Driving Electric Tips for a Smooth Transition to an EV Lifestyle

By Isabella Storyclaire

last updated September 17, 2024

Contributions sourced from

9 tips to get the most range out of your EV

When it comes to driving an EV, range is everything. If youre travelling long distances, an EV with limited range means you have to stop and recharge more often. Given how long it can take to charge an electric car, especially older models, thats obviously something youll want to avoid.

While theres no magic bullet to add an extra hundred miles or so to your battery, there are ways to maximize the range your car already has. A few extra miles here and there could be the difference between making it to your destination in one go, or having to stop and figure out where to charge your electric car.

Because suitable public chargers arent always easy to find, and too many of them employ poorly-made apps to function.

The key is driving more efficiently, much as it is when youre trying to get the most out of a tank of gas. While some of these tips are generally common sense, you may not be aware of the others. Its also worth mentioning that maximizing EV range in winter has its own set of challenges, which are worth reading up on.

But no matter the weather, here are essential tips for maximizing your EVs range.

How to maximize your EVs range

1. Dont drive too fast: Obviously driving over the speed limit is a bad idea at the best of times, but EV drivers going long distances will want to keep their speedometer around 60 miles per hour. The faster you go, the more power you need to pull from the battery to maintain that speed.

60mph is the point where most EVs are able to balance the need to conserve power while keeping your speed up. Go any higher and you will likely start seeing your range counter drop a little faster than you might like.

2. Use Eco Mode: A lot of EVs have a dedicated eco mode that restricts power to the more power-hungry features in the car, such as the heater and the accelerator. You wont be breaking any 0-60 records for your car doing this, but the power thats not being fed elsewhere can instead keep you going further for longer. Likewise, be sure to keep Sport Mode, if you have that, switched off.

3. Drive smoothly: Much like driving a gas-powered car, your mileage will vary depending on how you drive. One of the best ways you maximize your range is to keep your drive nice and smooth. Avoid lead-footing the gas pedal to get up to the speed limit quickly, because the faster you try and go, the more power youll use in the process.

Likewise, slamming on the brakes at the very last second means youve just wasted whatever energy you were using to maintain that speed. If you can, start slowing down earlier with gentle braking or, ideally, coasting to let physics slow you down gradually.

4. Use regenerative braking: The extra benefit to a gentler deceleration is it gives your car more chance to recoup some of the lost energy through regenerative braking. The amount of power youll get back will depend on how strong youve set your cars regenerative brakes. The stronger they are, the more power youll get back, and the faster youll slow down before hitting the actual brakes.

5. Choose more efficient routes: Efficient driving isnt just about how you drive, but also about which routes you take. Long stretches of uninterrupted road are better for your power efficiency than a route that involves lots of stopping or slowing down to make turns. After all, maintaining your speed uses less power than slowing down and accelerating back to the same speed.

Thankfully technology can help you out, especially if you use Google Maps. Among some of the best Google Maps tips is a feature that automatically sends drivers down the most efficient routes. While the setting can be switched off, the app will do this by default. Be sure to consult Google Maps before you go on any long trips and see what it says.

(Image credit: Future Studios/Drive)

6. Keep the climate control under control: Climate control can be a big drain on your battery if youre not careful. But be sure to use these features sparingly if you can, and use less-power hungry methods to stay comfortable. For instance, heated seats are more efficient than the main heating system.

If you need to stay cool, opening the window for some breeze is a less energy-intensive way to do it. Sure, it increases your drag, which means you need more power to stay moving, but its less of a drain than A/C alone. Obviously how much you need this will depend on where you live.

The most important thing is to make sure youre comfortable and safe from the elements. However this is still worth bearing in mind if you have a long trip ahead of you (and temperatures allow it).

7. Keep your tires inflated: Always make sure you know what pressure your tires should be set to, because doing it wrong can seriously hamper how far your car can go.

Under-inflated tires increase drag, which in turn increases your cars power consumption. It can also lead to increased and uneven tread wear over time which will cost you in the long run. So check that pressure, and make sure its at the right level, especially in cold weather.

8. Dump the excess weight: The heavier your car, the more power is needed to make it move. So if theres any excess weight in your EV, be sure to get it out before you go on any long trips. Every ounce of weight increases your power consumption ever so slightly, and it all adds up.

You should also be sure to remove any unnecessary accessories that would increase drag. Because, again, more drag means more power consumed. Any bike or roof racks, surf boards, grill guards, decorative spoilers or whatever else you might have on the outside of your car that doesnt have to be there needs to go.

9. Look after your battery: The most important thing for maximizing the range of an EV is looking after the thing that powers the car. Lithium ion batteries can be fickle, and degradation is an issue to worry about, but if you look after your battery it wont be much of a problem.

To put it simply, avoid using rapid charging in favor of slower charging methods where possible, and always try to keep your power levels between 20 and 80%. Not only will this help preserve the battery and keep your range estimates high, a healthy battery will ensure your car retains its value should you ever decide to sell.

The EV Transition Is Harder Than Anyone Thinks

Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan boldly proclaims that electric vehicles will reach price parity with internal-combustion-engine (ICE) vehicles by 2025. Not likely, counter Mercedes-Benzs chief technology officer Markus Schfer and Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo.

The International Energy Agencypredicts that EVs will make up more than 60 percent of vehicles sold globally by 2030. But given the sheer tonnage of lithium, cobalt, and other raw materials needed for EV batteries, that figure is overly optimistic, suggests the mineral market analysis company Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, unless nearly 300 new mines and supporting refineries open by then.

EV owners should be urged to charge at night to save not only money and the power grid but the world, a news headline cries out. Not so fast, exclaim researchers at Stanford University, who state that charging EVs during the day is actually cheaper, better for the grid, and healthier for the environment.

And so goes the litany of contradictory statements about the transition to EVs:

EVs will/will not collapse the electric grid.
EVs will/will not cause massive unemployment among autoworkers.
EVs will/will not create more pollution than they eliminate.

Confused? Join the crowd.

Sorting through this contradictory rhetoric can make anyones head spin. My response to each proclamation is often a shrug followed by It depends.

Two years ago, I began investigating the veracity of claims surrounding the transition to EVs at scale. The result is a 12-part series and e-book, The EV Transition Explained, that explores the tightly woven technological, policy, and social issues involved. The articles are based on scores of interviews I conducted with managers and engineers in the auto and energy industries, as well as policy experts, academic researchers, market analysts, historians, and EV owners. I also reviewed hundreds of reports, case studies, and books surrounding EVs and electrical grids.

What I found is an intricately tangled web of technological innovation, complexity, and uncertainty, combined with equal amounts of policy optimism and dysfunction. These last two rest on rosy expectations that the public will quietly acquiesce to the considerable disruptions that will inevitably occur in the coming years and decades. The transition to EVs is going to be messier, more expensive, and take far longer than the policymakers who are pushing it believe.

Scaling is hard

Let me be very clear: Transitioning to electric vehicles and renewable energy to combat climate change are valid goals in themselves. Drastically reducing our fossil-fuel use is key to realizing those goals. However, attempting to make such transitions at scale in such a short period is fraught with problems, risks, and unanticipated consequences that need honest and open recognition so they can be actively and realistically addressed. Going to scale means not only manufacturing millions of EVs per year but supporting them from recharging to repair.

A massive effort will be needed to make this happen. For example, in January 2023 the sales of EVs in the United States reached 7.83 percent of new light-duty vehicle sales, with 66,416 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and 14,143 plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) sold. But consider that also in January, some 950,000 new ICE light-duty vehicles were sold, as well as approximately another 3 million used ICE vehicles.

Transforming the energy and transportation sectors simultaneously will involve a huge number of known and unknown variables, which will subtly interact in complex, unpredictable ways. As EVs and renewable energy scale up, the problems and the solutions will cover ever-expanding populations and geographies. Each proposed solution will probably createnew difficulties. In addition, going to scale threatens peoples long-held beliefs, ways of life, and livelihoods, many of which will be altered, if not made obsolete. Technological change is hard, social change even harder.

And yet, the rush to transition to EVs is logical. Parts of the world are already experiencing climate-change-related catastrophes, and governments around the world have pledged to act under the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 C above preindustrial levels. This agreement requires the reduction of greenhouse gases across all industrial sectors. Transportation is one of the largest contributors of GHG emissions worldwide, and many experts view replacing ICE vehicles with EVs as being the quickest and easiest way to reach the target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

However, shifting a 125-year-old auto industry thats optimized for ICE-vehicle production to EVs using nascent technology is a monumental challenge in itself. Requiring that automakers do so in 15 years or less is even more daunting, although part of it is their own doing by not recognizing earlier thatEVs might be a threat to their business models. EVs require automakers and their suppliers to reinvent their supply chains, hire employees with new software, battery, and mechatronic skill sets, and retrain or else lay off workers whose outdated skills are no longer needed.

The articles in the series address different aspects of this transition, including EV-related unemployment, battery issues, the EV charging infrastructure, and affordability. One not entirely surprising finding is that the traditional automakers are electrifying their offerings while also squeezing the last bit of profit from their gas guzzlers. That is, they are introducing less-expensive EV models, but their main thrust is still on producing profitable luxury EV models that are well beyond the means of the average household while also pushing sales of profitable fossil-fuel-powered SUVs.

EVs are not just a technology change

Electric vehicles are more than just a new technology for combating climate change. In the United States, for instance, policymakers view EVs as the tip of the spear for a vast program of government-directed economic nationalismthe economic, environmental, and societal change aimed at completely reshaping the nations US $26 trillion economy away from fossil fuels. They see normal market forces as inadequate to meet the imposed climate deadlines. Hence, with the Biden administrations encouragement, ICE-vehicle sales will be banned in 2035 in California and several other states. In the series, I scrutinize several such EV policies and take a look at the roadblocks that could derail them, such as inadequately sized pole transformers and the failure to issue permits for new electricity transmission lines.

The United States is not alone in seeing EVs as an economic driver, of course. Worldwide, nearly 60 countries are now imposing similar ICE-vehicle sales bans. This has forced EVs into yet another role: as a cudgel to be wielded in the fierce geopolitical competition for economic advantage. For China, Japan, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States, EVs are the vehicle needed to win the future of transportation and manufacturing. Consider the reactions to the recent change in U.S. EV subsidy policy, which aims to boost domestic EV manufacturing and energy security. The decision deeply angered other countries and is sparking moves to counter it.

EVs alone arent sufficient to meet carbon-reduction targets, which means enormous lifestyle changes for many of us, as we try to do our part to combat climate change. People will need to drive and fly less, walk and bike more, and take public transportation. Well need to switch to a more plant-based diet and convert household appliances powered by fossil fuels to electricity, to name only a few looming adjustments. Peoples willingness to accept these changes and their ability to implement them will be crucial to our success at adapting to climate change and mitigating its impacts.

The introduction of any new system spawns perturbations that create surprises, both wanted and unwanted. We can safely assume that quickly moving to EVs at scale will unleash its fair share of unpleasant surprises, as well as prove the adage of haste makes waste.

Take a systems-engineering approach

What struck me most in writing the series was that the EV transition is incredibly fluid. Major changes in transportation and energy policy, battery technology, and automakers strategies are announced nearly daily, highlighting the many uncertainties. Given the geopolitical nature of the transition, these uncertainties will only increase.

These rapid changes also show the fragility of the transition. The desperate pleas from automakers for more government subsidies is not reassuring. Teslas recent price cuts, for instance, have thrown the auto industry into turmoil. Neither is a sign of a market that is sure of itself or its future.

This fragility is also obvious when you examine the overly optimistic assumptions and the many caveats buried in EV and energy-policy recommendations. Many things need to go exactly right, and very little can go wrong for the EV transition to transpire as planned. At times like these, Im reminded of Nobel Prizewinning physicist Richard Feynmans admonishment: For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.

There is a cacophony of foolishness being spouted by those advocating for the EV transition and by those denouncing it. It is time for the nonsense to stop, and some realistic political and systems thinking to begin.

This article appears in the April 2023 print issue.

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