Thinking of making the switch to an EV?
Well, you’re not alone. There are a lot of things EV that require different thinking to buying a gas car.
Sales of new EVs the world over, catapulted by over 32% in the first three months of 2023. Sales grew by 55% in the US alone. By the middle of 2023 in Australia, as many new EVs had been purchased as had been in the whole of 2022. As time and technology progresses there’s more to sift through when making your choice.
New technology—exciting for some, daunting for others—means uncharted territory and so many questions that you may not know the answers to. Regardless of how you feel about it, driving, maintaining and ‘fueling’ up an EV is a totally different experience to a gasoline-powered car.
The unfamiliarity of the whole EV thing has some people feeling naturally resistant to making the switch. There’s a lot of falsehood being circulated. All that nonsense makes it hard to determine what’s fact or fiction. Sure, it’s good to be concerned about stuff like range, batteries, whether these things are good for the planet (and so much more)… but it’s also good to be aware that there’s a good measure of propaganda trying to keep you from making the switch.
My EV story will help you
My family test-drove our first EV back in 2016 and since then we were determined to get our own. That happened in March 2022. We did lots of research. Asked lots of questions. Watched hundreds of videos. In those 16 months we’ve enjoyed driving almost 20,000 miles (over 30,000kms) and can definitely help you understand the changes in thinking and habits to transition to driving electric. In this article, we’ll take a look at those things we wish we had known. Hopefully, it will shortcut your own learning and be able to come to quicker and possibly even better decisions.
The two biggest concerns
The biggest concerns or questions most people have about electric cars are these 2 things, defined right here as:
Range anxiety… the worry over how far your car will travel before you have to fill it up.
Charge anxiety… and when you do run out, will you be able to find a charger?
So, here are the 13 things I wish I had known before I bought my EV.
1. Range
Range is a thing… but how big of a thing is it really?
In the beginning, it’s likely you will worry about range. But, is the anxiety you feel actually warranted? And, is it range or charge anxiety? Are you worried about how long it will take to find a charger that works, how long you’ll wait, or how long it will take to charge?
2. Range figures are guesses (whether EV or ICE)
When you look for an EV, there will be a range figure quoted to you.
Range = the number of miles you should expect to drive:
- If… you started at 100% battery charged, and
- If… you drove it down to 0% charge.
Quoted range figures are arrived at by driving the car in controlled conditions. It is by no means a real world figure. It’s a selling tool to compare car with car. It’s not definitive.
The truth about range figures
Truth is, you’ll rarely ever drive either an EV or gas car to zero tank. And, regardless of car type, lots of things have enormous effects on range, including:
- How and where you drive your car
- Your driving style
- Driving conditions including climate (and whether air-conditioning or heating is on) and
- The lay of the land.
3. The important range questions you need to ask
Do you drive 600 miles in one go? How long can you really drive without stopping to stretch your legs? How big is your bladder? Haha. I know that sounds funny, but the truth is, when you drive, you need breaks. Elon Musk is quoted as saying you really don’t need more range than 400miles (640km). He’s probably right.
Fun Fact: Did you know that the Department of Transportation says the average driver in America only travels 37 miles per day? What’s more, the more densely populated it is, the lower the daily average. So, unless you’re often on very long trips, do you really need extra-long-range vehicles?
4. Understand the difference between range and guess-o-meter
So, to buy the car, you’ll be quoted a range you should expect to get out of a full charge down to 0% (unrealistic!). When you own it, your car makes complicated calculations to predict how many miles are left in your battery at any one time. Many drivers have amusingly coined this as your car’s guess-o-meter (GoM). It’s an educated guess your car’s algorithms make based on your current and recent driving style and conditions. Recent stop-start city driving (with tons of regen braking) over the last month, will give a longer GoM range than if you’ve been doing a lot of highway trips at consistent high speed. Having said that, my Kia gives quite accurate results and its GoM is quite quick to adapt to changes.
Teslas, for example, when you pop in your destination, will plot you a course that will take through charge points along the way.
Gas car range is still subject to how you drive, the conditions and the load you’re carrying, but planning your road trip stops is less important. Stops can be far more ad hoc and happenstance because of the ubiquity of gas stations.
Long trips: All it takes is a little planning
With an EV road trip, you just need to plan a little. Because your car can go into a partial shutdown mode to conserve energy at extremely low battery charge, you want to avoid discharging your battery to close to zero percent. Generally, it’s a good idea not to venture too low below 20%. Otherwise you could find yourself driving in turtle mode (slow) and your air conditioning might switch off to preserve energy.
Just as you would aim never to leave the home with 10% charge on your mobile phone battery—and you plug it in when it’s not being used at home or work—you would aim to not let your car’s State of Charge (SoC) to drop too low. All these problems just require a shift of thinking. Believe me, it doesn’t take long to adapt.
5. Building EV habits is key
If you ask me, it’s just fear of the unknown and a reliance on old habits. Most ICE car users (petrol/diesel cars) watch the fuel gauge and when it gets to a certain spot they can stop almost anywhere. Others have a fuelling habit where perhaps on a particular day of the week, as part of their routine, they fill up.
It's a habit, and with an EV you’ll have to develop DIFFERENT habits. That unknown factor is what EV naysayers are known to prey on.
Range anxiety is no longer justified
Let’s face it, the really early EVs had a tiny range (often less than 100miles) and range anxiety was justified. But these days most cars have more than 220 miles and that goes all the way up to and well over 400 miles. For comparison, ICE cars have better range, averaging more like 300 – 400 miles per tank, but then, you are driving around on a tank of flammable material that literally explodes to move you along. Funny that never comes up when we compare EVs and gasoline and diesel cars.
6. Cars are used often, but not for long
The other big chestnut… cars are invaluable tools that get us where we want to go, but they stand around—being unused—for 95% of the time (even longer).
If you’re smart, develop the right habits and way of thinking, you could use the time the car is not being used to charge it. That’s where home/work/destination charging is amazing. How many of us have a petrol bowser at home? Right!
“Charge anxiety” may be warranted if you drive long distances, every day, or go on frequent long trips.
Click here to read Part 2… the 14 things I wish I’d known about chargers and charging before I bought an EV.
Is the worry warranted?
My own EV6 has a range of about 300miles (450kms) and can get significantly higher than that (an extra 40 miles or 54km). And so many current EV models have similar ranges (such as the BMW i5, the Ioniq 5 and several Mercedes models, Polestar 2 and more). The average range for ALL electric cars including the highest range vehicles down to the historically tiny range of old EVs, is still a respectable 220 miles. That’s still almost 6 times the average daily commute of every American!
The bottom line: Most EVs have more than 220 miles of electrons!
No-brainer aha moment: Your gasoline or diesel car is NEVER doing nothing when you drive it to fill up with gas because you ALWAYS have to make a special trip. When you go EV, you’ll never miss no longer having to fill up at the gas station, the smell, the waiting around in line and at the bowser, the risk of dripping gas on your shoe, or getting it on your hand or have the gas smell hang around in your nostrils for minutes and sometimes hours.
7. Your EV has a sweet spot
Ever heard of a “sweet spot”? Well, your car has one, and it’s generally at the very temperate level of about 70ish degrees Fahrenheit, or about 20ish degrees Celsius.
Then there are extreme temperatures you need to know about, that negatively affect your EV, its rate of charge and its efficiency. Temperatures below +20F or -6C are considered extreme low. Temps above about 100F or 38ishC are considered extremely high. Range can reduce.
Which means, by definition that pretty much if you’re driving your EV in temperatures between 20F to 95F your car will charge at reasonable speed and its range, and battery health will be fairly normal!
In extreme temps you tend to use air conditioning (cooling and heating more) and these will reduce your range, perhaps up to 20 or 30 miles on a longish trip. Funny, it’s the same thing in a gas car, but we don’t really worry about that! This aircon issue is lessened if your EV has a heat pump, and if you occasionally drive with the windows down and get some natural air con!
8. EVs are fun to drive and, if you’re like me, you won’t go back
Yes, you can drag most people off at the lights and WIN! Haha. I can admit to testing the limits of my car in the early months as I got used to it. The power delivery is impressive because of the instant torque. But what will bowl you over is the SMOOTH delivery. There are no gears, so you sail down the road with such silky speed, you’ll feel the exhilaration. I often find myself smiling!
9. Silence is golden
The relative silence is so lovely. Smooth, Fast, Efficient, Silent. For the most part, all you hear is some road noise from the tires, and the low speed wooshy or electronic noises that alert cyclists and pedestrians (VESS or virtual engine sound system).
10. It’s possible to drive without discharging the battery
Yesterday I left the house with an 89% charge. We did some shopping at several different destinations, covered almost 30 miles. It wasn’t until we climbed the last hill home that we dropped from 89% charge. That’s right, we traveled about 25 miles and the State of Charge STAYED at 89%. Which brings me to what I love about electric cars…
11. Your car can charge as you drive and use only one pedal
Your EV moves thanks to the energy in the battery which drives the motor, which turns the wheels and moves your car forward. At some point you have to change speed, and you have to stop.
It takes energy to stop, or slow down, a car. There’s energy from the resistance of the tires against the road. Brakes work against the momentum of the car.
The motor in an EV can also operate in reverse direction. This helps to slow the car. And here’s where the magic happens… you can harness that energy and pump it back into the battery. It is possible to go on a trip in your car and return with little to no change in your battery’s SoC. If you live at the top of a hill, you could actually have more power at the bottom than you started with.
It’s called regenerative braking
Regenerative braking is when you use the car’s motor to slow the car instead of using the brakes. You can take your foot of the pedal and regen will activate.
There’s something immensely satisfying about EV driving, regenerative braking, smooth power and instant torque. All of these things completely dwarf the “issues” of range. At least they do for me.
One-pedal driving is kinda magic
Some people liken one-pedal driving to operating a dodgem car. They’re really not wrong. One thing is for sure, you have far more fun, control and technology enhancing your driving experience with an EV.
Anyway, with one pedal, you press to go faster, and lift your foot to slow down. You can argue that this also happens in a gas car, you’re still burning fuel, the car is still moving forward but takes longer to slow down. It’s a different experience, and honestly, less enjoyable and you are really less in control. This is because there’s a flywheel effect in gas engines which keeps it propelling forward. As I said, you’re always burning fuel and wasting energy (every second your gas car is on, even if you’re at a standstill). With an electric car, you take your foot of the pedal, and CREATE energy which goes back to the battery, and when you’re not moving, the only energy being used is to power any ancillary functions like lights and air con. You can come to a complete and concerted stop with one-pedal driving and simply touch the brakes if necessary, say, just as you pull up at the lights.
What I love about regen:
You use the brakes less, wear through fewer brake pads, and use far less brake fluid in an EV as a result. You may never need to replace your brake pads over the life of your electric car!
Different levels of regen
One-pedal driving has different features according to car make and model. You may be able to set how aggressively your car slows down when you lift your foot… it can range from light, normal to aggressive regeneration. The more aggressive the setting the faster the car slows down. What you choose depends on traffic conditions and if it’s available to you, you can change at the flick of a switch or click of an icon!
12. You will save money by owning an EV
Spend less
That’s a bold claim, given that electric cars can cost more when you purchase them (but that’s changing fast). You will, however, start saving money (cash spend) on maintaining and running your car, as soon as you drive it off the lot.
Naturally, the price of power will change depending on where you plug your car in. It ranges from virtually free (if you charge from excess solar), to inexpensive tariffs (from peak, to shoulder to off-peak rates which all vary widely). Those tariffs are always less expensive than those you find at public chargers. At the moment, you get more miles per kWh (the unit you pay for, for electricity) than you get per gallon of petrol. In short, even with the most expensive power prices, you will spend less per mile travelled than you will pay for gas or diesel fuels.
Remember, you will pay more for a supercharger (delivering DC electron flow) than you pay for a Level 2 AC charger.
Lower maintenance costs
Purely and simply… less moving parts in an electric motor means less things can go wrong… less things to check… less maintenance… you spend less money.
ICE engines which run on gasoline or diesel, have thousands of parts from small to big, numerous oils to change, grease to apply, and hundreds of junctions to check, and hundreds of places where movement can jostle wires and wear them down to expose them. Short circuits, fire risks and leaks are par for the course with a gas vehicle. It’s just the way it is.
When you service an EV, be prepared to be shocked—pleasantly—by the cost. Many brands have set price for routine service which pale in comparison.
13. Smart-tech makes life easier
You could be mistaken into believing that autodriving is where it’s at. Some cars are definitely 'smarter’ than others. It’s great to see that the range of standard tech being included in even basic cars is greater all the time. Tesla has certainly made the news for years with its progress towards the success and inevitability of the driverless car. But, it’s not the be-all-and-end-all feature. Just about every EV you can buy will feature impressive tech.
Mind you, some of these features are now also included in ICE cars. You can expect the wonders of driving with:
- Collision Assist Warnings (you’ll be warned by an audible alarm and feel the brakes take hold to avert an impending accident)
- Lane Keep Assistance (to stop you straying towards or over the lane markers)
- Lane Follow Assist (allows you to follow the road by taking over some steering)
- Cruise Control (which not only maintains you at a set speed where appropriate, but keeps you within a certain safe distance of the car in front)
The last two (Lane Follow and Cruise Control) create a quasi-autopilot situation and give you plenty of opportunity to take full control of your car when you want and need to.
The Bottom Line
Going EV is a step forward, and you won’t want to go back
I think it was 2016, when the whole family experienced a test-drive of our first EV. That was a Tesla Model X. And we were Blown Away! I am positive we decided THAT DAY we would buy an electric car. We did actually buy another ICE car in the interim, but then choice was limited, Tesla and Leafs were the only choice, and we chose not to devote the funds. In 2022 however, after being the first on the list in our State for an EV6 (for 9 months), we took delivery and… We. Are. Hooked. And we’ll never go back.
Driving an EV makes real sense to us financially, emotionally and logically. You will have your own reasons. I am so tired of hearing that climate change is the reason we should all drive electric. Nothing is that cut and dried. And it puts people offside who don’t believe in “climate change”. They almost feel beholden to ICE cars lest they somehow align themselves on the wrong side of the political fence. I really don’t care about all that bee ess. 😉
To me, if I can charge my car using excess solar at home, (which we’ve done since day 1 and it’s about 1.5 years already), if I can feel confident we’re not contributing to unnecessary noise, totally unnecessary toxic gases being released into the air, then I am happy.
When our children were young, I would pick them up from school and feel horrified at how many people let their engines run so they could sit in air-conditioned comfort, meanwhile their cars were spewing gallons and gallons of toxic gases over children awaiting pickup. That just seems like the easiest thing to fix. Rant over.
It’s worth mentioning that an EV will last a hell of a lot longer than an ICE car, with less maintenance, less cost and better driving experience. That means, while it’s not a green machine, it will produce and be responsible for less emissions than a gas car (even if you charge from a coal-fired grid). It’s even better if you rarely use grid power (and get energy from your own solar panels) or if that power you use is solely renewable energy.
There are so many other reasons to go EV.
When you experience the joy of the ultra-smooth driving experience of electric cars, the instant torque and available power you can access, you will likely be another instant convert. It’s exhilarating… It’s quiet (I can hear what everyone is saying!)… It’s smooth (no lurching in any way, as you do when an ICE car moves through its gears)… It’s powerful… and it’s FUN.