Three tips to end electric car 'range anxiety'

With the price of gasoline and diesel through the roof and an energy dependency crisis increasingly evident in Europe, electric cars have already become an increasingly realistic alternative when buying a new car. Modern zero-emission electric cars feature ever shorter charging times, and at this point, they far surpass combustion vehicles in any comparative analysis that includes short, urban trips.

Their maintenance cost per kilometer is lower than that of a combustion vehicle, and car batteries increasingly offer reliability guarantees. However, there is still one aspect that acts as a brake for many buyers: the limited range capacity, which in the case of traveling with family or friends and using the air conditioning (an essential element in the summer months) will further reduce the kilometers we can travel. Below, we offer three tips to facilitate planning when taking long trips with electric cars.

Plan your trip well

Currently there are about 20,000 charging points throughout Spain, distributed in 7,000 stations scattered across the entire Spanish geography. The first thing to consider, therefore, is the route we want to follow and adapt it to the stations in service. It is also highly recommended that we book the charging points we want to use well in advance, especially in transit areas and areas with lower population density. We will have to do the same if we decide to travel to other European countries, with different tariff specifications for charging the electric car.

Fully charging the batteries at these stations is significantly more expensive than doing so at a domestic point, as we have explained on other occasions. In fact, charging at fast points in some electric stations can involve an outlay of about 40 cents per kWh. Considering that an electric car can consume about 20 kWh every 100 kilometers on a highway or motorway, we may find that the cost per 100 kilometers of travel is about 8 euros. In the worst case, we can find fast charging points with tariffs that reach 70 or 80 cents per kWh, which would significantly increase the cost of travel. Therefore, it is worth remembering that it is highly recommended to start the trip or journey with fully charged batteries.

Avoid fast charging points

Another element to consider is that even though there are already quite a few stations with fast charging points, which allow charging 80% of the car's batteries in just one hour and with power up to 150 kW, their use should be as occasional as possible, since manufacturers warn that continued use of these fast charging systems at high power ends up damaging the batteries and reducing their storage capacity and lifespan.

Practice efficient driving

When driving, we can also try to practice the most efficient driving possible to maximize autonomy, by selecting Eco or efficient driving modes, practicing relaxed and constant speed driving, and trying to take advantage of the vehicle's kinetic energy to charge the batteries. It is also important to avoid the hottest hours to save the energy consumed by the air conditioning system.

If the trip we want to make is very long and we have no choice but to stop to charge the batteries, a smart option is to spend the night in a hotel or apartment that has a charging point for customers, as they offer more affordable prices, and we may even find some cases where we can charge for free.