Earlier this year, as part of a long-term test review, I had six months to discover just how good the Kia e-Niro is. But as the time neared its end, it became apparent that the car's real-world 250-300-mile range meant I hadn’t driven anywhere that necessitated the use of the UK's public charging network.
So it was that I took the plunge, adding further jeopardy by making this pioneering journey with my entire family in tow, off on our summer holidays to West Wales.
At worst, I wouldn’t return just on a flatbed truck but also divorced and with children who no longer wanted to know me.
The challenge was complex, because we needed to travel to and from Wales on the motorway networks, whereas we would be looking for every kind of charger available while we were there, from rural public spots to those provided by local car dealers and even, on occasion, three-pin plugs where we were staying.
However, 800 miles later and with two journeys of more than 250 miles under our belts, we were back home and still on speaking terms. It took some planning and there were fleeting moments of inconvenience and lost time, but it worked out just fine, a few ultimately minor dramas aside.
Here, then, are some of the lessons learned from a trip that proved to me once and for all that the capability of today’s EVs and charging network make the switch from a petrol or diesel car far easier than most people imagine.
1. Electric car people are nice people
I’ll be honest, I had my doubts. Social media is awash with virtue-signalling EV evangelists who jump at the chance to strike out at anyone who dare suggest even the slightest compromise of electrification. But everyone I met in an electric car was friendly, helpful and informative, and many went out of their way to help and educate me. This is the kind of advocacy needed to persuade anyone with doubts to switch to electric motoring, and it was a joy to discover a positive subject that bound people together in a common goal.
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C'mon Jim
This is total bxxllox!
"I’d forgotten how dirty fuel pumps are, how much time you end up spending at them"
I'll forgive you the recent Damoscene conversion to the three pin plug powered vehicle (3ppv)? - but it is beyond any rational thought that you'll spend less time hanging around driving a 3PPV than if you had a good ol' diesel. That's what I don't get about 3PPV enthusiasts. The ability to overlook the 'kin great heffalump in the room. If you want to go on a long journey you are going to spend hours at those lovely service stations. Drinking poor coffee and eating food that will send you to the lavatory in 15 minutes. Well, ok, they'll at least be nearby. Why would you want to do that? And pay £30k for a car worth £18k - even after the subsidy that the govt forces me to contribute to through my taxes?
I live in Spain and have solar panels for electricity. If anyone made a decent estate car EV I'd probably have one as a third car as then it would genuinely be free fuel - apart from the 50.000€ I paid for the system, of course. Until then it's madness as demonstrated by the zero take up. An increase of 6% on SFA is still SFA.
The only bxxllox written on here is yours
I guess the 3rd best selling car in the UK (not just EV but CAR) is SFA then.
I live in the UK and have solar panels. Less than 10% the cost of yours, powers my EV. Car, less than 10% of your 30k. Never had to wait hours for a top up (roughly 15 minutes) even to go 200 miles but normally don't need to do that. To my mind, much better than paying 40 quid a week just to go to work.
Jim's right
As an EV owner and a biker, it's incredible how something that didn't seem to take up much time before and you never thought as dirty then does. Every day I set off with a full battery in the i3, but when I take the bikes out, normally running only just on time, you suddenly then have to factor the extra 5 minutes in to fuel up and sure, it's 5 minutes, but it does make you realise the convenience of having a full tank every day. Similarly, I never noticed how much dirt and crap accumulates around a fuel filler cap, and then gets transferred to the top box as that's on the same key. Don't get me wrong, neither are big deals, but you do notice once you've switched.
No.13
Having a plan is all well and good, but what about those unforseen moments/events which require a dash somewhere as a matter of urgency - you'd be up a certain creek without a paddle.
And you must have gone out of your way to find the UK's dirtiest diesel pump, they aren't all like that and I'm sure over time electric charging cables will become similarly covered in scratches, germs and ground muck as they get dropped etc (or covered in BMW diesel fumes).
Cobnapint wrote:
Having to dash more than 200 miles without warning as a matter of urgency? That has literally never happened to me.
You'll be more likely to reach urgent locations quicker with an EV as you don't need to stop for fuel if you've been charging from home.
But...
That's if your emergency happens when you happen to have a full battery.
What happens while you're creeping towards your next 'planned' charger with 10 miles remaining battery on the dash and you need to be somewhere else sharpish. You're fooked, that's what.
Self sufficiency
Until electric cars have enough range to allow me to never have to charge anywhere but my own house, I'm out.
It's bad enough queuing / dealing with impatient, arrogant, selfish drivers going to petrol stations at some times of the day, let alone queuing for a handful of over-priced electric charging bays, sometimes being illegally used by a selfish/inconsiderate moron with their ICE car (usually with a prestige German badge on the grill).
Oh, and the car itself needs to cost sensible money, not around £40k for a modest small family hatchback.