Living with an electric vehicle – what’s it like?

Ordering the car

They were so impressed by what they saw on the test drive, that they decided to order one then and there!

Helene and Lars told me that the colour options were a little underwhelming “They were quite traditional and somewhat boring – white, black, grey, blue and red” they said. “There was also a metallic purple which we thought was probably a little too bold. We ordered one in black with lots of extras and accessories. This included a Bose stereo, vegan leather and 17 inch alloy wheels. But then, later we changed our minds, and went for purple instead!”

Collection day

After 4 months’ wait – during which time they also had a wall charger installed at home – the car was ready for collection! They were a bit concerned about their colour choice – but it looked stunning in purple. Driving back from the dealer in Basingstoke, they took a detour through the Chilterns around Marlow and Henley-on-Thames. They were surprised that they were actually able to drive about 30 miles for free. When going downhill they could charge as much as they would consume going uphill.

Regenerative braking

If you’re wondering how the car charges whilst going downhill, it’s using a function called regenerative braking. Ready to get your thermodynamics hats on?

Helene enjoying a pit stop with her friend Sarah. I’m not sure if this is her thermodynamics hat, though.

In conventional (friction) braking, the kinetic energy that was propelling your car forwards is “lost” into the air through the friction it relies on to slow the vehicle down.  This is usually dispersed as heat.

Thermodynamics tells us that energy is never truly lost, it’s just transferred into a different kind of energy.  However, when the heat energy from braking dissipates into the air, it becomes useless.

In regenerative braking, the kinetic energy is captured and turned into electrical energy. This is used to charge the car’s battery. Clever eh?

Living with an electric vehicle – the good

Whilst the Zoe can’t be described as fast, Lars tells me it is still quick off the mark, and few cars can keep up when the lights turn to green! There is no delay in power delivery and it has no gears to work through, which makes it a very easy-to-drive car.

It’s an excellent hill-climber and Helene and Lars had lots of fun going up hairpin turns on Hardknott and Wrynose Pass in Cumbria, the steepest roads in the UK. Their favourite game is to see how much they can recharge using regenerative braking, so hilly areas are ideal.

Economical and surprisingly spacious

Because it’s fully electric, the London congestion charge is not applicable, so they can pop into the capital to visit their son without having to worry about the cost.

One thing that really surprised Helene and Lars is how spacious the car is. They tell me there is enough room for a bike or 4 Land Cruiser tyres!

On Bank Holidays, Lars and Helene love to take their four favourite tyres on a scenic drive around the Chilterns.

Even though the car itself feels surprisingly normal, there are some nice technological touches, including charging and pre-heating controls in a mobile app.

More coffee breaks!

Long drives become more relaxing due to having to stop for charging breaks (generally 30-45 minutes per break) and travelling in eco mode at 60 mph. As a society, we are so used to rushing around. So having a car that makes you stop for coffee breaks is a huge plus point. This also means you reach your destination much less tired than if you did it all in one hit. Just don’t forget to be extra eco-friendly and remember your reusable coffee cup!

Lars and Helene find living with their electric car to be very practical and easy to drive pretty much anywhere. It fits a roof rack for bikes or other equipment. But watch out for wind resistance impacting your range or you might be cycling home.

Another hugely positive point is that it’s very simple to run and not much to service because it doesn’t have a big, intricate motor like a standard car.  The only thing Helene and Lars have changed since they bought it has been windscreen wash! Considering they’ve had it since October 2018 and have covered 13,000 miles in it, that’s pretty good going! Helene says “We absolutely love it, it’s incredibly easy to live with.”

Living with an electric vehicle – an adventure to Yorkshire

I’m going to switch here to allow Lars and Helene to tell their story of their first trip from Berkshire to Yorkshire in their own words.

“Our first trip to Yorkshire was an adventure, to put it mildly. We had set off without knowing anything about charge points, connector types, or anything else about doing such a long journey in an electric car. However, we had remembered to download ZapMap. So we at least knew where we could find charging stations en-route.

We thought it would be a simple matter of driving up to a charge point and paying with a credit card. No such luck or joy!
The charging network in the UK is totally fragmented. There are too many suppliers and no consistency of process between them. Every network has its own app, charge points can be out of order or just plain difficult to find.

We drove in normal mode, which meant that our expected range of 150+ miles was reduced to less than 100 at normal motorway speed. Whoops. So, late in the evening on the way to Yorkshire, we drove around a hotel car park, in pouring rain, looking for the charge point. We eventually found it, but it wasn’t what we’d call fun.

Another charging point, this time in a Park & Ride car park looked promising. Until we realised, in pouring rain, that we needed to download yet another app. The station we had parked at was out of order so we had to call the company who told us we should go to the other one. That one worked, but they were 7 kwh chargers which would have meant that a full charge would have taken 7 hours!”. It’s worth also mentioning here that you can only use park & ride chargers if you’re actually using the park & ride facility. So good for city centre shopping or other places where parking at your actual destination might be difficult.

But did they make it?

“We did arrive in Yorkshire safe and sound, and stayed at a B&B in Driffield where the nearest charge point was a few miles away.  So we did have to plan a bit with charging but it was just about manageable. 

This trip to Yorkshire definitely wasn’t the most plain-sailing but we still love our car and wouldn’t change it. It’s more the charging infrastructure that is the issue.”