Range anx·i·e·ty noun - informal

Worry on the part of a person driving an electric car that the battery will run out of power before the destination or a suitable charging point is reached.

“Range anxiety is often cited as the most important reason why many are reluctant to buy electric cars” Range Anxiety is a real thing and it is keeping a lot of people from buying electric vehicles. Not everyone has these feeling about electric vehicles, but the feeling is there. It is slowly being pecked at by the auto manufacturers as the ranges slowly climb up to 300 miles and beyond in certain vehicles, but it still hangs on. A recent study in the UK showed just how difficult it is to pin down an ‘ideal’ range. One third of motorists said they would accept up to 300 miles as the range that would entice them to buy an electric vehicle. The same number demanded up to 400 miles on a single charge, with the remaining third waiting for 400- 1,000 miles. Now, this was a study in England, where a 300 mile range could take you most places in the country on just one or two charges. The United States is a bit different where it could take multiple charges just to get across Texas.

The ranges of electric vehicles available in the US varies widely. Ranging from the abysmal 89 mile range of the Honda Clarity to the “Hmm, that’s not bad” of the Chevy Bolt at 259 miles. The Chevy Bolt, the Hyundai Kona, the Kia Niro and the Tesla Model  3 are all similarly priced, similarly ranged vehicles that are the bargains of the EVs at the moment. Going beyond the 300 mile range requires a bit of  an upgrade in the price-out-of-pocket, but we are getting there, albeit slowly. 

  

According to a recent article on the AAA website, the average US driver travels just 29 miles each day. Most journeys made are running errands, social meetups, and commuting to and from work. People regularly making these sorts of journeys might be willing to accept a car that delivers a much shorter range, as  it would suit their needs. In Norway, the most EV friendly country, electric vehicles are frequently just used for commuting to work. Often, owners also have a traditional fossil-fuel vehicle that’s big enough to fill with leisure equipment for trips into Norway’s great outdoors. They have both types because each is suited to a different use. If the way to encourage adoption of electric vehicles is as a second car that’s just used for shorter basic journeys, then it seems a good proportion of people are ready to get behind that idea.

In the beginning there were multiple plug types  for charging your electric vehicle that you had to contend with so the government had to step in  and request that a standard be developed. The J1772 is the current fast charge plug that is used. This would make things a lot easier for the charging station providers. There is also a Fast DC version that charges at a, well, faster rate. A 2020 Chevy Bolt has an acceptance rate of 7.2kW and a 32 Amp HCS-40 station will add about 24 miles of range per hour of charging; a 40 Amp HCS-50 will not charge the  vehicle any faster. Some electric vehicles have a  higher acceptance rate, like the Audi E-Tron SUV (acceptance rate of 9.6kW). It would add about 31 miles of range per hour while others can except DC Fast Charge at up to 150kW and charge 200 miles per 1⁄2 hour. 

Tesla owners already benefit from an expansive network of Supercharger fast-charging stations, and significant funding from the Volkswagen diesel-emissions settlement has been poured into the Electrify America network. Electrify America recently opened its 400th charging station, has permits for an additional 100 stations, and a further 150 stations in development. The Volkswagen-funded network lags behind Tesla but has made impressive progress in just 20 months compared to Tesla’s eight years of buildup. It’s also worth noting the contributions of other private charging networks such as ChargePoint and EVgo and automakers like Nissan. In early 2019 GM announced a deal with construction giant Bechtel to build thousands of charging stations across the United States both along interstates and in urban areas. GM hasn’t disclosed many specifics on the project, but the automaker has several new electric models in development that would benefit from expanded infrastructure. 

There are also a lot of resources for the travel-minded electric vehicle owner such as Plug Share, that helps you map out any long distance trips with available charging stations. As the quantity of stations grows, the thought of making a cross country trip in an electric vehicle seems more and more viable. In the background of all of this mileage flexing, there is also a truck war going on between Tesla, Rivian and Nikola. All are proposing trucks  with similar performance statistics and the Nikola and Rivian actually looking like a truck. The dark horse of the bunch is the Nikola Badger that incorporates a hydrogen fuel cell and super capacitors with its battery pack to allow a whopping 600 mile range, 455 horse power and 980 pound- feet of torque. Of course, none of these have hit the market yet so the true performance specifications are yet to be seen. I am sure that the price tags will match the torque ratings in the range of crazy, but we will see.  

Jeff Bogue, ATech Product Representative