Breakdowns of electric cars with exhausted batteries are halved in two years
Number of electric car drivers who run out of half their battery in two years: only 4% of breakdowns served by AA are now for uncharged electric vehicles
- AA says about 8% of its annual calls were for EVs that sold out in 2020
- Now it’s less than 4% and many aren’t dying, but their batteries are dying.
- AA president Edmund King said rank anxiety theory ‘doesn’t match reality’
- He also put the boot on older diesels, saying we’ll look back to drive them like we do ‘smoking on the top deck of a bus’
Concerns about range anxiety are fast becoming a thing of the past and fewer electric car owners are running out of battery power during trips, the AA says.
The proportion of electric vehicles rescued by the roadside assistance company for being ‘discharged’ has halved in the last two years, from 8% to less than 4%, as motorists become more accustomed to the requirements of driving a car powered entirely by batteries.
Edmund King, chairman of the car group, says the theory of electric vehicles running out of battery “doesn’t match reality” and shouldn’t deter people from switching from petrol to diesel.
And in a passing dig at the combustion engine, he says older diesel cars will soon be viewed “in the same way we now think of smoking on the top deck of a bus.”
What range of anxiety? The AA said fears of electric cars running out of battery power are no longer a significant concern with less than 4% of its annual recall calls for running out of charge.
The AA says that very few electric car drivers now run out of battery completely.
About half of the 4 percent of EV-owning customers that AA classifies as an ‘out of charge’ recovery call haven’t actually taken the battery to zero percent, but are at a low point and fear they won’t get there. To the next one. charging point available.
He says the most common reasons why electric cars break down are exactly the same as petrol and diesel, namely 12v battery problems and tire problems.
Other EV failures are quite different, covering things like charging equipment, warning lights, battery monitoring systems, or key transponders.
“In twenty years of driving electric vehicles, I’ve only run out of charge once,” explains AA President Edmund King, who currently drives an all-electric Porsche Taycan.
‘My first electric vehicle was a Ford Think! with a range of 37 miles and I once tried to drive from central London to St Albans on a dark rainy night and failed.
‘Yes, there have been times when I’ve run out of charge or come across dead chargers, but it’s hard to run out.’
In Norway, which has a much higher concentration of electric vehicles than the UK, the percentage of no-charge cases has dropped to just 1 percent as its drivers get used to owning cars that run entirely on batteries.
King says this is because most electric cars are also well equipped to alert drivers when they are in danger of running out of battery power, and have a number of mitigating safety mechanisms.
Newer electric vehicles have a warning light that comes on when battery capacity drops to 20 percent, and others will automatically redirect your satnav trip via a charging device.
Others will also put the car into its battery-saving “range” mode, which reduces acceleration and uses less power.
“Drivers shouldn’t obsess over range anxiety because it doesn’t match reality,” King added in his attempt to promote the benefits of transitioning to plug-in cars.
‘Of course, improvements can and are being made to the charging infrastructure, but a little planning can go a long way.
“Now we’re also seeing EVs with much longer ranges and most new EVs can do at least 250 miles.”
He added: “Very soon, we will think of older diesel cars in the same way that we now think of smoking on the top deck of a bus.”
RAC Updates EV Charging Devices on Recovery Vans (But They’re Mostly Diesel)
The RAC has announced that a fifth of its patrol vans will be equipped with emergency electric charging capability by the end of the year, and will be able to recharge batteries faster.
Its onboard EV Boost system has been upgraded from a 3.5kW to a 5kW charger and is capable of adding around 10 miles of range in about half an hour. A 7.5kW device is also under development.
Some 200 vans are expected to be equipped with EV chargers by the end of 2022, with 130 of the new faster 5kW units.
However, the RAC admits that almost all of its fleet runs on diesel, as there is no electric van on the market suitable for a recovery vehicle.
RAC COO Paul Coulton said: “While we have brought the UK’s first electric van into service in the form of the Renault Zoe, there is currently no electric van on the market that can do everything a motorized one can. diesel”. one can in terms of towing broken down vehicles and hauling 500 tools and parts.
“So even though we’re using a diesel van to recharge an electric car, we’re confident it’s faster, more efficient and better for the planet than having to ship a big rig recovery vehicle or a van full of batteries.”
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