No, it isn't fear of kitchen stoves. No, it has nothing to do with Home on the Range and fear of deer or antelope.
Range anxiety is the fear of not finding a place to recharge if your electric vehicle (EV) is low on charge. I recently got exposed to range anxiety through the experience of family visiting us in a rental EV.
They hadn't planned on an EV but the rental car agency had run out of gas powered cars by the time they got to the counter (and yes, they had a reservation) and their choice was rent the EV or not have a driving vacation. They chose the former, and were given the EV with a rushed few-second introduction.
My spouse has driven an EV a couple of times, locally, when he needed a loaner during his car being serviced. We knew about some of the quirks, but trying to help our family out gave us a crash (oops, perhaps bad choice of words) course that still has my head pounding.
Not long after they embarked, they noticed that the number of miles left before a charge was needed dropped rapidly if they turned on the wipers (it was raining) or used the air conditioner (it was muggy).
About halfway through their drive up to where we live, they decided they wanted to charge up the car.
One uses an app (there are several) to find a charging station. Fortunately, there was one near where they stopped for lunch.
Unlike gas stations, where you can buy gas for any gas vehicle using the
same nozzle, you have to have a compatible charging port for your make and model of EV. It seems that many EV charging stations can charge Teslas (there is a reason for that) but not other makes. Their rental was not a Tesla.
They had been told by the rental agency that they needed a charging station that accepted "type 2"/ "CCS" connectors. (If I am using incorrect terminology, please feel free to correct me). Fortunately, the station they found accepted their charging port, and they got a needed boost - but it wasn't charged to 100%.
Why? It takes a while to charge an EV with a public charger. They didn't have a while.
By the time they got to our house, they wanted to give the car another charge before they left for the second leg of their trip. That's when the fun started. They found a charging station on the app but they couldn't locate it. The only charging stations we (gas car owners) knew of were Tesla stations.
I helped them search online on my computer. Yes, our area has charging stations but it was so hard to figure out if they had compatible chargers. Some of them, too, were in neighborhoods I didn't feel comfortable directing my family members to, as they would have to stand by the chargers for perhaps a couple of hours or more.
Finally....inspiration.
We called the local dealer for their make of car. And, lo and behold, the dealer was most helpful. They offered our family members the use of a charger at no charge.
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| The local search was over |
Sadly, it wasn't a high speed charger, but it did get them where they felt comfortable getting on the road.
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| Didn't know there was a different kind of charger hidden under a cover below the circular port |
After this experiences, I've joined the community of Americans who would never consider an EV. We wouldn't even consider a hybrid at this point (assuming we could afford one). I support EV's-in theory. But not in today's reality. Why have the ability to use electricity if you have to go through what our family members did?
Interesting that Pew research finds a correlation between how close to a public charger a citizen is and their support of EVs.
My family member said to me before they left "Now I know what range anxiety is."
Yes, range anxiety - it's a real thing.
Do you own a hybrid or EV? I'm curious about your experience on road trips.
