How much range do you need?

Like the Y2K bug that generated unnecessary anxiety, so did my poor planning on a balmy Monday morning in January 2000.  

I cautiously give my 1984 Toyota Corolla 1.3DX a tiny bit of choke as it lethargically splutters to life just like my 2-speaker sound system with S Club Party.  I thank my brother for letting me crash at his for the weekend after my impromptu self-invite, and only then start contemplating my life choices as I depart his house that has a commanding view of the Helms Deep film set on the hills of Upper Hutt. 

Like the Hobbits on that film set I have quite the journey ahead of me; 645km to the Shire called Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland) While I didn’t have to contend with Orks, my eyes cannot help but notice the fuel level a touch over ¼ full and a student budget of an overdraft that is in overdraft, so contending with Orks felt like a more enticing option.  While there was an air of concern, this wasn’t my first rodeo of hypermiling on a student budget. 

And herein lies one of the key reasons range anxiety is at the forefront of EV topics, “the unknown”. Familiarity, and the tried and tested nature of owning and running an ICE vehicle provides that level of reassurance especially with the current state of public charging infrastructure in Australia.  

As a result, we see EV marketing focusing on battery size and range to help alleviate the “unknown” it’s not until you start using and familiarising yourself with an EV do you understand it’s limits and ultimately, it’s capability. 

I have driven and owned several EV’s over the past 9 years with the most recent being a long-range model and while the additional range is a nice to have, I only purchased this version for the upgraded sound system which is a vast step up from the 2-speaker system in my 84 Corolla. My observations from 2 years of driving a long-range vehicle: 

• I typically drive 20km or less in 95% of my journeys   

• I am yet to drive the estimated battery range in a single trip 

• I have not yet used a public DC fast charger  

• Smart charging schedules alleviate any concern about the battery SoC (set & forget) 

• I am suited to a smaller sized battery EV 

While my specific case may vary to your own use case, it’s hard to argue that 73%¹ of Australians live in our main metropolitan centres where potentially 95% of their journeys would be anxiety free affairs.   

But just like any journey a level of planning may need to be done, there are several online resources that can assist in planning your journey considering things like your type of EV, the battery SoC, public charging locations and topography.  A favourite I like to use is A Better Route Planner  which takes all the guess work out of longer car journeys.  

As Australians familiarise themselves with the capabilities and benefits of EV’s you will see range anxiety will soon enough be relegated to history like Y2K.

Reece Davis is the Head of Sales at Ohme Australia.