Some years ago, ?range anxiety? was both a valid concern and one of those fear-factor buzzwords bandied about by industry pessimists who didn?t think electric cars could ever be a thing the American public would embrace. Either people would be seriously stressing out over their available range, some experts prognosticated, or those who hadn?t been adequately white-knuckling would be stranded by the side of the road, helplessly waiting for the next expensive flatbed tow truck to come along.
Today, with hundreds of thousands of electric cars taking to American streets and highways, there is no epidemic of EVs stranded along the roadside. Experts estimate that, as we’ve seen so far in road-tripping with our long-term Model S, electric-car owners seldom tap into the bottom 20 percent or so of their driving range, especially in unknown territory; while that may be a problem in itself, since every bit of capacity costs weight and money, they?re seldom making those sorts of disabling mistakes. In fact, a well-promoted program started several years ago by AAA to rescue stranded electric-car drivers who weren?t keeping track of their range and ran flat out has turned out to be very lonely?sub in, if you will images of a Maytag repairman, waiting by the phone.
?It seems that folks who drive an electric vehicle are very aware of the range of that electric vehicle,? said Greg Brannon, AAA director of automotive engineering and industry relations. ?Our feeling is that they kee...