The car was actually telling me I wouldn’t make it, but that was based on my normal driving style. I figured taking it ever so slightly easier It would be fine. The great secret of driving at motorway speeds is that dropping 10km/h or so makes almost no difference to your journey time.
As I was about to head back The car was predicting I’d make it with 4% to spare. That doesn’t sound a lot but it’s loads. I only use 15% for my typical 60km commute.
This is why range anxiety isn’t an EV issue. I had precise numbers. Not just a low fuel light that could mean anything. I could directly see the impact of speeding up and slowing down.
Nearing home the car is still showing I’ll arrive with 4%. After the drive down it figured out how I’m driving so it’s pretty accurate. But it wanted to take me a road I didn’t like. The road I do like saw me getting hiome with only 2% I did it anyway.
When I arrived home. Sure enough I had 2% left. I’ve seen some claims that showing exact % causes range anxiety. That EVs should show if you’re roughly Full or Empty like ICE cars. I say no way. This level of precision is the antidote to anxiety.
I’ve driven many Petrol and Diesel cars with the fuel light on. With the “predicted range” reading 0 for 10 or more KM. I’ve sat in traffic jams with the engine running on vapour. I’ve even freewheeled into petrol stations. And I’ve run out of fuel 2 or 3 times. That’s anxiety.
In 6 years of driving an EV I’ve never run out. And never felt anxious.
Love this thread! Thanks for posting! Having had a few performance cars most of them only made it ~230 miles before needing to refuel. I was going to the gas station all of the time! Switching to an EV 3 years ago I realize that range anxiety is something journalists like to write click bait about
I did a thread last week on 24 hours with Solan Panels. bsky.app/profile/zx23...
I’ve an MX-5 that does 300 miles comfortably. And when I take it easy I can push it to 350. The gauge drops faster for the second “half” than the first. I love cars. I love ICE engines. But the pretence that Range Anxiety is an EV problem is total crap.
There was something to it with really early EVs that were little more than proof of concept. Range is a solved problem now. The issue now is cost and resale value.
The good thing is that bad resale value means cheap used EVs. And on balance I’m fine with people who buy new losing their shirt, even if I was one.