Are EV Drivers Smarter than Other Drivers?

While there’s no evidence to suggest that a driver who chooses a vehicle that runs solely on electricity is any smarter than a driver of a gasoline powered vehicle it seems these drivers are making more intelligent choices. This fact is the result of some of the data collected by AAA and the number of service calls they’ve had for EV drivers over the past several years. AAA serves the nation of members which is nearly 56 million strong at this point, but there seem to be a different type of service needed for those driving EVs over those with gasoline engines.

So far, a vast majority of the side of the road service calls AAA has answered have been for vehicles that need a couple gallons of gas to get from where they are to the next station for a fill up. This has to do with these drivers putting more trust in the estimated trip computers installed in the vehicles that show them the estimated range left until the vehicle no longer has any gas left. Unfortunately these range computers are only able to guess how much range is left and too many drivers don’t allow for a buffer of error with these vehicles.

When it comes to EV drivers most of the calls have been for flat tires or keys that get locked in the vehicle. This correlates directly with the calls answered for gasoline vehicles as well and since one out of every four models on the road today don’t come with a spare tire these calls require some fix-a-flat or a tow truck to get the disabled vehicle off the road and moving once again. Even though AAA has a new program that’s made to help those who have EVs, very few have felt the need make use of these services.

This new service offered by AAA is a fleet of trucks that serve the Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix and Orlando areas. These are cities that have a higher density of EVs on the road than others and the service trucks offered by AAA are onboard generators that have been fitted with the correct equipment to fit all types of charging ports on all vehicles. These trucks use either diesel, gasoline or LP natural gas to power the chargers, which is a bit of an ironic statement when these vehicles need to be charged.

The problem AAA has found is that most people who drive an EV model are well aware of the limitations of their battery charge and the range they happen to have for driving. Most of these drivers allow a buffer of 15 to 20 percent charge to be left before they charge up again, but don’t typically go below that percentage before charging. In other words, EV drivers aren’t pushing the limits of their battery charge while those who drive gasoline powered vehicles are much more likely to push the limits of the vehicle (if you’ve ever heard anyone say “E stands for enough” you know exactly what I mean).

Does this make the drivers of EVs smarter, it does on the road, but maybe that’s because this range buffer is the perfect range anxiety coping mechanism for these drivers to ensure they have the additional range they need to be able to reach the next charging station without the need of being rescued along the way. There may be other factors at play as well when it comes to these EV models that are now becoming more of a regular occurrence on the roads.

Since 2009 there have been more than 250,00 new EV models registered in the US and over 260 million gasoline powered vehicles. This means that 1,000 vehicles with a gas tank were registered for every EV on the road. This may be the reason for the low number of AAA portable charging trucks on call responding to stranded drivers. It’s highly likely that as EV models become more mainstream and are sold in more significant numbers that AAA will see a ramp up on these service calls for their portable charging trucks. It’s a good thing they’re prepared for what’s certain to come in the near future.