I came across an article by Michelle Lewis at Elektrek on a recent scientific paper on the mental models we use to charge an EV. I skipped over it, too much other stuff on my plate. Besides, I already know how to charge and how to plan for charging.
Then Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield at Transport Evolved featured the journal paper and interviewed one of the authors, Frances Sprei from Sweden’s Chalmers University. It was a great interview and it’s due to such good reporting that I subscribe to Nikki’s channel.
Turns out I know the other author, Willett Kempton, and I’ve been a big fan of his work on vehicle-to-grid at the University of Delaware for some time. So I had to pay attention.
Nikki’s interview and the subject of the paper were thought provoking and more important to how we explain EV charging to newbies than my first impression of the topic.
Here’s some links to the reports and to the paper itself.
- Beating Range Anxiety: Mental Models (And How They Can Help You Be A More Confident EV Driver!) by Transport Evolved with a very good interview of Frances Sprei, Chalmers University, Sweden
- Concepts and habits from gasoline refueling found to mislead EV charging by Willett Kempton
- Mental models guide electric vehicle charging by Frances Sprei, and Willett Kempton (open source)
- Why you might be charging your EV wrong – and what to do instead by Elektrek
