Range Anxiety (and how to combat it)

704 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by obermd, 4 mo ago

obermd

Discussion Starter · 4 mo ago

Range Anxiety is a real thing, even when it doesn't have a basis in objective reality. Here's my personal example:

I know I use a maximum of 20KWh on my daily commute on the coldest days of the year. Actually, it's closer to 19KWh, but 20 is an easy number with which to plan. In my Volt this means I end up burning gas, but in any full BEV there is no gas backup. So objectively, based on actual numbers, there is no range issue with the Equinox EV (or any other 300 mile BEV). The problem is emotionally, because my Volt is running out of battery, range anxiety did rear its ugly specter.

The method for combatting this issue is to use raw numbers - figure 2.5 KWh per mile driven (my Volt's calculations) and work through the charge times and actual anticipated driving environment. Would my wife let me take the Equinox EV on a multi-day road trip with her - not yet and we'll take her Clarity PHEV, but after working through this issue I'm willing, but not comfortable as I have no experience to base the comfort level on, to take it on trips were I know a gas car wouldn't need to stop for gas. She'll let me use the Equinox EV for day trips, which is how I'll get her comfortable with eventually replacing her Clarity PHEV with a full BEV.

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Steverino

· #2 · 4 mo ago

I agree with your cautious "getting to know your EV" strategy, obermd. As a new EV owner we should not just assume like some do that our expectations will be realized. Trust but verify.

The Volt did that for my wife and I. We learned what outr needs would be. So when the Bolt came out, we knew it would fit my wife's 70 mile RT commute even in winter. I think of our Bolt as a Volt with an extra 230-240 mile (summer) range extender.

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MaybeFutureBuyer

· #3 · 4 mo ago

What I did to combat it is avoid buying an EV until an affordable one, with almost twice the range I needed (for over 99.9% of my trips) will appear in the market. The EQ was the first to do that. I drive to Montreal once every year or two (200km), and to Toronto once every 3-4 years. The rest of my drives are less than 100km round trip per day.

So Montreal is 0.2% of my trips, and Toronto is 0.07% of my trips. Montreal is less than half the range... And for Toronto, well, I don't mind stopping to charge once every 3-4 years.

So, as you can see, range was never my problem... Price was. But if it was, I would approach it just like I did with price breakdown of purchase price vs fuel&maintenance savings for overall price. So, what you do, is you count how much time you spend fueling up. Let's say you fuel up once a week for 7 minutes. That means about five six weeks to get to about 40 minutes. So, if by your calculation and driving behavior you reach a conclusion that you will have to charge the vehicle on a public charger every 5 to 6 weeks or less it means you actually SAVED time. If you reach a conclusion that you'll have to charge the vehicle every 2-3 weeks, you'll have to counter that with the money saved on gas and maintenance (on the items that aren't shared between EVs and ICE vehicles).

I think that going by that logic, most people will do great with the EQ.

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obermd

Discussion Starter · #4 · 4 mo ago

MaybeFutureBuyer said:
What I did to combat it is avoid buying an EV until an affordable one, with almost twice the range I needed (for over 99.9% of my trips) will appear in the market. The EQ was the first to do that. I drive to Montreal once every year or two (200km), and to Toronto once every 3-4 years. The rest of my drives are less than 100km round trip per day.

So Montreal is 0.2% of my trips, and Toronto is 0.07% of my trips. Montreal is less than half the range... And for Toronto, well, I don't mind stopping to charge once every 3-4 years.

So, as you can see, range was never my problem... Price was. But if it was, I would approach it just like I did with price breakdown of purchase price vs fuel&maintenance savings for overall price. So, what you do, is you count how much time you spend fueling up. Let's say you fuel up once a week for 7 minutes. That means about five six weeks to get to about 40 minutes. So, if by your calculation and driving behavior you reach a conclusion that you will have to charge the vehicle on a public charger every 5 to 6 weeks or less it means you actually SAVED time. If you reach a conclusion that you'll have to charge the vehicle every 2-3 weeks, you'll have to counter that with the money saved on gas and maintenance (on the items that aren't shared between EVs and ICE vehicles).

I think that going by that logic, most people will do great with the EQ.

My current driving pattern is about 260 miles during the week plus some weekend driving. I have a 20 amp 240 volt circuit at home which can provide an estimated 34.6 KW in the 10 hour charging window I have each night and 64.k KW during each 24 hour period. I have a 4 hour peak electric usage charge and add 15 minutes to either side of it for clocks not being in sync. This is how I know, objectively, that the Equinox EV will work for me. Still doesn't help with the emotional component but having driven across country last year in my wife's Clarity PHEV and having to stop every 250 miles for gas I realized that the 20 to 30 minute stops to recharge every 200-250 miles is not an issue.

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Steverino

· #5 · 4 mo ago

obermd said:
having driven across country last year in my wife's Clarity PHEV and having to stop every 250 miles for gas I realized that the 20 to 30 minute stops to recharge every 200-250 miles is not an issue.

I'm not buying an EV until they are reliable, can drive 500 miles and recharge in 5 minutes and I can tow a semi-trailer off-road and the price is $15k. /s

One of my relatives has said some of those things to me in the past. They are now interested in an Equinox EV "for around town".

They have another vehicle to use for their twice a year Cannonball Run marathon vacation drives with the family held hostage and urinating into empty coffee cups to avoid stopping... lol

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obermd

Discussion Starter · #6 · 4 mo ago

Steverino said:
I'm not buying an EV until they are reliable, can drive 500 miles and recharge in 5 minutes and I can tow a semi-trailer off-road and the price is $15k. /s

One of my relatives has said some of those things to me in the past. They are now interested in an Equinox EV "for around town". They have another vehicle to use for their twice a year Cannonball Run marathon vacation drives with the family held hostage and urinating into empty coffee cups to avoid stopping... lol

I think you mis-typed the range - shouldn't that be 1500 miles?

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