The driver Gerlinde Atkins-Child from Herefordshire has swapped her gasoline-powered car for a climate-friendly alternative. She reveals what it’s really like to drive an electric car. This report first appeared in the Hereford Times OnePlanet Environment Pull-Out, which is published monthly
AFTER many discussions and a lot of soul research and because we are trying on all fronts to be green and do our part for the environment, we exchanged our VW Polo and bought a Nissan Leaf electric car.
We first thought of the rental option. There are leasing options where you don’t actually own the car but pay a monthly fee for it.
A friend of ours pays around £ 70 a month for an electric car that covers all costs and lets you drive petrol-free with no obligations.
We looked at the different models that are being sold by dealerships everywhere including BMW, Fiat, Vauxhall, Audi and VW.
They all drive wonderfully, have loads of extras, are fully automatic, quiet and emission-free. What is there not to like!
We could have gone for the hybrid option. We thought about it. But we would still buy gasoline. It wasn’t really environmentally friendly. We discarded it.
We took a test drive in a Nissan Leaf. It was wonderful. I wasn’t prepared for how quiet and smooth the ride would be.
Gerlinde Atkins-Child with her new electric car
There is no engine noise because of course there is no engine!
Many people worry about the price of the battery and what happens when it gets old. The Nissan model does not have a battery that needs replacing. During maintenance, the cells of the battery are replaced when they deteriorate.
We decided to buy and went through a partial swap. The dealer was very fair, gave us a good price for our Polo and a week later we brought our electric version of our car home.
The seller had scanned the fact that we would need a charging station at home and told us there was a government grant that would be requested by BP Chargemaster, the company that installed the charging station.
When we picked up the car, I made it very clear that the company had not contacted me to make an appointment. When would it happen?
“Oh, they won’t be interested in you until you’ve bought the car,” he said.
Three weeks later, several rather offbeat phone calls from our electrical consultant, some photos of our property and where we wanted the job to be, and some repairs from Brights, the electricians, and then the BP Chargemaster electrician came to our charging station.
Another pitfall that needs to be addressed before a cleaner, more electric world can move forward is the infrastructure that needs to support it.
We no longer cover long kilometers up and down the country. We bought our electric car to be local so we could charge it at home and work within the 160 mile charge that the battery would hold.
Charging stations are currently being built across the country.
In Leominster, near where we live, there is a parking lot at the American Diner on the A49.
There is also one in the Etnam Street car park and a new one that is being prepared for permanent parking at the fire station.
All three points run on a different system, which is very confusing and frustrating in everyday life.
Despite the problems surrounding the charging stations, we are enthusiastic about our electric car and can only warmly recommend other readers to take the plunge.