Meat Balls and KiloWatts

Saturday provided an opportunity to give the LEAF a bit of a longer road trial.

At just 8 days in our household it had done about 280 miles consisting of Allison's commute, visits to family in the local area and just everyday short trip requirements.

Around town the power level seemed quite economic but we were curious about range on the big wide open carriageways. The home charger has been playing up a bit in not recording the charging session data correctly. What was a 4 hour plug-in was shown as having taking 55 hours. A gliche apparently resolved by turning it off and on again.

To get used to the system we have been topping up on the charge after each journey although this is down to enthusiastic curiosity and newbie insecurity as for a typical week of driving there is really just one full charge required.

What better excuse for a longer jaunt than to stock up on our seriously depleted stock of small natural wood pencils, paper tape measures and nightlight candles.

The nearest IKEA for the re-supply run is Leeds, about 51 miles to the West.

The dashboard range display read, on leaving home, 150 miles on around a 92% charge. According to the Zap-Map App we would not, under reasonable driving conditions, require a charging stop. That would suit us fine but the exercise was intended to educate us to the process of using a Public Charger. It was a bit of a cheat that the Leeds IKEA was one such location but, well, a combined drive, shop and plug-in seemed ideal ,especially in our nervous, rookie status.

The car cruised effortlessly on the A63 and M62.

Although at motorway speeds there is little engine noise from a diesel or petrol car anyway the eeriness under electric propulsion was still something to appreciate. Yes, there is an awareness of the sound of the wind and the road surface but it is not intrusive or distracting.

The range indicator had fallen away quite sharply at a constant 65mph to 70mph for the duration of the drive and pulling into a parking bay at our destination there was 68 miles range remaining.

It had been a good driving experience and for the first time in multiple visits to that particular IKEA store I felt quite relaxed and ready to appreciate the best in Swedish design and meatballs in gravy.

To be on the safe side, which will certainly become the mantra of our EV ownership, I checked out the Charging Points in the sub-level car park, the taste of Lingonberry jam still on my lips. Homework is important and I had, in the run-up to the trip. subscribed to the Ecotricity App, the operators of the IKEA chargers. That was in addition to our joining the Polar Network, the largest of its kind across the UK who, for a monthly subscription of £7.95 provided mostly a free charging service using a swipe card system.

Ecotricity had three charging bays and their App on my phone confirmed that the available bay, alongside a Mini and Renault Zoe, was compatible with the LEAF.

In the couple of minutes that it took to collect the car a KIA driver had grabbed the space. I saw him check out the operating instructions but then he just wandered off without any apparent intention to use the point. I was annoyed at this behaviour. His was an electric vehicle but then again the bay was very conveniently positioned next to the lift and stairwell at the store entrance and so could be seen as a prime parking spot. There was no indication of his whereabouts.

Was that our first experience of "e-spreading", to misappropriate popular jargon?

A little bit of panic set in at that stage, low charge anxiety it could be termed.

However, although in its infancy the wider network of Public Chargers is expanding rapidly and consulting the Zap-App and confirmed by the LEAF on board system we were just 8 miles from another one.

This was at The White Rose Shopping Centre just a little bit closer to Leeds City Centre. The array of chargers was next to Marks and Spencer and a Multiplex Cinema and all six of them were ready to use. Lugging the heavy cable from the boot it was a case of placing the Polar Card on the screen and then following the instructions.

Nothing happened but one of the Cinema Staff taking a cigarette break was obviously well acquainted with similar First Timers and pointed out what I was doing wrong. After a couple of efforts the green lights on the charging point indicated a successful connection.

We weren't sure what then to do. Stay with the car or go walkabout?

The fact that the charger suddenly stopped solved this dilemma. That and the arrival of a very expensive Tesla vehicle and the even more unpreparedness of its driver. I am not sure who sold him the car but any operating knowledge at the charging point was non-existent. He was surprised at the Card system necessary for Polar and I felt that I had to lend him mine to start his session.

The LEAF continued to switch on and off. Allison solved the issue by cancelling what was a default setting on the car itself but by then we had lost confidence and decided to sneak off and find another one.

As for the Tesla owner, he had gone shopping or to the movies. I suspect that the Polar App, in not recording any activity, meant that upon his return to the car nothing will have actually happened. I would put that down to experience, but hoped sincerely that he could still get home.

The suburban ASDA at Beeston, a short drive further along was busy but the Polar Charger available to use out on the edge of the car park. I estimated that around 40 minutes or 5 KW would be the minimum top up required for the return trip to Hull.

It was a pleasant stopover in terms of surroundings and the Charger had a good read-out and was very efficient.

We were happy at the revitalised range and got back to the house with 10 miles to spare. Plenty....really.

Our amateurish efforts had added a couple of hours to the round trip.

It was a case of mission accomplished in driving terms although apart from some mini Daim Bars we had failed miserably on the pencil and nightlight quest.