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EV range concerns overstated, AA president says
Date: 04 May 2022 | Author: Sean Keywood
Potential EV drivers should not be put off by concerns over range anxiety, according to AA president Edmund King.
Speaking at the Fully Charged Live show, King explained that the proportion of EV breakdowns attended by the AA where the car had run out of charge had halved in the last two years, from 8% to under 4%. In addition, half of that 4% are not actually out of charge, but just running low.
In addition, in Norway, where EV adoption is much higher than in the UK, the percentage of out-of-charge breakdowns is just 1%.
King said: "20 years of driving EVs I have only run out of charge once. My first EV was a Ford Think! car with a 37-mile range and I once tried to drive from central London to St Albans on a dark, rainy night and didn't quite make it. Yes, there have been occasions when I have been low on charge or come across chargers out-of-order, but it is hard to run out.
"Most EVs will flash up an orange 'check your charging' warning when around 20%, others will change your sat nav route to take in chargers or put the car into 'range' mode.
"Drivers shouldn't get hung up about range anxiety because it doesn't match reality. Of course, improvements can and are being made to the charging infrastructure but a little planning can take you a very long way."
