Electric vehicles have been around for decades, but its only now that the technology has evolved to a point where EVs can be considered a perfect alternative to conventional vehicles powered by fuel. Earlier EVs rarely had a good range; they couldn’t go more than 50 kms on one charge and there weren’t many charging stations. While new EVs have tremendous range, many EV owners still deal with ‘range anxiety’.
Range anxiety is a condition where EV drivers are constantly worrying about losing power midway. It stems from fear their car will run out of battery life without any charging station nearby and leave them stranded.
This may prevent many regular drivers from making a switch to electric cars. However, this condition has to do more with the way one thinks and not about the actual EV range and availability of charging points. Let’s go through the causes of electric car range anxiety and ways to overcome this fear.
Causes of Electric Car Range Anxiety
Following are the common factors that lead to electric car range anxiety in drivers.
EV Range
When thinking of driving range, all electric vehicles are not created equal. To put it simply, while factors like speed and weather may impact the driving distance, an electric car battery’s overall capacity has the most impact on how far your car can go between charging stations.
Earlier EVs could barely go beyond 50 km/charge but electric cars in today’s age offer a driving range of more than 400+ km/charge. An EV battery’s capacity makes up for its driving range – the better it is the better will be the range.
Charging Infrastructure
People generally are more familiar with internal combustion engines and the availability of their fuel stations. Though traditional petrol pumps are widespread, even then, many drivers have a fear of running out of fuel on longer routes and plan ahead.
The fear of not being able to find an electric charging station nearby is also a massive reason for electric car range anxiety. However, the UAE and other countries that are encouraging the use of EVs are rapidly working on increasing the number of charging stations.
How to Overcome Electric Car Range Anxiety
Here are some common methods for overcoming electric car range anxiety.
Know the Range of Your Electric Car
Being aware of the range of your EV helps overcome range anxiety to a great extent. For instance Damani DMV 300 has a range of 400 km when fully charged, while the Tesla Model X 2021 Long Range Dual Motor AWD has a range of over 580km when fully charged.
For more on Tesla model ranges, explore the 2021 Tesla and 2022 Tesla models.
Invest in a Home EV Charger
If you have electric car range anxiety, know that unlike regular ICE engine cars, you can charge your electric car battery at home. All you have to do is install an EV charger at home. Here is a list of best electric car chargers for home.
Once you have one of the home electric car chargers, you can start your car after fully charging the car battery and say goodbye to range anxiety.
Know the Locations of EV Charging Stations
In an attempt to go green, the government encourages people to buy electric cars. Furthering the go green motto, Al-Damani DMV 300 is the first electric car made in the UAE.
Now, there is a planned infrastructure in place for electric cars and there is no shortage of electric car charging stations in the country. Go through this list of electric car charging stations in Dubai if you’re based in the emirate. Moreover, with the help of DC fast chargers you can charge an EV battery in about 30 minutes or less.
Furthermore, if you drive a Tesla, this is a list of dedicated Tesla car charging stations in the UAE.
Regenerative Braking Helps
When an electric car captures some kinetic energy of the car and charges the battery when the brakes are applied. This makes up for a more efficient local roadway. Given this might not add a lot of charge in the battery, regenerative braking does make a big difference in your electric car drive.
Regenerative braking is common in hybrids as well as some electric vehicles. For instance: Tesla Model S consisting of at least a 60 kWH battery can make use of the 60 kW of power during regenerative braking. This can happen for a long duration, till the battery is near full charge (assuming the battery is almost 7 Celsius, if the battery is between 1 to 4 Celsius, the regenerative power will reduce to 30 kW).
Map Out Long-distance Trips
If you drive an electric car and plan on a long journey, map it out and get rid of the anxiety. Use google maps and mark the EV charging stations across your route. This way you will be confident when exploring new places and will also save on massive fuel costs. Moreover, be aware of important factors including speed limit, elevation and weather to understand how far your electric car can go between charges.
That is all about electric car range anxiety. Don’t let EV range anxiety get in the way of you adopting an electric car.
They are prolific cars and have a number of electric vehicle benefits. Electric vehicles have battery management systems to increase the EV car battery – you can also boost EV battery performance with the help of these systems.
If you think you’ve overcome the fear and wish to buy an electric car for yourself, go through this list of used cars for sale in the UAE on dubizzle. You will find a myriad of internal combustion engine and electric vehicles including used Tesla cars in the UAE.
Remember these things before making a switch to electric cars. Also, keep a check on upcoming electric cars for 2023.
Stay tuned to your favourite cars blog for more on electric cars.
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