What do I need to know before buying an EV?

More drivers are switching to an electric vehicle as they realise the benefits of the fast-moving tech.

But there’s a lot you need to know about transitioning from fossil fuels to electricity.

Some of it can take new EV owners by surprise. That’s why we’ve packaged everything up to help you on your EV way.

Here’s everything you need to know about EVs, before you take the plunge…

Sure, it’s possible to run out of charge in an electric car! But most EVs will help you avoid the inconvenience – and embarrassment – of being stuck beside the road with no electricity.

Almost all modern EVs have satellite navigation and that system knows where the charging stations are. If you’ve inputted a destination that’s not within reach of the current battery charge then the car will alert you and show you where you can top up.

If you ignore that then the car will typically give you more robust warnings the further from a charging option you are.

Some EVs will also start to reduce the load on the battery. It may involve reducing the effectiveness of the air-conditioning, for example, or limiting the top speed.

And if you do manage to ignore all of that and actually run out of electricity, then some EVs have a mode that will allow you to delve into the lower reaches of the battery to drive another kilometre or two to a charging point (or a parking place that’s safer).

How far an EV can travel between charges is a big part of its appeal. Most people expect 400km or more, but there are plenty that go less.

The further an electric car can travel on a single charge, the more useful it will be to more people. But don’t go thinking an EV will get you 500km just because the manufacturer said it would.

Some manufacturers still rely on less relevant laboratory tests that suggest the car will go far further than it will in regular motoring.

The more relevant test is the WLTP one, which is the latest standard used in Europe. But even that is typically optimistic on what you can expect in the real world. We’d suggest knocking 10-20 per cent off that to get a realistic idea of how far you’ll go between charges.

If you’re travelling in sub-zero temperatures or for extended distances above 100km/h then you may have to assume an even lower range.

How and where you drive will affect your range. If you’re driving in extreme cold or cranking the air-con regularly in extreme heat, then your EV will use some of the charge to adjust.

Be prepared to have a slightly shorter range as a result.

Hills will also impact an EV’s range. Drive into the Adelaide Hills, for example, and you’ll burn through plenty of battery ascending. The good news is you’ll use a lot less coming back down; at the bottom of some hills you’ll have more electricity in the battery than you started with at the top.

Similarly, drive to the Southern Highlands out of Sydney and the gradual uphill climb will deplete the battery faster than it will on the return trip.

Other features of the car can also burn through battery charge, as anyone who owns a Tesla can attest.

If you use a Tesla’s Sentry mode regularly it keeps four of the external cameras filming constantly to monitor other people and vehicles around yours. And it uses a heap of electricity doing it.

It won’t be long before you start hearing about AC and DC charging. AC is alternating current, like that supplied at your house. DC is direct current and is how batteries store their electricity.

The easiest way to distinguish between the two is that AC charging is slower and DC charging is fast.

Many shopping centres or council buildings will offer an AC charge because the chargers themselves are cheaper to install and they might want you to hang around longer.

Those larger charging stations you’ll inevitably see at road stops or servos are usually DC chargers that can provide a much higher power level.

As a general rule, you’ll pay more for electricity at a DC charger because you’re paying for the convenience of being able to top-up quickly.

Something the dealer may not tell you is that many EVs won’t like being charged to 100 per cent regularly. It’s no different to your phone or laptop and is a result of the chemistry used in most lithium-ion batteries.

In short, they don’t like using the very top or very bottom of their charge regularly.

To make it easier, many cars allow you to set a charge limit – of, say, 80 per cent – so that for everyday running you’re placing less stress on the battery with the view to maximising its life.

For those times you do need to go on a longer trip it’s fine to top it up to 100 per cent occasionally.

There are exceptions. The latest Tesla Model 3 and Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive EVs and the BYD Atto 3, for example, use a lithium iron (or lithium ferrous phosphate, LFP) battery chemistry that does not have the same issues.

Usually, the recommendation is that you do take the batteries to 100 per cent regularly.

Charging your EV at a public charging station is not as easy as rolling up and plugging in – at least not most of the time.

Charging stations sometimes won’t be working, most will require an account to get the electrons flowing and there can be very different charging speeds.

So best to know what you’re heading into.

Make sure you’ve downloaded the PlugShare app on your phone. It’s a great way to get real-time information on charging stations and learn a bit more about the charging station you’re heading towards, including whether it’s operational and how much power it can supply.

There can also be handy tips such as where exactly the charging station is (some are cleverly hidden in a corner…).

Also create an account in advance with the main charging networks, such as Evie, Chargefox and Jolt. It’s also worth grabbing the ones for Ampol (AmpCharge) and BP (BP Pulse); each of the brands known for fossil fuels is transitioning to EV charging. You’ll need to supply contact details and pop your credit card information in.

It’s a lot easier doing it beforehand rather than fumbling around on the ground when all you want is to plug in and get going.

Charging your car out and about can be rife with frustration – at least for now given the charging infrastructure ain’t exactly prolific in most parts of the country.

So be prepared for some setbacks and challenges early in your EV ownership.

You may pick up the wrong plug, for example (most modern EVs use a CCS combo plug, but some Japanese models use CHaDEmo plugs; faster DC chargers often supply both plugs). If it doesn’t fit, try the other one.

We’ve also had our fair share of problems where the charging station simply doesn’t want to start charging. In its early phases the technology can occasionally be glitchy. You may have to temporarily hold the cable so the car locks it in position.

Free public chargers often have queues of EVs lining up to take advantage of the free electricity. Considering an average EV would cost less than $20 to charge from home, it’s often a lot of effort to go to to save a few bucks. But there’s no shortage of EV-ers prepared to wait.

Some public chargers don’t have their own cable. Instead, they’ll have a plug that looks a lot like the charging port in your car. To use those chargers, it’s BYO cable.

The cable you need is a Type 2 to Type 2 one (all new EVs have a Type 2 charge port and the thing you’re plugging into is also a Type 2 outlet).

While you may not need it often, it’s handy to have that Type 2 to Type 2 cable in the car, just in case.

Car-makers love spruiking how quickly their EV can charge. It might be something along the lines of it being able to add 100km of range in as little as 10 minutes.

But the planets have to be aligned to make that happen.

EVs have advanced software that tries to protect the battery when it’s charging.

Plug into one of those whiz-bang fast DC chargers and the car will be the one that determines how much electricity it will accept at any particular time.

It will depend on the current state of charge (SOC) of the battery and even the ambient temperature (EVs charge slower in cooler sub-zero temperatures, again to try to protect the battery).

The SOC is the most relevant factor in determining how fast your EV will charge.

If you plug in when the battery is less than 10 or 15 per cent, then it will typically take on the maximum rate early in the charging cycle.

But once you’re up to 20 or 30 per cent you’ll typically see the charge rate come off dramatically. That’s the vehicle’s software pulling the charge rate back to protect the battery.

Above about 80 or 90 per cent SOC it’s often a very slow charge, which is why many people disconnect so as to free up the charger for the next person.

It’s very uncool to leave your EV plugged in once it’s reached 100 per cent charge. Even worse, is parking in an EV charging space when you’re not even charging.

Similarly, if there are other cars waiting to charge it’s commonly accepted that you should unplug once the car reaches about 80 per cent SOC, so as to ensure everyone can get moving sooner.

Again, keep in mind that the vehicle will be charging slower above that 80 per cent mark.

How long does it take to charge an EV from home?

All EVs can be charged from a regular power point using a regular 230V charger. Most EVs supply one with the car when you buy it.

It’s the slowest way to charge an EV, but for many people they’ll be able to cope fine by charging from that standard power point.

To work out how long your car will take to charge from a home power point, look for the capacity of the battery (it’s measured in kilowatt-hours, or kWh) and divide it by 2-and-a-bit. So if it’s a 77kWh battery, for example, it’ll probably take something like 35 hours for a full charge.

Before you start rolling your eyes at such charging madness, keep in mind that those figures are for a full charge.

If you’re travelling less than 100km per day, then an overnight charge should easily get your EV topped back up using a regular power point.

The easier way to charge at home is with a wallbox, which as the name suggests is a box mounted on the wall.

Prices start at around $600 and go to a couple of grand or more.

Then there’s installation on top of that, which could cost a couple of hundred dollars or a couple of thousand, depending on your house, its wiring and where you want the charger installed.

Apartments are trickier again because you’ll require strata approval. If your apartment block hasn’t yet got an EV charging policy in place, then stick it on the agenda at the next AGM.

As for which wallbox to go for, it depends on your house and its electricity supply and local regulations.

Most houses will have single-phase electricity, which will supply up to about 7.4kW. Local regulations could bring that down slightly. That’s where you’ll need an electrician to let you know what can be done.

That 7.4kW charge will easily provide a full charge for all EVs currently on the market if you’re parking the car overnight.

But if you want a faster charge, there are also 11kW and 22kW wallbox chargers available. Each will require a three-phase power connection, which may involve more extensive wiring.

And remember that most EVs won’t accept more than 11kW of AC charge.

In any case, for most people the 7.4kW single-phase charging option will generally suffice.

Owning an EV will save you in fuel costs but in most instances it’ll boost your home electricity bills, albeit by nowhere near as much as you were spending on petrol or diesel.

That’s why when buying an EV it’s worth looking at your current electricity plan and working out whether a different one could save you money.

It’ll all come down to how much you’re charging and when you’re likely to charge.

If you’ll be charging overnight, for example, there are some plans that will offer off-peak rates of half or a quarter what you’ll pay in peak times.

Other plans offer discounted rates during the day to take advantage of excess solar in the grid.

If you’re charging from solar during the day then the solar feed-in tariff may no longer be as relevant because you’ll likely be using a fair chunk of the electricity your rooftop panels are generating.

Either way, spend a few minutes researching which plan would suit you best.

It’s weird how there are some things that the local servo is very handy for other than filling up with fuel.

Topping up the windscreen washer bottle, for example, or giving the windscreen a quick clean with a squeegee. Or checking tyre pressures. Or just grabbing some milk or groceries on the way home.

They’re all things that you may not have put much thought into but the types of things you may miss about going to a service station.

But the benefits of owning an EV far, far outweigh that adjustment to the way you’ve been doing things.

Provided you plug in regularly, there will be no need to go out of your way to search for fuel again.

Enjoy!

For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales’ Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast

Also check out carsales’ Electric Car hub