BEV BEGINNER

Mercedes-Benz’s smallest BEV is also our newest DRIVEN staffer’s first-ever electric drive

It was my first time with a BEV (battery electric vehicle). In fact, it was my first time in any sort of electric vehicle. And what better way to kick off my EV experience than with a MercedesBenz EQA.

The first thing I did when I got the car home was install a car seat. I know, I know, not the most exciting thing to do with a brand new Mercedes-Benz. But with a 9-month-old baby in tow, making the install as easy as possible is a must. Thankfully, the blatantly obvious Isofix made things a breeze, and the car seat was installed within seconds.

Next on the list, however, was to load the boot up with all the “stuff” that comes with parenting a young baby. That means the pram, the nappy bag, the food and bottles and portable high chair, the spare clothes, the toys to keep him entertained, the blanket for if it gets cold, the sunshade for if it gets too sunny . . .

The bottom line, babies come with a lot of baggage.

Unfortunately, I found the 340-litre boot to be on the small side. By the time we loaded in the pram, there wasn’t space for much else. But there was plenty of room in the cabin, and thankfully we didn’t need to seat anyone else in the back or our passengers would have ended up with a nappy bag sitting on their lap. But I guess the car wasn’t made with young families in mind.

Inside, the cabin is very comfortable. There's lots of legroom in the front and back, with the front seats even featuring seat extenders for those who have longer legs than the average Joe. The ambient lighting is a fun touch too, with 64 colours to choose from. All in all, the interior detailing made the car feel luxurious.

Now to the fun part – driving! Now, bear in mind I’m new to DRIVEN and haven’t experienced hundreds of cars like the rest of the team. I loved driving this car.

The adaptive cruise control made motorway driving a breeze. And while I did find the ADAS (automated driver assist) functions annoying at times, it did add to the driver experience.

There are three drive modes: Eco, Comfort, Sport. For the majority of the time, I kept the car in Comfort. But I did pop it in Sport from time to time for a speedy take off on to the motorway, which was quite fun.

As a first time BEV driver, I did scare myself at times by letting the battery get a little too low. As

we’ve been discussing in the office, often the mindset of petrol car drivers is to let the fuel light come on before topping the car up. This has certainly been my mindset, anyway. But with a BEV, it’s more about grazing, or so I’ve been told. That’s topping your car up any time you have the chance, rather than waiting for the battery to get scary close to flat.

But if you do happen to get your car battery a bit too far on the low side, you can always pop it into Eco mode to help extract every last kilometre.

I’ve decided that if I were to own an EV, I’d definitely need to have a home charger installed. It ends up far more cost-effective than petrol, and it would be much easier to simply plug the car in each night than to have to run to a public charger.

At the end of the day, the car was a joy to drive. It was modern, fresh, spacious (well, everywhere except the boot), and very easy for a first timer.

‘ With a BEV, it’s more about grazing, or so I’ve been told. That’s topping your car up any time you have the chance. ’