Is Range Anxiety Fake News? Let's Drive 1012 Miles to New Orleans!

[lillyM3]

I saw on the news that those who drive EVs have "range anxiety" and it is impossible to drive an EV for long road trips due to their short range and long charge times. Is this fake news? How do you use a Supercharger? How much does it cost to use a Supercharger? How long does it take to recharge my Tesla Model 3 using a Supercharger? Let's have some fun and drive from Dallas to New Orleans to find out!

Have you taken a road trip in your Model 3? Is range anxiety real?

 

[dhrivnak]

Absolutely not. Just finished a 2200 mile trip to Houston and back. No delays, no issues, no inconvenience. It just works. At our age we do stop for meals and the car is finished before we are. And we are talking meals like Chic-fil-A or Burger King. Oh and the fuel costs were $53. Try that in even a Prius.

 

[jjrandorin]

Not clicking on the video, but the topic of "is range anxiety real" is an interesting one to me. I will say, for me, I pay WAAAY more attention to my state of charge, even now, than I did my gas gauge. In my opinion, the "anxiety" part of range anxiety comes not from the fact it may take you "longer" to get somewhere, but the feeling that you may not get there "at all" and you would be frantically looking for a charging station.

We KNOW that gas stations are ubiquitous, and that, pretty mucgh no matter where we are in, we can go 3-4 miles and find a gas station. Also, most ICE cars have a "range" of 350-400 or more miles. You dont actually think about "whether" you can get there, you just know you might or might not have to stop off "somewhere".

Contrast with an EV, there are websites that help you "plan your route" etc so that you can make it, or make it efficiently. Until there are enough charging stations that you dont need to think about planning a trip, you just get in the car and "go" there will be range anxiety.

Videos / anecdotes showing "you can do it" help, but dont solve the range anxiety issue... because in almost all cases there is planning to get from charger to supercharger, or ensuring that the location you arrive in has charging etc. In an ICE car you never consider if there is a gas station IN YOUR HOTEL when making reservations.

At some point, charging will be so common that we wont consider whether there is charging at a hotel, because anyplace we reasonably want to go will have that infrastructure in place in some form. We are not there yet, thus range anxiety.

"Anxiety" doesnt have to be rooted in fact to have an effect.

 

[Saghost]

Road trips in a Tesla are very easy, and range anxiety only happens when you push the envelope - and even then it's less about anxiety than about compromises, because you know where you stand from the battery at destination numbers.

Watching a recent video about a 1500 mile road trip in another long range EV, though, I realized it is still very much a thing for some owners. Listening to him think through "the next stop is 120 miles away, so I need to charge to at least 150 miles" and then have to slow down to make it because he forgot about some hills along the way made me realize just how much better off we are.

 

[jjrandorin]

Absolutely not. Just finished a 2200 mile trip to Houston and back. No delays, no issues, no inconvenience. It just works. At our age we do stop for meals and the car is finished before we are. And we are talking meals like Chic-fil-A or Burger King. Oh and the fuel costs were $53. Try that in even a Prius.

You are not describing range anxiety, you are describing the ability to complete the trip. It also fits your personal mode of travel. Range anxiety has very little to do with planning the trip out. It has to do with knowing you NEED To plan the trip out, vs an ICE car where you are not planning the trip around where the gas stations are.

Im not saying that trips are not possible, far from it. I am saying that, for the average person, even having to plan the trip around charging stations shows that "we are not there yet" in infrastructure. until the average person doesnt have to even think about "the charging station" when making their trip, they will worry "if they can make it" even if its fairly easy for them to plan out how to make it.

 

[Saghost]

You are not describing range anxiety, you are describing the ability to complete the trip. It also fits your personal mode of travel. Range anxiety has very little to do with planning the trip out. It has to do with knowing you NEED To plan the trip out, vs an ICE car where you are not planning the trip around where the gas stations are.

Im not saying that trips are not possible, far from it. I am saying that, for the average person, even having to plan the trip around charging stations shows that "we are not there yet" in infrastructure. until the average person doesnt have to even think about "the charging station" when making their trip, they will worry "if they can make it" even if its fairly easy for them to plan out how to make it.

If only there were a car that would automatically add charging stations along the way into your trip plan for you when needed...

Not planning your gas stops into your trip can have bad consequences, especially out west in the middle of a Saturday night.

 

[jjrandorin]

If only there were a car that would automatically add charging stations along the way into your trip plan for you when needed...

Not planning your gas stops into your trip can have bad consequences, especially out west in the middle of a Saturday night.

Im not sure what you mean (being honest, not trying to be evasive). I live in california, and have my entire life (southern california) which is about as "out west" as you can get in the US, and I have never once had to look at a map and think about gas station stops when taking a trip anywhere.

 

[dhrivnak]

You are not describing range anxiety, you are describing the ability to complete the trip. It also fits your personal mode of travel. Range anxiety has very little to do with planning the trip out. It has to do with knowing you NEED To plan the trip out, vs an ICE car where you are not planning the trip around where the gas stations are.

Im not saying that trips are not possible, far from it. I am saying that, for the average person, even having to plan the trip around charging stations shows that "we are not there yet" in infrastructure. until the average person doesnt have to even think about "the charging station" when making their trip, they will worry "if they can make it" even if its fairly easy for them to plan out how to make it.

Planning was and is VERY easy. Just enter in the destination in the nav and stops are planned. If one is not convenient for lunch or dinner it is easy to just pick another SuperCharging site.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Im not sure what you mean (being honest, not trying to be evasive). I live in california, and have my entire life (southern california) which is about as "out west" as you can get in the US, and I have never once had to look at a map and think about gas station stops when taking a trip anywhere.

The Tesla Nav does all of the planning for you. You put in your destination and go, and it will tell you exactly where to stop and charge. There is no longer any "website" planning, spreadsheets, or in-trip monitoring. Just do what the car tells you and there is no anxiety. The car will not let you run out of charge unless you ignore what it's telling you.

 

[Saghost]

Im not sure what you mean (being honest, not trying to be evasive). I live in california, and have my entire life (southern california) which is about as "out west" as you can get in the US, and I have never once had to look at a map and think about gas station stops when taking a trip anywhere.

Try driving through Nevada or Utah in the middle of the night on a Saturday night looking for open gas stations and hoping there's one at the next exit.

 

[dmurphy]

I will say, for me, I pay WAAAY more attention to my state of charge, even now, than I did my gas gauge.

For me, it's the complete and total polar opposite. Every day, when I get in my car, I've got 279 miles of range. (I charge to 90% on my LR AWD.). Every day. Unless I'm going somewhere completely extraordinary - i.e. leaving the state - I'm within range, no matter what. So I've stopped thinking about it at all. The furthest I go on any regular basis is about 50 miles. So even that, with a round trip, in the dead of winter, with heat cranked up to 11, sentry mode turned on and climate maintenance mode on ... is still no problem.

It's a problem if I take my wife's vehicle, because that doesn't have the same privilege. The fuel gauge points at whatever state she left it in -- which, whenever I take her car, seems to be somewhere around 1/8 of a tank.

So if there's one downside, it's that I'm not paying nearly enough attention, to be honest. It's mostly immaterial to me now.

 

[Joe F]

Because running out of gas, on the road, has never happened to anyone due to their being gas stations everywhere.

I guess the people I've seen walking on a highway with a gas can were just out for a stroll. I hear that level of exercise reduces anxiety and promotes good health, too.

If any Tesla owner has anxiety due to running out of charge, they're doing something wrong. While there are still some places where a charging infrastructure does not exist, they're few and far between, at least in the U.S. Off the beaten path, sure, but given time, those too will be covered.

Anxiety Disorder is a treatable mental health condition.

 

[timk225]

I've made 4 700 mile road trips in my Model 3, each one took 14-15 hours total time with charging stops included.

 

[Rocky_H]

Contrast with an EV, there are websites that help you "plan your route" etc so that you can make it, or make it efficiently. Until there are enough charging stations that you dont need to think about planning a trip, you just get in the car and "go" there will be range anxiety.

Videos / anecdotes showing "you can do it" help, but dont solve the range anxiety issue... because in almost all cases there is planning to get from charger to supercharger, or ensuring that the location you arrive in has charging etc. In an ICE car you never consider if there is a gas station IN YOUR HOTEL when making reservations.

You're still talking about this as if all EV trips must be pre-planned. That is not true most of the time if you're traveling on the interstates. Last year, I did a 5,000+ mile trip across the country and took a different route back in 11 days, and very purposefully didn't pre-plan it, mainly so I could share that it just isn't very necessary any more. I had not even chosen which cities I would stay in along the way. I just got up each day, pulled up Google Maps to figure how far I wanted to go that day, and then booked an AirBNB in that city. Since it was all along the interstates that had Supercharger coverage, I did zero planning of any charging; just set the next one in the Nav and go.

There is no longer any "website" planning, spreadsheets, or in-trip monitoring. Just do what the car tells you and there is no anxiety. The car will not let you run out of charge unless you ignore what it's telling you.

No--don't go that far. I live in the sparsely populated mountain west area that has several commonly used U.S. highway routes that are not interstate highways that do not have any Superchargers and go for 300+ miles. Those do still take planning, and just last weekend, I did take our hybrid Honda Civic on a trip, because I had other people with me, so I did not want to subject them to the extra delays and inconvenience of extension cords and slow charging from non-Superchargers. So in some places, it does still take some planning to make trips work right.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

No--don't go that far. I live in the sparsely populated mountain west area that has several commonly used U.S. highway routes that are not interstate highways that do not have any Superchargers and go for 300+ miles. Those do still take planning, and just last weekend, I did take our hybrid Honda Civic on a trip, because I had other people with me, so I did not want to subject them to the extra delays and inconvenience of extension cords and slow charging from non-Superchargers. So in some places, it does still take some planning to make trips work right.

It's true, if you're in one of the Supercharger-sparse areas, then yes, planning is still necessary for optimum travel. But the car's nav will never route you improperly. It may require you to drive well out of your way to go through superchargers, but I don't think it will ever lead you into a place where you'll be stranded.

 

[Nocturnal]

Yes, literally fake news.

Try driving through Nevada or Utah in the middle of the night on a Saturday night looking for open gas stations and hoping there's one at the next exit.

Heck. I had problems in my nice suburban city if it was before 6AM. Nearest gas station to my old house that was open 24/7 was 5 minutes out of the way, adding 10 minutes to my commute (plus the 5-10 minutes pulling into a gas station and filling up takes).

 

[Saghost]

It's true, if you're in one of the Supercharger-sparse areas, then yes, planning is still necessary for optimum travel. But the car's nav will never route you improperly. It may require you to drive well out of your way to go through superchargers, but I don't think it will ever lead you into a place where you'll be stranded.

The only caveat to this is that it'll happily leave you at a destination with a low state of charge, which might be low enough to make getting to the nearest Supercharger tight.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

The only caveat to this is that it'll happily leave you at a destination with a low state of charge, which might be low enough to make getting to the nearest Supercharger tight.

Yes, you must have somewhere to charge at the destination, either a Tesla destination charger, supercharger, public charger, or alternative (RV park, dryer outlet, etc.). Usually that isn't too hard unless you're out in the middle of nowhere. Remember to check this and (if necessary) make sure you have your mobile charger and any required adapters needed.

 

[Rocky_H]

It's true, if you're in one of the Supercharger-sparse areas, then yes, planning is still necessary for optimum travel. But the car's nav will never route you improperly. It may require you to drive well out of your way to go through superchargers, but I don't think it will ever lead you into a place where you'll be stranded.

Yay for the 464 mile route between Boise and Bend (45% longer).

 

[jjrandorin]

You guys seem to be coming at this from a different angle than from what I was saying, and I am not into internet arguments (although we have not gotten there yet in this thread for sure).

What I was saying is, people get range anxiety because they know (or think they know) they need to plan out a trip around availability of charging. I am not saying that it cant be done, or that charging is hard, or even that there is any difficulty in getting anywhere someone wants to go.

I am saying the PERCEPTION is there that there is, and the PERCEPTION causes them anxiety about the range they can go on their long trip (range anxiety). Most of you are saying "I didnt have a problem" which is fine. Peoples perceptions do not have to equal reality. You have to change your perception (or change peoples perception) that "traveling in an EV is difficult".

I dont think it is personally, but I would still think about it, and plan for it. For the general person, until they experience it themselves, the perception that "traveling in an EV requires careful planning" IS their reality... thus there is range anxiety.

Saying that people dont have range anxiety is false. Now, saying that they SHOULDNT have range anxiety, thats another discussion and not the one I was having. We can say all we want that "this is easy, people shouldnt be scared", but until talking about range is a non issue, new EV drivers or non EV drivers will get anxiety over it. People never discuss the range on an ICE car, because no one cares if it goes 300 miles on a tank or 500 miles on a tank... because they are not worried about where that next tank comes from.

My position is, until people get to the point where the range "doesnt matter" because there are enough charging stations, and charging is just about as fast as filling up a gas tank, there will be many who get anxiety, whether others believe its "warranted" or not.