It's the once or twice a month situation where I need to do journeys which would be giving me 'range anxiety' with currently affordable electric only vehicles. And the occasional impulse decision to go to Whitby for the day because it turned out nice again Mrs. I could get there, but could I find somewhere practical and available to recharge so I can drive home again? Public transport is simply a non starter for that kind of journey.
And then there's the 240 mile journey I need to make in September to my holiday booking in Pembrokeshire. Where do I charge there for the week I am there? Again, public transport might get me most of the way but would be impractical for a family holiday whilst there.
I absolutely agree. Whilst long journeys can certainly be undertaken in an electric car with a bit of planning, it is short of being completely practical away from major routes, where to be fair, a pretty substantial charging network is developing.
I can't imagine doing a trip to Orkney etc. in anything other than a ICE vehicle at the moment - I never have to stop to fill up, just swap drivers. Yes, charging is available en route, but having to stop 2 or 3 times to refuel, each time for 30 minutes (or more, depending upon the charger type) is just too inconvenient, and then the range anxiety can't be much fun when you're trying to judge the best point to recharge to get the most from each stop.
That said, we run two cars, and the Jazz takes care of all the local running about. It almost never does more than 50-60 miles per day for the vast majority of the time. I can see an electric car being perfect if you only need something for short-medium distances, charged at home from e7 electricity or solar/wind/powerwall. However, if you regularly travel long distances, you would be need to be dedicated to the cause to put up with the current drawbacks.
There a whole boatload of technologies, business practices, legislation and infrastructure that are all emerging at once, making it a very volatile and scary time to switch from a known and reliable fuel to something else.
Everything is changing, and personally I would struggle to commit any serious outlay on a new vehicle - I look no more than a few years ahead at the moment. The diesel I have now will have saved me enough in fuel and road tax, over the car it replaced, to have paid for its purchase price in about 10-12,000 miles. It will owe me nothing really.
One thing is for sure, electric vehicles are the future, in one form or another.
