Man drives his Porsche Taycan EV to 0% to see what really happens as it runs out of charge
That was a bit dangerous, and definitely uncomfortable
This Porsche Taycan EV owner wanted to see what would happen if he ran out of energy, and the result wasn’t pleasant.
The good news was nothing major happened to the car.
The bad news was it left the driver with his ‘heart in his mouth’ as his battery drained on the highway.
Here’s what happens when you let an EV run out of energy
The MacMaster, a YouTuber who built his channel around his Porsche Taycan, wanted to see what would happen when an EV runs completely out of battery.
After pulling up, he said: “I ran my electric car down to 0% till it ran out of charge.
“Luckily, I’m next to some Ionity chargers. Otherwise, uh, I’d be in serious trouble.
“Now, as you’ll see on screen here, there’s a little turtle there on my dashboard. That means it’s basically in limp mode. So, I I can’t drive very fast. It I was driving down the M1. Uh, and I think it it wouldn’t go any faster than about 40 miles an hour.”
There are a couple of potential issues with this experiment.
That’s totally fine as a one-off, but, in the long run, routinely letting the car get to 0 percent could ruin the battery.
Also, running out of power on a highway is illegal in many countries.
And the other problem is that it’s uncomfortable and dangerous.
When the battery reached 5 percent, the car entered ‘limp mode’, limiting speed to approximately 40 mph to conserve energy.
This is fine in the city, but not fine if you’re on a highway or a freeway.
“Honestly, my heart was in my mouth on the motorway. And I have to say, driving at that speed because it’s in like limp mode… that’s pretty dangerous on a motorway, you know,” MacMaster said in the video.
Then, when you get to 0, it completely dies, essentially becoming stranded.
This ties in to a lesser-known law that exists in several countries
In several countries, it is illegal to drive on the highway if you know you are going to run out of fuel.
It’s a law that’s quite difficult to enforce, mostly because it’s only verifiable if you actually do run out.
The logic is simple: if you run out of fuel, you are forced to slow down and stop, creating a massive hazard on or near the high-speed lanes.
And since not every highway has a hard shoulder, running out of fuel can leave you stranded directly in a live traffic lane.
So, depending on where you are, if you actually do run out and need a tow, the police might show up, verify your tank is empty, and issue a fine.
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