What you need to know before your first test drive: 7 things that are different when driving an electric car

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By the end of 2022, around 110,000 electric cars were on the road in Switzerland and the trend is growing. About one in six new cars sold are now all-electric. If you include plug-in hybrids, one in four new cars drives at least part of the road all-electric.

Conversely, this also means that the lion’s share of 4.7 million passenger cars in Switzerland at the end of 2022 are still powered by a petrol or diesel engine. The vast majority of Swiss have probably never been behind the wheel of an electric car, and they certainly have no day-to-day experience with electric drives. However, these differ significantly from combustion engines in terms of driving experience and take some getting used to when switching until the e-pedal has control of recovery and charging.

So if you want to test an electric car at the E-Nova mobility fair, which will start on Friday, June 30th, you should prepare yourself and pay attention to the following.

In an internal combustion engine, it usually takes some time to remember before the human or automatic transmission selects the correct gear and the internal combustion engine reaches speed. With the Stromer, the situation is different: here, full power is available without delay from the first second – so when you hit the accelerator, the e-car is immediately thrown forward. Beware – some electric cars are significantly more powerful than internal combustion models of the same size, so the driver can then start unexpectedly violently. Savings tip: Instead of stopping at every traffic light, use only half of the pedal action to be as efficient as possible on the road.

Depending on the performance of the e-car, caution is required due to rough acceleration. If you want to pass the Schleicher in front of you on a country road, keep a certain distance when you start overtaking. Because with the powerful e-bolides à la Tesla, you might otherwise accidentally bump into the back of the person in front.

Anyone who gets into an electric car for the first time will immediately notice: Wow, it’s so quiet in here! But the significantly lower noise level compared to an internal combustion engine also has its pitfalls: Because it’s so beautiful and quiet, you get the feeling of traveling slower in a country with thousands of speed cameras that can quickly become expensive. It is therefore better to look at the (digital) speedometer more often or to use cruise control constantly to save your budget. Smooth driving provides greater efficiency.

About 25 to 30 percent of all people suffer from a condition known as motion sickness in the car. Symptoms include dizziness, headaches, and nausea, which occur as the body’s response to movement and acceleration. In the electric car, these symptoms are even more pronounced: As the Stromer starts out rougher and accelerates faster, the brain has to coordinate perception and sense of balance even faster. Therefore, as a driver, you should start as softly as possible and not brake too hard to protect the stomachs of sensitive passengers on board.

Even on weaker e-cars, even with significantly more powerful internal combustion engines, you can easily show the taillights at traffic lights. But instead of applying high-voltage current to anchor again at the next red light after each stop, predictive driving is valuable in an e-car. Often thanks to the adjustable recuperation power, the car charges the battery electrically with each braking action – in many cases experienced drivers (mechanical) can completely disengage the brakes and increase the range at the same time.

E-car newbies almost always keep an eye on their Stromer’s range indicator. The fear always persists at the start: Will the juice continue until the next charging stop? Over time, you’ll quickly get used to relying on the remaining range and not immediately panic if the screen shows less than 100 kilometers – especially in Switzerland, with its well-developed infrastructure, there is now a charging station in every village. The range with only 100 kilometers remaining on the battery is certainly no reason to panic.

In an internal combustion engine, the air conditioner usually runs uninterrupted, whether we really need it or not. The result can be up to a liter of additional fuel per 100 kilometers! Depending on the model, this corresponds to an energy amount of 8.5 kilowatt-hours that a Stromer can easily cover 50 kilometers. When the outside temperature is suitable and the sky is cloudy, it is worth doing without air conditioning if possible. In winter, only selectively use seat and steering wheel heating instead of heating the entire interior. Now standard on some models, the heat pump in an e-car is much more efficient at air conditioning. They quickly cool the car without consuming the battery too much, especially on short trips such as a test drive. Ask E-Nova if your test vehicle has this equipment.

Source: Blick