The great big summer EV quiz

Here at bp pulse, we know there's a lot to learn about owning and driving an EV. We want to help everyone become more EV savvy, so why not test your knowledge with our quiz?

Roll up to the starting line and go!

1) What does range mean?

2) Can your stereo drain your battery?

3) Are EV cars automatic or manual?

4) Is it safe to charge in the rain?

5) What two things should you check to ensure your vehicle's make and model are compatible with a public EV charger?

6) What do you need to do to your engine before charging?

7) Is charging your battery at 80% recommended?

8) Can EV batteries only be charged by a charger?

9) Do electric cars require less maintenance?

10) What's one of the most important things to check when buying a used electric car?

11) Are there more than a million EVs on Britain's roads?

12) Can you take a driving test in an EV?

13) Are you exempt from ULEZ in an EV?

14) What do you need to do before using an adaptor?

15) Do some cars charge faster than others?

16) What is kWh?

17) Where is AC charging commonly used?

18) Is DC charging faster than AC charging?

19) What is a charging curve?

20) What should you look at when planning a long journey?

21) What can icy conditions do to your battery?

22) Can icy conditions affect regenerative braking?

23) How can you beat the queues for chargers?

24) How can you save money on charging?

25) Can hot weather affect charge times?

26) Can charging site busyness affect charging?

27) In what century did the first EV hit the road?

28) Should you consider other drivers when parking in a charging bay?

29) When charging your car, is it fine to go somewhere else until it's charged?

30) Do you need an app to charge your EV?

You've made it to the finish. Now, check your answers.

Anwsers

1) Range is the distance your EV can travel before needing to recharge.

2) Yes, cabin heating, phone charging, and audio can use up power, reducing overall range. So, if you're low on charge, you may need to hit a few off buttons.

3) Automatic. So, your gear-crunching days are over.

4) Yes, the hardware is built to be fully waterproof. Quick, move on before we start moaning about the weather.

5) The charger and the connector. Know before you go with the bp pulse app.

6) Turn it off. Sounds obvious, but it's easy to forget after a long drive.

7) Yes, it can help prolong battery life. The battery finds it easier to charge when it's a little empty, causing it less stress.

8) No, your EV also uses regenerative braking to supply a small amount of energy to the battery. It's hard to believe, but there's actually a reason to be cheerful about stop-start traffic. Find out how regenerative braking works.

9) Yes, EVs have fewer components than petrol or diesel vehicles, so there's less to maintain.

10) The battery is an excellent place to start.

11) Yes, EVs cruised past the million mark last year.

12) Yes, you can. But as EVs are automatic, you won't be able to get behind the wheel of a manual.

13) Yes, at the time of writing, EVs are exempt from the ULEZ and low emission schemes in other cities. But it's always worth keeping an eye on the rules.

14) Grab that dusty book next to the melted choccy bar in your glove box. That's right, check the manual.

15) Yes, different EV models can support different rates of charging. The lower your car's maximum rate, the slower it will charge. Find out more about factors that affect charging power.

16) kWh is a unit of energy a battery can store. That's worth storing in your brain if you didn't know.

17) At home. Ah, there's no place like it.

18) Yes, DC is normally faster than AC. Learn more about the difference between AC and DC charging.

19) A charging curve refers to an EV charging at different speeds during a single charging session.

20) Your route so you can plan where to plug in.

21) It can make it charge slower.

22) Yes, icy conditions can mean your battery obtains less charge from regenerative braking.

23) Use the bp pulse app to find chargers not being used near your location and head on over.

24) A bp pulse subscription can help you save up to 20% *

25) Yes, in hot weather, your battery may charge slower.

26) Yes, if many electric cars start charging at the same time, some sites will temporarily lower the charging speed across every charger to manage the energy they receive from the national grid.

27) The 19th century. The first EV was built in 1828 in Hungary, but there’s some dispute over who was responsible. Learn more about EV history.

28) Yes, when you pull into a charging station, make sure you're not blocking any other bays so that other EV drivers can still get to charging spots.

29) No, you can leave your car, but it's best to reappear at least a few minutes before its charged. Getting away quickly means if other drivers are waiting to use the charger, they can do so.

30) No, you can pay for EV charging without an app. If you're a bp pulse subscriber, you'll receive a bp pulse charge card, which you can simply tap against a charger to start and finish your charge. Alternatively, our chargers accept contactless payments, via card or contactless-enabled mobile devices (with the exception of 7kW chargers). You can also pay online, via our online payment portal.

Where did you rank?

30 – 27 points: EV Bright spark

27 – 24 points: EV Expert

24 – 20 points: EV Live wire

20 – 15 points: EV Switched on

15 – 10 points: EV Charge needed

5 – 10 points: EV Handbrake on

0 – 5 points: EV Learner plates required

We hope you learnt a thing or two. If you still feel like you've got a few knowledge gaps, take a look at some of our other articles and remember we're always here to help.