$10$ Tips That Really Increase Electric Car Range

Metaverse Planet October 17, 2025Last Updated: October 17, 2025

4 minutes read

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are the future, but range anxiety caused by broken charging stations or long queues is a nightmare for many drivers. If you cannot achieve your vehicle’s catalog range, the problem is often hidden not in the battery, but in your driving habits. Since the late $2000$s, electric cars have transitioned from a science-fiction experiment to the mainstream option in the automotive world. Modern EVs now offer long range, fast charging, and thanks to government incentives, their usage and maintenance are becoming more economical than traditional vehicles.

However, despite this rapid transition, the charging infrastructure in many countries is still in development, creating range anxiety for users from time to time. Finding a charging station that appears “available” on an app but turns out to be broken, or waiting in long queues for a fast-charging point, makes it essential for drivers to optimize their vehicle’s range.

Here are $10$ critical tips that will help you travel longer distances with your electric car, reduce battery consumption, and improve your driving experience:

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1. Drive Gently and Steadily

While the instant torque and quick acceleration of EVs make driving fun, hard acceleration depletes the battery much faster. Adopting a soft and steady driving style, avoiding sudden pedal presses, allows the battery to last longer. Maintaining a constant speed as much as possible and using cruise control, which provides more efficient control than human reactions, makes a big difference. Adaptive cruise control systems, in particular, can analyze road incline and traffic data to determine the optimal acceleration/deceleration time. Remember, keeping the speed limit low directly extends the range because air resistance increases exponentially at high speeds.

2. Maximize Regenerative Braking

One of the biggest advantages of EVs is the regenerative braking system. This system converts the vehicle’s kinetic energy, which would normally be lost as heat during deceleration, back into electricity to charge the battery. Modern systems can recover up to $70\%$ of this energy. Using the one-pedal driving feature (where lifting your foot off the accelerator performs both deceleration and energy recovery) provides optimal energy efficiency.

3. Lift Your Foot Off the Accelerator Early (Coasting)

If your vehicle lacks a regenerative braking system or has a low-efficiency one, simply taking your foot completely off the accelerator well before the point where you would need to brake (coasting or sailing mode) can be more efficient. This allows the car to slow down using its momentum, resulting in zero loss in energy conversion. While this method can be more efficient than regenerative braking on highway drives, combining both methods yields the best results in city driving.

4. Activate Eco Mode

The Eco Mode, found in almost every electric vehicle, deliberately limits the car’s performance for energy savings. This mode softens throttle responses, reduces the power of the air conditioning, and in some cases, limits the maximum speed to minimize battery consumption. Using this mode on long journeys, especially when experiencing range anxiety, can help you travel farther than expected.

5. Set Tire Pressure Correctly and Choose the Right Tires

Tires are the only point of contact with the road, and if their pressure is incorrect, energy consumption rapidly increases. Experts indicate that even a $1 \text{ psi}$ drop in pressure reduces efficiency by about $0.2\%$. Using low-rolling-resistance tires specially designed for EVs both reduces road noise and helps the battery be used more efficiently.

6. Get Rid of Unnecessary Weight and Roof Accessories

Roof boxes, bike racks, or unnecessary excess load carried in the trunk impair the vehicle’s aerodynamics and severely increase air resistance. Removing unused accessories from the car and lightening the luggage provides a noticeable improvement in range, as more energy must be consumed to maintain the same speed.

7. Pre-condition the Cabin

Unlike internal combustion engines, EVs use battery energy directly to heat or cool the cabin. If you are charging at home, setting the cabin to the desired temperature via the vehicle’s app before getting in, using grid electricity (pre-conditioning), prevents excessive energy draw from the battery when you start your trip. Additionally, using only seat or steering wheel heating instead of the full climate control system when traveling alone can result in significant energy savings.

8. Keep Windows Closed at High Speeds

While opening the windows to cool down is tempting, at high speeds, this increases the car’s aerodynamic drag, potentially reducing the range by up to $20\%$. While opening windows may be more efficient than using the air conditioning at low speeds (city driving), keeping the windows closed and using the air conditioning at a low setting is a smarter choice when traveling at high speeds (highway driving).

9. Plan Your Journey Correctly, Account for Weather Conditions

Taking long trips with EVs requires finding the right charging stations and routes. Plan your route in advance using apps that filter stations based on charging features. Also, remember that uphill climbs decrease range, while downhill sections allow for recovery via regeneration. Always keep in mind the possibility that your actual range may be up to $20\%$ lower than catalog values, especially in cold weather, as battery chemical efficiency decreases.

10. Do Not Neglect Regular Maintenance

Although EVs have fewer parts than traditional vehicles, the need for maintenance does not disappear. Critical parts like the braking system and tires should be checked regularly. During service, technicians perform high-voltage battery checks, assessing the battery’s temperature balance, insulation status, and general health, and optimize your vehicle’s efficiency with software updates. Regular maintenance both extends the life of your vehicle and keeps battery performance at its peak.