First of all, you will need to check whether your home is electro-compatible. Being able to charge at home or at your workplace is one of the fundamental prerequisites for experiencing the change more easily. This means you will need an electrical system that complies with regulations and there must be no overvoltage problems. You also need to make sure that your garage can accommodate a charging point and that there are no restrictions in the apartment block where you live.
If you do not have a garage, you need to find a safe and convenient place to charge your electric car.
The second essential thing is to check whether your region is served by an electricity network large enough for your charging needs, and whether the areas you regularly visit are too. Plan ahead if you prefer to use charging stations while travelling.
Giving up a petrol vehicle for an electric one requires a willingness to change your habits.
With combustion-engine cars, you do not worry about where you will refuel, because refuelling takes very little time and pumps are practically everywhere. Moreover, the usual approach is to refuel when you are close to the reserve.
In the world of electric cars, you will have to change your paradigm. Whenever the opportunity arises, you should take advantage of the chance to charge. Not necessarily to “fill up”, but enough to keep the battery charged. This way, charging times will be shorter.
Driving style. If you usually drive aggressively, with frequent acceleration and overtaking, you will have to change your approach to driving. With an electric car you will have no trouble with lightning-fast acceleration, but this way of driving will significantly reduce the battery charge. If, on the other hand, you are used to driving more calmly, you will find it easy to adapt. And this is not necessarily a bad thing, at least for road safety.
Calculating your route more accurately
Anyone interested in buying an electric car must be aware of the various aspects involved. You will need to check your route, making a precise estimate of the kilometres to be travelled, and the duration and cost of the charging stations along the way. It is important to consider both the outward and return journeys to avoid running out of power.
If your journey is on the motorway, the battery range will be much lower than the declared figure
(WLTP), so you will need to allow for a suitable number of stops so as not to run out of power. Even though your journey time will be longer, stops can offer pleasant opportunities to eat, have a coffee, use the toilets and rest. If you cannot avoid driving 400–500 kilometres without stopping (although this is strongly discouraged), an electric car is probably not for you.
The use of technology is essential for an electric driver. Smart software, built into the vehicle or downloadable on mobile devices, can help you plan routes and charging stops more efficiently. By entering your itinerary accurately, the software will indicate the most suitable place to stop and charge. It can therefore be assumed that, to be an electro-compatible driver, a good familiarity with technology is necessary.
Primary use of the car
If the primary use of your car is to travel a lot every day, for example as a sales representative, with an electric car you will probably have to change the way you travel, and perhaps, at the moment, it might not be the car for you. It is true that there are sales representatives who use electric cars, covering tens of thousands of kilometres a year, and say they are happy, but it would be wrong to regard this as a valid indicator for everyone.
If you use your electric car mainly in town centres with the occasional trip outside the urban area, you will probably get the most out of this technology, because you will use less energy than with a combustion-engine car and you will have no problems with charging.
If you use your car outside urban areas on fairly short stretches, for example to go to work and to make the occasional trip, in this case too the electric car will be perfect and you will hardly have to change your habits at all. The ideal would always be to have a charging point at home or at work.
Are you ready?
We have analysed the main issues you face when you have an electric car. Based on our analyses and on users’ experiences, using an electric car requires a different approach from that of your current combustion-engine vehicle. You could say the approach will be more like that of a smartphone than a car. At the same time, you will enjoy great advantages from an economic point of view, provided you use charging with the right contracts, and a superior quality of travel. Think of the quietness – not only inside the cabin, but also outside, in the sense of reduced general noise pollution – and of performance that is hard to match with combustion-engine cars of the same category.
Another very important aspect is the possibility of drastically reducing your carbon footprint by opting for green energy suppliers. If you were to consider installing photovoltaic panels at your home, you would also be able to produce the electricity you can use to charge your car. Another point in its favour.
