Brave new world – 42 months at the wheel of an EV. Nobull MD’s personal account of living with an EV

During a week when we have celebrated World EV Day, I thought I would share my experience of 42 months of EV ownership experience, first with a Tesla Model 3 and then with a BMW iX.

The biggest challenge with the brand-new Tesla I leased on a 6-month subscription was getting the speed limiter turned off from its 26mph. Luckily a trip to Heathrow Tesla resolved that issue and help set the car up, just like you would a phone or computer.

There were a few challenges with the Tesla including nearly crashing twice while I was staring at the sat nav on the centre screen and never working out how to activate the interior lights when the doors were opened.

One day my phone ran out of battery. Because the dealer had set the car up so the phone was my only means of getting into the car, I had to find a friendly soul to charge my phone before I could finish my journey.

Range was never a problem in the Tesla at around 250 miles and even in 2022 its Supercharger network was the best and most reliable and affordable means of rapid public charging as it still is today at around 55p per kWh.

Unlike some EV drivers I haven’t run a detailed spreadsheet tracking electricity costs versus an equivalent ICE car as, if I need to travel somewhere, I get in the car and go. As so much of my charging has been home-based, I am sure I am saving money but as soon as you venture into the public rapid charging space at over 70p per kWh the difference between ICE and electric costs narrows dramatically.

After the Tesla came the BMW iX, not because I necessarily wanted one but at the end of 2022 cars were scarce and I was offered a good value contract hire rate – it is the XDrive40 model that in summer is capable of 240 miles and the winter around 185 miles which annoyingly never allows me to get to the NEC and home again without a rapid charge on the M40. This NEC trip has become the reference point for all future electric cars I own.

The iX is fondly known as the shed due to its size, but it’s comfy and handles very well but due to the multiple layers of tech there are features I will never find let alone activate. This includes giving up trying to fix the problem of it not recognising me as the main driver and having to change my wife’s seat position and Magic at the Musicals at the start of every journey. First world problems, I know, when compared with my first car, a 1984 1.0 litre Ford Fiesta.

The BMW computer’s range estimation can be annoying as it displays 240 miles when you get into the car but within minutes can reduce to 225 miles without changing heater settings. Those 15 miles that have vanished can often be the difference between completing a trip without charging and having to stop for a quick motorway charge which is a pain.

Over the air updates are handy but check how long they are going to take as one of mine lasted half an hour and I was late for a meeting. The BMW App tells me how many kWh I have chewed through each month compared to the UK population of iX drivers which was fun, and I am now in the top 10% of economical drivers – a very proud moment

I have only twice encountered a charger queue at motorway services and EVs have certainly slowed me down, particularly on motorways to retain range. I love the concept of one pedal driving and the closest I have got to running the batteries dry was having two miles left on the range counter.

EVs also don’t need servicing very often due to having fewer moving parts than ICE cars which has meant just one BMW service over three-years and 32,000-miles - the only other cost has been two tyre replacements.

Since I owned the Tesla and took delivery of the iX both models are available with a range of 400-mile plus, which is more than enough for most motorists. The manufacturers continue to push the boundaries of range and affordability with solid state technology set to give cars another 25% of range in the not-too-distant future. That only leaves the public charging infrastructure to catch up with vehicle technology.

80% of my charging occurs at home which is both convenient and affordable and venturing into the public charging space I have got to know those chargers that are reliable and well placed for my regular journeys. But often when travelling away from those familiar routes it’s the most important charger on the journey (usually owned by one of major fuel companies) that doesn’t work which is still frustrating.

Overall, the journey to electric has been positive for 90% of the time, with a change in mindset moving from ICE to electric that has helped me avoid range anxiety and enjoy the stress-free and near silent EV experience. So much so that I will be taking delivery of EV number three later in the year with a focus on a model with a range of 300 miles+ that is both smaller and more tax effective than the BMW iX.

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