I met a chap in a car park this week who had recently purchased a new MG ZS EV.
(Electric Vehicle)
I asked him for his views having that he’d spent c.£25k on this car, effectively the cheapest EV in it’s class. He was delighted with the car, saying that it was well equipped with all the ‘toys’ he could want, it is very comfortable and quiet and the power could outpace many sports cars.
Overall he thought that it was an excellent car and value for money compared to other EV’s available presently. HOWEVER… and there is a huge however! And that is the UK’s infrastructure for charging points.
Every time he goes on a trip further than the local area he has to plan in advance. Firstly he needs to check on the internet where charging points may be in the area he’s going to and if there is a need to re-charge en-route, check where charge points are on the way. He gave an example. He wanted to visit his daughter in West Sussex, he’s based in Bedfordshire, so a journey of 100 miles, according to Google maps via the western M25.
Now that journey doesn’t have any Motorway Service Areas around the half way point so no chance to re-charge there. His destination was a small town with no charging points and to re-charge at his daughters house on a 13amp plug would take far too long. This creates the range anxiety that we hear so much about. He added that he is going on holiday further away in the Autumn and plans to hire an internal combustion engine car so that he can relax and enjoy the holiday.
CONCLUSION: Whilst the cars are certainly getting there, albeit somewhat over-priced against petrol/diesel equivalents, the infrastructure in the UK simply isn’t there at present. This is for a car. Think of it for a Van type vehicle where you do a reasonable mileage every working day. My view is that EV’s just aren’t practical for business use, unless you only do very short journeys each day, say no more than 50 miles or so….. not yet awhile anyway!
A.Potter
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