2017 and it was time for a new car. At this point in my life I had a Large (42kg) dog called Derek, a 4 year old son, a full time job as an Air Traffic Controller and a passion for Big 4×4’s! My husband was about to leave the army and we were going to have to move and buy our own home, so we had to start buckling our belts a little tighter. I’d been driving a Kia Sorento for the last 3 years which I’d loved, but I didn’t love the trips to the Petrol Station for Diesel and neither did my bank balance….(but to be fair to Kia, the Sorento really wasn’t comparably bad on fuel for a car of it’s size – averaging around 40mpg on motorway journeys).
I also had and still do, have a love for all things “techy” so was keen to get a new car that had something different on board and the Mitsubishi PHEV had caught my attention. In terms of looks, it didn’t excite me, and size wise it was far smaller than the Kia Sorento, but, it was a Hybrid. This was something new to me. At this point, I had not considered the environmental benefits of owning a Hybrid, it was purely the “something new” part that appealed. So, I took myself off for a test drive.
The Test Drive
The salesman immediately lost points for asking if my husband would like to drive it before I decided! I think the look on my face said it all so he duly got me settled in for the test drive. My first drive of a semi electric car will stay with me for sometime. Mainly because, although I pride myself of being moderately intelligent, I let myself down totally by pressing the on switch several times much to the amusement of the salesman. I was expecting the usual grumble of engine noise and got nothing other than a few lights on the dashboard and a funny electrical whine. Unfortunately, my brain kicked in just after the salesman had managed to start pointing out to me that I’d started the car, it was just running on electric and therefore the engine had not started but the electric motors had!
Driving the electric 4×4 was great fun immediately! I had a smile on my face ear to ear (which I tried but failed to keep from the salesman!). When in electric mode it was pretty nimble for a big lumbering car and could accelerate impressively quickly away from junctions. When stopped at traffic lights, the silence was so relaxing and I quickly became mesmerised by the image of the car and the battery and motors and found the game of trying to ensure I kept the petrol mode at bay addictive! It had a published electric range of 34miles per charge with an overall combined 166mpg using a combo of electric and petrol.
I negotiated a decent deal (without even discussing it with my husband which seemed to concern the salesman far more than it did me!) and agreed a part exchange price for my beloved Sorento. Delivery was going to be about 3 months which wasn’t too bad but would mean we’d have moved by the time I got it which would give me time to get the Electric Charging point fitted.
Owning my first Hybrid
Fast forward 3 months and it arrived about a week after the electric charging point was fitted. Back then, the government provided a hefty supplement meaning it cost around £150 to get the charge point fitted. I went for the EV Charging Product Ranges | Rolec Services Ltd charger. At the time there weren’t “smart” chargers like there are today so it’s a dumb terminal. I went for un-tethered as also at the time there were two or three different types of charging ports on cars so I figured I’d future proof.
I soon got into the habit of arriving home and plugging the car in. I’d opted for the Octopus Go EV tariff so set a charge timer on the car that meant it would only charge at night unless I overrode it. That saved me quite a bit as the tariff is cheaper at night. This tariff has been updated now and is called Octopus Intelligent Go – you can save £50 off your first months bill with this link https://share.octopus.energy/steel-snake-12
How was it after 3 years?
I’d bought it on a 3 year finance deal and had loved the hybrid element of it. In fact, the whole family did and this car was responsible for our now transition to becoming a fully electric car household. Owning an electric car is a leap of faith in terms of understanding how you change your thinking about basic car travel. If, like us, you’ve driven petrol or diesel cars for over over 25 years, you’ve become so relaxed about getting fuel at a fuel station that the idea of it not being quite so easy is scary. Range anxiety or even the thought of it puts off so many people from owning electric cars, so a hybrid is a great way to ease yourself in gently. However, as soon as you become used to the electric side of the car, if you’re anything like us, you’ll get annoyed when it switches to petrol and you hear and smell that dirty engine grumbling along, the vibrations become more noticeable and the lack of silence at junctions and traffic lights becomes deafening.
Electric charging is becoming so much more easily accessible. Our family live over 200 miles away so we regularly have to complete long journeys, along with regular commutes to work. We barely think about where to charge these days as there’s no need. The car will tell you where the nearest charging stations are along the way and most cars will return a charge to 80% within 30 mins (and thats assuming you’re starting at 0!) so by the time you’ve plugged in, gone to the bathrooms, ordered a coffee and had a general mooch at the service station, you return to a car that’s ready to go. No cold hands. No smelly hands. No big bills!