EV ambitions: the new tech relieving range anxiety

A woman charges her electric car at a charging station.

Since the dawn of the modern electric car, two words have plagued its existence: range anxiety. But new range-managing tech could finally be the answer to making EVs more mainstream in 2024.

Driven by media hype, consumer trepidation and inadequate public charging infrastructure, many would-be EV owners put off the switch to electric due to their fear of range anxiety.

A recent poll in the United States found that 59% of those surveyed were very unlikely to purchase an EV in the immediate future. The reason? The vast majority had concerns over the infrastructure, battery technology and charging time.

That’s supported by research carried out by Recurrent, a company that specializes in battery reports for used EVs. It found that more than two-thirds of prospective EV owners said they haven’t bought one yet because of range anxiety.

Interestingly, with experience comes a more relaxed attitude. In the same survey, Recurrent discovered that almost two-thirds of current owners report no range anxiety at all. Clearly, the experience of living with one and learning to manage your charge reduces range anxiety over time.

But what if technology could help shortcut the process by helping you manage and maximize your range and show you charger availability in real-time, so you don’t need years of EV experience to feel comfortable?

Charging Station Charge Point Infrastructure EV Electric Vehicle

Leading the charge

Unsurprisingly, it’s longer trips that generate the most anxiety, because drivers are more reliant on public charging networks. While the public infrastructure is growing all the time, fear remains about whether you’ll reach a charger in time. Even if you do, there’s the anxiety of whether it’s occupied or working.

For its new fully electric Emeya hyper-GT, Lotus turned to HERE’s latest EV tech for its navigation system. Built into the Lotus’ HERE-powered navigation system, HERE EV Range Assistant and HERE EV Charge Points work in harmony with the car’s battery to plan the most efficient routes based on capacity, road conditions and real-time traffic. Useful when you’re planning long journeys to unfamiliar places. Drivers can plan and locate charging points from their navigation system, discover if they’re suitable for their vehicle and even if they’re unoccupied before they get there.

“With our combined engineering expertise, we have developed a predictive consumption model to highlight how Emeya’s powertrain will likely discharge based on the driver’s behavior. As a result, the projected range is incredibly accurate,” said Serino Angellotti, Senior Chief Engineer, Electrics and Electronics Digital User Experience at Lotus.

“To help our customers one step further, the driver can select a personalized range threshold — the so-called 'comfort zone’ — meaning that Emeya’s navigation system will plan a route so the battery charge never drops below 10%. And if you want to play it safer, this parameter can be adjusted to 20 and even 30%.”

A man plugs in his electric car at an EV charge point

Read more — EV does it: can the U.S. meet charging infrastructure targets?

Power ranger

“Emerging partnerships help the entire ecosystem grow,” Doron Frenkel, founder and CEO of Driivz, told Forbes. “From my view, the rate of growth is likely to be slower as two big obstacles to adoption remain: high EV prices and range anxiety around the lack of EV charging infrastructure. Yet, in 2024, I expect to see progress on both fronts as the EV market moves from early adopters to early consumers.”

One of these technologies helping to smooth the transition to electric vehicles is HERE EV Range Factors, a product aimed at bolstering original equipment manufacturers’ in-house solutions (OEMs). Using HERE’s predictive data, it gives EV drivers peace of mind by improving and enhancing the accuracy and reliability of a vehicle’s route-specific range predictions.

With weather and road conditions playing an important aspect in range assumption, HERE EV Range Factors provides road topography data (elevation, slope, curvature and roughness), and weather data (temperature, wind speed and direction) to accurately predict ranges in real-time. When combined with powerful navigation features that incorporate live charger status, drivers are armed with all the information they need to make their journeys stress-free.

"We're excited to introduce location technology designed to address the complexities of on-route battery range calculations for electric vehicles,” said Chris Handley, Vice President of Dynamic and Spatial Content Business Unit at HERE Technologies. “By providing crucial data on road characteristics, temperature, and wind, we’re focused on providing drivers with the confidence and information they need for a hassle-free journey.