There are several ways to get your battery in the best possible condition between journeys to increase your range.
Keep your car plugged in is a good idea.
Electric vehicles' advanced technology needs the use of electricity to operate. Processes take place in the car even when it is stationary and technically switched off. Battery management is one of the key processes; if the battery gets too hot, a mechanical cooling system starts in to keep the battery within its safe operating limits. Even overnight, this can increase battery drain.
The best option is to keep your car charged in between trips. It won't go above the charge limit you set, but it will use electricity to power the cooling system if required.
When using public charging stations, remember to be kind of other EV cars and adhere to the charging conventions indicated in this blog. Whenever possible, it's best to leave battery maintenance to your own garage.
Overnight Charges Should Be Restricted
If you charge your battery too fast or with too much capacity, it will overheat, starting to cause the battery management system to drain it once more.
The first thing to think about is how far you'll have to travel the next day. An electric car battery's optimum charge is around 80%; charging it to 100% can enable it to overheat. If you have a long drive ahead of you, charging to 100% is the ideal approach. Tesla, in particular, only allows for a % charge in most situations, requiring you to enter a certain configuration to reach the full %.
Another way to think about is the charging speed. If you're going to travel 50 kilometers tomorrow, a Level 1 trickle charge overnight should be enough to get you through the day. If that's from 60 percent capacity, the rest of the battery capacity you're not using can cover a family emergency or heavy traffic.
Preconditioning
The majority of new electric cars have a setting for ‘preconditioning.' For a specified departure time, the car will prepare itself for you and maintain battery temperature. The car sets these settings, from air conditioning to battery temperature, so you can get in and drive away without switching up the air conditioning or keeping the windows open to make it feel more comfortable inside.
By default, preconditioning systems draw electricity directly from the outlet, so that your car is in great driving condition before you leave, all without draining the battery. This increases your driving range and comfort.
Where Possible, Leave the Car in the Shade
We've all had the unpleasant experience of getting into a hot car after it's been out in the sun all day. The feeling of oven-like heat is real, and it can force the car battery to overheat. If you can leave it plugged in in a shady area or in the garage, you'll reduce the need for the battery management system to kick in, as well as the need for air conditioning and other active cooling systems while driving.
Additional passive cooling systems are shades windows and a sunshade for the windshield, both of which reduce the need to cool the car for comfort.
When you're driving
Because of the method it is powered, driving an electric car is often very different from driving a combustion engine car. You can keep your battery at a high level of charge by following our advice and adapting to how it operates.
Air Conditioning
You won't need to cool your car as fast as you pull away if you've taken the active and passive preconditioning methods indicated above. Always keep in mind that your air conditioner consumes your battery's power.
Cars with internal combustion engines use engine power to cool the cabin, which is more effective than leaving the windows open and cooling passively due to drag. Because drag affects electric car speed, air conditioning is still the better choice. EVs, on the other hand, have a single source of power - the battery – which both powers the vehicle and cools the inside. That same energy can ultimately be used to either drive or cool you!
When rent or buying an electric car, check about in-seat cooling options. These are more effective than air conditioning at keeping you cool. In the winter, the same systems may heat you because they both work by heat transfer or coolness directly to your body and use less energy over time than standard cooling systems.
Entertainment
It can be a lot of fun to travel around in the summer heat with the music turned up loud. Battery power can be sent either to running the motor or to your comfort, but not both at the same time, as with air conditioning. If you're using a music streaming service, save playlists and albums as much as you can because cellular network data usage uses up the battery.
Eco-Mode
Both hybrids and electric cars feature a ‘Eco Mode' setting. The amount of power available for acceleration and other electronic processes is reduced when this option is selected. You will consume far less energy while you go about your business if you use it all of the time.
Acceleration
When you speed fast, battery efficiency drops significantly, which is similar to driving a combustion engine car.
The outstanding torque that flows from the accelerator foot to the wheels makes driving an electric car exciting. Until the light turns green and you leave them in the dust, the driver of that “advanced” sports car thinks they have the upper hand on your silent EV. We understand.
But, hey, getting a little tipsy on some cocktails (maybe too tipsy) can be enjoyable, too, but you don't hit the bottle every night (or shouldn't!). You don't go "pedal to the metal" every chance you get for the same reason you don't replay your college drinking days seven times a week. Moderation will keep your EV in top shape and keep the flashing blue lights from appearing in your rear view mirror (you can thank us later).
High-Speed Driving
Driving an electric car different from driving a combustion engine car in that the faster you drive, the more energy you use.
While standard petrol cars use less fuel on the highway than in stop-and-go traffic, electric vehicles require more energy at faster speeds.
EVs have a different energy curve than gas cars, so as long as you don't stop for too long or accelerate too fast, you'll have more battery at the end of 100 miles at 30 mph than you would with the equivalent gas. This is due to the fact that the faster you drive, the more revolutions your engine must turn, and the more battery power it need to do so.
Braking with Regenerative
Regenerative braking rapidly charges up the batteries of electric vehicles. You can increase the range per charge by up to 100 miles by taking and redirecting a portion of the naturally occurring kinetic energy flowing from your brakes while slowing your car.
How do you go about doing this? Simply take your foot off the accelerator and let the car slow down on its own. Many electric car models allow you to change the regenerative braking parameters, going from a forceful braking experience every time you take your foot off the accelerator to a more gentle experience.
One of the long-term advantages is that you will rarely need to change your brake pads on the car, saving money on annual safety maintenance.
Recharging
Consider your charging needs when driving your electric car in hot weather. Because fast charging heats the battery, the battery management system has to work more to keep it at maximum efficiency for longer trips, it can pay to do smaller, more frequent fast charges.
As mentioned at the start of this article, a % charge can be less efficient per mile than a % charge due to the battery's need for cooling, which it manages with its own energy.
You will reduce the overall life of the EV battery if you charge it to 100% and then drain it practically to empty on a regular basis. According to research, an electric car battery has a longer lifespan when it is neither discharged too much or charged to maximum capacity too quickly.
Could you keep the car between 10 percent and 80 % on your legs during a longer drive? A 250-mile range electric vehicle would allow you to travel 175 miles between charges, or about three hours of driving at 60 mph. After three hours behind the wheel, most people would need to stretch their legs, get a coffee, and so on! What is good for you is good for the battery.
Could you drive early in the morning or late at night? Choosing to drive the car on long legs during the cooler portions of the day is always a good strategy to get the most miles per charge out of your electric car.
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