Driving through the streets of Austin, Texas in my Mustang Mach E, I turned to my husband and told him I was feeling anxious. As much as I enjoyed pressing down on the accelerator, the battery gauge on my right side kept going down, giving me this nervous feeling.

I knew exactly what this was: what the experts in the EV business call "range anxiety." It's the feeling that the battery might run out before you reach your destination. He challenged me to consider whether it was less stressful than worrying that the gas tank might run dry.

I gave it some thought and disagreed with his assertion. If we were to run out of gas, there is already an infrastructure of gas stations all over the country. Besides, you can call AAA and they will refuel you. Running out of electricity in the middle of the highway would inherently require expensive towing. But still, is my hesitation really well-founded?

"The image of a battery going to 0% and the EV dying outright is frightening, but in reality it rarely happens," said John Voelker, an independent analyst and contributor to several publications, in an interview with Tom's Guide. 'I mean, honestly, when was the last time you ran completely out of gas and your car died on the side of the road?'

I don't recall ever running out of gas, but I have cut my margins thin. However, the knowledge that there was always a gas station within walking distance rarely made me anxious. Not so with electric charging stations.

"Range anxiety is a real thing, and we like to know that we can go places on a whim, even though studies have shown that most people drive less than 50 miles a day," EV Pulse editor Chad Kirchner said in an interview with Tom's Guide. In a way, it's like owning a watch that's waterproof to 1,000 meters.

Or like someone buying a truck that can tow up to 10,000 pounds, even though the possibility of towing a trailer full of thoroughbreds doesn't exist. It's good to have options.

A few weeks ago, the automotive website The Drive asked its readers what it would take to buy an EV only; the majority of the 300+ comments said infrastructure and fast charging were the top requirements. Many wanted a daily driving range of less than 50 miles, while others wanted a range of 1,000 miles or more. The industry is currently expanding to meet these needs.

Ford has just announced its new all-electric F-150 Lightning, which will be available with either a 230-mile range (estimated) or an extended battery with a 300-mile range (estimated). These range estimates are based on the driver loading 1,000 pounds of cargo in the bed of the pickup. That is more than enough per day for a fleet manager who needs to travel short distances.

"We did a lot of research on the best range for this vehicle and found that we didn't want to buy more batteries than we needed," says Linda Chang, Ford's chief nameplate engineer.

Perhaps so, but electrification will only grow in popularity; companies like GM, Hyundai, and Audi are aiming to electrify their vehicles by 2035. And as more drivers switch to EVs, there will always be people stranded on the side of the road.

Companies like Blink Charging are coming up with creative ways to ease the anxiety of running out of EV charge in inconvenient places. As an example, Blink recently announced a partnership with Boston-based EV Transportation Services (evTS) to distribute mobile charging stations. Essentially, Blink will provide charging facilities for evTS' FireFly service vehicles (think of a pickup truck with a huge battery in the back). Combining these two elements could provide a service comparable to an electric vehicle, such as AAA drivers rescuing you from the side of the road with a can of gasoline.

The future of roadside assistance could look something like this, with companies like AAA providing services to EV drivers. Vehicles would be equipped with Blink batteries, which could hop from vehicle to vehicle to provide charging within a specified distance.

Blink Senior Vice President Mike Battaglia believes that confidence in public EV infrastructure is growing daily, and Blink, founded in 2009, hopes that EVs will be adopted as a mainstream option, not just for the environmentally conscious.

"I have been involved in the automotive market for 15 years and over time it has become clear that every automaker has plans to launch EVs. It's a long-term strategy, not one that is whipped every four to eight years by political market trends."

Consumer confidence is critical to the overall success of EV adoption. According to a survey of more than 4,000 plug-in electric vehicle owners conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis, approximately 20% lost ownership and opted for gas engine models. What UC Davis found was that owners found charging inconvenient. This was especially true if owners did not have access to Level 2 (240 volt) charging at home.

Battaglia envisions that the proliferation of charging stations will make the charging network more visible across the country.

"The strategy," says Battaglia, "is to set up locations in shopping malls, gyms, restaurants, and other places where people stop and park for a while.

"Psychologically, it's very different from being required to find a gas station, pull over, and refuel, which is what we're doing.

As with any technological product, charging is improving on both sides, and it doesn't seem long before people will be able to refuel much more quickly than they do today.

However, the range anxiety I felt with the Mach E should not be dismissed. Even if irrational, that feeling I had would make it difficult for EVs to make it to the mass market. But that is a matter of perspective. President Biden's infrastructure spending plan, if passed, would invest $15 billion in charging stations, with the goal of reaching 500,000 by 2030.

Indeed, Kirchner feels that customers still value EV charging networks for what they are, not what they could be.

"EV charging networks are at their worst right now. . as the EV charging network grows and charging speeds improve, concerns about range will become less and less."