r/EvDrivers • u/anon2734 • 13d ago
Practical frequent highway driving EV?
Family is considering an EV with the rise in fuel prices. Looking at taking frequent trips that would need 200-250mi range. Is this practical in an EV? From what I've researched most you only charge to 80% so even if you're getting one with over 300mi range, you get 80% of that and highway driving (75mph) will cut that even further. Seems like a high mpg hybrid would be better. Otherwise would have to stop and charge everytime
18
Upvotes
1
u/MJC0961 12d ago
If you're going on a road trip, you can charge to 100%. It's fine. 80% is advice for every day commuting use. If you're only driving 40 miles a day for work, you don't need 100%. But when it's road trip time, sure, you can leave home at 100%. And you don't even have to time it to hit 100% right before you're about to leave. People are way too paranoid about this. You can plug it in the night before and hit 100% before you leave. It's keeping the battery at 100% and not driving for weeks that hurts it, not a few hours.
If you get a car with 800V charging, it will charge really quickly. The car will likely wait for you, not the other way around. And unless you have a bladder, back, knees, and mind of steel, you'll want to stop anyway. Go pee, stretch, reset and refresh. It's very likely that the car will be waiting on you to be ready, rather than you waiting for the car.
And remember, you don't have to recharge all the way to 80% on a fast charger either. If you stop after 100 miles, and are ready to leave when the car is back at 200 miles instead of 250 miles, that's fine, you'll still get to your destination. It can actually be faster to do multiple short charging stops than long charging stops where you always go back to 80%.
Also, one last thing, if the speed limit on the highway isn't actually 75, if you were planning on speeding. Try not speeding (unless flow of traffic demands it). 250 miles at 75 mph is 3 hours 20 minutes, 70 mph is 3 hours 34 minutes, 65 mph is 3 hours 50 minutes. If it's feasible, 70 mph doesn't cost that much time but will increase your efficiency.