They’re more expensive to buy, there isn’t the charging infrastructure and you run the risk of running out of power on the motorway. The misinformation about electric cars which drives us mad… But perhaps we don’t to let our secrets slip!
When I pull up (silently I must say), in my shiny electric car I usually get the same questions from the people I meet. “Oh, why would you drive that, surely it costs more and what about charging?”
Well, the doubters are wrong, however, I am not sure if I want to tell them. Often, I say… ‘Yes, well you’ve got me there…’ As I walk away. Look, I love my electric car, and I know what sort of good thing I’m onto here. Yes, the car did cost a bit more to buy, however there was an attractive Government grant which allowed me to buy it at a price which was pretty much the same as an old-fashioned car. So, if you want a vehicle which will break down more often than mine, have more moving parts to break and cost you a fortune in ongoing maintenance, it’s your choice.
I don’t even get onto the fact that I don’t pay road tax. I hate having to pay more than I have to, so being exempt from tax is somewhat attractive. Sadly, there is no paper tax disk anymore, so I can’t show it off. I make do with a ‘I spend less than you’ sticker on the windscreen instead. And, it doesn’t stop there, why pay emissions charges when my vehicle doesn’t emit anything! And congestion charge in cities, no, again not something that applies to me.
Of course, I don’t have to go to a petrol station, except for shopping. I revel in the price of petrol and diesel. How much per litre? Goodness knows where that will end. Personally I have a home charge point and almost three hundred miles on a single charge. I get home from work, plug in my car and leave it. I have a smart charge point. It’s certainly smarter than me as it knows when I am using electricity in the house so that it never blows the main fuse when it is charging and will look to charge using energy from the solar panels on my roof or only at the times of the night when the electricity is at the lowest cost.
It means that while your petrol car may cost up to 14p per mile, My car costs 4p a mile at worst and, if it has been sunny and the car has been charged via solar, it costs nothing at all. Better still with the new smart grid systems my vehicle batteries can put money back onto the grid and earn me money. It honestly means that, at times, I make money on my commute to work.
So forget about range anxiety, I mostly only commute to and from work and could do that on a single charge. If I do need to go on a long journey, I just plan ahead and use a high-powered supercharger on my route. I sit and sip a coffee and return to an almost fully charged car.
How about driving? I don’t think I could go back to having a noisy, throbbing engine in a vehicle I own. I cruise almost silently, the only sound is the radio. It is relaxing, you honestly don’t realise how good it is until you give it a try. Even long journeys are a breeze, so less tiring. And, I haven’t even started on the driver aids. I may not fully trust the autopilot fully as yet, however the car almost drives itself. It’s amazing to think that the vehicle is looking out for me and keeping me safe, checking the road ahead and the surroundings thousands of times every second. I know that, when the technology is better (don’t mock me I am a Luddite!) I will have a car which will cruise along without me having to even touch the wheel.
Because, is your car WiFi enabled? I know that the essential software is updated automatically over the internet. It’s like having a vehicle which is always new, always up to date and provides me with the latest technology today. I don’t have to go to a dealership and wonder how much it is going to cost me.
Of course, I am a stranger to my dealership, there is no need for major repairs. I don’t need oil changes, or adjustments to the clutch or strangely named bits under the bonnet going wrong and needing sudden and massive bills to repair.
So, I have reliability, relaxed driving, less tax to pay, reduced running costs… Need I go on? If people think I am mad driving electric, so be it, I know who is the really stupid one here!