What happens when an EV newbie takes one home for the weekend? Indra’s Sonya Vickers shares her first ever drive in an electric vehicle.
Being new to the world of EV driving, this last weekend has been an experience! Having recently joined the Indra team; I was encouraged to try driving an EV for myself.
Unlike my mother, who believes electric cars are dangerous and will explode at any moment, I’ve become more and more intrigued by the EV revolution and started to consider the option of diving in. As a person who cares passionately about the environment and recycling, the idea of another way to reduce our family’s carbon footprint, by purchasing an EV is alluring – especially if it can reduce the costs of our travel at the same time.
One of the team here at Indra took me out to show me the EV I would be borrowing for the weekend, a Hyundai Kona. My first impression of the cockpit was a bit overwhelming with so much technology to figure out. Without a gear stick and having an array of buttons below the, near TV-sized, infotainment screen, I initially thought it looked too complicated to handle. However, after being talked through the basics of turning it on and all the main controls, I put it in reverse to take it for a drive around the car park.
Heading out onto the road as I drove away from work, I was struck by the quietness of the ride. Just the sound of the road, and the air-con working overtime, but it was so quiet and smooth without needing to change up gears as the car accelerated. In my petrol car, I’d been used to the cruise control feature, but this car didn’t need me to use the brake as I pulled off the motorway and slowed itself down automatically to join the queue on the slip road. There were some additional features I hadn’t been used to, such as when the car pulled me back into the middle of a lane when I was moving closer to the lines. Another thing to get used to was the regenerative braking. This surprised me at first as the green light popped on with the car slowing down, until I began to get the hang of it and saw the benefits of saved battery power.
I like to drive fast (let’s not mention speed awareness training courses), and although I behaved myself in driving to the speed limits, the instantaneous torque was exciting, and I enjoyed being able to pull away at roundabouts and junctions so quickly and smoothly – or dart in front of a slow-moving truck on the way to work.
Once I’d figured out the basics of handling the car and the important element of choosing the soundtrack to drive to, I began exploring the other tech features of the car. Becoming used to the digital displays; it was interesting to watch the battery level and available range. I found the smart features and apps were relatively easy to adjust, although I didn’t explore all the driving modes or feel I had bottomed out everything the car was capable of.
As the car had been fully charged when I drove out, and I didn’t venture very far over the weekend, the battery hardly went down at all. I had initially worried that I would be using up power fast with driving and using the air-con (the weather was warm), but the power added by regenerative braking was much more than I thought it would be. I was surprised at how little battery power I actually ended up using across the whole weekend.
However, I'd been shown how to use the charger and did want to try and experience public charging, so I Googled local charge points. The map suggested a local garden centre had chargers, so I headed there for the afternoon. Unfortunately, when I arrived, there were no charging points, and a member of staff told me they’d been decommissioned for a period of renovation. Although they will eventually be reinstated, at this time, there were no chargers, which felt somewhat frustrating.
Thankfully, I didn’t need to charge as the car still had plenty of battery power, but I was disappointed that I couldn’t trial using a public charger for myself and that, for whatever reason, the Google map had led me astray. I reflected that a good, updated app would be essential for actually owning an EV, to ensure finding chargers in real time when they were needed. I’ve since discovered that the Zapmap app is ideal for showing the type and number of charging points in a given area, as well as whether they’re in use or available and allows you to pre-book a session to charge, even telling you if you need a cable or not. I’ll be downloading the app next time I get behind the wheel!
Talking to other EV drivers, or those who, like me, have experienced driving one, but haven’t yet taken the leap to ownership, the biggest issue seems to be public charging options. Installing a home charger that is compatible with smart EV tariffs, such as Indra’s chargers integrated with OVO or Octopus’s smart EV tariffs, makes it a no-brainer, in my mind. Ideal for a car to drive around town for errands, shopping, or to make the commute to work, and then being able to charge up overnight at the most competitive rates. Even travelling further distances seems less daunting, with the support of an app for places to charge. I’m raring to go to try a jaunt further afield next time I get out on the road, and to experience the public charging station too.
The savings on fuelling, as well as the benefit to the environment, would swing it for me. In short, I’m converted and feel ready to get off the fence; now to convince my husband!
If you, like me, are new to the EV experience and are considering how to manage charging at the best possible rates, check out the Indra charger product range with our award-winning app integration for some of the most competitive smart EV tariffs.
