Range no concern for EV drivers

Although range anxiety is considered a key barrier to the uptake of EVs in New Zealand, a study released by the University of Otago has found most EV owners are unfazed at the prospect of being stranded with a flat battery. The latest poll, conducted by Flip the Fleet, a citizen science coalition of Kiwi EV drivers, found that 72 per cent of drivers experience no or only very occasional range anxiety. The poll surveyed over 200 New Zealand EV drivers and collected data from vehicle dashboards. “We are not idiots,” said one respondent in the survey. “We can see how much we have in the tank before we start out.” Flip the Fleet analysed 447 randomly selected trips from EV drivers (not counting plug-in hybrids) and found driving patters were similar to those in combustion-powered vehicles. The average trip out and then back to home as 54km and the median trip 27km. Just eight per cent of trips had EV drivers travelling over 100km in a single trip. Although charging infrastructure has greatly improved in New Zealand, particularly along major state highways, 95 per cent of EV charging still occurs in the home, the poll found. “Range anxiety is a small and manageable problem for most EV owners,” said Mark Nixon, a survey contributor. “It’s more of an issue of perception in the minds of prospective EV buyers than in the minds of those who actually drive them.”