When gearing up for a long-distance trip in an electric vehicle, how do you prepare your car?
What’s the average EV driving range? What factors reduce range? How can you extend range?
The average range is around 300 miles for a single charge, and battery range is constantly increasing.
Many factors can reduce range, but some can be controlled by the driver, such as being conservative with air conditioning on a hot day, keeping speed under 65 miles per hour and reducing aggressive driving behavior. Cold weather can reduce battery range. Also, steep hills will burn up range — but can be recouped on the downhill.
EV drivers can extend battery range by driving smoothly, avoiding hard accelerations and using eco-mode, which helps to regulate air conditioning and increases the efficiency of the battery. My favorite ways to extend range is taking my foot off the pedal when possible, and using downhills and the car’s momentum to recharge the battery. One pedal driving also will extend range and allows the driver to slow down and stop the vehicle by easing up on the accelerator. This technique helps to restore energy to the battery and extends range.
For EV drivers looking to take a road trip, but have “range anxiety,” what advice would you give them?
How long does it take to charge an EV battery? How often should you take charging breaks?
The time it takes to charge depends on both the battery and the charging station equipment. There is a wide range of EV car batteries, and some charge faster than others. It also depends on how low the battery charge is at the time of charging. If it is very low, just like a phone battery, it is going to take a little longer. When it comes to equipment, there are three levels of charging stations. Level 1, sometimes called a trickle charge, provides about three miles of charge an hour. A level 2 charger, which is often used for overnight or workplace charging, averages around 25 miles of charge in an hour. With a fast charger, if the vehicle is down to 20% charge, charging to 85% will generally take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes.
Charging too often can be rough on a battery. Ideally, drivers should charge when the battery gets down to about 20% and charge up to about 85%.
Is it difficult to find charging stations along your route? How do you keep the charging process inexpensive?
Finding charging stations is easy. Most EVs now have a function that displays charging stations alongside the navigation. But there are also charging station apps like PlugShare that will provide a list of charging stations along a route.
Charging is inherently inexpensive. In most cases, charging costs at least a third less than fueling up with gas.
AAA’s Recommendation: Whether you own an electric vehicle or a gas-powered car is up to you – and you should consider lots of factors in making that choice. No matter what type of vehicle you’re choosing, we recommend visiting a dealership, test driving one, and asking as many questions as possible to make an informed decision.
