As we entered 2022, around 750,000 electric cars and plug-in hybrid vehicles were skimming quietly over UK roads. What’s more, over 40% of them were only purchased last year. That’s a lot of new electric cars – and a lot of new electric car drivers too.

We’ve gathered advice from both new and experienced drivers of electric vehicles (EVs) to give as diverse – and useful – a variety of tips as possible. there are new considerations that you may not have thought about when driving an EV. The electric experience is, after all, a different way of driving. Here are our top tips for new EV drivers.

How to drive an electric car efficiently

It might come as a surprise to hear that driving an electric car efficiently often starts before you even get into the vehicle – and even before you’ve bought it.

1. Think about how you’ll use your EV

If you are buying or have recently bought an electric car, it’s important to understand what you’re using it for. Is it a vehicle to pootle around town in, for example, or is it the new family workhorse?

These are questions that Maz Shar, who drives a Kia e-Niro and volunteers for Electric Vehicle Association England, asks a lot when giving advice. “Since getting my EV and setting an example, my uncle, two brothers, sister, father and mother-in-law have all gotten EVs,” says Maz.

“Often the first thing I discussed with them when starting out was understanding what their routine is like – how many miles they drive per day, per week and what kind of long journeys they do,” he says.

Once you have an idea of how you’ll use your EV, you can start to look into the logistics in more detail: “Can you charge at your workplace? Can you charge while doing your weekly shop? While at the gym? Is there a charger within walking distance?” Maz continues.

“Think about how long you normally spend there. If it’s an hour, it’ll be ideal to have a rapid charger – this is often the case at supermarkets and gyms. If it’s a few hours then a destination charger will suffice.”

A second-hand EV example:

In contrast to Maz’s Kia e-Niro, which has a real-world range of 265 miles, Oxfordshire resident and Zap-Map user Rowan drives a much older EV, with a significantly shorter range.

Indeed, Rowan’s second-hand Peugeot iOn – apparently one of the first 1,000 EVs sold in the UK – is no longer in production. Although he only bought it in June last year, the previous owner had driven it for over 10 years. The iOn now has a range of just over 60 miles. However, this is (mostly) perfect for Rowan and his wife, who simply wanted an EV to get into and around Oxford.

“The Ion is perfect for town driving,” says Rowan, although he admits that anything more than that and the limited range can become trickier.

2. Get to know your EV app

In contrast to Rowan’s aging iOn, more recent electric cars have much longer ranges. And alongside improvements to range and charging have come other advances too.

Indeed it’s also worth exploring your EV’s app. Car manufacturers generally have EV-specific apps now with some useful features.

“On my Nissan Leaf, there is a useful app that can be used to remotely start or stop charging, among many other things, and it can also notify you when your car has finished charging,” says writer and EV road-tripper Paul Amess.

Paul has been driving an electric car since 2016, when he bought a first-generation Nissan Leaf. However, he recently upgraded to the Nissan Leaf MkII, with a 40 kWh battery and a real-world range of 160 miles.

“More and more manufacturers are offering apps for their new cars, and it’s important to get to know this app as soon as possible, otherwise you may be missing out,” says Paul.

“For instance, I went through half a cold British winter when I first got the Leaf not knowing that one simple click of a button could not only defrost the front window, but would also make the car cosy and warm, ready for when I finally plucked up the courage to step outside,” he continues. “There is nothing better than going to your car knowing it will be warm and frost free.”

3. Understand the range of your electric car

Many new electric vehicles have ranges of almost 300 miles – some far exceed this now. However, if you’re driving an electric car with a shorter range (take Rowan’s Peugeot iOn as an extreme example), you may want to think about how to maximise the range of your car.

“Two simple steps can be followed that will add to the range,” says Paul Amess, “with the first one being to declutter the car. Carrying extra weight only makes your car use more fuel, and this is totally true for EVs as well as your fossil fuelled cars.”

And secondly: “Check those tyres,” Paul says emphatically. “Not only will an incorrect tyre pressure reduce the range that your car is capable of, it will also cause unnecessary wear and tear to the tyres and might even affect the handling of the vehicle.”