Shocking: Electric-Car Owners Lose Range Anxiety after 3 Months

With electric cars, the fear of running out of battery power before you can recharge — known as “range anxiety” — looms on the minds of potential shoppers for these plug-in vehicles. But in a recent study, it turns out that after living with electric vehicles for three months, owners of battery-powered cars say their battery of fears went largely unfounded.

The report comes by way of the U.K.’s Technology Strategy Board, a government-affiliated organization helping businesses with new-tech practices. While studying 340 vehicles that covered 677,209 miles and 19,782 charging cycles, the board was able to find that although all owners had range anxiety at the time of their purchases, just 35 percent of owners still feared running out of power before reaching their destinations.

Owners’ fears have largely been dispelled from a better understanding of their vehicles and how they operate. However, even with the better knowledge accumulated from their car’s operations, nearly every owner wished to have a greater traveling range between charges.

In the U.K. study, data collected showed most drivers piloted their cars 24.3 miles per day during the first month of the study, 25 miles during the second month, and 23.3 miles for the third month. Those numbers come far below the approximately 80 to 100 miles per full charge it takes to run a Nissan Leaf empty or the approximately 25 to 50 miles Chevrolet suggests the 2012 Volt can travel on a single charge before its onboard gas generator kicks in. Further, startup automaker Tesla claims that its top-spec Model S will be able to cover 300 miles on a single charge when it is expected to come out next year.

By the time the study had concluded 83 percent of private owners said that their electric cars satisfied their daily needs. Fleet-owned electric vehicle drivers weren’t as generous, with a full 37 percent saying that an electric car would not satisfy their needs. Seventy-four percent of fleet drivers said navigating an electric vehicle required more planning, showing there’s still a ways to go before the technology can comfortably suit everyone’s needs.

However, it does go to show that whether the masses are ready to adopt the new technology or not, electric cars are far more ready for primetime than most who’ve extolled the horrors of range anxiety ever thought.

Source: Technology Strategy Board