Day 4

The vehicle had 92 miles after an overnight charge. Knowing I only had a 50 mile round trip today I decided to push the vehicle and drive without trying to maintain energy equilibrium. I pushed the vehicle up to 70mph (previously I’d stuck to around 52-55mph) and noticed that the energy use white dots were reaching up to 5 and six. However on slowing down and breaking the green reharvesting dots were reaching the maximum of 4 – so driving faster and braking harder equalled out and I got back to my charge point with exactly 42 miles left.

So it was exactly mile for mile. I had not been able to save any energy but I hadn’t lost any by driving a little more intensive either. Great news for when I’m next up against the clock! I’m also now confident of taking the vehicle on the motorway and I’m starting to think that there is not much need to change the style of driving or worry too much on a daily routine.

Just when a journey extension or a trip out of the ordinary is needed there is a little more preparation to make sure you either have enough charge or a place en route to charge up. I left the overnight charger in the garage this morning but on second thoughts I think I would always put it back into the carry pack in the boot (or buy a spare) just incase I ever get caught short in the middle of rural Lincolnshire and need to knock on the door of a lonely farmhouse, hoping the farmer takes pity on me and allows a quick domestic re-charge. Unlikely to ever happen but then I was in the Girl Guides so its in my nature to ‘Be Prepared’ !!

Day 2

I was a bit disappointed to find the car only had 53 miles charge on it when I picked it up this morning, I thought it would have about 70 like yesterday. But it was only onl charge for an hour and a half before closing time. I knew Bourne was about 20 miles each way so I thought it would be plenty and google had already told me there is a chargepoint at Larkfleet Energy in Bourne. What I had forgotten though was that I wasn’t actually going to Bourne, I was going to a village 5 miles beyond Bourne (an extra 10 mile round trip). By the time I had stopped off in town en route to get a couple of keys cut I was at my destination but with only 26 miles left for the return journey. I programmed the SatNav to check the true mileage home and it was 25 miles. I rang Larkfleet to ask if I needed a card (like the Lincoln charger) only to be told their charger was currently not working. Argh! Dare I risk it, with one mile to spare?  I knew from my Lincoln run that it was possible to re-harvest some of the energy but I could also get stuck in a queue. Deciding I couldn’t risk it I used the domestic charger to plug into my friends house for two and a half hours. This gave me only 25 miles of additional charge but at least with 51 on the clock I knew I’d get home safely and be able to put the vehicle on charge in the garage for the whole of the night until morning. This would definitely give me enough to do the same run again tomorrow.

The children are excited by the car and have already worked out that their tablet can wirelessly connect to the car and they can be in charge of the music! The songs are listed on the media screen and full functionality of play, pause, skip etc are available on the touch screen.

I’ve also looked up chargemaster on the internet. They are an EV network which is marketed as Polar. You can purchase a polar card which is £7.95 a month (first 6 months free) but it takes a few days for the card to come. So I’ve downloaded the Polar Instant App. The minimum initial top up was £20 so I’ve registered my credit card and ready to go. There’s just a £1. 50 fee per charge. The app is good. There seems to be at least one charge point in all the major local towns and more in the cities.

I’m feeling positive, albeit the little scare earlier today. Just need to plan properly and not guesstimate distances! It does feel good having done my trip today at zero cost when it would normally zap a quarter of my little Audi fuel tank – about £10.

The car is lovely and quiet and I’ve had the aircon on low too so guess that might have used up some extra charge. The feeling when the car just glides off after releasing the footbrake is great – I imagine that’s what it must be like to fly a spaceship!

Electric vehicles have been added to our car fleet allowing inquisitive customers the opportunity to go green.

The 5 door Nissan Leaf vehicles are being offered to customers who drive under 70 miles a day and have off road parking facilities at home.

Jade Johnson, Business Development at AW, said: “The short time customers’ vehicles are being repaired is a great opportunity to try an electric vehicle without commitment. People worry about the practicalities but with the need for a courtesy car different to their own vehicle anyway, they are already half way there so trying an EV doesn’t seem so daunting.”

We have teamed up with Marshall Nissan of Grantham for the project who have facilitated the installation of charge points at two AW sites offering a 20 mile boost to customers & public alike.

The vehicles are fully charged using the special charge cable in a normal domestic socket overnight at the customers’ home off road parking.

Continued Jade: “We have recently upgraded all our lighting to LED and have power saving booths so this is another opportunity to lower our carbon footprint as a business while also providing a service to EV community and help change the perception of electric vehicles. Not to mention fuel free driving at a time when customers may have the unexpected cost of paying a policy excess.”

Marshall Nissan Local Business manager Edward Manu added: “We’re delighted to be working with AW Repair Group on this project and their passion to offer EV opportunities to a wider audience is fantastic. This little taster of using an electric vehicle will undoubtedly change some pre-conceptions and benefit AW, Customer, the EV community and of course the environment.”