We bought an electric vehicle. I think anybody who reads this is well aware of that now. As we started using it I became very aware of its limitations. When Fully Charged the display shows 180 miles. Of course, that doesn’t mean you get that distance. It all depends on how the car is driven. For example, we drove down the A3 this afternoon. I did not exceed the speed limit, but I kept as close to it as possible. I used RHS Wisely as a marker to home, gives a distance of 57 miles. To cover that I used 84 miles of energy. I was not driving economically.
In contrast to that, when we were northbound we joined the M25 at Junction 10, and using Heathrow Terminal 5 as a measure, a distance of roughly 14 miles. We joined the M25 showing 135 miles on the clock. We passed the M4 Junction still showing 135 miles. We discovered that EV’s absolutely love traffic jams. At one point in the slow moving traffic, our distance reading went from 135 to 136 miles. It actually went up. We both laughed, we had been watching it.
The return trip went as smoothly, we had a good (non-traffic-jam) run southward. We reached a recharging point that we had used before. We took the car up to 90%, so I was able to deliberately test it’s capability.
When we arrive at our destination, the ability to recharge via a 3 pin plug means that provided we have time (and overnight, or a long daytime stay is perfect) we have no problems.
The absolutely key, most fundamental aspect to this is;
- Don’t risk the distance – keep a good margin of safety.
- Plan.
- Plan
- Plan
If you do this, there is no need to worry or be anxious. Also doubly important is know your car. We have now done the three long journeys that we might normally expect to take. Provided you do it properly, you can sit back and enjoy the car.
