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Range Anxiety: Tips to Boost EV Confidence

Should electric vehicle (EV) range anxiety still be on our minds in 2024 and beyond?

What is EV range anxiety?

Simply, EV range anxiety is the fear that we’ll run out of charge before we get to a charging point.

When we talk about the range of an electric vehicle EV, we are referring to the miles an EV can cover with a fully charged battery. Range anxiety is the term that describes a driver’s concern that their vehicle will not have enough battery charge to make it to their destination. 

This fear may be exacerbated by or contribute to ‘charging anxiety’, influenced by a lack of public charging infrastructure on route, which would leave EV drivers without the means of topping up their vehicle to continue their journey.

Unlike a traditional petrol or diesel ICE vehicle, we can’t just grab a jerry can from the boot and head to the nearest petrol station with an EV. What’s more, although you can push it a short distance to clear it from a road, it can’t be towed anywhere. This means if you run out of power in an electric vehicle, you’re going to need to call (and pay for!) breakdown recovery to come with a flatbed truck to take you to a charger. Further still, if it’s not a fast charger you reach first, you could be sitting for an hour or so before you fill the battery enough to get home.

It’s easy to see why it’s called electric vehicle range anxiety. While there is no single range anxiety solution, apart from not running out in the first place, there are things you can do to help.

 

What affects EV range?

An EV’s range will be negatively impacted by rapid acceleration and harsh breaking, idling, over- or under-inflated tyres, and the weather. In fact, significant increases and decreases in temperature can see an EV lose 25% of its advertised range!

Similarly, carrying excess weight, driving with the windows open, having the heater or AC on and driving at high speeds or over rough terrain all reduce EV range.

Should EV drivers be concerned about range?

But is range anxiety still a problem in today’s EV market?

According to The Car Expert, most new EVs provide ranges comparable to traditional petrol cars, and we ‘won’t find many mainstream EVs with official battery ranges of less than 250 miles’ on the market today.

Even if drivers are using their full range and running their batteries down over their journey, the UK’s EV charging infrastructure has made such advancements in comparison to when EVs were first coming to market, that on-route charging is much more accessible. 

Between the end of 2016 and 2022, the charge point network expanded from just 6,500 to over 37,261 devices. Helping solve range anxiety further, in 2022, more than 8,600 charge points were added to the network. As of July 2024, there are 66,779 EV charging points across the UK at 34,570 different stations. These figures highlight that electric vehicle range anxiety should not be the concern for drivers it once was, for there is a growing network of charge points to provide comfort that they will not be left stranded.

local ev charging
This reduced fear of problems surrounding EV range is confirmed by recent data from the AA. According to the AA, there has been over a 70% decrease in the proportion of EVs running out of charge over the last few years. In 2023, the AA dealt with 39,109 EV breakdowns, equating to a mere 2.86% of the total breakdown workload.

Edmund King OBE, AA president, confirms their ‘data on ‘out of charge’ EVs clearly shows ‘charging anxiety’ does not match the reality. The 70% drop in out-of-charge breakdowns is a clear sign that range, EV Charging infrastructure, and education are improving.’ In reality, this is the best and only range anxiety solution.

Reducing EV range anxiety

How much EV range do I need?

This is subjective, depending on how far you are travelling and the distance you wish to cover before stopping to charge your vehicle. However, as of 2022, the average car journey in the UK was just 8.1 miles, suggesting that range anxiety should never really be an issue.

As Catherine Faiers, Chief Operating Officer at Autotrader, notes ‘[We’re] all used to just grabbing our keys, jumping in the car and setting off on a journey. With an electric vehicle, you do need to have thought before you leave your house.’

This not only applies to charging in advance of trips to ensure you have what you need, but also when planning where you can charge your EV during your journey. To be confident that your EV’s range can get you to where you want to be, you should plan your journey and plot where you can top up if necessary. Mer’s Driver Portal and Zap-Map display all our public charge points, with details on the charger type and real-time availability.

How to increase electric car range

Switching things off can have a significant impact on the range of your electric vehicle. An EV’s air-conditioning, heated seats and windscreens, and audio system all contribute to draining the battery of power. Turning these internal features off whilst driving will preserve the battery life and keep you on the road for longer. Similarly, avoiding hard accelerating and braking, driving at high speed and keeping the windows shut will also help preserve your charge.

 

Switch things off

An EVs air-conditioning, heated seats and windscreens, and audio system all contribute to draining the battery of power. Turning these internal features off whilst driving will preserve the EVs battery life and keep you on the road for longer.

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