If you find yourself struggling with your poor electric vehicle range, here are ten top tips on how you could improve the range.
1. Tyre Inflation
Under inflated tyres will cause more rolling resistance to the vehicle. This means the energy used to move the vehicle will be more so this can reduce your range and even cause premature tyre wear. We recommend that you regularly check your tyre pressures, ideally every two weeks, as well as before every long journey. You can usually find the recommended tyre pressures on a sticker in your driver’s door or in your owner’s manual. If you cannot fund the correct pressure information, just give us a call and we can tell you over the phone.
2. Heating
In the colder months when heating your vehicle, try to use the heated seating (if your vehicle has it) rather than the cabin heating. Using the cabin heating wastes energy by heating up all the internal components of the vehicle. Whereas the heated seating just warms up yourself. This method helps from wasting energy.
3. Be Aware of Your Driving Speed
Driving at 60mph rather than 70mph can use approximately 14% less energy from the battery. So, if you don’t need to get somewhere in a hurry, consider slowing down as it can save energy and improve your overall electric vehicle range.
4. Have a Clear Out
Most of us have a habit of driving around with items on our back seats as well as a half full boot. Carrying this unnecessary weight has an effect on energy used to move your vehicle. As a result, this will give a lower total driving range. Therefore, remove unwanted items stored in your electric vehicle to improve the range and have a generally tidier vehicle.
5. Geometry
Poor wheel alignment will cause uneven tyre wear as well as more driving resistance. If your tyres are wearing unevenly with the correct tyre pressures, or it feels like your electric vehicle is pilling to one side, we would recommend having your wheel alignment checked. Correct alignment will improve your overall driving range.
6. Aerodynamics
7. Eco Mode
It is amazing how often electric vehicle owners drive around in sport mode for no reason! Eco mode is there to improve your range, so use it as often as you can. Try to accelerate smoother where you can. Eco mode will also help you do this.
8. Air Conditioning
Air conditioning uses a lot of energy and is operated by your high voltage system so it is recommended to only use it when really necessary. Don’t just leave it on low constantly, try running just the fan with the air conditioning off as this may be enough to cool your down. If you have pre cabin climate control where you can remotely control the cabin temperature via an app on your phone, or a time setting on the vehicle, do this whilst the vehicle is still on charge.
9. Regenerative Braking
Regenerative braking is a win-win. Not only does it charge your high voltage battery in your electric vehicle, but it also reduces and prolongs the life of your brakes. Try to leave enough time to use the regenerative braking to come to a stop or decelerating rather than needing to apply your brakes. Also use eco mode where possible as this maximises the effect of regenerative braking.
10. Plan Your Route
Where possible, try to plan your route so you are not making detours to charge your electric vehicle. Aim to avoid uphill routes and motorway driving where possible. often your sat nav will be able to guide you through the most energy efficient route.
Poor Electric Vehicle Range Summary
It might be that you already implement all of the above tips. However, if you find your range has dramatically reduced, you may have a fault with your electric vehicle, in which case we can carry out a diagnostic assessment.
We find the most common faults include the following:
- Faulty battery cells
- Vehicle charging system faults
- Binding brakes
- State of health of the vehicle battery is reduced
- Water ingress