Everything you want to know about driving electric

For some, it is still a long way off and for others it is already a reality: driving an electric car. But the chances are that sooner or later every driver will have to switch to it. In this article you will find everything you need to know about driving electric.

Charging

Of course an electric car needs to be charged. Fortunately, in the Netherlands you don’t have to worry about not having a charging station nearby. Our country has around 40,000 public charging stations and, in relative terms, we are ahead of other countries. If you drive to other countries in Europe, the density is a lot less, but by collecting EV charging data, companies know increasingly better where the need lies and where the charging poles should be placed. Navigation systems enriched with an extensive EV charging stations dataset are also becoming better at mapping out routes with charging availabilities If you only use your car in the Netherlands, chances are that you will rarely need to make use of public charging stations. You can simply charge the vehicle at home at a cheaper rate and the action radius is usually sufficient for normal daily use.

No gear shifting

All electric cars have no gears and are therefore automatic. There is only one difference with an automatic on fossil fuels. With an internal combustion engine you notice that the car automatically switches between the different gears. With an electric motor, there are no gears. It does its work at all speeds. That also makes it generally more responsive than cars with combustion engines. Whoever is used to fully depressing the pedal will be surprised how fast the car shoots away.

Different footwork

Driving an electric car requires different footwork. Whereas in a car with an internal combustion engine you still use the brake pedal relatively often, this is less necessary in a car with an electric motor. This is because when you press down on the accelerator, the car uses energy to run the engine. But, when you release the accelerator, the opposite happens. The engine then has a dynamo function and so the car takes energy back for the battery. By turning the dynamo, the speed decreases faster than when a car with an internal combustion engine rolls over. Compare it to an old-fashioned dynamo against a bicycle tyre. Because of the friction you brake faster when the dynamo is against the tyre.