Electric Cars. Range Isn't As Important As......

Neither range nor charging speed - knowing a charger is actually available is far more important.

Tesla Model 3 LR owner here: when people ask what my range is, I ask "what is the range of your bladder?" I have driven from Switzerland to the UK a couple of times - and back. The car wants me to charge only twice (with 100% SoC at the start, and end with about 5% at the end). I can't do it in two stops (800 km and 8 hours)! 4 stops is better. By the time we've had a coffee and answered the call of nature, the car is ready to continue the journey.

I have a cheaper BEV and it's range is only around 150 to 180 miles in the real world and I charge at home. Occasionally I make a longer run of around 250+ miles, so I do one quick top-up charge. No issues whatsoever.... I agree with EVM ... fast charging is the game changer.

I think there's definitely an argument to be made for charging speed > range. BUT it also brings a big dependency on charging infrastructure. Until that's in place, so you can use your super-swift charging speed anywhere you may want to stop, I think range still wins out.

We really need all three things. Decent range, good charging speed, and a good charging network.

Another great video Andy! I have a very efficient 1 year old Hyundai Kona and managed 350 miles on one charge last summer here in Norway. All my charging is done at home overnight so no problem there. I agree that charging speed can be an issue for would be EV owners as they are used to fill up their fossil cars in a matter of minutes. It all depends on an individuals needs as to what EV to buy. I would like to add that if you have an EV with a long range battery, then great if you have a long range bladder to go with it. When driving 300 miles non-stop, then a 30-45 minute break and charging stop is recommended for health reasons alone. Agree that in 5 to10 years time, charging solid state batteries will make slow supercharging a thing of the past.

I have got my first EV on order so I am no expert, but in doing a lot of research through channels like this one, it seems to me that rapid charging would be more beneficial to all. My reasoning is that if you are only at a charging point for 15 mins rather than 45, there, in theory, should be less queueing for chargers at public points.

Efficiency is something which is often overlooked. If you have a highly efficient car it can charge in the same timeframe and suck as many kWhs but will go further. Don't necessarily need hyper fast charge speeds if the efficiency is there. Smaller battery required too. Cheaper running costs. I'm an etron owner so yes I'm used to quick charge speeds but terrible range and I appreciate the charge speed, crave more range and admire more efficient cars.

We are 2 months in to our first EV. It's a used ID.3 1st edition and at present is giving us 250 plus miles range. My partner who is the actual owner and driver says that it is so much easier to drive than the old, belchy fossil ever was. Hill starts are a thing of the past as is hesitation when going for the overtake or pulling out of junctions. The simplicity of use and delivery of instant torque has given her greater confidence in the car. The range of our car is significantly more than we need so it is simply not a problem. We are getting familiar with plugging the car in for slow top ups when we go shopping or out to a restaurant, etc. thus the car is regularly sipping juice and staying in the 50% to 80% charge state most of the time. It fits our lifestyle so well. I would have been happy with a smaller battery regardless of charging speed but I got the 58kWh to remove any trace of range anxiety and thus enable us to enjoy the experience even more.

I was discussing this very subject today with my elderly mother, who was unaware that many EVs can be charged en-route very quickly compared with a few years ago.

The other issue that will fry the head of the ICE convertee - if I drive home at 60mph instead of 67mph, I will get home without needing to stop to charge. So a 10 minute later arrival time will save me a 20 minute stop to recharge. And once I'm home, I'll recharge at my cheaper home tariff rate, rather than at a more expensive rapid charger.

I agree with you that charging speed is more important than range in an EV. I've always said that "Range Anxiety" does not really exist, it's more of a "Working and Not Occupied Charging Bay Anxiety".

Most of my charging would be at home so range is still my key priority. If it can do 200+ miles I'm happy.

Most important is the availability of public rapid chargers..20 plus in every motorway service area...many currently have 2, so even if charging is fast, not good if you need to queue 😮

As a Tesla M3:LR owner I prefer stopping fewer times, so range for me. Even if you need to stop for a break you can just stop for a break for 5 minutes and carry on if you have the range to do so, none of this going out of your way for a specific charger. That way you also don't have a reliance on getting fast food all the time on the motorway and can also eat in peace! Even with the supercharger network there are some 'dead spots' and I would not want to rely on the other more expensive charging solutions.

I bought my first EV at the end of March and one of the reasons I bought the longer range version was because of the charging speed. I would agree that charging speed is now probably more important until there is a significant upgrade to battery technology.

We've got an Ioniq 38kWh and the only thing "wrong" with it is it's slow charging. (Wanted the 28kWh which charges faster but we ran out of time to find one.) It works for us as we don't do long journeys, except on holidays and we rarely take those. So once a week or so one of us takes some work out and sits for an hour or so while it charges. No home charging but it still works and with an elderly parent suffering ill-health recently we've proved it works in emergencies too! Twenty mile drive to parents, thirty mile drive from there to hospital and any combination of above with no disasters in the last month or so. Quite a relief to have tested it in worst case scenario and not found it wanting. Yes it needs vigilance to keep it topped up but it's no trouble and we're lucky to have plenty of chargers nearby and on the route to the hospital both from home and at my wife's work place. Plus of course we're regularly seeing over 6miles per kWh which helps massively to reduce range anxiety. So fundamentally, yes you're absolutely right Andy, the key to usability is quick charging but it is also possible to make it work if you can get good mileage out of the vehicle. Being confident you're not going to run out of juice makes all the difference.... I live one mile away from our local charger and it's one motorway junction. One evening I planned on charging on the way home having had one of those days and it was cold and late. I got to the off junction and they'd closed it. The next junction was eighteen miles away and I was lower on charge than I'd ever allowed it to get. I was so cross at the lack of warning signs that I didn't get anxious at all just drove with care and a lot of swearing and got there easily. That's nearest I've got to a bad charging experience and I was just cross because it was cold and late, still found some work to do and got a full charge for my wife to go to work with the following morning. 👍

range first, charge second. not aways a charge station, does it work!

Having recently done a journey to Preston and then one to Plymouth from my home in Hertfordshire in the Kona EV. I can honestly say that the charging speed was perfect as I could get out after a couple of hours ish, have a break, eat some lunch and then back in and finish the journey with plenty of range left to get part way back or travel around the area. Admittedly I charged to 100% at home and then to 80% on the rapid chargers. Return journey from Plymouth involved a stop at Exeter and I decided to charge to 90% just to ensure I had enough to get home without stopping again but in all honesty a stop for 15 to 20 minutes at Fleet may have been a better option as I could have done with the break. But that suits me and I realise we all have different needs.

I just bought a BYD Atto-3 last week. I used my first rapid charger today - 50KW and felt that if that was best avaialble for any road trip (and they all worked) It would be perfectly fine for me. BYD max charge rate is 80KW. I would only charge it to 80% on a road trip. I always rest every two hours on a long drive so a 45 minute break would be fine for each 300 kilometer stage.