http://www.torquenews.com/2250/why-range-anxiety-not-real-problem Why range anxiety is not a real problem By Luke Ottaway 2014-11-09
[image http://www.torquenews.com/sites/default/files/image-2250/leaf_at_home.jpg ] Range anxiety is often cited as one of the major reasons battery electric vehicles have yet to take off in the mass market. But does it actually exist in practice? The phrase “range anxiety” typically refers to the worry that a battery electric vehicle – a Nissan LEAF, BMW i3 [EV], Chevrolet Spark [EV], you name it – will run out of charge and leave you stranded by the side of the road. It exists because no currently produced EV other than the Tesla Model S (which is capable of up to 295 miles of cruising range) can offer more than 93 miles of range per charge, which certainly poses some limitations on the utility of these cars. However... A strong case can be made that anyone in the market for this type of electric vehicle will almost never actually experience the dreaded malaise of range anxiety, as the Rocky Mountain Institute recently pointed out. Here is why. Even assuming that the average American drives 15,000 miles per year (the actual figure is closer to 13,000) this only equates to about 40 miles per day. And surely that yearly total normally includes a few lengthy road trips, which are not what today’s EVs are designed for, with the obvious exception of Model S. So the actual daily figure in typical driving for the average American is even lower than 40 miles. Sure, some have long commutes for which, say, a Nissan LEAF (with an EPA-rated 84-mile range) would be impractical, but the vast majority will find that 80-odd miles is more than enough range for a day or two of driving. In fact, according to data from the EV Project, on days the car is used LEAF drivers travel an average of about 30 miles per day with a mean trip distance of 7 miles. The increasing availability of workplace charging is also effectively increasing the commute distance an electric vehicle is capable of, doubling it in most cases. The EV project found that Nissan LEAF drivers with access to workplace charging did 65% of their charging at home and 32% at work, while LEAF drivers without workplace charging filled up 84% of the time at home. Those who are provided with charging stations at their workplace clearly take advantage of it. What does this tell us? Despite all the hand-wringing over range anxiety, the data clearly shows us that for drivers that actually own electric vehicles, range anxiety for all intents and purposes does not exist. For the rare foray far from home, EV drivers can take advantage of the growing public charging infrastructure. That’s not to say the owner of a Nissan LEAF will never have to carefully plan a trip to avoid running out of battery – especially in winter, reduced driving range can pose a legitimate problem to the most careful of drivers. But the larger point is that this type of electric vehicle is aimed at a certain niche, and a fairly huge one at that. The number of multi-car households in the United States is enormous, and most of these households have at least one vehicle that serves mainly as the around-town or commuter vehicle. It is this application that electric cars like the Nissan LEAF are designed for – not to replace the family hauler or take on vacation, but to provide an incredibly efficient, clean, and satisfying way to get to and from work and around town. And for that purpose, electric vehicles are unmatched by any car with an internal combustion engine. Just ask their owners, who demonstrate staggering rates of owner satisfaction across the board. To put it bluntly, if you buy a LEAF to drive it from San Francisco to Los Angeles, you’re clearly doing it wrong. Not that it isn’t possible – with California’s robust charging infrastructure, it actually wouldn’t be all that difficult – but it is not the car’s intended purpose, and people usually buy cars with their intended use in mind. Anecdotal evidence, the finest form Bear with me as I provide the most convincing form of evidence (as long as the storyteller is in the room): an anecdote. I was influential in my parents’ decision to lease a Nissan LEAF in January, and they have not regretted the decision. With two kids still at home, my parents both work 10-15 miles away and have a fair amount of chauffeuring and errands to do on the side. Since my father teaches at a university on the top of a frequently snowy mountain, my mother gets the LEAF as her daily driver, and she loves it. My family has experienced range anxiety exactly twice in the last 10 months. Once, a miscommunication led to the car not being plugged in prior to my brother attempting a trip up the aforementioned mountain. With a half-full battery and not realizing the difference between the range estimator and battery state-of-charge estimator, he panicked as the range meter plunged on his way up and turned around to head for home rather than risk being stranded. The other occasion was a case of poor planning. My father and brother attempted an ambitious 100-mile trip, with the intention of charging at a Nissan dealer for a few hours at their destination. The charging session was cut short when the dealer closed, however, and the trip home got very interesting. Hypermiling on the highway allowed them to make it to a local mall where they plugged in for a 20-minute trickle charge (the public charging infrastructure buildout has yet to spread to central Pennsylvania) before impatiently setting off for home, only to have the battery die at the bottom of the driveway. I think it is safe to say that anxiety was one of the emotions they experienced on that particular trip, but it was definitely avoidable. To sum up, range anxiety is only fretted over by those that do not actually own electric vehicles. Those that take the plunge and purchase an EV to meet their needs, however, quickly discover that range anxiety is largely but a figment of the imagination. [© torquenews.com] http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/11/10/smart-energy/enough-ev-range-anxiety-please Enough with the EV range anxiety, please Peter Bronski [2014/11/10] Rocky Mountain Institute I have to admit a growing frustration: I’m tired of hearing about range anxiety with electric vehicles. I’m increasingly convinced that we’re verging on an unhealthy fixation. Read too much about it and soon you’ll start to think it’s the latest national epidemic in the US (maybe the American Psychological Association will even add it to the DSM VI). Article after article covers the issue. Many, including this blog, offer tips for overcoming it. Consumer surveys, such as an oft-cited one from the Consumer Electronics Association, note its importance as a factor in EV buying decisions. I’m here to say, “Enough is enough.” Ever since I became a very happy Nissan LEAF driver earlier this year, I’ve become acutely aware of this: all this talk about range anxiety being a big issue seems to come largely from and/or survey those who don’t actually drive an EV. This is an important nuance. Surveys of EV drivers, on the other hand, show impressively high degrees of satisfaction. For example, a May 2013 survey of battery electric vehicle drivers found overall satisfaction rates of 92 per cent. The story is much the same with customer satisfaction surveys at Consumer Reports and by the automakers themselves, who are reporting record levels of customer satisfaction among EV drivers. I have a simple but I think logical theory for why there exists this yawning gap between the incredibly high satisfaction of EV drivers and the range anxiety that supposedly plagues the EV market: like any consumer making a major purchasing decision, EV drivers do their research and thus know if an EV – and its range – is a good fit for them. You don’t see a construction foreman with a need for a work truck buy a two-door Honda Fit and then complain about its extremely limited payload capacity. You get the vehicle that matches your needs and wants, whatever the overriding criteria of importance are – cool factor, upfront cost, safety, clearance and 4WD, fuel economy, etc. And as it turns out, a battery electric vehicle can meet the needs of plenty of potential drivers. I’m not saying every American should put their gasoline-powered car up on blocks and run to the nearest EV dealer. And I’m not saying customers on the margins of the EV sweet spot don’t have to overcome some legitimate concerns about range anxiety. But I am saying we should stop making range anxiety an issue for the millions – yes, millions – of Americans for whom an EV would be a great choice. Consider some basic criteria: The average American drives less than 40 miles (64km) per day, less than half the range of EVs like the LEAF. Meanwhile, a majority of US households have two or more vehicles, so having an EV would still leave a gas-powered alternative for longer-range needs. That overlapping sweet spot – modest daily miles plus a second, gas-powered car – represents a robust customer segment for whom range anxiety shouldn’t be an issue in the first place, rather than something which must be overcome. I’m a textbook case in point. Up until the fall of 2010, my wife and I had two vehicles: a Jeep Cherokee Sport for weekends in the mountains and a Honda Accord sedan for urban driving. We sold the Jeep and went down to one car when I took a job that allowed me to walk to work. Two years later, when I joined RMI in the fall of 2012, we kept to one car and I rode the bus. After 3.5 years as a one-car family, though, we finally decided it was time to bump back up to two vehicles. With two of our three kids now in elementary school, two cars made juggling our increasingly complex family logistics and schedules infinitely easier. Making that second car an EV was a relatively easy choice for us, especially knowing that we sit in the overlapping sweet spot. We have a gas-powered vehicle that we use for long-distance trips. My day-to-day driving, meanwhile, doesn’t come close to flirting with our LEAF’s range. Our home, RMI’s Boulder office, our kids’ elementary school, the trailheads where we hike, our grocery store, bank, and favorite sushi restaurant are all within a 15-mile (24km) corridor. The only times I’ve experienced range anxiety directly are the few times I’ve deliberately inflicted it upon myself, such as when I’ve played range games, like seeing how low I’m personally willing to let the battery go or driving extra conservatively to see if I can squeak in an extra round trip between charges. In practice, though, I’ve settled into a very comfortable routine where range anxiety is never on the table. I top off my battery at RMI’s on-site charger, typically recharge two days later when I’ve depleted my battery to about 30 per cent, then repeat. And so I haven’t so much overcome my range anxiety that it rather wasn’t an issue in the first place. Range anxiety is a subjective thing; it’s an emotional, often irrational response to a fear that may or may not be founded. Like many other fears in our daily lives, we’re afraid of one thing that actually proves a far smaller risk than we think it is, while we ignore a bigger risk we should be worrying about. We need to stop talking about helping consumers overcome range anxiety, and starting talking about – and to – the millions of consumers in the EV sweet spot for whom range anxiety should be a non-issue. I’m one of them. Are you? Originally published by the Rocky Mountain Institute. Reproduced with permission. 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