With the emergence of the electric car onto the automotive landscape, a new phrase has slowly entered into our vocabulary -- Range Anxiety. While it may sound like a Freudian malady, it's actually a very real phenomenon that has electric car makers worried. What it describes is a person's fear that his or her electric car will run out of power before they have reached their destination - leaving them stranded on the side of the road.
Range anxiety is already so prevalent that General Motors is trying to capitalize on it in its marketing program to sell the Chevrolet Volt, an electric car that includes a gas engine that serves as a generator for the battery should the energy run out. GM is so serious about this campaign that it has asked for a U.S. trademark on the phrase.
But is range anxiety a true fear or only a figment of our gasoline-addicted imaginations? Actually, it is a real fear (although one that is slowly starting to lessen). Pure electric cars like Nissan's Leaf have a limited range of travel because the battery pack that they rely on for energy can run out of power. Since these cars don't have the capability to recharge themselves, the only alternative for drivers is to find a recharging station.
The fear is so real that some car shoppers who may have considered buying an electric car are staying away. And people who have electric cars are driving them way below their range to assure that they don't get stranded.
But analysts say that there are ways to ease people's fears about range anxiety. Companies that manufacture the lithium-ion batteries that are used to power today's electric cars are working on ways to increase the capacity of the batteries. It is said that the power density of lithium-ion batteries is improving about 8 percent a year. That means that there is a doubling of capacity every 10 years. Sure, that's not quick enough for today's impatient drivers, but there's no doubt that technology will allow for breakthroughs which will increase battery capacity faster. Another way to ease range anxiety is to have more charging stations that can serve like gas stations for gasoline engine vehicles. When the charge in your electric car is getting too low, you just seek out a charging station and plug the car in while you go shopping or work. Current recharging technology allows for this right now. It does take some time for these stations to recharge a car, however, there are already people tackling this problem to assure that charging time becomes a whole lot faster. Finally, there is another alternative -- sites where you can swap out your dead battery for a fully charged one. A company called Better Place is working on this and has already demonstrated the technology.
Tesla Motors, an electric car manufacturer in San Carlos, California, has been working on ways to solve the problem of range anxiety since 2008. One of the alternatives they are working on is the swapping of battery packs. A spokesperson for Tesla has said that the procedure would be performed mechanically and it would be faster than filling your car with gasoline at the local service station.
So, is range anxiety real? Yes. Are there ways to relieve the fear? Again, the answer is yes - but it may take some time until consumers are truly ready and willing to give up the almost-unlimited range that gas powered cars allow.