I've been running a Skoda Elroq for a couple of months now to see if this sensible, long-legged compact SUV is the perfect beginner's electric car.
After a couple of days pleasantly trundling around London suburbs, where it quickly impressed with sublime low-speed drivability and commendable efficiency, I put the Elroq's do-it-all credentials to the test with a few hundred motorway miles, an endeavour that can so often be the undoing of an otherwise-agreeable EV, given the energy demands and NVH implications of sustained high-speed cruising.
First was a run up to Crewe for an early look at Bentley's new brand-shaping EXP 15 concept. And when I say early, I'm not just referring to pre-embargo access but the sickening 4am start necessitated by our tight schedule.
Correctly predicting that I wouldn't have much patience for public chargers at such an early hour, I 'brimmed' the 82kWh battery the day before and had a confidence-inspiring 343 miles of range on the display when I set off.
Up until the M25, that figure declined at almost exactly the same rate as my remaining distance, but once free of the capital's Orwellian 20mph zones and barrelling along at 70mph, the gap between the two numbers started to widen.
By my first rest stop, I had travelled 110 miles but lost a displayed 140, with the car's efficiency falling from a decent 4.3mpkWh in town to a less brilliant 3.4mpkWh, corresponding to a motorway range of 279 miles.
From there on, I kept an eye on my 'comfort buffer' how much juice I was forecasted to have left by the time I parked up at Pyms Lane.
Initial calculations suggested I would have 106 miles remaining, but as I needed to maintain a constant 70mph and it was too warm to have the air-con off, that safety net gradually shrank as the miles rolled by, and I ended up with just 80 miles left as I threaded the Elroq gingerly in between the brazenly specified Bentaygas and Continentals in Bentley's car park.
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You might have chosen to make the same stops in a car with an engine.
You HAD TO make charging stops in the EV, and it just happened that they aligned with preexisting plans (press event for example).
How much did the rapid charge at Sutton Coldfield cost vs an equivalent amount of petrol at motorway rates?
Amazing how the greatest experts and most frequent commenters on EVs on these pages are those who don't own and have never driven an EV!
Wonder what happens if you drive at a more likely 80 - 85mph like everybody else? Let's face it, so far for motorways EVs are useless. I have a huge solar array and live on a small island in the Mediterranean so in theory an EV should suit me fine. But what about when I want to go to Italy? Or back to UK? Apologists always say "you can stretch your legs, go to the lavatory and have a nice cup of coffee." OK I might use a lavatory every three hours or so but for the rest. Forget it. I'll admit that there have been huge strides but the practical suggestion that you can get 500 miles range predicates that you do that 500 mile journey on country roads. As if.
As for breaks, I'm the same - I'll stop every so often, say 2 hours on a long trip to "stretch my legs" and go to the loo but that's it. 5, maybe 10 minutes. More if I want to, but not because the electric has run out again.
They're obviously getting better but long distance in an EV still strikes me as being comparable to long distance in a particularly fuel guzzling luxury or sports car. Except the refills in those take less time.
EV will only be fully practical when fast charging is as readily available as fuel pumps and the energy costs the same or less than the equivalent amount of pump fuel.