EV MISERY
Living with an EV is just not worth it – I can’t go anywhere new, chargers DON’T work & it’s so easy to get stranded
AN ELECTRIC vehicle owner has given an eye-opening review on what it's like to live with the modern vehicle.
Mark Spurrell, from Canada, has claimed that he struggles to visit new places, find regular working chargers and avoid getting stranded when driving an EV.
6
6
6
Sure, EV's are better for the environment, cost less money to maintain and are extremely quiet.
But when it comes to convenience, they struggle to meet the demands.
Mark has plenty of experience driving EV's and has owned his Mini Cooper Electric model for around 12 months.
Although the modern machines have often served him well, Mark can't help but single out their flaws.
Read more in Motors
Speaking on , he said: "The computer is constantly having to recalculate and try to figure out how much range you're going to get.
"That can lead to range anxiety. I have felt range anxiety in this vehicle.
"When you start to get towards the 25/30 battery range then you start to feel it and when you get into the road trips it gets a lot more complicated."
He adds that you can't go anywhere you've not been before without knowing the charging situation, which makes road trips a "complicated mess".
Most read in Motors
"Road trips are fun but they're also incredibly inconvenient
at times for electric vehicle owners," Mark said.
"You always have to pre-plan your trips in advance - you can't go anywhere you've never been before without knowing the charging situation.
"If chargers are down or they're not working properly you have to cross-reference the available chargers with something like plug share, where you can figure out if those chargers are working or not.
"Sometimes charging stations are full so you have to wait and then there's the waiting time of actually charging the car itself.
"It's a complicated mess."
In cold weather conditions, roadside chargers can often freeze over and prevent EV drivers from using them to charge up their cars.
This can be especially dangerous when stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Mark said: "When the temperatures drop below freezing that's when things really start to get complicated.
"When those Level 3 chargers get very cold, the actual flow of electricity slows down significantly.
"There are actually a few chargers on my Ionic 5 winter road trip that were just flat out not working because it was so cold.
"It was like minus like 25 to minus 30 and they just refused to
work.
"When you're relying on a charger to be there and working and you
have very low battery left and no other options, that's where things really start to get sticky."
Mark then debates whether he he is happy owning an electric car.
Although he highlights the experience of having an EV, he says that he would re-contemplate buying one if it was his only vehicle.
Mark said: "If this was my only car and I didn't own any other vehicles, I think I might have thought twice about buying this.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
"That's because every now and again I like to take road trips, and road trips and electric cars are inconvenient.
"These cars, in my opinion, are excellent daily commuters but not great road trip cars."
6
6
6
Topics