Every now and then something happens that will change the direction of your life. Such a thing happened the other week when I went to fill my then car (spoilers??) up and found the cost of diesel had jumped by 20 p/litre in a week. I had put this off for long enough. I was going buy an Electric Vehicle (EV).
This makes it sound like a spur of moment decision but in truth I had been thinking about this for almost five years. I had the money lined up so what was I waiting for? Clearly a President who was so, I’m not really sure the best description, clueless? Certainly unclear as to what is and what is not in the best interest of the country he is president of – to bomb Iran. As I write this there is a ceasefire, of sorts, and the price of oil has collapsed (a bit). So perhaps I should just have held my nerve and everything would return to as they were. Perhaps but I didn’t think so. The latest wheeze coming out of the Whitehouse is that we are going to be ‘audited‘ to see how naughty we’ve been for not trying to sort out the mess created by the Trump War. (I know how he likes to have his name attached to momentous moments in history).
This disaster has got a long way to run. The only upside that I can see is that renewable energy has shown itself to be truly homegrown. We control it and for a really really important bonus point. We help to ameliorate the oncoming global warming disaster. Win Win in my book.
So I’ve owned my fancy new car for the best part of 10 days – what are my first thoughts? It is all a wee bit overwhelming. There are so many new things to consider. To give one example: just how and when do you recharge the car? In the short term it will be at a charging station – but which one? And how much discount can I get? I am very lucky to be surrounded by a good stock of ultra fast chargers. But too much of this type of charging can harm the battery’s longevity. So how do I mange this? The list goes on.
Fortunately I appear to be getting my kWh/100 miles down towards a more economical rate. So I will be saving money. Yipee! This is only the first of many things I feel I need to master before I can say I really know what it is like to live with an EV.
Given all this homework there is one thing that is so good. The lack of noise whilst driving. Gone is the distant rumble of a petrol or diesel engine. Instead it has been replaced by a sense of calm. Perhaps you like the sound of car as it roars through the countryside. I no longer do. Give me the peace of an EV anytime. Am I now a green tree hugging hippie? I don’t think so. For one thing I don’t really like hummus and love meat.
Keep right on to the end of road…
Simon's Blog 