In a bid to find out for himself what it's really like to drive an electric car, one man set off on a 350 mile round-trip.
Steven Smith wanted to find out how easy it would be, how much it would cost, and how long it would take given the car would need to be charged. He embarked on the journey in a Volvo C40.
Steven said he usually takes the return journey, from Cornwall to Bristol and back again, in his 16-year-old BMW 318 diesel. He said it costs around £100 to fill the tank, and this is more than enough to get him there and back home.
READ MORE: Parents could be hit with £20 fines on the school run
Writing for Wales Online, he said the Volvo takes around 20 hours to fully charge at home using a three-pin plug. This can be shortened to around 6.5 hours for anyone who has installed a home wall charger, and either way will cost around £20.
Steven said: "I spent a fair bit of time in those few days mulling over strategy and cost. One thing I knew was that the round trip was impossible without charging.
"So I had to factor in a stop on the outward journey for a quick fast charge at a motorway services, then top up (slowly) as much as possible at a relative's house in Bristol, before stopping again for a boost on the motorway on the way home to avoid the prospect of finding myself stranded somewhere late on a cold, dark, January night.
"One thing I made sure of was that the Volvo was absolutely fully charged before setting off on the Saturday morning to give myself a fighting chance. It's recommended not to charge to 100% in order to prolong the battery's life, but I disregarded that for this trip.
"Despite the battery showing 100%, when I was ready to set off I still only had 180 miles showing for actual range, compared to a theoretical 273, according to Volvo's official claim. In theory I had barely enough for the 175-mile trip."
After an hour and 40 minutes, and 120 miles, Steven stopped at a service station with 25% charge left. It took 40 minutes for the battery to replenish to 60% charge, costing Steven £19.62.
He then arrived at his destination half an hour later than he would have done in his diesel BMW. Using a plug at a relative's house, he charged the car back up another 30 miles, at a cost of around £5.
Steven said, the journey home took 50 minutes longer than it would have in his BMW.
Costs
Fully charge at home before departure: approx £20; miles added: 180
Fast top-up at services on outward journey: £19.62; miles added: 55
Slow top-up in Bristol: £5 approx; miles added: 30
Super-fast top-up at services on return journey: £43.45; miles added: 126
Total: £88.07
Diesel cost for same journey: assuming 55mpg and 173.9p per litre, £50.24
Petrol cost for same journey: assuming 45mpg and 150.9p per litre, £53.28
Steve's verdict
"I wanted this to work, I really did. But after what I hope you will agree was a pretty comprehensive real-world test, I couldn't make the numbers add up. Whichever way I looked at it, the return trip had taken me 80 minutes longer than usual and cost me nearly £40 more.
"I certainly didn't expect that. Helping to save the planet with zero-emission vehicles comes at a personal cost, it would seem, certainly given the spiralling cost of energy in the past year or so.
"The criticism lies with the cost of on-the-road charging, not with the car, which is excellent. My only beef with the car was not getting anywhere near its claimed on-paper range, which ultimately added to the cost because I wasn’t getting as much bang for my buck as I would have hoped for.
"So, we've made a heck of a lot of progress over the past decade, but we're not there yet. And the current energy crisis has knocked us sideways. The technology of the cars has come on massively and the infrastructure is rapidly expanding. But on-the-road chargers need to be even faster and they need to be much cheaper.
"There's still a fair way to go to make it as convenient as internal combustion, even if it is cleaner. That said, electric power overtook diesel last year as the second-most-popular fuel after petrol, which if nothing else shows my dirty old(ish) BMW's days are numbered."
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
READ NEXT:
Stacey Solomon in tears as son Rex undergoes huge transformation
Chinese New Year 2023 horoscopes predict difficult year for four signs
Turkey travel warning issued from UK Foreign Office
Culprit 'identified' after BBC hit by sex noise prank before Wolves vs Liverpool
