As range, charging availability and performance have improved, our family is now on its third electric vehicle
Like many families, we have always had two autos: one for long journeys and another for commuting, shopping and school runs.
With the ever increasing cost of petrol, it made sense to find an alternative. So five years ago we bought a G-Wiz. Small, slow and very basic, the auto made a certain amount of sense in town. It was small enough to park anywhere and nippy enough to make buzzing around the streets a lot of fun. It was never going to be big enough to be a main family auto, but it did what it needed to do well enough. For anything involving the whole family, we simply took the other auto.
In late 2009, we had the opportunity to upgrade to a pre-launch version of the Mitsubishi i MiEV electric auto. Big enough to take the whole family, travel further afield and fast enough to tackle motorways with ease, the Mitsubishi could genuinely be used as a main family auto, relegating our petrol auto to second place.
It was an instant hit: the kids adored it and it was fast, practical and fun to drive. Because it was so driver-friendly and cheap to run, it rapidly became the auto of choice for almost every journey we made.
We kept hold of the G-Wiz when we took on the Mitsubishi. It meant our petrol auto hardly travelled anywhere at all.
Meanwhile, the Mitsubishi became the cool auto on the block. Neighbours wanted lifts, friends of our children wanted rides. Everyone was impressed by the lack of noise, the performance and the smoothness. Thanks to its instant performance, the auto could out-accelerate most other autos in day-to-day driving. When people had a short demonstration run and could see how user-friendly and competent it was, many of them were convinced that electric autos could be a genuine replacement for petrol power.
We travelled an average of 22.5 miles a day and our most regular route was to the next village and back for the school run – a round trip of six miles. According to the Department of Transport, our auto use was fairly typical. The average auto journey is 6.5 miles and the average daily use is between 22-24 miles per day, while 93% of all journeys are less than 25 miles: ideal for an electric auto.
We charged the auto up each night using off-peak electricity. Each morning, the auto was ready to go. The total electricity cost in our first year was a mere £80.
Of course, it was not perfect. The range of the auto varied depending on the type of driving and ambient temperature. At the time, Mitsubishi stated a range of up to 80 miles (the latest production version has a range of up to 92 miles). That range could be achieved when driving in a city. But driving on a motorway, the range dropped to around 55 miles. Driving in the cold with the heater on, the range could drop to around 40 miles.
Public charging points started cropping up in more cities. It became possible to travel further afield and recharge the auto while it was parked. From my base near Coventry I could drive to Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Leamington Spa, Oxford, Milton Keynes and Leicester, knowing that I could charge my auto up while it was parked.
Our lease on the Mitsubishi came to an end after one year. We replaced it with a brand new Tata Indica Vista EV. Built by Indian auto maker Tata from a brand new factory in the UK, the Indica Vista EV provides us with more space, greater comfort and a longer range.
Meanwhile, our petrol auto still sits idle with very little use. I suspect we may be ditching it completely in the not too distant future.
• Michael Boxwell is the author of The 2011 Electric Car Guide, published by Greenstream Publishing
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