How one family’s electric car transformed their daily life (and how it can transform yours)

I love cars. I’m probably a victim of the 80’s and 90’s marketing that told us cars were our passport to freedom, and the numbers and letters on the back of your Rover Sli Gti Turbo VTS were the measure of your status and success.

I may have owned more cars than my 43 years of age. I loved trying out coupés, 4x4s, saloons, hatchbacks of all shapes and sizes, the roar of the engine being central to the driving experience. The beating heart. The soul.

I’d seen electric cars coming out in the 00’s and by the late 2010’s they were dropping into my (limited!) price range so I had to give it a go. I was attracted by the move to more sustainable transport and, if I’m honest, the super low running costs. I dipped my toe by splashing out £9k for a 5-year-old Nissan Leaf.

The feeling of moving off with no noise was bizarre. Those childhood dreams of V8 rumbles or screaming V6’s made me think I should miss the noise and feel of an engine, but if I’m honest – I don’t.  Electric cars just work. No fuss. No bother. The first drive actually put a huge smile on my face. Even the relatively low powered Leaf pulls really well straight off the mark due to the torque being instantly available in an EV as opposed to an engine having to rev up. So much so that I rarely take it out of the lower powered ‘eco mode’.

Charging at home is a doddle. The Leaf can trickle-charge from a household plug, or faster if you get a cable installed to the mains. The 80–100-mile range is fine for our normal trips, taxi-driving kids and going to the shops. Yes, longer trips take some planning, but motorway service stations have fast enough chargers to get you back on the road in the time it takes to eat a meal.

My wife got a good price on a new EV through a work lease programme. We went with an Audi e-tron SUV. Yes, the range was higher, but it didn’t really do anything more than the Leaf. After the 3-year lease was over we handed it back and bought another good old Leaf. The price of a 2015 model had dropped to around £4k, well within a lot of people’s budgets, and the ‘Tekna’ spec comes with heated (faux) leather seats both front and back, plus a heated steering wheel. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s for everyone. But if you sit down and actually calculate your mileage, I’d bet you would be surprised how much of it can be done with a 100-mile range of a basic EV or say the 250-mile range of the newer models that are coming under £10k now.

How you drive your EV will affect your range. The good news is that apps like ZapMap show you the nearest place to charge - some homeowners even list their driveway chargers for other EV drivers to use for a small fee.

You sometimes hear stories of people getting stuck charging on the go, either in queues or from chargers not working, but in the few times I’ve ever actually had to do it (rather than just at home or my destination) I’ve always got a charger and been back on the road in less than an hour. It definitely pays to plan ahead. I’ve found the ZapMap app really useful for knowing where the fastest chargers are on my journey, and people leave comments to let you know if the charger is operational and easily accessible.

So, would I recommend an EV? Absolutely. The ‘fast and furious’ motoring buzz is more than replaced by the smug feeling of super-cheap, efficient and planet-saving EVs. Why not book a test drive to see the benefits for yourself. I promise you won’t look back.

Want to know more?

Sustainable transport expert Sara Sloman answered your most asked questions on EVs here.