What if an electric car runs out of battery?

You do the exact same thing if your car runs out. Roadside assistance is available.

Many roadside assistance agencies can provide enough fuel to get you to the nearest gas station. There are some trucks with a portable fast charging system, but they are rare. You will likely need to tow your vehicle to the nearest charging station.

It is rare, and actually quite difficult, to run out of battery in an electric vehicle. Why?

For everyday use, you would normally start the day with a full charge of your battery. You don’t need to charge your EV at home. All you have to do is plug it in. You don’t have to wait until it’s too late to recharge your EV. It’s easy to plug it in once you return home. Even if your long-range EV doesn’t need to be charged every day, once it is known how much energy you use each day, you will be able to determine when you need to plug it in. When I get home, my range is 100 miles. Although 100 miles is a lot more than I use in one day, plugging in is easy and painless. If it is below the amount that I set, and it hasn’t been plugged in yet, my car will notify me at 9:30pm.

You might have to go back to the gas station paradigm if your home charging isn’t available. But, just like your gas car, you will be able to see when your car needs to be charged.

Things might look different on trips where you travel beyond the reach of your car. You will need to stop somewhere in this case, even though you might not be familiar with the area. But most EVs will do the planning for your. When you put in a distant location, the Tesla will automatically plot a route including charging stops so that you arrive at each station with a 10% safety margin. It also takes into account terrain, making it very accurate. It was accurate within 2% on a recent trip that I took. This leaves a margin of safety of 8% (around 25 miles).

 

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