If this is your first electric vehicle roadtrip, you may want to take some notes.
Last year, more electric vehicles were introduced and sold in Malaysia than in any other preceding year. This means that we have thousands of drivers on the road today who are about to embark on their first interstate journey with an electric vehicle this coming Chinese New Year. If you are, here’s a bit of advice we can offer having driven quite a number of interstate trips with electric vehicles down to Johor, up to Penang and even to Kuantan.
The first bit of advice is to prepare your vehicle in advance, which applies to EVs and ICE-powered cars. Check fluids, check tyre pressure, and just ensure that any niggling issues are at least inspected by a reputable workshop or authorised dealer ahead of time. Do this in advance and not just the day before traveling. Now for more EV-specific advice.
Charging To Full Before Leaving
It’s not advisable to charge your EV battery up to 100% repeatedly. This is particularly true if it uses lithium ion / NCM chemistry as it will degrade battery health over time. However, on the eve of long distance travel, charging to 100% is good practice. If you can do this using a home charger with an EV that uses LFP battery chemistry that would be the ideal scenario. Charging via a public DC fast charger to 100% is not something that is advised as it is not economical and you may be hogging a charger that others may need to use urgently. So:
- if you own an LFP battery EV and a home charger, definitely charge up to 100% the night before travelling
- if you own an LFP battery EV or an NCM battery EV and can’t charge from home, try and get at least 80% the night before traveling.
Having a fully-charged battery will reduce your travel-related stress especially if you have young kids or older family members to manage. There will be more EVs on the road this year than ever before, and you don’t want to be stuck in a jam worrying about range. You also don’t want to charge until you’re close to your destination, just in case there’s a long queue at the charging stations.
Start Early & Charge On Arrival
It’s always good advice to start your interstate journey early in the morning. We don’t mean 9am, by the way. We mean bags in the car before 7am. While this may be difficult to do with kids, if you don’t have kids to deal with, you really don’t have any excuse to get on the road as soon as the sun rises. Trust me, it’s worth it. For one, there tends to be fewer cars on the road before 9am, which means a more relaxed and safer drive.
However, if you’re an EV owner, you have additional benefits to look out for. If you arrive at your destination early, you’re more likely to encounter charging stations that are unoccupied. At the very least, it gives you more time to account for a recharge if there is a queue. If you leave early, it’s also more likely that you’ll reach your destination in time to recharge and have brunch or lunch at the same time, killing two birds with one stone and saving precious time.
Look for places you can charge up and eat up on arrival. The Skudai R&R is one option with fast food options if you’re heading down to JB.
Charging on arrival to about 80% will give you enough juice to travel in your destination city for a few days without worry. And if you do it before checking into your hotel or heading to your family home, you don’t have to worry about charging the car up until the night before heading back to KL.
