Electric car for a long ride?! Nope, thanks

· 260 words · 2 minute read

Nowadays I am driving an electric car. It has nice exterior and interior design, cool features in the infotainment, and a decent range. Although the range is decent, it is unpredictable.

I did drive total of 750kms on the weekend. Usually with 2 times full charging the tour should’ve been possible to complete. I had to but charge 3-4 times, with a total of 3+ hours waiting.

Driving around ~100 km/h, the predicted consumption matches the reality, but on a German Autobahn where there is no speed limit, driving 800kms with just 100 km/h is not possible. I did drive ~120 km/h and the battery energy became higher, so much that I had 70 kms range loss.

I was positively surprised at the fast chargers though. With 300 kwh, I could charge from 20% to 85% in around half an hour. It costs a little bit more, but it works. Of course, compared to a putting a fuel in 3-5mins, it is such a long waiting time, but it is acceptable.

I did not have a lot of fun driving an electric car on a long ride, to be very honest. All the time the eyes are on the battery level, trying to ‘desperately’ find an available charging station, planning a 30-120 minutes of charging time, not being able to drive >120 km/h because it will eat up the battery, and so on. Driving within a city, or driving a range of <100 kms is pretty acceptable and I think the electric cars are perfect for this type of usage.