When you’re driving an all-electric vehicle, you probably spend more time looking at the range number than the miles-per-hour indicator. If the number on it is close to the distance you’re planning to drive, it can be nerve wracking. Luckily, regenerative braking adds to that number.

For example, today, I drove 18.6 miles to work in stop-and-go traffic. I started out with 46 miles on my cute little Fiat 500e’s dashboard screen. Amazingly, halfway through the trip, it was at 45–just one mile down. At trip’s end, I pulled into my parking lot and saw 40 on the screen. I regenerated enough juice to take just 6 miles off the battery for an 18-mile ride. Nice!

Conversely, if I had gone the entire 18 miles at a steady 70 mph, it would probably read 28–or lower. It’s all a balance.

Electric cars use MPGe instead of MPG (miles per gallon). I earned 138.6 for this morning’s trip. 🙂