EV Daily Range Requirement
I am looking for a new car and I am considering an Electric Vehicle. I have some concern about what range I would need for my car. With a gas car, it is easy, just stop in the local gas station for 5 to 10 minutes and I have replenished my car. But with an EV, I don’t want to be stuck in the middle of no where wondering how I can reach my destination. Add to the fact that charging an EV takes so much longer than a regular car. How do I handle this?
My first stop was to Google this question. It turns out that I am thinking of this all wrong. Coming from a traditional car mindset is not necessary with an EV. To start with, I can set up my own charging station (like gas station) at my own home. That way, I can charge my car every day to keep it at the recommended 80% level. If that is true, many pundits are saying that your required minimum EV Range is 3 times your daily mileage. The way that would work is if you drive on average 40 to 50 miles, you would need an EV that has a range of 120 to 150 miles. That sounds low since most EV’s have a range between 200 and 300 miles. That should alleviate my range concern since I have 3 days of driving. It does and it doesn’t.
EV Road Trip Range Requirement
The logic of getting an EV based upon my daily requirement does not address my needs when I go on a road trip of anywhere from 200 to 400 miles. The response is how often do you go on trips like that? Maybe 2 or 3 times a year. But I am not interested in renting a car for those trips. The other response is that I can charge on the road. If my trip is 300 miles, and I have a car with a range of 200 miles, then I can stop once while driving and charge up. The only downside is that it may take 30 or so minutes during that rest stop. Not the worst thing in the world.
The key question is what problem am I solving for. If I want my EV to handle all of my needs that I need to buy a car that will have the highest range. But if I make an accommodation to save some money, then I need to make rethink my my required needs. That means I can sacrifice some range to save money but with the understanding that I will have to stop longer to charge up my car than if I had a car with a 400 plus range.
Conclusion
On thinking this through, range anxiety for Electric Cars is an illogical approach that we do not entertain with traditional cars. There are ways around it and some modest sacrifices that would solve the problem. No one expects perfect with a traditional car and we all make some form of sacrifice when we buy our car. The benefits of being able to charge at home each and every night should be a major benefit that outweighs the limited downside risk of charging on a trip. I know I feel more at ease now.