You’ve probably heard of the term ‘range anxiety’ when learning about EVs. It’s a term that is increasingly redundant that was used to describe the challenge faced by early adopters of EVs and the trouble of getting to where you want to go with battery spare. These days, much less a problem, and from my experience, if I have 80% to 100% of battery before leaving Sydney, I can drive anxiety free all the way to Forster-Tuncurry straight into a few tubes at my local. The Polestar 3 Long range Single motor has a range of 706 km WLTP (the global standard for vehicle testing), and that's almost Sydney to Byron Bay.
The Polestar 2 that we drive at Surfers for Climate (it’s a shared resource) has a few other neat features that help make sure that range anxiety is kept at bay, because the truth is this – not all EVs are equal, and it's not a fixed range in an EV, but a flexible one that equates to how you drive the car, as well as a few neat features that the crew from Polestar have made standard.
Polestar incorporates a number of technologies in their cars that help extend range, namely:
- One pedal drive – using regenerative braking to turn braking energy into power
- Harvesting heat from the powertrain through the heat pump to warm the cabin; and
- Pre-entry climate control, allowing you to heat or cool the car whilst charging before you drive, saving battery power for driving.
I want to linger on one pedal drive for a second, because it's kinda rad.
Polestars offer ‘one-pedal driving’, where you can slow down and even stop using only the accelerator pedal, as the regenerative braking system handles the deceleration. It really is as simple as when you lift your foot off the accelerator, regenerative braking automatically starts and you slow right down, even to a stop. Regenerative braking is a real game-changer for electric vehicles as it also turns slowing down into an opportunity to recharge a little. It works like this - unlike traditional braking, which dissipates the kinetic energy generated from traditional disc brakes to heat, regenerative braking harnesses the vehicle’s electric motor to convert motion back into electricity, which is then stored in the battery for later use. To get a little more ‘sciency’, this process is governed by what’s called ‘Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction’, where the spinning wheels act as a generator, creating a counter-force that slows the car while recapturing energy. Not only does this improve efficiency (recovering up to 70% of otherwise lost energy) but it also reduces wear on brake pads, cutting down on waste and maintenance.
For ocean lovers and climate-conscious drivers, regenerative braking is a reminder that smart design can work with nature rather than against it. Every surfer understands the importance of momentum, and regenerative braking captures momentum to extend an EV’s range and lower emissions. This technology significantly reduces energy loss and keeps more power circulating where it belongs – within the vehicle, not wasted as heat.
Like any vehicle, unnecessary weight affects battery life and therefore range, so packing light can help extend your drive. Maybe just pack 3 boards instead of the whole quiver? But if you are clocking up the k’s and you do need to charge, the good thing is that your charge time between 10%-80% with a fast DC charger is around half an hour, which is the perfect amount of time to get out and stretch your legs on a road trip, grab a bite to eat, or even get a quick surf in (a real quick one). On long trips, time can be saved by stopping twice and charging to 80% each time, rather than stopping once and charging to full. This is because the final 20% capacity of a lithium-ion battery charges at a much slower rate.
And don’t stress – public charging outside of a city is much easier than you might think. There is a large and growing network of public chargers across Australia in places across freeways, service stations, town centers, hotels, and holiday parks. In fact, multiple people have completed a lap of Australia in an EV (including Polestars), relying solely on public charging infrastructure!
Another really cool feature is Google Maps route planner built into the Polestar, which displays charging points along the way, optimised for getting to your destination as fast as possible. It also checks battery level and plans your route and charging stops accordingly.
As the technology advances, EV range is something that is only going to improve over time with more research, development, tech innovations and progression of the EV industry.
But in reality, nothing really beats smooth driving with minimal acceleration and deceleration to extend the range of an EV. So if you don’t drive it like you’re in Grand Theft Auto, you’ll get where you need to go with juice to spare.
