Range Confidence: Charge Fast, Drive Far, with your Electric Car

By David Herron

Last Update: 2021-08-24T22:53:11.174Z

  1. Range Confidence: Charge Fast, Drive Far, on Electricity
    1. The false 'Range Anxiety' story would keep us from driving electric
    2. A brief history of Range Anxiety in electric cars and gasoline cars
  2. Learning Range Confidence
    1. Step 1 - Map your trips to know how far you need to drive
    2. Step 2 - Know your local EV charging terrain
    3. Step 3 - Getting around town with your electric vehicle
    4. Step 4 - Set up charging at home, at work, or nearby
    5. Step 5 - Prefer electric cars with fast charging
    6. Step 6 - Charging station network memberships and smart phone apps
  3. Solving range anxiety in daily driving - putting range confidence into practice
    1. Typical daily driving needs, on electricity
    2. Electric vehicle charging scenarios
    3. How and where to charge electric cars in public
    4. Example longer trips with electric cars - putting range confidence into practice
  4. Autonomy and electric driving freedom
  5. Charging station etiquette - effectively sharing limited electric car charging resources
    1. Electric vehicle drivers Bill of Rights
  6. Electric vehicle range and charging infrastructure
    1. Energy storage, energy consumption, weather and electric car driving range
    2. Total driving range in electric cars: plug-in hybrid versus fast charging
    3. What happens if an electric vehicle runs out of power in a city with no charging stations?
    4. Why doesn't the dashboard show accurate range?
    5. Battery pack age, and capacity loss
    6. How does EPA estimate electric car driving range?
    7. Understanding the EPA ratings label for electric cars
  7. Charging electric cars in public
    1. Electric car charging speed and effective trip speed on road trips
    2. What electric car charging rate do we need at home, at the office, on road trips, at airports, or elsewhere?
    3. Can you drive an electric car away from charging network coverage areas?
    4. What charging networks exist? ChargePoint? Plugshare?
    5. Types of electric car charging connectors, and compatibility: A Field Guide to electric vehicle service equipment
    6. Is it bad to charge an electric car with an extension cord?
    7. Best portable electric car charging stations for home or on trips
    8. How do I pay for energy consumed in charging my electric vehicle?
    9. How do electric car charging station networks make money?
    10. Electric car fast charging held back by standards battle between CHAdeMO, Combo Charging System and Tesla Supercharger
    11. Electric car fast charging required for widespread EV adoption
    12. Smart-phone apps for finding electric car charging station networks
    13. Known electric car charging networks around the world
    14. What to do if the charging cord is stuck, cannot be removed
  8. Getting and installing at home electric car charging equipment
    1. Installing cheap/inexpensive electric car charging at home
    2. How to plan for and install 240 volt circuit to charge an electric car/vehicle?
    3. Fast charging your electric car at home
    4. Apartment/Condo dwellers - what to do if you cannot charge at home
    5. How-to: 240 volts when all you have is 120 volt outlets
  9. The best electric car charging stations for home charging or on trips
  10. A brief study of EV Ownership Economics
    1. Fuel cost per mile
    2. Tipping the economic balance in favor of electricity
    3. Charging cost at home versus in public
    4. The high cost of free charging
  11. Electric car charging technology
    1. Charging levels - Level 1, Level 2, DC Fast Charging, etc
    2. EV DC Fast Charging standards – CHAdeMO, CCS, SAE Combo, Tesla Supercharger, etc
    3. EV AC Fast Charging Systems – Renault ZOE, Smart ED
    4. Fast charge adapters are possible, but how many really need CHAdeMO-CCS adapters?
    5. Why does charging a battery take so long? Hint: reversible electrochemical reactions cannot be rushed
    6. Wouldn't battery swapping be preferable over waiting to recharge?
    7. Can an electric car be charged while driving? Such as a battery pack in a trailer?
    8. When will electric cars charge as fast as a gasoline car? (5 minutes to recharge)
    9. What is the technical limitations on maximum electric car charging rate, why is the Tesla Supercharger limited to 120 kW?
    10. Safely use Extension Cords when charging an electric car or electric motorcycle
    11. Informal electric car charging at any power outlet, versus a regular charging station
    12. When are electric car extension cords required?
    13. Electric car charging within electrical code and power outlet limits
    14. Is it safe to charge an electric car in the rain?
    15. Why do all-electric cars not have a small (efficient) generator for a limp home to ease range anxiety?
    16. Why is there a 12 volt lead-acid battery, and how is it charged in an electric car?
  12. About the Author - David Herron
  13. Copyright

As we develop range confidence we'll naturally want to drive our electric car farther from home. Obviously we'll have to use public charging stations to go beyond a certain distance from home, just like gasoline car drivers use public gasoline stations.

In online conversations, I regularly see people saying they never charge away from home. It's hard to judge someone else's choice since we are all adults. But I argue limiting your electric car travels is not the best. It does not demonstrate a good story to our neighbors who see us driving the electric car only for short trips.

With care electric cars are capable of longer trips than a circle surrounding your house. Taking longer trips is simple, learn charging station locations, plan a trip using those stations, then jump in the car and go. The only complication is learning when and how to use public charging stations.

The charging rate (3 kW, 6 kW, 120 kW, etc) determines our effective trip speed.

For example the rule of thumb is that at 6 kW an average electric car gains 20-25 miles range per hour of charging. See Electric car charging speed and effective trip speed on road trips

The charging rate we need in any given situation depends on situational needs.

If our electric car is in an airport long-term parking lot during a 2 week trip, it doesn't need a normal charging rate (6 kiloWatt) because it'll be fully charged long before we return to unplug the car. It is bad EV charging etiquette to dominate a charging station for days on end. If the car is parked at the office, we'll have 8 hours (or so) during which the car can recharge, and a 6 kW station is probably not required. During a Road Trip, the charging rate needs to be as high as possible. See What electric car charging rate do we need at home, at the office, on road trips, at airports, or elsewhere?

What if we need to drive to an area with no electric car charging stations?

An electric car is just as dependent on charging stations as a gasoline car is dependent on gas stations. An electric car driver has the advantage of charging at any electrical power outlet, while a gasoline car can only recharge at a gas station. To drive where there's no charging stations, the electric car driver either needs to bite the bullet and drive a gasoline car, or else become proficient in guerrilla charging from any power outlet. See Can you drive an electric car away from charging network coverage areas?

Successfully using public charging stations requires maintaining memberships in multiple charging networks.

See What charging networks exist? ChargePoint? Plugshare? See Known electric car charging networks around the world

While we have common charging standards, there's enough variation that we need pictures of the different equipment we'll be using.

See Types of electric car charging connectors, and compatibility: A Field Guide to electric vehicle service equipment

Is there a way to tell if EV charging stations are busy before I get there?

It depends - A networked electric car charging station is reporting its status back to the control system. Charging network users can then query via a smart-phone application the status and know whether the station is available. Not all charging stations are networked, and therefore some cannot be queried this way.

See Known electric car charging networks around the world

See Smart-phone apps for finding electric car charging station networks

In either case a charging station can be blocked but not in use. The charging network would think the charging station is not in use, but with a car parked in front of the charging station you'll be blocked from using it.

See Public charging station blocked? What to do, including a J1772 extension cord

Often public charging stations charge usage fee's.

See How do I pay for energy consumed in charging my electric vehicle?

Charging station networks need to make their profit, so that the network stays in operation.

See How do electric car charging station networks make money?

Smart-phone apps are available showing available charging stations.

See Smart-phone apps for finding electric car charging station networks

Not all charging stations are well maintained, and sometimes the charging cord gets stuck.

There's a simple cure. See What to do if the charging cord is stuck, cannot be removed

Range Confidence is Copyright © 2016-17 by David Herron

About the Author(s)

David Herron : David Herron is a writer and software engineer focusing on the wise use of technology. He is especially interested in clean energy technologies like solar power, wind power, and electric cars. David worked for nearly 30 years in Silicon Valley on software ranging from electronic mail systems, to video streaming, to the Java programming language, and has published several books on Node.js programming and electric vehicles.
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