Not a petrol head, although I do adore my 1250 Suzuki Bandit, but an electric head! Tomorrow, for the first time, I will become the owner of a completely electric car! I’m excited and amazed, and also sensing my first touch of Range Anxiety, gulp!
I set out to buy a Tesla. I test drove an electric Mini, an e-Golf, and a level 3 Tesla in that order. But it turns out I hate the Tesla. It was clever, very clever but too much of a machine, lacking character and romance. It felt as if it had been manufactured by the US military. As if it were homing in, and it knew its surroundings, they were pictured in the form of ghosts on the dashboard display, how close cars were, and traffic lights and you could see it register when they changed from red to green. The Mini was delightful and quirky, but didn’t feel as capable as the Golf, and the Golf won me over.
I realise the e-Golf has been discontinued but it has a great original Golf interior, and packs a lot of punch with a fabulous dashboard display of power consumption and recuperation. It’s the recuperation that got me, the slowing down / braking which actually put power back into the battery, and you could see it as a bright visual graphic. And I don’t mind the fact that the e-Golf is like a reverse engineered Golf – a Golf body and engine with electric power bolted in. For me it’s like a classic already…one of the first electric cars
And the sense of relief at driving, even in slow moving traffic, knowing that not a gram of toxic gas is being emitted. (Of course, the electricity has to come from somewhere, but charging points like Ecotricity’s Electric Highway can provide it from renewable energy!)
It’s going to be interesting making that first move to recharge, to understand how it works, what connector to use, and where, and for how long. But you know, I’m really looking forward to it!
Buying a VW also reminds me of my father who bought two VW Beetles, in the sixties and seventies, family cars, with our dog in the back, over the engine. By chance, I now have a VW Beetle keyring, to remind me of those early motors when I drive the electric car…