Top 20 'Range-Anxiety-Reducing' Maintenance Tips to maintain your EV's maximum range this year. - Goh Ling Yong
Welcome to the electric revolution! Making the switch to an electric vehicle (EV) is an exciting step towards a quieter, quicker, and greener driving experience. But for many new and even seasoned EV owners, a nagging little worry can creep in, especially on longer journeys: range anxiety. It’s that feeling you get watching the estimated kilometers tick down, wondering if you’ll make it to the next charger.
The good news is that modern EVs are more capable than ever, with batteries and software that are engineering marvels. However, just like any sophisticated machine, how you treat your EV directly impacts its performance. The real secret to conquering range anxiety isn’t just about having the biggest battery; it’s about understanding how to get the most out of every single kilowatt-hour. It’s about transforming passive worry into proactive care.
Here at the Goh Ling Yong blog, we're all about empowering you with practical knowledge. That's why we've compiled this ultimate list of 20 maintenance tips. These aren't just theories; they are actionable steps you can take starting today to preserve your EV's battery health and maximize its driving range, ensuring you drive with confidence all year long.
1. Embrace the 20-80% Rule
Think of your EV’s lithium-ion battery like an athlete. It performs best when it’s not completely exhausted or pushed to its absolute limit 24/7. Consistently charging to 100% or letting the battery drop below 20% puts unnecessary stress on the battery cells, which can accelerate long-term degradation and slightly reduce its overall capacity over time.
For your daily driving needs—commuting, school runs, errands—try to keep your state of charge (SoC) between 20% and 80%. Most EVs even allow you to set a charging limit directly in the car's software or app. This simple habit is the single most effective thing you can do for long-term battery health.
Of course, for a long road trip, go ahead and charge to 100% right before you leave. The key is that it isn't sitting at that high voltage for an extended period. Think of 100% as a special occasion, not a daily routine.
2. Limit DC Fast Charging
DC fast chargers are a road-trip game-changer, capable of adding hundreds of kilometers of range in under 30 minutes. However, they achieve this by pumping a massive amount of direct current into your battery, which generates significant heat—a known enemy of battery longevity.
Think of fast charging like having an espresso shot. It’s fantastic when you need a quick boost, but you wouldn’t want to live on them. For your regular charging needs, stick to Level 2 (AC) charging at home or work. It’s much gentler on the battery, generates less heat, and is often cheaper.
Save the DC fast chargers for when you truly need them on long journeys. This balanced approach will keep your battery happier and healthier for years to come.
3. Understand and Use Preconditioning
This might be the most underrated feature for maximizing range, especially in very hot or cold climates. "Preconditioning" means using power from the grid (while your car is still plugged in) to heat or cool the battery and the cabin to their optimal operating temperatures before you start your journey.
An EV battery has a "happy zone" temperature-wise. In the cold, a significant amount of energy is spent just warming the battery up to an efficient temperature. In the heat, energy is used to cool it down. By preconditioning, you get all that heavy lifting done using wall power, not your precious battery range.
Set your departure time in your car’s app the night before. You'll walk out to a perfectly comfortable car with a battery that’s ready to perform at its peak efficiency from the moment you unplug.
4. Keep Your Vehicle's Software Updated
Your EV is more like a smartphone on wheels than a traditional car. Manufacturers are constantly refining their software, including the all-important Battery Management System (BMS). These over-the-air (OTA) updates can bring tangible improvements to your driving experience.
These updates often include more efficient thermal management strategies, smarter charging algorithms, and even more accurate range calculations. In some cases, manufacturers have unlocked extra range or improved charging speeds through a simple software patch.
Don't ignore those update notifications! A few minutes spent updating your car's software is a free and easy way to ensure your EV is running as efficiently as possible.
5. Park in the Shade (or a Garage)
Extreme heat is a battery's worst enemy, both while driving and while parked. A battery sitting in a car under the blistering sun can reach temperatures that accelerate chemical degradation within its cells, leading to a permanent loss of capacity over time.
Whenever possible, make an effort to park in a shaded spot, an underground car park, or a garage. This simple act minimizes the battery's exposure to extreme ambient heat and reduces the need for the car's thermal management system to work overtime to keep it cool.
If you have to park in the sun, some EVs have a "Cabin Overheat Protection" feature. While it uses a small amount of energy, it can be worthwhile to prevent the interior—and the battery underneath—from reaching damaging temperatures.
6. Become Obsessed with Tire Pressure
This is one of the most classic pieces of car maintenance advice, and it's even more critical for an EV. Your tires are the only connection to the road, and their rolling resistance has a direct and significant impact on how much energy is needed to move the car.
Underinflated tires have a larger contact patch with the road, creating more friction and drag. This forces your motor to work harder, draining your battery faster. It’s estimated that for every 3-5 PSI your tires are underinflated, you could lose 1-2% of your range. That adds up quickly!
Check your tire pressure at least once a month (when the tires are cold) and inflate them to the manufacturer's recommended PSI, which you can find on a sticker inside the driver’s door jamb. It’s a five-minute task that pays you back on every single drive.
7. Choose the Right Tires
When it's time for new rubber, don't just grab any set of tires that fits. Many manufacturers now produce tires specifically designed for electric vehicles. These aren't just a marketing gimmick; they are engineered differently.
EV-specific tires are made with a special compound and tread design that minimizes rolling resistance, helping you squeeze more kilometers out of every charge. They are also designed to handle the instant torque of an electric motor and are often built with noise-dampening technology to complement the silent ride of an EV.
While they might have a slightly higher upfront cost, the gains in efficiency and ride quality are often well worth the investment. Sticking with the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) tires or a recommended EV-specific alternative is a smart move.
8. Ensure Regular Tire Rotation and Alignment
Proper alignment ensures that all your wheels are pointing in the exact same direction, as designed by the manufacturer. Misaligned wheels can "fight" each other, creating drag and scrubbing off speed, which needlessly consumes energy. Similarly, rotating your tires regularly (typically every 10,000 km) ensures they wear down evenly.
Unevenly worn tires not only reduce their lifespan but also increase rolling resistance. Given the heavy weight and instant torque of EVs, they can be particularly tough on tires, making rotation and alignment even more important than on a traditional car.
Think of it as ensuring your car is rolling as freely as possible. A quick alignment check during a routine service can easily pay for itself in energy savings.
9. Become a Regenerative Braking Guru
One of the most magical things about driving an EV is regenerative braking. When you lift your foot off the accelerator, the electric motor essentially runs in reverse, using the car's momentum to generate electricity and send it back to the battery. It’s like creating your own fuel as you slow down!
Most EVs offer different levels of regenerative braking. For maximum efficiency, especially in city or stop-and-go traffic, learn to love "one-pedal driving." By setting the regen to its strongest level, you can often bring the car to a complete stop just by lifting off the accelerator, barely ever touching the brake pedal.
This not only recaptures the maximum amount of energy but also saves wear and tear on your physical brake pads and rotors. Mastering smooth, anticipatory driving with high regen is a skill that directly translates to more range.
10. Drive Smoothly and Anticipate Traffic
The way you drive has a monumental impact on your EV's range. An electric motor is incredibly efficient, but aggressive driving habits—jackrabbit starts and sudden, hard braking—will always waste energy.
The key is to conserve momentum. Look far ahead and anticipate the flow of traffic. If you see a red light ahead, lift off the accelerator early and let the regenerative braking smoothly slow you down, recapturing energy along the way. Slamming on the brakes at the last second just converts that valuable kinetic energy into useless heat.
Driving smoothly doesn't mean driving slowly. It means being a smart, predictive driver who uses the accelerator and regenerative braking with finesse, not brute force.
11. Respect the Speed-Range Relationship
Physics is a harsh mistress, especially when it comes to aerodynamics. The energy required to overcome wind resistance doesn't increase linearly with speed; it increases exponentially. This means the difference in energy consumption between driving at 100 km/h and 120 km/h is dramatic.
On the highway, simply reducing your speed by 10-15 km/h can be one of the most effective ways to extend your range, often adding 20, 30, or even more kilometers to your estimate. This is particularly crucial if you're trying to stretch your charge to make it to the next charging station.
When planning a long trip, factor in a slightly slower cruising speed. You might add a few minutes to your travel time, but you could save yourself a stressful, unplanned charging stop.
12. Shed Unnecessary Weight
This is another simple law of physics: it takes more energy to move a heavier object. While you can't change the car's base weight, you can control what you carry inside it.
That roof rack or bike carrier you leave on all year? It not only adds weight but also significantly disrupts the car's aerodynamics, creating drag that can sap your range, especially at highway speeds. The same goes for heavy items you might be hauling around in your trunk or frunk.
Get into the habit of removing these items when they aren't in use. Traveling light is a simple but effective way to ensure your motor isn't working any harder than it has to.
13. Heat the Person, Not the Cabin
In colder weather, one of the biggest drains on an EV's battery is the cabin heater. Traditional cars use waste heat from the engine, but EVs have to generate this heat from scratch using a powerful electric resistive heater, which can consume several kilowatts of power.
A far more efficient way to stay warm is to use your heated seats and heated steering wheel. These features use significantly less energy because they heat you directly through contact, rather than trying to heat the entire volume of air in the cabin.
On a chilly day, turn the cabin heat down a few degrees (or off entirely) and rely on your heated seats. It's a small change in habit that can make a huge difference in your winter range.
14. Pre-condition the Cabin While Plugged In
Just like preconditioning the battery, you should always pre-condition the cabin. Getting the interior to a comfortable 21°C from a frosty -5°C or a scorching 40°C takes a massive burst of energy.
By setting your departure time or manually starting the climate control via your app while the car is still plugged into the charger, you use power from the grid to do this. You get to step into a perfectly comfortable car without having sacrificed a single kilometer of range.
This is arguably the #1 tip for preserving range in extreme winter or summer temperatures. It’s a luxury feature with a very practical benefit.
15. Use A/C Recirculation
When it’s hot outside, your car’s air conditioning system has to work hard to cool the cabin. You can give it a helping hand by using the recirculation button.
When recirculation is on, the A/C system is re-cooling the already-chilled air inside the cabin instead of constantly pulling in hot air from the outside and trying to cool it down. Once you've reached a comfortable temperature, switching to recirculation allows the system to maintain that temperature with much less effort and energy consumption.
This is a simple button press that can noticeably reduce the A/C compressor's load on your battery during a long, hot drive.
16. Dim Your Screens and Limit Accessory Use
This might seem like a minor point, but in the world of hypermiling and efficiency, every little bit counts. The large, bright touchscreens in modern EVs, powerful sound systems, and ports used for charging multiple devices all draw power from the battery.
While the draw from any single one of these is small, their combined effect can add up. Dimming your screen brightness, especially at night, and being mindful of how many power-hungry devices are plugged in can save a small but measurable amount of energy over a long drive.
It's not going to be a game-changer, but adopting a mindset of "if I'm not using it, I'll turn it off" is good practice for an efficient EV owner.
17. Plan Your Route with Elevation in Mind
When you're driving a petrol car, you rarely think about elevation changes. In an EV, they matter a lot. Driving up a long, steep incline will consume energy at a much higher rate than driving on flat ground.
The good news is that you get a lot of that energy back through regenerative braking on the way down. However, the net effect is still an energy loss. Modern EV-specific route planners, like A Better Route Planner (ABRP) or the built-in navigation in many EVs, are brilliant because they account for elevation changes in their range calculations.
Using these tools to plan your long-distance trips will give you a much more realistic estimate of your arrival charge and help you plan your charging stops with confidence, avoiding any nasty surprises.
18. Keep Your Brakes Clean and Serviced
"But I barely use my brakes with one-pedal driving!" you might say. That’s precisely the issue. Because the physical brakes on an EV are used so infrequently, the calipers and pistons can sometimes seize up from lack of use, especially in regions that use road salt in the winter.
A "dragging" brake, where the pad is in constant light contact with the rotor, creates a huge amount of friction and wastes a ton of energy. You might not even notice it while driving, but your range will suffer.
During your annual service, make sure your technician specifically checks, cleans, and lubricates the brake calipers and guide pins to ensure they are moving freely. This preventative maintenance is crucial for EVs. A tip Goh Ling Yong always emphasizes is that what you don't use often needs the most careful inspection.
19. Check Your 12V Battery
Yes, your high-tech EV still has a good old-fashioned 12-volt battery, just like a petrol car. This small battery is responsible for powering up the car's computers, lights, infotainment screen, and door locks before the main high-voltage battery pack is engaged.
If the 12V battery is failing, it can cause all sorts of bizarre electronic glitches and, in some cases, can even prevent the car from "waking up" at all, leaving you stranded even with a fully charged main battery. The car's systems may also draw power from the main pack to keep the 12V battery topped up, causing a slow but steady drain.
Most EVs monitor the health of the 12V battery and will give you a warning if it's on its way out. Pay attention to these warnings and get it replaced promptly.
20. Regularly Inspect Coolant Levels
Your EV's battery and motors generate heat, and they are kept at their optimal temperature by a sophisticated liquid-cooling system, much like an engine's radiator system. This thermal management system is vital for both performance and battery longevity.
It's good practice to periodically check the coolant levels in the reservoirs under the hood (your owner's manual will show you where). While the system is sealed and leaks are rare, they can happen.
Low coolant levels can lead to the battery and powertrain overheating, which will cause the car's computer to limit power and performance to protect itself. This will not only hurt your efficiency but can also lead to very expensive repairs if ignored.
Drive Further, Worry Less
Conquering range anxiety isn't about memorizing a complex set of rules. It’s about building a few simple, smart habits that become second nature. By paying a little attention to your tires, being mindful of your driving style, and using your EV's incredible technology to your advantage, you take control of your driving experience.
These 20 tips are your toolkit for building confidence and ensuring your electric vehicle delivers the best possible performance and range for many years to come. You've invested in the future of driving; now you have the knowledge to make the most of it.
What are your favorite range-saving tricks? Did we miss anything on our list? Share your own experiences and tips in the comments below—let's help the whole community drive smarter
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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