Planning A Long Road Trip In Your New Electric Vehicle

When you are transitioning to owning an electric vehicle, your trips will require much more planning than you may be used to with a petrol or diesel vehicle. Gone are the days when you can jump into your car and drive off into the sunset without a care for which direction you are going, safe in the knowledge there are plenty of petrol stations should you need fuel. However, when you have an electric vehicle, you will need to plan your trips more carefully to ensure you do not run out of charge and get stranded. Below are some tips to help you plan your trip and ensure you never have to worry about running out of charge and will have plenty of juice to get you to your destination.

Planning A Route To Your Destination

If you are going on a long-distance trip, you must plan your route carefully and ensure you have plenty of options to recharge your vehicle. You can consider using an online map to look at electric car charging points, and an electric car charging points app can also make things easier. You will need to work out a route that does not push your range too much and leaves you with options of places to charge. You may need to study various route options to find the best one for your trip, but different route options should be available if you look hard enough.

Getting The Most Out Of Your Vehicle

Once you have planned your route and are ready to get underway, you must ensure that you drive your vehicle efficiently to maximise its range. When accelerating, you will want to do it smoothly and avoid pressing down too hard and take advantage of charging while breaking when you slow down. If possible, refrain from using air conditioning and other luxuries that can drain your battery, and you will be surprised at how much this can extend your range. Driving carefully and reducing your overall power consumption can help you get to your final destination without worrying if you have enough charge to get there.

Take Regular Breaks

It will require plenty of concentration to drive your electric vehicle as efficiently as possible, and because of this, you will want to ensure you take regular breaks. Stop your car every couple of hours, go to the toilet and drink plenty of fluids, and it will also allow you to get ten or 15-minutes of charge before carrying on with your trip. Try and ensure that when you do stop, there is somewhere to charge your vehicle, and you will always have plenty of power left to continue your journey.

Be Flexible With Your Plans

You will also need to ensure that your plans are flexible in case they need to change, as it is impossible to know what the traffic will be like before starting your journey. Using apps on your phone such as Google Maps can help you stay ahead of any battery draining, slow-moving traffic and select alternative routes to maintain a constant speed. They also have a feature exclusively for EVs, and you can click here to find out more information.