8 things only electric car drivers will understand
Electric cars are becoming more and more popular and plenty of petrol heads are jumping on the instant torque bandwagon.
I learnt a lot driving an electric vehicle (EV) and met plenty of passionate owners a long the way. While these cars do pretty much everything a fossil-fuel-powered one does, they have some quirks only an EV driver would understand.
Peace and Quiet
Credit: Tesla
Don't get me wrong, I love the roar of a V8 just as much as the next person but the tranquillity of driving around in an EV is a different kind of experience. Especially when you're on a road trip.
The joy of pulling away from everything at the lights
Instant torque is the best thing about driving an EV. There's no worrying about getting the right amount of gas to clutch for a speedy pull away. You just put your foot down and you're gone. It's often a surprise to the aggressive Audi driver in the lane next to you.
Until you get up to speed and get overtaken
That smugness wears off pretty quickly, though, unless you own a more powerful EV. The likes of a Nissan Leaf or Renault Zoe are going to get overtaken pretty quickly once you're up to speed.
Trundling along the dual carriageway at 55mph because you misjudged your range
We know that motorway trundle all too well. You know there are enough miles to get to where you need to go but the stress of seeing them tick down quicker than the miles you're actually covering relegates you to the slow lane.
EV drivers learn to live life at a slower pace. Or, if you're a Tesla or electric hypercar driver, you'll learn to live life at a slower pace with blasts of ridiculous speed in between.
But you prefer to drive in the city any way
Credit: eMotion
EVs were made for city driving. There's something so satisfying about watching that range number hold steady thanks to all that regenerative braking.
Range anxiety
You do learn your EV after a while but those first few drives with the miles ticking down can be a little scary. You never really know how far you can go until you've run the battery flat. Range anxiety always sits in the back of your mind but eventually it becomes no more that the mild worry you get when your fuel light comes on in a petrol or diesel car.
The first time I drove an EV I was happily doing 70mph on the A11 through Cambridgeshire heading home to Norfolk. There were no chargers for miles (except on the opposite carriageway) and the miles were going down and down. I soon realised I couldn't get home. An EV takes a gentler right foot, something I learnt that the hard way when I had to go 15 miles in the opposite direction (in the middle of the night) to charge.
Tortoise mode
When you really push it and your car decides it's had enough, cue reduced power mode as you crawl along to the nearest charger.
The anger upon seeing an ICE-age vehicle in an EV bay
When I was driving Route 57 in an electric car, I felt the pain of this far too many times. Impatient drivers of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles blocking the one space I need to charge my car.
To those of you who don't drive an EV, this is known as 'getting ICEd'.
I had a brand to uphold and was being watched by the press so I didn't rant and shout like I felt was necessary. I did, of course, post passive aggressive messages on social media just to make my feelings known to people who didn't really care.
What are the quirks of EV culture that you love?
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Comments (3)
I meant spot ON ( I need a bigger phone, smaller fingers or new glasses, possibly all three)
Thanks, Marcus!
Spot in Jess