W hat is Range Anxiety

One of the most repeated questions you hear, when talking electric vehicles is range. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked about what happens if you get stuck, run out of charge, etc. My standard answer is: Same thing if you ignore the fuel light in your petrol car, you get stuck. The solution is the same too; find somewhere local that has gas (will let you plug in) or call the AA (who can tow you to a charging station).

Just like a petrol car, there are simple things to do to ensure this doesn’t happen to you. All electric cars come with a basic range estimator and a battery percentage indicator. Just like with a petrol car, you may need ‘refuelling’ aka recharging infrastructure in place when traveling long distance.

For those of us who are new to the electric scene, and don’t know how it all works, range can be really complicated and scary that would prevent us from trying new things. Those of us who have already covered this ground that will testify as to how easy it all is, but it can be difficult to convey the whole story simply. I’ve included a really complicated scary chart, that you can ignore, because I’m going to then tell you that it’s a lot easier than it seems.

Don’t let this scare you away, because I promise you that you don’t need to remember any of this.

Let’s start with charging, All EVs can be charged two ways — fast or slow. The type of charge you choose for your vehicle will depend on your circumstances, as each charge style comes with benefits and limitations.

Slow-charging can be done with any standard power socket and is the normal way most people charge their cars at home. Because slow charging usually happens overnight (because that’s when power is cheapest), it doesn’t matter how long it takes to charge. Most owners simply plug their EV in when they get home from work, and in the morning, it’s fully charged ready for their day. The charging speed does depend on your home charging setup so it can vary from a household socket (9 hrs charge time) to a dedicated EV charging station (3hrs charge time).

With Fast Charging, you get power delivered at a super fast rate of 50kwH and can charge a car like a 24kwh Nissan Leaf to 80% in 12 minutes, or the Hyundai Ioniq in 20minutes. You do have to pay more for fast charging, but it’s still less than petrol, at about $10 per 100 km. The only caveat to Fast-charging is that above 80% charge, the charge rate drops off, so fully charging a battery using a fast-charger isn’t the best use of money/time.

Fast Charging stations around New Zealand

So you see, simply by having access to fast charging stations, you can go a lot further.

Luckily, New Zealand is one of the world leaders in Fast-charging infrastructure! Thanks largely to Chargenet, who have made it their mission to install a charger every 75 kms along main routes, we now have over 117 fast chargers around New Zealand, with more coming every month.

There’s a few other technical details, vehicle specifics and edge situations but it boils down to one simple answer:

Charging your car overnight takes no time at all; certainly less time than waiting at a petrol pump because it happens without you being there.

For long distance traveling, EVs can charge at least 100 km every ten minutes; and you can can do this anywhere there is a fast charger.