Range Anxiety

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Acquiring an electric vehicle has introduced me to various new concepts when it comes to driving.

 'Range anxiety,' for instance, seems to be a phrase that crops up regularly. Progressing so suddenly from a hot, dry spring and summer into current conditions has fostered an epidemic of the condition and I've even heard tell of one poor lady who couldn't bear the stress and ended up part-exchanging her electric car after only a few months to return to a conventional petrol engine. Unfortunately, deploying heating, lighting and windscreen wipers throughout every journey has an inevitable impact on battery power and the decrease in miles per kwh as a consequence can be worrying. Somebody even described to me how they are donning extra layers and driving without heating in an effort to tweak as many miles as possible out of their charge.

I'm lucky in that most of my driving is local and to be honest I'm not sure that I would have swapped to an electric car if it wasn't. I've learnt quickly also that charging an EV isn't the same as stopping for fuel at a filling station. No more driving from full tank to almost empty. Instead, little and often seems to be the mantra with frequent charging to keep the battery level between 20% and 80%. There's no conventional gauge and instead simply an indicator of the percentage to which the battery is charged and a very broad (invariably erroneous, often by a large margin) estimate of the number of miles that percentage will enable the car to travel. Obviously actual mileage is affected by driving mode and style as well as use of electricals within the vehicle.

I'm enjoying the challenges that a different type of engine is presenting and look forward to accumulating sufficient knowledge and experience in order to get a proper feel for how much range I can extract from the battery whilst refusing to reduce the enjoyment of the ride by turning off the radio, seat heating and other accoutrements. I'm guessing that there must be some nerdy drivers out there with complex spreadsheets to record mileage and battery drawdown against weather conditions and accessory use. If so, perhaps they could send me some tips.

It is said that, as we proceed through retirement, learning new skills is important for keeping one's brain in good working order. I'm a little concerned though that I'll never acquire the necessary level of expertise especially when degradation of the battery itself gets added into the mix. Come to think of it, this could be a long-term skill-learning experience when, and without even having to leave the driver's seat, as the battery power in the car diminishes my brain cells increase. Is driving to stave off dementia even a thing and, if not, could it become one?


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