EVs

I had been hoping to go electric for a few years, but the cost and range anxiety, as few cars seemed to be capable of more than 200 miles in real-world usage, had made me wary. And who charges a battery to 100%? My day trips for walks in the Cairngorms or beyond Fort William (Knoydart, Glenfinnan, Grey Corries and Laggan) require up to 280 miles; anything less than a range of 300 miles would mean time spent recharging at the end of long days on the hills. My existing car had belonged to Aileen; it was over ten years old and had been trouble-free for 65,000 miles. It was still working fine and very economical (50mpg), but Gregor needed a car for his park and ride(or run) to work. I offered to pass on the car to him and buy a hybrid, I had missed having satnav and space for carrying a bike since selling my previous car two years ago. I spent January test-driving several options (Audi, Skoda, Toyota and VW) and was about to purchase a car when Trump made his Presidential acceptance speech. "Drlll, baby, drill." My reaction was 'he doesn't know what the F... he's doing'. So, stuff any oil burners, it's time to go electric. 

There were some amazing lease deals available at the time, and after some research and scuffling around car dealers to size up the options, I found a car with a range of 379 miles that was the European Car of the Year in 2024. There would be no need to spend capital or take out a loan, and the cost over a couple of years would be far less than the anticipated depreciation on a new EV. I ordered in February for a March/April delivery. It was shipped into the UK in late May and arrived at my door in early June.

So, after a couple of weeks, what do I think? The car is a bit overwhelming in its range of options and functions, and I am still learning all the possibilities. I have made several local trips and longer trips on motorways to Glasgow and Braehead, and to test it in early morning traffic jams en route to Little France in Edinburgh. The next morning it took half an hour to travel 3 miles from Little France to Lothianburn in the damnable early morning Edinburgh traffic, but at least I was not polluting the city.  EVs are certainly more relaxing than ICE vehicles in ultra-congested zones. 

I have charged it three times so far during sunny days with electricity from the solar panels. The night rate for charging with Octopus is 7p per kWh, about a tenth of the price of petrol. It seems to be giving a range of 325 miles. But most important is that it is enforcing safer and better driving. Bleeps when exceeding speed limits, insisting on signalling when switching lanes, no clutch, no handbrake to release, rapid acceleration for entering main roads and overtaking, a functional satnav for finding new destinations, and a steering lock to turn on a sixpence. The car has cameras to make reverse parking easier, and a keypad means that the doors open on approach to the car and lock as you walk away from the car. It has Apple Play,  I can access podcasts, and no doubt there are lots of other features that I have yet to discover, like heated seats.

I have yet to use the charging network, but a trip in the next few weeks will force me to use Zap Map and pay the equivalent of petrol prices to charge the EV.  I am still searching for the downsides of an EV other than the fact that it can drive better than I can.