There have been several discussions on this site concerning Electric Vehicles and some of the issues around them.
I thought that it might be useful to share my experience of owning an electric car for the last year. We decided to get an Electric car in September last year and after much research into available models, some test drives, we finally decided to lease a Nissan Leaf for 4 years.
The year has been a learning experience as we both had to get used to driving an automatic car which had many features new to us, such as smart cruise control, self dipping headlights. We have also had to get used to the various types of charging stations and payment methods.
The Drive
Electric cars are very smooth to drive as there is no gear box. The electric motors provide a lot of torque, so they can compete with many high power cars. We tend to drive with the built is economy controls switched on, which limits the performance, but not excessively so, standard mid range saloon not milk float. This was true of all the models that we test drove.
The Leaf has an E-Pedal which allows the car to be driven using one pedal except when hard braking is required. The pedal controls the acceleration and deceleration of the car, maximising the opportunity for recharging the battery. This took a little to get used to as it requires a more sensitive foot than in a standard manual car.
The car has a theoretical range of 350miles, which is more than adequate for our needs, mainly shorter journeys in and out of the local towns, and the occasional long trip. I think that I could have managed for 90% of my work trips if I was still working as it was unusual for me to do more than 200 miles a day, although it was usually about 150 miles a day.
Charging
Initially, we had to charge the car from a 3 pin plug until we got out home charger installed. There was a delay as the car arrived sooner than expected, and we had to wait for our local DNO to change the service arrangement to our and our neighbour’s house.
The smart charger that we purchased allows us to schedule charging times to fit in with off peak tariffs and to make maximum use of power from our solar panels. The majority of charging during the summer months is via the solar panels, with off peak top ups if we are planning a long journey.
We have made several long journeys for holidays, usually the outward and return trips have been within the theoretical range of the car, but we find that we need a break after a couple of hours, so plan to stop for a coffee at a location with a rapid charger.
The ZapMap app and site is invaluable for journey planning as it shows the location and status of the vast majority of public charging points. So we will plan ahead, identifying potential locations along the route, which we can then check availability as we approach. We have found that Motorway services are best avoided as there are insufficient chargers for the number of EV customers, resulting in queuing. So we opt for locations just off motorways and major roads, where there are generally more options and better coffee.
The main issue with public charging points is the myriad of suppliers and payment methods. Some allow credit cards, other are controlled from the company app or a company RFD card. So my mobile phone has about a dozen apps to cover the most common suppliers. Then the chargers themselves are all different, and some seem to have been out of order for months. There are 3 popular connector types, so you need to ensure that the one you’re heading for has the right connector. This is where ZapMap is very useful. Also there are the different types of chargers. Many free ones such as those in supermarket car parks are 7kW. These are not much use for a quick charge during a journey break. Others offer 22kW, but not all cars can take the full 22kW DC charge and are limited to 7kW. So for us, we seek out the 50kW rapid chargers, and usually 30-40minutes we are back on the road.
Our experience
We have had a generally good experience with the car. We do plan long journeys carefully, and when going on holiday, check out the destination for charging facilities. There doesn’t have to be one at the exact location, but in the vicinity, and where we can leave the car on charge and do something interesting if is a slow charger.
An early learning point was to avoid motorway services, and to seek out places off the motorway for reasons stated earlier. This is not a problem for us, as we are retired and generally relaxed about reaching our destination.
I have been trying to monitor the costs of running the vehicle, excluding the leasing costs, but I have been hampered by issues with my electricity supplier, a faulty smart meter, and subsequent delays in getting onto a good EV tariff. However, the ability to charge from Solar Panels has significantly reduced the daily running costs. I do think that, based on average fuel consumption and fuel prices, the fuelling costs for us are significantly less than for an ICE vehicle, despite the high costs of using some of the public charging stations. Hopefully, this time next year, I will be able to have a more accurate view of the running costs.
There are signs of improvements to infrastructure, and some supplier's apps and RFD cards cover more than one company. Octopus Energy is attempting to group a large number of suppliers under its Octopus Card for payment.
There are also a lot more cars on the market. Last year we could only test drive 4 models, and although many manufacturers were announcing cars, many were not actually available and some were only available to buy on line and unseen, bypassing the dealerships.
