What range anxiety?

Electric cars are close to meeting the range demands of more than one in three motorists, new figures reveal.

Research by DrivingElectric.com shows 37% of motorists cite up to 300 miles as the range that will entice them to buy a pure EV.

A growing number of models are within a handful of miles of delivering that distance on a single charge.

Cars like the long range Hyundai Kona Electric – which can cover 292 miles – fall just eight miles short of the most common figure for consumers’ range ambitions.

Ever since the first electric cars appeared in the UK market, motorists have cited range anxiety as the main reason for holding off on an EV purchase. But improvements in technology are coming faster than many motorists realise, which means many don’t know their demands for range have already been met.

DrivingElectric.com asked more than 250 drivers, expressing interest in buying an all-electric car, what range would tempt them to take the plunge.

The finding was that 37% of them no longer expect the equivalent range of an internal combustion engine. Instead they cite ranges between 50 and 300 miles on a single charge, which means the threshold for range anxiety has already been met by some mainstream electric vehicles.

Another 28% of drivers demanded up to 400 miles on a single charge, a figure widely expected to be reached by new high-end models already in the pipeline. The remaining 35% of motorists will be waiting much longer for their range expectations of 400-1,000 miles to be met.

Vicky Parrott, associate editor of DrivingElectric.com, said, ‘With such focus on range anxiety, many have missed the technological improvements we’re seeing. We were surprised to find many drivers’ expectations were so close to what is already available to them.’