By now, we should all know what electrical vehicles are. They’ve become a mainstream part of the collective consciousness of the automobile world in recent years, mostly thanks to their surge in popularity and the focus on government policy that’s effectively banning fossil fuel vehicles. Even so, there are varying opinions as to whether EVs are ’the future’ however – and that’s understandable, given that they’re still relatively new technology and how they challenge what we know of driving and refueling our vehicles.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve interviewed TomTom’ers who are working on the future of mapping and location tech. We’ve spoken with the technically minded, the future oriented and the community focused. Most recently, we talked to one of TomTom’s EV experts. It might surprise you to find out that TomTom is so invested in the world of EV, but, as we learned, location data and digital maps are going to play a central role in the transition to cleaner transport.

The one thing that keeps rearing its head anytime EVs come up in conversation is range anxiety. Regardless of how you start the conversation, eventually it finds its way back to how far EVs drive and how much of a pain it is charging them. Naysayers lean on range anxiety as a reason not to buy an electric vehicle, whereas EV owners often say it’s not as much of an issue as it sounds. In truth both arguments are correct. Range anxiety is complex and “fixing” it requires a comprehensive multilateral solution.

In the future, the experience of driving an electric vehicle will be as seamless as that of driving a gasoline-powered car today. Until then, user experience (UX) designers have the unique opportunity to make the in-vehicle experience more intuitive for those making the switch. But there are some important things they need to keep in mind as they take on this challenge.