Plug in and Work

Yesterday was an interesting first for me. 

I had managed to prise away the electric car from my wife for a whole working day. 

I have driven it frequently since we took delivery of it in the summer, mostly around town and taking turns on longer journeys around Yorkshire. Those have been premeditated jaunts with careful planning of potential charging points and a few instances of the new phenomena known as "range anxiety". 

This is where your eye keeps straying to the power level meter on the dashboard which invokes the mental process of calculating if there is enough in the batteries to, in the first instance get you to where you want to go and then get you back home again. 

There are so many influencing factors at play with electric propulsion. 

The colder mornings of the winter certainly suppress the normal range for a 100% capacity, as much as 20 miles when the thermometer is below freezing. Add to that the diversion of power to demisting the windscreen and giving a bit of warming comfort to the occupants of the vehicle and there is a further drain on energy levels. 

In spite of these inherent factors of EV's the actual driving experience remains outstanding. 

There is a seamlessly smooth and of course almost silent gracefulness in movement. The immediate pick up and torque from start off is startling and even more so when not accompanied by a roaring, throaty exhaust tone that may petrol heads regard as the defining characteristic of a carbon fuelled engine. 

The maxim of "power is nothing without control" is, I know, originally from a political and monarchical context but it applies exactly to kilowatts through to the driving wheels in an electric car. 

Taking the car to do my work would be a bit of a test. 

I regularly cover up to 200 miles a day and so with an official range of 168 miles I would have to schedule in a charging session somewhere. 

Yesterday was more manageable with jobs in York and Hull with an estimated 100 miles travelling between them. I did eventually get home with 25% battery power remaining which alleviated most of the range anxiety feelings. 

In practical terms the car was ideal for my working demands. 

The driving position is comfortable and adjustable for when my posture goes through that slouching slump and needs a bit of perking up. Visibility is good all round which is not always the case with a hatchback model but essential when in town and city traffic when other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists are all competing for the same bit of tarmac. The bootspace is adequate for my equipment which is again a positive. 

It was well into the first 30 miles that I realised that I had not bothered to put the radio on. In a noisy diesel that bit of background interference is important but somehow I just had to preserve and enjoy the sounds of the wind and the road which just otherwise do not get noticed. 

The Nissan Leaf has a new shape from its predecessor of some nine years but just looks like a normal car and goes unnoticed apart from with those who have considered it as their next mode of transport. 

In spite of it being the best selling EV (globally) of the last decade it remains a rarity on UK roads and I saw only one other, a Mark 1 version during the whole day. 

Parking on the street or in estate courtyards is a simple operation aided by audible warnings and a big screen reversing camera and negotiating the urban obstructions of potholes, road maintenance vehicles, bollards and street furniture was similarly effortless. 

It was a good test and it has sown the idea in my mind of perhaps changing to an EV when my current car lease is up for renewal during 2020. The key factor is getting a decent range but that attribute seems to be top of the list of manufacturers and prospective buyers. 

At the end of the day I did feel more alert and refreshed than I usually do after a long day behind the wheel. 

On the downside, having spent all of that time in a sort of monastic quietness I have come to realise that I might have tinnitus.