How to stretch your EV’S range to the limit If you follow these tips, your electric car’s battery will last that little bit longer…

Be sparing with the heater

Many electric cars use the main battery to power the air conditioning and heating system. When you switch either on, you’ll notice a drop in the range displayed on the dashboard. If it’s a cold day – when electric cars usually have a reduced range anyway – it’s worth wearing warm clothes so you don’t need to crank up the heater. In the summer, see if you can make do with the fan rather than the air conditioning on long journeys. Fortunately, heated seats are usually on a separate power circuit, so using them is unlikely to affect the range.

Pre-heat before leaving home

Many electric cars come with a smartphone app that enables you to operate certain features remotely, often including the heating and defrosting circuit. Shortly before departing from home on an icy morning, you can use the app to warm up your car and clear ice off the windscreen while it’s still plugged into the charger, meaning that you’re not sacrificing range on the altar of comfort and convenience.

Judge your speed wisely

With any petrol or diesel car, speed has a big effect on fuel efficiency, and electric cars are no different. You’ll be able to travel much farther on a full charge if you’re happy to go with the flow than if you need to be at the head of the queue. You don’t necessarily have to sit among the lorries, but you’ll save a lot of electricity – and probably have a more relaxing commute – if you can resist the urge to rush ahead. And while your EV might have blistering acceleration, sudden bursts of speed will eat into your range very noticeably.

Use regenerative braking

In physics terms, regenerative braking is a system that turns inertia into electricity. Baffled? Don’t be. When you press the brake pedal in a normal car, lots of energy is wasted as heat, but an electric car is able to convert it into electrical energy, which is then pumped back into the battery to increase range. If you set an electric car’s regenerative braking system to its strongest setting, it won’t coast when you lift off the accelerator – it’ll slow down as if you’ve touched the brakes. Not only is it efficient, but it can be fun, too: once mastered, it’s great for taking corners on a country lane smoothly without braking. It’s also gratifying to watch your range increase during long hill descents.