Motorfinity | Range anxiety: A recent issue or an age-old concern?

Is range anxiety at the back of your mind when you’re out on the road?

If so, our very own Renee Foster looks to put this negative thought into perspective.

The car that changed everything
Scotland or bust
The man behind the wheel
Then & now: How far we've come
Gratitude: The greatest fuel of all
Avoid range anxiety with a discounted new car

In this article, Renee shares her family’s range anxiety experience when they purchased their first car back in 1958, and how the advances in motoring make this concept laughable by today’s standards.

The car that changed everything

In 1958, my dad invested in his first car. It was a Standard 12 – Racing Green, FDT 265. For a working-class family, it was nothing short of magnificent. My mother, the Mrs Bucket on the fringe of the council estate, was in her element. She was chauffeured around as my dad cheerfully followed his friend's solemn counsel:

"If you treasure your wife and value your car, don't let her drive!"

I think they were both pleased to heed that suggestion.

I vividly remember my dad at the front of the car cranking the starting handle in all weathers – no keyless start button in those days – while I was perched on the back seat. The interior would probably be classed as premium now - brown, squeaky leather upholstery and a Bakelite dashboard with something mysterious called a choke. Hand signals out of the window were a vital part of driving. Trafficators were small reflective flag-shaped gadgets that flicked out from the sides of the car like tiny mechanical semaphores.

And no such thing as heaters.

There was always a smell of petrol. Car sickness was the bane of my life, particularly when we stopped to fill up. The fumes were so powerful inside the car that I can still smell them now, decades later. The petrol tank held around ten gallons, returning 24–30 miles per gallon depending on all the same variables we still wrestle with today. My dad loved that car. He did all his own maintenance and repairs, never happier than when he was under the bonnet or flat on the drive beneath the chassis. I'm not certain what he would make of modern technology and electric vehicles, but I know for a fact that HE had range anxiety with the Standard 12.

Scotland or bust

Our first family holiday in the Standard was to Scotland – a camping trip. Roof rack on, boot packed to the gunwales, and petrol tank full to the brim. No service stations en route; they did not exist. Comfort stops consisted of roadside wild wees – and I learnt the hard way about avoiding stinging nettles. My family found it hilarious. As a three-year-old, I can assure you, it was not.

A very young Renee showing her discomfort among the nettles

Brews were made on a camping stove balanced in the boot of the car – a ritual that would horrify a modern barista but tasted delicious at the side of a Scottish road.

Renee's mother serving tea from the boot of the car

My dad worried that the car wouldn't make it to Scotch Corner. Range anxiety did exist then. It was real, it was visceral, and it sat in the passenger seat alongside the tension of watching the fuel gauge creep downwards on an empty road with no filling station in sight. And yet the Standard 12 made it. The planned tour continued.

"Range anxiety is not a twenty-first century invention. It's as old as the first road trip anyone ever made."

As it turned out, the range of the car was the least of our worries: Midges attacked us mercilessly at Loch Lomond. There were no sightings of the monster at Loch Ness – only rain. Glencoe was dark, wet, and cold in a way that seeps into your bones. We did enjoy Fort William and the fish ladder at Pitlochry, but we were more than happy to decamp to a bed and breakfast in Edinburgh. We'd never been so pleased to see a roaring fire.

We reduced our Scottish stay from two weeks to one, the camping gear went up for sale the moment we returned home, and from that moment on, we always ventured south for our family holidays.

The man behind the wheel

Renee's father stood beside their family car

He was proud of that car in the way that only the first generation of working-class car owners could be. It represented freedom, aspiration, and a small but significant step forward. The fact that he had to crank the engine by hand, navigate without a map screen, keep one eye on the fuel gauge, and manage a family of car-sick passengers on roads that had no services – none of that diminished the joy. It heightened it.

He never complained about range anxiety. He planned around it, watched the gauge, and hoped for the best. Sound familiar?

Then & now: How far we've come

The concerns haven't changed – only the technology surrounding them has.

🚗 Then – 1958	⚡ Now – 2026
Crank handle start	Push-button ignition
No indicators – hand signals	Auto indicators, lane assist
No heater	Heated seats, heated steering wheel
10-gallon tank, 24–30 mpg	Electricity on tap, home charging
Petrol fumes & car sickness	Whisper-quiet electric motor
Roadside wild wees, nettles included	Real-time route planning & charging stops
Dad cranking in the rain	App-controlled pre-conditioning
Range anxiety to Scotch Corner	Real-time range display, 225-mile range
Zero safety tech	AEB, parking sensors, reversing camera

Gratitude: The greatest fuel of all

Having just taken the plunge and bought my first all-electric car, I'm revelling in its beauty, ease, and comfort. Yes, I watch the charge percentage while I adjust to a new way of 'fuelling' – but reflecting on my dad's experience of driving the Standard 12, I feel something profound – immense gratitude.

Electricity on tap. A free home charger. Ten thousand free miles on my tariff. Push-button starts. A powered tailgate. A winter pack with heated seats and a heated steering wheel. A reversing camera. A real-time range display. An app that pre-conditions the cabin so it's warm before I even open the door.

My dad never got to see any of that. He would have been astonished. And quietly delighted.

"Gratitude is a great thing – we take so much for granted in this world."

Range anxiety is not new. What is new is the extraordinary technology we have now to manage it, technology so sophisticated that the 'anxiety' part is fast becoming optional. The next time the charge percentage makes you uneasy, think of a man in the rain, cranking a starting handle in 1958, watching the fuel gauge drop on a road to Scotland with no filling station for fifty miles.

He made it. So will you.

Avoid range anxiety with a discounted new car

While there was real cause for concern around range anxiety back in 1958, the motoring world has thankfully moved on substantially since this time.

Nowadays, you have a great selection of cars from brands all over the world that are likely to meet your day-to-day motoring needs - especially where range is concerned.

At Motorfinity, we can provide eligible frontline workers with a car that promises an impressive range. All you need to do is contact our friendly team, who will find the best possible deal on the make and model you like before arranging the car to be delivered to your door.

Speak to a member of the team