The answer to range anxiety – Buy an electric car

The best way to overcome range anxiety is to buy an electric vehicle (EV).

Range anxiety refers to the fear that an EV won’t have enough energy to get you to your end destination and is a major roadblock standing in the way of mass EV adoption, including in South Africa.

However, a recent study by US-based Recurrent Auto has found that concerns over driving range decrease with experience and that it’s more of an issue for non-EV owners than for those who have already dipped their toes into the technologies.

In fact, 78% of the 250+ EV owners interviewed by Recurrent reported that feelings of range anxiety decreased the longer they drove their cars, with only 41% of owners stating that they still have range anxiety, compared to 76% of non-EV owners.

The poll additionally found that range anxiety peaked for people who were 1-2 years out from purchasing their first EV, but came down as they did their research on these cars and got closer to pulling the trigger.

Interestingly, there is a slight jump in range anxiety for drivers who have had an electric car for 1-3 years, which is most likely due to these individuals getting a bit more adventurous with their cars as they settle into the electric lifestyle and encounter their first faulty charging station or close call with a low battery.

After three years of marriage, though, EV range anxiety starts tapering off at a consistent rate.

Long-distance trips remain a concern

More expected, motorists have higher anxiety about long-distance travel than daily drives whether they be a seasoned EV owner or a greenhorn.

This may be due to a higher reliance on public charging infrastructure, which if it’s not Tesla-branded, seems to be lacking in quality and quantity regardless of where you are in the world.

The trends remain mostly the same, showing non-EV owners being far more worried about driving range than those who already have one charging in their garage, however, the degree of anxiety with regards to longer trips is consistently elevated above shorter trips.

Once again, it takes around five years of living with the battery-electric car before range anxiety is near zero.