Range anxiety is the fear of insufficient battery power to reach one’s destination and this is a concern which many drivers confront when they consider buying an electric vehicle (EV).
As such, we decided to speak to actual EV owners and users to find out if range anxiety is a real concern or just a myth.
Our "sampling’"comprised three EV users of diverse backgrounds, age and gender.
Maya charging up the Zoe.
Austin Teng, a 42-year-old entrepreneur, has been an EV owner since February 2013 when he bought the Nissan LEAF.
Nur Sarah Mohd Ali, 32, a Malaysian Green Technology Corp (GreenTech Malaysia) employee, used the company Renault Zoe EV for a month.
Meanwhile, Maya Karin, GreenTech Malaysia Ambassador has also recently tested out the Renault Zoe for a prolonged period.
In terms of specifications, the LEAF, the world’s best-selling EV, has an output of 80kW, the equivalent of 254Nm of torque and a top speed of over 140kph with a maximum driving range of 195km.
On the other hand, the Renault Zoe has a power output of 65kW and 220Nm of torque as well as a top speed of 135kph with a range of 210km.
To address the ever increasing pollution, particularly in our cities, there has been substantial efforts to shift Malaysia’s land transport towards cleaner options such as electric vehicles (EV).
However, there are still several challenges that lie in the way of a larger scale adoption of EVs and chief among these challenges is range anxiety.
Speaking about the range of his LEAF, Austin said, “I travel an average of 80km daily; this is well within the range of my EV and I have very rarely faced any sort of range related difficulties.
Whenever I am about to run out of ‘juice’, I look for the nearest public charging station to ‘top-up’ the battery.”
Nur Sarah with the i-MiEV.
Nur Sarah, who travels 70km to and from Bangi daily said, “I used the Renault Zoe mainly for going to and from work; for this purpose the range is more than sufficient, it has never run out half-way through a journey.
“On top of that, the charging stations at my office allow me to recharge the EV should the battery ever run low, for free!”
Maya noted, “It takes about seven hours to charge the Zoe at home, but once it is fully charged I can go about my day as usual. When I am done for the day, I just plug the Zoe and let it charge overnight, much like my mobile phone.”
Despite their personal experiences, the EV users recognise that longer distance travelling could pose range related concerns.
Austin said, “In practical terms, an EV can only serve as a second car since it would be impractical for outstation travel due to its range and long charging times.
“Currently, there aren’t enough charging stations to alleviate the need to think a few steps ahead during our outstation journeys.”
On how to increase the uptake of EVs, Maya said, “We have to ensure that the number of publicly accessible charging stations are increased to enable EVs to be the number one choice for consumers, for the betterment of our environment.”
While there are EVs such as the models offered by Tesla Motors that have driving ranges upwards of 400km, effectively removing range concerns, Nur Sarah notes that the EVs currently available in Malaysia are best suited for city use.
“The current range of EVs make long distance travelling difficult, however personally, this is something that I do, at most, only once a year.
“With proper planning, such as factoring in pit-stops at public charging stations, such as those at malls, when necessary, travel within the city for most people’s daily needs should be a breeze.
“The current model of chargers used at public charging stations does require longer periods to fully charge an EV.
“However, the reality is that no one uses a public charger to fully charge an EV, they are only used in emergency cases for quick top-ups only.
“The majority of EV charging will always be done at home,” she added.
Thus, while none of the EV users we spoke to experienced significant range related situations themselves, all of them recognised that with the limited EV models in Malaysia, range anxiety is, for the time-being, a concern for those who commute long-distances daily.
Nevertheless, they are optimistic about the future of EVs.
Austin predicts a bright future for EVs should the right measures be taken, “Adoption rates will depend on better range and cheaper EVs but once these milestones are met, demand will increase and charging stations will start sprouting, and before you know it, range anxiety will be a thing of the past.”
Nur Sarah summed it up nicely, “As it stands today, EVs are too expensive and the charging infrastructure is not fully developed.
“However, I believe that efforts are in place to address both these challenges in the near future and once addressed, EVs are sure to become mainstream.”
