6 Tips To Stay Safe In An EV During Holiday Travel

AAA predicts record car travel this Thanksgiving holiday period with over 71.7 million drivers expected to hit the road. So with car travel on the rise for the holidays mixed with more drivers in an EV this year (third quarter sales reported in October show more than 346,000 EVs sold in the U.S., an 11% increase from 2023), road safety is top of mind.

To be prepared (or prepare a loved one) here are nice-to-have items along with car safety basics and advice. Better safe than sorry.

Bring Your Own Charging Equipment

If you’re in an EV, be self-sufficient and don’t rely on charging stations or hotel and other parking lots to have the right equipment.

• Adapters: Make sure you have adapters (Tesla owners can pick up an adapter for the road for when a Supercharger isn’t available, while non-Tesla drivers should look into getting a NACS adapter to be able to use Tesla Superchargers).
• Level 1 Charging: Keep a Level 1 charging cable in your EV so that in a pinch you can plug into the outlet at grandma’s garage for a slow, but eventual charge.

Make Sure Your Lights Are Bright

While checking all your lighting inside and outside the car before putting in 400 miles, consider extra light kits in case of an emergency. Automotive product supplier Nilight offers different types of light kits to prep and have on hand for your next roadtrip:

• Hazard lights: Ranging from $20 to $60, different kits can help with visibility to other drivers and for emergency crews to spot you beyond the hazards already blinking.
• Spot Flood LED Light Pods: When things get hairy, these bright lights can light up a dark area even as the temperature drops.

Prepare For Inclement Weather

Thanksgiving and the winter holidays line up with wintertime driving, which can include anything from rain, sleet, wind to full-on snow storms. Many EVs have different drive modes, like Snow Mode on the Kia EV6, so make sure you switch to any snow or ice settings available.

• Rain guards: Deflect rain, snow and other debris from your windows and keep inside a dry space.
• Snow products: Chains, snow socks, whatever you need to be able to drive through snow, have on hand and make sure work with your vehicle—before you set out.
• Battery blanket: If going to frigid temperatures consider a battery blanket to warm the battery pack, but most EVs have heaters that turn on in negative temps so you can charge without damaging the battery.
• Snow/ice brush and scraper: Don’t let visibility be an issue on the windshield, windows, mirrors and lights with overnight temperature drops or a sudden snow dump.

Check Your Tires

It can be helpful to have a spare when a flat tire happens, and during holiday travel tire preparedness can help you reach the destination.

• Tire inflator air compressor: For the truly prepared, re-inflate tires on your own. This device takes 2 minutes to inflate car tires to your desired pressure. Perfect for when the check tire pressure light turns on in the middle of nowhere.
• Winter tires: Look into winter tires specifically for EVs. EVs wear out faster because of the heavy battery weight and that speedy torque. Michelin has a guide about selecting winter tires specifically for an EV.

Use High-Tech Safety Features

The sensor systems in most entry-level EVs like the Chevy Bolt EV or Nissan Leaf are already robust with warnings about blind spots, forward and rear collisions, automatic emergency braking and more.

For an additional layer of protection, consider adding a device upfront.

• Dash cams: With night vision, location tracking, voice guidance and high-res footage, a dash camera can be helpful after an incident with recordings and info for authorities and insurance.
• Crash sensors: Often included in a dash cam, the crash sensor detects when something is off and can contact emergency crews for you. Some use your phone with an app that measures the built-in accelerometer for a perceived crash.

Go Low-Tech To Stay Safe

Just because you’re in an EV with the latest connected car technology and built-in sensors doesn’t mean you can forgo basic safety equipment. Make sure a first aid kit and roadside safety products are tucked into the trunk. Luckily an EV means you don’t have to worry about jumper cables or a portable battery pack.

• First aid kit: This works for car camping as well and is good to keep around all the time. Make sure everything is stocked before the trip.