5 easy changes to make to your driving which will INCREASE your EV range

Switching to an electric vehicle saves you money on fuel costs, but learning to drive economically can increase those savings even further.

Electric car leasing expert GRIDSERVE has revealed 5 changes drivers can make to make their charge last longer.

5 changes to make to your driving to increase EV range

1. Plan your journey and avoid hilly routes

Just like human legs, cars need more juice to climb a hill and so if you’re trying to conserve battery avoid hilly routes – a slightly longer, flatter journey might be better in the long run. Similarly, electric cars will use more energy on motorways due to the faster speeds required. So a longer route at a lower speed may pay dividends for your battery percentage.

What's more is Google Maps will now show you the most eco-friendly route option – look for the green leaf icon.

2. Avoid unnecessarily fast acceleration

Okay, so electric cars are lightning quick off the mark and a lot of fun because of it… but accelerating hard every time will seriously hurt your charge (as well as giving whiplash to your passengers).

Instead, accelerate smoothly but fairly briskly so you can get to a steady cruising speed and maximise range. Similarly, racing to the next junction and then braking harshly is not only a waste of energy, but also dangerous.

3. Drive at optimum speeds to avoid impact of wind resistance

Just as harsh acceleration and braking will use battery power, so will cruising at 70mph. EVs are much more efficient at 50-60mph, due to the impact of wind resistance. The few miles difference may see drag multiple exponentially.

Of course, you want to avoid going so slowly you become a hazard to others but 60mph compared to 70mph on the inside lane – fast enough to stay ahead of lorries – will be much more beneficial to your range. And as above, a route that features slightly slower roads will benefit range, too.

4. Regenerate to the max

We promised more on regenerative braking and here it is. Sometimes referred to as one-pedal driving, regenerative breaking technology is fitted to all new EVs and recaptures energy when you slow down and pumps it back into the battery to add mileage to your range.

The amount of charge you can add varies on your car, your driving style and route (regen braking is way more effective in stop-start city driving than on motorways) but GRIDSERVE's estimates put it at about 20%. That means over a 100-mile journey, you’ll reclaim about 20 miles.

5. Read the road and exercise safe judgement

Perhaps the most simple tip of all from GRIDSERVE is to read the road ahead and make wise judgements on what you need to do.

It’s something all good drivers should be doing anyway in the name of safety, but by backing off the accelerator early you can not only drive safer but also save energy.