📅 June 16, 2021 | Uncategorized

How To Charge Your Electric Vehicle For A Long Journey

How far can an electric vehicle be driven?

We are a vehicle delivery company; one problem we are now seeing is the movement of Electric vehicles. We have had drivers move vehicles with the promise they will make the delivery point and ultimately failing, leaving drivers out for hours on end frustrated trying to work out where and how to charge the vehicle. Not knowing which electric point is suited to which vehicle; driving many vehicles means you need a vast knowledge of how each vehicle works, especially electric vehicles.

How and where do you charge an electric vehicle?

At public destinations

Most people who own an EV (electric vehicle) charge their vehicle at a public destination such as supermarkets, gyms and town centre car parks. More of these locations have started to adopt the idea of having charging stations for these EV’s and are becoming much more available all over the country, and the best part is a high percentage of them are free to use! Companies do this as incentive for drivers to go to their premises.

Destination charging stations usually offer 7kW charging, giving 20-30 miles of range per hour plugged in.

If you want to find public destinations that offer charging we recommend downloading the Zap-Map app.

At home or work

Home and work chargers typically offer around the same charging speeds of between 10 to 30 miles of range for each hour it’s plugged in and most have a cable attached which you just plug into your vehicle.

You can also charge your EV at home or work using a standard 3 pin plug however the efficiency is greatly diminished and the safety is reduced due to there being a lack of safety features compared to the dedicated chargers.

Charging an electric car on long distance journeys

On long distance journeys you will find that there are times when the remaining range in your battery won’t get you to your destination.

In this scenario you can make use of the network of high power rapid chargers (43-350kW) found in motorway service stations and other locations across the UK. This is known as en-route charging. Because they are expensive, and dispense a lot of electricity in a short period, rapid chargers will be offered on a paid for basis with the cables being attached to the charger already.