How you drive makes a bigger difference to an EV's range than it ever did to a petrol car's fuel gauge — there's no engine noise to warn you when you're being wasteful, and a handful of habits can be worth tens of miles on a single charge. None of this needs new equipment, just a change in how you drive and a few settings you may not have found yet.
Smooth driving beats fast driving
Gentle acceleration and reading the road ahead use noticeably less energy than accelerating hard and braking late — every time you brake hard, you're throwing away energy you already spent speeding up. Hold a steady speed where traffic allows, use adaptive cruise control on the motorway if your car has it, and try to anticipate traffic lights and queues early enough to lift off rather than brake.
Use regenerative braking properly
Regenerative braking turns the car's momentum back into charge instead of wasting it as heat through the brake pads — but only if you give it the chance to.
- Lift off the accelerator early and let regen slow the car, rather than coasting and braking late with the pedal.
- If your car offers adjustable regen strength or a one-pedal mode, a stronger setting recovers more energy in stop-start town driving.
- This is also easier on your actual brake pads and discs — regen does most of the work in normal driving, which is one reason EV brakes tend to last far longer (see our used EV buyer's checklist for what that looks like when checking a used car).
Speed is the biggest single factor
Aerodynamic drag rises sharply as speed increases, so this is where the most range is won or lost. Research from the US Department of Energy found that dropping your speed by around 10mph can cut energy use by roughly 14% — and most EVs are at their most efficient somewhere around 50–60mph, well below typical motorway speeds. You don't need to drive unreasonably slowly, but easing off from 70mph to 60–65mph on a long motorway run is one of the simplest ways to add real miles. See our real-world range guide for more on why the official WLTP figure assumes gentler driving than most people's motorway cruising speed.
Climate control: heat the person, not the car
Winter range loss is mostly a heating problem, and heating is one of the few places where a small change makes a big difference.
| Method | Typical draw | Range cost |
|---|---|---|
| Heated seats / steering wheel | Under 1kW combined | Roughly 2–4 miles of range per hour |
| Heat pump cabin heating | 2–4kW | Noticeably less than resistive heating, but still adds up |
| Resistive cabin heating | 3–7kW continuous | Can mean 25–40% less range at motorway speed in cold weather |
- Precondition while still plugged in. Warming the cabin and battery before you unplug uses grid electricity instead of your battery, so you set off with a full charge and a warm car.
- Lean on heated seats and the steering wheel first, and only turn the cabin heater up as far as you actually need — they keep you just as comfortable for a fraction of the energy.
- If your car has a heat pump (rather than an older resistive heater), it's meaningfully more efficient in cold weather — worth checking which your car has if you're not sure.
Tyres and weight
- Check tyre pressures monthly against your car's recommended figures (usually inside the driver's door or in the handbook) — under-inflated tyres increase rolling resistance and quietly cost you range. Surveys have repeatedly found a significant share of UK cars driving around under-inflated, so this is an easy one to actually check rather than assume is fine.
- Take off roof boxes and bike racks when you're not using them — anything that disrupts airflow over the roof can cost 10–20% of your range at motorway speeds, far more than the equivalent weight would on its own.
- Clear out unnecessary heavy items from the boot — weight has a smaller effect than aerodynamics, but it isn't nothing, especially around town with lots of stopping and starting.
- For more on keeping the tyres themselves in good shape, see our tyre wear on EVs guide.
Use Eco mode day to day
Most EVs have a selectable Eco or Range mode that softens accelerator response and often limits climate-control draw slightly — it's worth leaving switched on for routine driving, and only turning off when you actually want the car's full performance. It won't transform your range on its own, but combined with everything above it adds up.
None of this is about hypermiling or driving unreasonably slowly for the sake of it — it's a handful of habits that cost you nothing and can realistically be worth 10–20%+ extra range on a typical journey, more in cold weather. If you're planning a longer trip specifically, our planning a long trip guide covers route and charging-stop strategy on top of the driving habits here.