Range anxiety is a tale as old as time for electric vehicle drivers – or, at least, a tale as old as EV ownership. Range anxiety, or charge anxiety, is the fear that an EV will not have enough power to reach its desired destination, and the passengers will end up stranded with no way to charge their vehicle. For many, it’s the psychological barrier that prevents them from making the switch to an electric vehicle, worried about how to find EV charging stations near them. For current EV owners, it’s what stops them from taking their electric vehicle out on an awesome road trip through America even when they have the best EV charging app by their side. But it doesn’t have to be.

Understanding the limitations of your EV, making smart decisions to extend your battery life, and having the right EV app on your phone can all help you manage range anxiety. And once you defeat it? You get to enjoy all of the personal and global benefits of making the switch to an electric vehicle. 

Get to Know Your Vehicle

Just like any car, your electric vehicle is impacted by its surroundings. Get familiar with your EV’s range under different driving conditions and weather so you’re never caught by surprise. For example, did you know that especially hot or cold days can have as much as a 41% impact on your battery’s range? Or that speed and highway driving has an effect?

Every electric vehicle is different, and every EV driver is different. To feel confident in your car’s battery capacity, and prevent those stressful situations where you’re frantically searching for how to find EV charging stations, you need to understand how it performs for your lifestyle. Wanna keep it simple? Let You.Car do the work for you. We predict how much battery you’ll need to get to your destination (even on the free subscription!). 

Make Smart Battery Decisions

Dozens of factors impact an electric car’s range and battery life. If you find yourself worrying about EV range, educate yourself on the specific things you can do as an EV driver to improve your battery’s charge both on a day-to-day basis and in the long term.

For day-to-day use, you’ll want to consider things like:

• Using the regenerative braking feature in your vehicle. Many EVs come with this feature built-in, and you have to take steps to deactivate it. If you haven’t done that, you’re good to go! If you did, turn it back on. This system captures and converts kinetic energy back into your vehicle while you’re braking.Essentially, you’re charging your vehicle using its own energy!
• Planning efficient routes. Not every road is created equal. Use a navigation app that’s designed for electric vehicles.It will take charging stations and elevation changes into account, mapping out the most efficient drive so your battery doesn’t have to work as hard to get you from point A to point B.
• Limiting high-speed driving. It’s all about deciding how much work you’re asking your battery to do.Remaining at a moderate speed will reduce the strain you put on your battery. 

For long-term battery health, here’s what we suggest:

• Avoiding a full-charge. Yep, you read that right. Charging your battery to 100% actually has a negative impact on the longevity of your electric vehicle’s battery. Most EVs have buffers in place to prevent this from happening (so “fully charged” isn’t actually your battery’s capacity), but you can do your part by maxing your charge at about 80%.
• Avoiding a full discharge. The same is true in the opposite direction – don’t let your EV get to0%. Fully depleting your battery causes unnecessary stress, and each time it will result in a slight decrease in the battery’s overall charging capacity. To keep your EV’s battery running strong for years to come, try not to let it drop below a 20% charge.
• Updating the software when available. Every electric vehicle owner knows that software updates are part of EV life, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we recommend you stick to that schedule. EV updates are smart for all kinds of reasons, and one of them is the health of your battery. It’s one of the pricier parts of your EV – so take care of it!

We’ve got a few more tips and tricks on how to extend the life of your electric vehicle’s battery – read more here. Still worried about it and looking for the best EV charging app on the market? GiveYou.Car a try.

Switch to the Best EV Charging App, You.Car, for Navigation

A navigation app designed by EV owners, for EV owners. You can’t go wrong. Range anxiety doesn’t have to be part of every EV driver’s life – especially with You.Car ready to go on their phone.While we work on improving the nation’s charging infrastructure, here’s how the app will help you avoid range anxiety right now:

• Charging Station Search & Filter. Finding a charging station should be quick and intuitive. Simply open the app, set your filters to the charging station you need, and let us find one along your route. Save your preferred filters so it’s easy to find those features again in the future.
• Station Reliability Status Backed by Community Intel. We get it – you can find charging stations in most navigation apps these days. But as electric vehicle owners ourselves, we know the harrowing reality: often, you pull up to a charging port only to discover it’s broken or empty. Or maybe you’re disappointed to see it’s tucked in the back corner of a parking garage, and you don’t feel safe there at midnight. You.Car’s functionality solves for that by providing a station reliability status and community intelligence. Your fellow EV drivers leave community ratings, reviews, and photos so you know what to expect before you show up.
• Amenity Search & FilterPowered by Yelp. Don’t sit in that parking garage– get out there and enjoy your life! With advanced amenity filtering, drivers can choose which amenities matter to them when searching for a charging station. If you want to get your shopping done for the week while you charge, there’s a filter for that. Want to put in some time at the gym or enjoy a nearby park? There’s a filter for that, too. Better yet, amenity filtering is powered by Yelp, so you can rely on the ratings and reviews you already use on a daily basis when deciding where to spend your time.

Tired of range anxiety and want to give an app designed for EV drivers a try? Smart decision. Check it out here.