Electric Cars / Employee
Back

Electric vehicle adoption: overcoming the barriers part 2 – Range

One of the most common objections to driving an electric vehicle (EV) is that they don’t travel far enough on a single charge. Known as ‘range’, this is a key stumbling block for the 58% of consumers who won’t drive an EV because they fear running out of charge.

Educating drivers about the huge increases in EV single-charge range is one of the five keys to overcoming the barriers to EV adoption. This article is packed full of facts and figures to help you prove that EVs are viable and to make the case to leaders and drivers.

HELP STAFF OVERCOME ELECTRIC VEHICLE ‘RANGE ANXIETY’:

Do your employees ever worry about running out of charge on their mobile phone? Probably not. And that’s because they can charge their phone from any electric socket.

The same is true of electric vehicles.

However, in a recent survey, 53% of people were not aware they could charge their car from a normal plug socket. Along with the UK’s 14,745 charging points, drivers can boost their battery practically anywhere.

Charging is one part of the range problem. The other concern is about how often people will need to charge their EV.

Let’s be honest: yesterday’s EVs could be a little light on range. And this was a major cause of concern for potential EV drivers. So much so that the term ‘range anxiety’ was coined to express people’s concerns about how far they could travel on a single charge of a car’s battery. How can you get employees beyond these concerns?

To help staff feel comfortable about going electric, we need to understand the single charge mileage they would feel comfortable with. Talking on Fully Charged, Erik Fairburn, CEO of charging infrastructure company POD Point, asks: “What is the right amount of range? When we talk to customers, the answer comes back quite consistently: ‘Once I get to about 200 miles of range, that car is doing enough for me.’”

The good news is that, thanks to technological development, 99.3% of UK car journeys are within the range of existing EV batteries. And the average single-charge mileage continues to increase now having passed the 200 mile mark.

Better still, this degree of range doesn’t have to come at a ridiculous cost: we’re now starting to see cars on the market, like the Nissan Leaf, Kia e-Nero and the Tesla 3, that do 200 miles of real-world motoring at a sensible price point. Add to this competitive car benefit lease prices and reductions in cost via salary sacrifice, and EVs are a highly practical and cost-effective option.

200 miles is more than enough range for an EV battery

200 miles is the number some of your employees need to hear when it comes to range. However, others will find that EVs with shorter ranges will also meet their needs. Why? Because not everyone needs to drive long distances.

Let’s look at some numbers about the average UK driver:

– there are about 25 billion car trips per year

– with 27 million cars this suggests an average of just under 18 trips per car every week per driver

– the duration of the average car trip is about 20 minutes

– the typical car is only on the move for 6 hours in the week

– for the remaining 162 hours it is stationary

  • As there are 168 hours in the week, a typical UK car is not being used 96.5% of the week
  • A car with a range of 200 miles would cover ten average car journeys before it needs to be charged
  • A car with that can cover 100 miles on a single charge would complete five average journeys before it had to be plugged in
  • The average car is parked at home 80% of the time
  • UK government research reveals that EVs are mainly charged at home overnight or at an owner’s place of work

WHAT CAN ORGANISATIONS DO TO SUPPORT EV DRIVERS?

As cars are stationary 96.5% of the time, the key to ensuring EVs can be easily used is the UK’s charging infrastructure. And employers can play a part in this evolution by installing charging points at work. It’s also important to educate employees on the range of cars available and their ranges as well as sharing some of the facts and figures in this article. By educating your employees, you’ll move the needle on their acceptance of EVs in time for your fleet to go green.

Now you’re armed with the facts about EV range and the distances drivers can travel on a single charge, find out more about the other side of the range coin: charging. The fourth article in this series will cover off everything you need to know about the UK’s charging infrastructure, how to access charging clubs and what you can do to make your organisation EV friendly.

If you found part 2 helpful, see below the links to our other chapters:

Part 1: Overcoming the barriers: Cost

Part 3: Overcoming the barriers: Choice

Part 4: Overcoming the barriers: Charging

Part 5: Overcoming the barriers: Performance

Interested in finding out more?