See all Motoring AdviceElectric vehicles (EVs) have numerous advantages over ‘conventional’ petrol- or diesel-powered vehicles but they have their drawbacks, too. Chief among which is a need for extra planning when doing long journeys, simply because charging is often less accessible and takes longer. While long journeys are eminently possible, they require a bit more preparation than they would in a combustion-engined vehicle. So, we’ve created a handy guide that tells you what you need to be considering before setting out on a long EV road trip.
Know your car
When you start journey planning, it’s best to know what you’re dealing with. Make sure you have at least some idea of your car’s real-world range on the kind of roads you’re going to use. For example, many electric cars will be much less efficient on the motorway than they are around town. If you’re going to head out on fast roads when you normally drive locally, it’s worth knowing how far your car will go on a charge when you hit the motorway.
It’s also worth remembering that carrying aerodynamically awkward additions, such as roof boxes, bike racks and the like, will also impact range, especially at higher speeds. Work out how you expect any additional weight or luggage to affect the vehicle before you start planning in earnest.
Get your car ready
When preparing the vehicle, it’s best to make sure you’ll be setting off with a full charge – or at least something approaching a full charge. After all, the more battery charge you have, the more likely you are to reach your destination. This is, of course, much easier if you can charge at home, but make sure you can plug the car in in time to have a full charge when you need to leave.
If you need to head to a local public charging point, the car will charge more quickly, but you’ll have to set aside time to do so. And it’s worth checking whether it’s worth doing, particularly if you’re going to use a fair amount of charge getting back to your starting point – whether that’s home or elsewhere – afterwards.
Remember it’s still a car
Although electric vehicles have their own set of challenges when it comes to planning a long journey, remember they’re still just cars. Just because they refuel differently doesn’t mean you don’t need to make the same preparations you’d make with a petrol- or diesel-powered vehicle. So, make sure you take a good look over your tyres and ensure the pressures are correct and the tread is sufficient, while also ensuring there’s enough windscreen washer fluid to get those pesky bugs off the windshield. Similarly, it might be worth getting the car serviced before your trip, especially if the service will be due shortly after you come back.
It’s also important to remember any external loads, such as bikes or skis, are secure, and that the car is packed properly. If you can’t see anything in the rear-view mirror when the car is fully loaded, make sure you take extra care when changing lanes and pay even closer attention to the traffic around you to build the fullest possible picture of your surroundings.
Start with the most conventional route, but be prepared to deviate
The best place to start is arguably with the simplest, most straightforward route – the one you’d normally use in a petrol- or diesel-powered car. Once you know that, and what your car is capable of, you can judge whether you’ll need to charge at all on your journey.
If you don’t need to charge en route, that’s all to the good, but while it’s very easy to get fixated on the route to your destination, you’ll have to think about the return journey, too. Check the charging options at your destination and find out whether you’ll be able to plug in when you get there. If not, you might need to look for some other charging options nearby or consider choosing an alternative destination (such as a different hotel in the same town, for example) that does offer charging points.
If you can’t make it on a single charge, consider where you would normally look to stop on such a journey. Although it’s possible to drive for three or four hours in a single stint, most people like to stop at least once every two or three hours for a break, and we’d recommend doing just that to avoid fatigue, regardless of the car you’re driving. So, if you would normally stop halfway, look into the possibility of charging there in order to save some time. After all, if you would be parked anyway, you might as well be charging.
Plan to fail
Once you know what your charge level is likely to be at various points along the route, and where you want to charge up, it’s time to start thinking about the worst-case scenarios. What if your chosen charge points are out of action, or if your car guzzles energy more quickly than you otherwise would?
This is where contingency planning comes in, choosing alternative charging points and making sure your first-choice chargers are not too close to the limit of your endurance. It’s no good coasting into a charge point with just a couple of kilometres left in the battery, then finding said charger is out of action. It’s a good idea, then, to make sure you expect to get to your charger of choice with enough juice to get to at least one alternative charger.