In 2022 'Hypermiling' champion Wayne Gerdes’ drove a Porsche EV from New York to Los Angeles, stopping to charge for only 2 hours 26 minutes, at a cost of £56.
Here are Wayne's 5 tips on getting the most miles from your EV:
1. Use the car’s 'range' mode or equivalent to get the most from the battery. This optimises the car’s settings, such as climate control and driving modes to ensure maximum efficiency and lower electrical consumption.
2. Programme navigation for the shortest route between rapid chargers. Faster routes may be longer and less efficient than the shortest journey between chargers.
3. Pre-condition battery en route to the charger. Pre-heating the battery before you reach a rapid charger enables the unit to deliver electrical charge at the highest possible rate immediately. Many new EVs will do that automatically if you set the sat nav to take you to a rapid charger.
4. Stay in the charging sweet spot. For the fastest charging, allow the battery to deplete to less than 5% charge and top up to no more than 50%. The fuller a battery gets, the slower it will charge, so for those in a hurry keeping the charge level at the lower end of the scale can be more time-efficient than topping up to 80% and above.
5. Engage active cruise control. Though not available on all EVs, active cruise control helps to smooth out harsh acceleration or deceleration, reducing the higher electrical consumption associated with both.
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