The Pole to Pole expedition will cover more than 17,000 miles across 14 countries, taking battery electric vehicles to extreme environments in order to show the role that EVs can play in fighting the Climate Crisis, and their capability for everyday driving.
Along the way we aim to disprove the myth of range anxiety – the idea that electric car drivers might worry about where they’ll get their next charge from.
Even though we’ll be driving through areas that currently don’t have any electric car charging infrastructure, we have no worries about range anxiety – and this blog will tell you why this isn’t something you should worry about either.
Home Is Where The Charge Is
While the myth of range anxiety is based on the idea of running out of charge while you’re out driving, in reality more than 80% of EV charging takes place at home – according to the US Department of Energy.
That’s because charging at home is not only the cheapest and least carbon intensive way to top up your car, but it’s also the easiest – with the car charging away overnight while you’re asleep.
The frequency of charging at home also highlights that people tend to drive shorter distances than they might realise.
How Many Miles Do You Need?
On average, Americans drive around 37 miles per day, and 60% of all car journeys in the US are just 6 miles, according to the US Department of Energy.
This figure is lower in Europe, where the average driver covers just 12 miles (20km) per day. The UK is a great example of how European drivers tend to use their cars to cover very short distances, with the RAC reporting that 76% of all car journeys are less than 2-3 miles (3-5km).
When you consider that the road-going version of the Nissan Ariya that we’ll be using for the Pole to Pole expedition has a range of 283 miles (456km), you quickly see that range anxiety is a very unhelpful myth that doesn’t reflect how we tend to use our cars.
In fact, the average American could use our Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE for 7 days without needing to charge, while the average European could go as many as 23 days between charges to meet their average daily need.
Environment & Emissions
Using fossil fuel cars over such short distances is incredibly inefficient, which leads to them creating more harmful greenhouse gas emissions – often in urban areas where they can have the biggest impact on worsening public health.
Electric cars are ideal for urban driving – as well as long-distance trips – as they don’t have any tailpipe emissions (they don’t even have a tailpipe), meaning they can make a big contribution to lowering air pollution in built-up areas.
So, not only are they capable of meeting our daily driving demands, but making the switch to driving an EV can have a major role to play in improving public health and overcoming the Climate Crisis.
Planning Apps
Even when it comes to longer journeys there are great tools to help you plan where and when to charge along the way.
Some battery electric cars will come with journey planning apps built in which will help you find the best place to stop and charge up, based on your final destination and how full the charge is when you leave home.
There are also helpful apps like Plugshare which can be downloaded to your phone so that you can find the best charger for your needs – remember that fast or rapid charging might not always be the best fit for you: if you’re staying somewhere for longer, like a cinema or restaurant, a slower charger can be a more affordable way to increase your range.
Using these tools, which often have helpful user reviews of the charger to help you understand the other facilities that are on offer, you’ll quickly see that range anxiety is a myth that you’ll never need to worry about encountering.
If we can drive from Pole to Pole without anxiety, we assure you that you don’t need to think twice about switching to driving an EV to lower your carbon footprint and enjoy the lower running costs.
