One of the advantages of buying an electric vehicle (EV) is that it needs relatively less maintenance than a conventional car. The number of components suffering wear and tear drastically narrows down, rendering electric cars an innovative option for trouble-free commuting.
While you’re not going to need to visit the technician as much as possible, that doesn’t suggest you don’t have to perform regular maintenance on electric vehicles.
What should you do to ensure that your electric car keeps working safely? Read on to find out.
1. Perform a regular battery check
Electric cars are as reliable as their batteries. As such, performing a daily battery check is the most critical aspect of carrying maintenance of your electric car, particularly if your electric car operates on a lithium-ion battery.
Certified EV mechanics should be able to check the levels of battery fluid, filler openings and contacts, while also determining the cycle count of the battery.
2. Use the right charger
Use the recommended ev charger to charge the car. Never use a fast charger. Always use a regular charger. A regular charger is the standard charger provided with the car.
These cars charge more or less like our cell phones using electricity. You can use a wall socket or a dedicated charging point. Just plug your EV charging cable into the car and leave it to charge.
3. Don’t overcharge
Lithium batteries are susceptible to being overcharged. When this happens, it drains completely. You can charge up to approximately 80% and continue your daily ride. This will be aided with regenerative braking.
Regenerative braking is an innovative mechanism designed to recover energy. It slows down a moving electric vehicle by converting its kinetic energy and returns it as electrical energy which can be stored for use when needed or immediately. This increases your car’s efficiency.
4. Know when to replace your battery
EVs are fitted with specialised batteries, which have an extended life. Most producers of electric vehicles provide an 8-year/100,000-mile battery warranty and provide additional coverage in states that allow a 10-year or more warranty for a limited or zero-emission vehicle.
5. Carry out a fluid check
One of the great advantages of EVs is that they require fewer fluids. Like conventional vehicles, electric cars require coolant for its thermal management system. You may need to keep track of the windshield wiper fluid and brake fluid in your vehicle as well.
These substances can easily be topped up. Review your owner’s manual to find out when a flush is needed for your coolant system.
6. Inspect your brake wear
The fascinating aspect of electric cars is that they employ the regenerative braking system, a mechanism requiring the eventual usage of energy harnessing from the components contained in the car. Thus, brake wear on the pads and rotors of your car is very minimal and your brakes are expected to last twice as long as on an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.
Not just that, it absorbs kinetic energy that would have been lost in ICE automobiles; it can also boost the car’s battery a little bit. Note that this is not a replacement for charging your battery, but it can be a lifesaver when you’re away from a charging station with very little battery level.
7. Check and service your brake
The brake pads and discs are different from brake fluid. How often does an EV require them to be serviced? It depends on how often you travel, how fast you drive, and the settings you use for recovery.
The best EV drivers can interpret the traffic ahead and rarely attempt to use their brakes while the weaker ones will regularly hammer the brake pedal and get quick brake wear.
8. Check your brushes periodically
For hybrid EVs, you should run a routine check periodically. Brushes will have to be replaced at 80,000 miles or more if you properly maintain them.
9. Rotate Your Tyres
Even though regenerative braking can more effectively stop your vehicle, it will have little or no impact on your tyres. You should keep your tyres rotated at the same times as you would a conventional car.
10. Maintain your wiper blades
There’s virtually no distinction between an electric vehicle’s wiper blade maintenance and a conventional internal combustion engine car. Wiper blades should be replaced, perhaps twice a year, as just before summer and again before winter sets in.
11. Keep the external body in good condition
You don’t want your EV’s paint to wear off. What you require here is the normal car paint job. The safest way to avoid rust is to use wax paint in winters. However, if you are searching for an immediate scratch remover and a polisher, you can get a really simple-to-operate random orbital polisher. Or, you could book your car in for a mobile car valeting service to ensure the car is looked after.
12. Suspension maintenance
Suspension is common to all cars and should be inspected regularly. For most situations, no repair is needed until the shocks or struts have to be replaced and this rarely happens.
13. Be mindful where you park your electric car
Electric cars are designed to utilise water or air for natural thermal control. So, you shouldn’t abandon your electric car to dry out under the heat on a scorching day. Parking your EV at a consistently high temperature will cause the thermal control device to gradually engage to lower the temperature of the vehicle.
For a number of minutes when the engine is not working, some EVs are designed to shut off the thermal control device and to stay so until it is switched on again. When this happens, it will contribute to heating up the car’s batteries and you may wind up having less battery life afterwards.
14. Keep a regular service schedule
While electric cars do not require oil changes, they do need daily checks. You should hire a mechanic to check the brake pads to make sure that the engine is working optimally.
Seeing that electric vehicles are still fairly new, it is safer to head directly to the manufacturer or locate a technician specialised in electric vehicles.
In Conclusion
The best way to keep your electric in tip-top shape is to look after the batteries and tyres. You should take control of the battery by making sure you don’t charge it full all the time (as it is believed that charging to 80 or 90 percent will extend your battery life) and don’t wear it down until it’s empty.
Interesting related article: “What is an EV?“