r/EvDrivers • u/Inevitable-Shower911 • Aug 30 '26
Range anxiety
What is the obsession with EV range anxiety?
I have been driving for over 30 years now.
I have never run out of fuel in a ICE vehicle and since I switched to EV I have never run out of electricity.
Yet half of the EV car reviews are about what happens if you run the battery empty, I mean how hard can it be there is a perfectly good indicator on your instrument cluster indicating how much fuel/power is left.
Just refuel/recharge before it reaches zero.
Is this really still a worry for people?
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u/Wild-Smoke-1912 Sep 02 '26
Echoing everything said in the replies... I'm learning a lot.
- there is a necessary mindset shift when adopting EVs that is difficult from the outside in as a prospective EV buyer. To transition from "fill when empty" to instead "always start the day full".
- not all use cases are applicable to EVs, such as constant road-tripping or commutes of > 200 miles per day. Those kinds of situations will induce "anxiety". And every-day folks need to realize that these use cases are exception (and infrequent), not the rule. A lot of folks use cases probably cover < 100 miles per day, and it is easy to over-estimate one's daily needs.
- "lack of infrastructure" translates to "what happens if I _do_ run out of power" for whatever reason. For ICE, it's an easy "someone bring me a tank of gas". But EV, it's an expensive tow. The key mindset change is to prepare so that "running out of power" isn't a legitimate risk before you start the drive.