Introduction
Want to get the best out of your car batteries? Want to get rid of range anxiety? You just need to be mindful of a few things with electric cars. Electric cars are very different from their gas-powered siblings especially when it comes to economy and efficiency. Electric cars very well appreciate the driving habits of the owner both in the short term as well long term. Getting the maximum range from an EV is like a cashback for driving sensibly day in and day out.
There is no such thumb rule that cars with big batteries will have more range, it can be considered true to some extent but efficiency is the key. Buyers should be stressing about the miles-per-kWh figure at the time of choosing an electric car for themselves. And Buyers should always choose an EV suited to their usage rather than just going for the numbers. So in order to get the range anxiety out of your mind, here are the EV Official’s top tips to help you extend the range of your electric car.
1 Intelligent Use of Brake Regeneration
Anticipation is directly proportional to efficiency while driving any vehicle, however, I believe anticipation is directly proportional to efficiency in every field of life. And when it comes to electric cars, anticipation is even more rewarding because of the brake regeneration. Most electric cars have some form of brake regeneration, which redirects some of the energy lost due to de-acceleration back into the battery. You would be surprised to see how helpful it can be to restore this little bit of energy back for later use.
2 Choose Driving Modes Wisely
Electric cars are even techier than modern-day gas-powered cars and they come with a variety of driving modes. You will find three driving modes on every electric car: Normal, Sports, and Eco. The normal driving mode uses the default settings whereas the sports mode adds more zip to the throttle. And the eco or economy mode is like a battery-saver mode on our smartphones, it restricts everything for maximum efficiency. It is definitely worth choosing a driving mode because over a long journey eco mode can add up to 10-15 miles of range depending upon the car.
3 Preconditioning the Car Before Hand
Preconditioning the car before beginning your journey keeps the battery at a healthy temperature and also the cabin temperature is just how you would like it. So it is probably the best thing to do on hot summer days and cold winter nights right? But would it not be a good idea to precondition the car with electricity from the power grid? These days many things in the car can be controlled remotely via the mobile app, so before departing you can tell the car to switch on and start preconditioning while it is connected. Hence you will save the battery level and preserve the range of your car.
4 Tyres Are a Big Deal
Checking the tyre pressure is a basic routine check for every driver but why is it such a big deal? The importance of this can be understood from the fact that a ten per cent decrease in the rolling resistance of the tyre can lower fuel consumption by one per cent. Another factor that can help decrease the rolling resistance is choosing tyres with the best rating. Tyres are rated from ‘A to E’ with the A rating being the most efficient in terms of rolling resistance.
5 Plan Your Journey Ahead
If you are beginning a long journey, there are many popular navigation apps that can locate charging stations on your route. And these days some apps also let you filter the charging stations which have fast charging facilities. Drivers can also filter the charging station with charging connectors compatible with their car. So these apps can help you plan where to charge the vehicle and lead a stress-free journey ahead. And it is also advisable to not carry unnecessary stuff in the car because that too can impact the range figure.
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