance it can cover on one full charge. A full charge for an electric car is just like your car with a full tank of petrol.
Before we move any forward there's one very big myth about EVs Range that needs to be cleared: A bigger battery means more range. This is completely wrong as a car having a big battery pack can offer less range due to its weight and efficiency of its drive system. A very good example of a car with high range despite a small battery is, of course, the Tesla Model 3 Long Range which promises a whopping 580Km of range according to the WLTP cycle despite a battery of 78kWh - smaller than some of its German rivals.
Also, another thing we should clarify is that the range claimed by a manufacturer is different from what you get in the real world. And it's understandable because of everyone’s driving style. However, do expect real-life figures to be less but not very different from the ones claimed by the manufacturers.
With an EV comes the daunting proposition of ‘range anxiety’ which simply is the tension an electric car owner experiences when their car’s range is going down but the destination is still far away. But can't they just stop and charge? I hear you ask. It’s not that simple because
- a) We don’t have many charging stations
- b) Even if you do find a charging station a car will take 30 minutes minimum to charge fully because you won’t find superfast chargers easily.
So how to deal with this range anxiety?
The solution to this would surely be more charging stations but that will take some time but it shouldn’t hinder you from making the switch to an EV and contributing your bit towards the environment.
Let’s start with the simplest method - choosing your route. Now you can choose two kinds of routes: one which is longer but has adequate charging stations on it or another which is shorter but devoid of charging stations. The story doesn’t end on just the routes though because a driver should know how to get the most out of their electric car’s battery.
A slight change that you can make to your driving style once you buy an EV is to drive at constant speeds under 100kph because then your car will have less wind resistance and the electric motor will experience much less pressure. Another thing you can do is make the most of the regenerative braking that every EV has nowadays - it takes place when you take your foot off the accelerator or drive downhill. During regen, the motor that drives the wheel turns into a generator that puts charge back into the battery giving you some of the lost range back.
Last but not the least, whether it's cooling or heating - it's better to cool or heat yourself rather than your whole car. You see, an air conditioner or heater takes up a lot of energy but heating/cooling the seats of the car consumes comparatively less energy.
With all this information and these tips and tricks under your belt, we hope you can confidently make the switch to your favorite EV.
