April 14, 2022
Abby Nuttall
Driver Articles
With the delays at airports, differing international Covid restrictions and recent stop of several ferry services more people are deciding to have a staycation in the UK over the long Easter weekend or during the Easter half-term. More people driving means more electric vehicles (EVs) in need of chargers which is why we’ve gathered our five top tips for charging whilst away from home and making that charge last as long as possible. So, whether you’re visiting family, hunting the Easter Bunny or just taking a much needed break be sure to check out our EV charging tips.
Top Five Easter Charging Trips
1. Plan Your Routes
Make sure that before you set out on any long trip, that will use most or all of your mileage range you plan a route and know where the best chargers will be for you to use.
This might include timing the trip so that a charging stop can be combined with grabbing some food, using the bathroom or letting the kids run around for a bit to use up some energy.
We’d recommend downloading ZapMaps or a similar app that will help you plan your route in advance as well as let you know charger availability when you’re ready to use them so you can adjust if the charger you were planning to use is already occupied.
2. Get the Apps Set Up
Today many chargers work with the company’s app and with a number of providers across the country if you are planning to travel to an area where a they predominantly use a different charger provider to the one in your local area then we’d recommend downloading their app and fully setting up the account before you set off. This will save you time when you arrive at the charge point and avoid unnecessary delays whilst you get it downloaded and set up before you can get the charger connected to your car.
3. Charge on the Go
If your car has regenerative braking technology make sure you’re using this as much as possible. Harsh braking means your car can’t recapture the energy it would with regenerative braking so try to avoid doing this as much as possible. We know it can’t always be avoided when a hazard pops up but where you can predict an upcoming stop light or sharp bend you need to slow down for then brake slowly and gently to recapture that energy and get yourself a few extra miles.
4. Don’t Speed
Just like with a combustion engine reduces your fuel economy regular acceleration and constant high speed needs more power and so your EV will have a lower range at higher speeds.
If you plan your route carefully, and allow plenty of time for traffic and charging, then you shouldn’t need to speed to reach your destination on time.
5. Fully Charge Before You Leave
This might be an obvious one but there’s a reason for that – it’s one of the best ways to maximise your mileage range on a long journey! Normally we wouldn’t recommend fully charging your EV, instead keeping it around the 80% mark to avoid batter degradation with regularly charging to the max, but with a long trip to minimise the time spent off road charging you should make sure you’re fully charged before setting off.
If you want to learn more about how EV charging works then take a look at this guide or want to know what checks you should do before setting off on a long trip then this one will only take a couple of minutes to read.