Our cars: Jaguar I-Pace
Is it possible to live with an EV if you can’t charge at home?
Richard Ingram
Richard_Ingram@dennis.co.uk @rsp_ingram
THOSE with a keen eye will spot that the Auto Express Jaguar I-Pace has changed hands. Long-term custodian and editor-in-chief Steve Fowler reluctantly passed me the keys to see if the all-electric SUV would be as easy and satisfying to live with for me as it was for him.
The thing is, unlike Steve, I live in London without access to off-street parking. That means I’ve no ability to charge overnight at home – something that has become second nature for Steve. Could I make it work? Well, there was only one way to find out.
Not only would I be running the car to and from the airport or the office on a daily basis, I’d also be challenging the I-Pace’s flexibility with a weekend trip to deepest Devon. This is no mean feat at the best of times – let alone in the midst of Storm Dennis, which battered Britain with galeforce wind and heavy rain back in February.
Living and working in town, I’m just the type of person who should be making the switch to an electric car. Doing so could save me thousands on fuel and Congestion Charge costs, and it should go some way to relieving my conscience – knowing that
Running costs Official range/tax 258 miles/£325
I’m reducing the harmful emissions being pumped into the air around our capital.
But without a home charge point, I knew I’d be relying heavily on the public network to keep the I-Pace topped up. With no chance for a five-minute fill at a petrol station (as I’d do with a regular car), I’d either have to be incredibly organised or cleverly creative.
Luckily, Source London’s expanding network of 1,000-plus charge points is making it easier than ever for city dwellers to run an EV. With three points just around the corner from my house and another few due to be installed soon, this looked like a suitable option for charging overnight – especially as the costs are capped to prevent owners unwittingly racking up big bills.
What’s more, by signing up for an account (£4 per month) the cost of charging is nearly halved – from seven pence to 3.6p per minute on a 7kW charger. That means if I plug the Jag in overnight, I can charge it to full for less than £9 – more than you’d pay for domestic electricity, but cheaper than petrol.
Still, the Jag’s biggest test was yet to come. People often ask me: “What if you want to do a longer journey in an electric car?” – and
Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 656/1,453 litres
I’ve never really had a good answer. I did once take a Hyundai Kona Electric on an EV marathon, but the restrictive conditions of that test were hardly representative of my slog to Devon on a wet winter evening.
We started in a good place. Knowing that a full charge was unlikely to get us all the way there, I’d already planned a stop at Amesbury part of the way down the A303 – meaning our 160 miles of indicated range wouldn’t be an issue. I’d picked this point with the help of some colleagues; they reliably informed me that this specific Polar point accepted contactless bank cards, so I wouldn’t need to sign up and wait for an account to be activated.
With Storm Dennis doing its best to slow our progress, we made it to our stopover without any issue, and here we found the connection set-up as easy as buying a coffee. With the I-Pace charging at just over 50kW (the Jag’s maximum, on the correct charger, is 100kW), we managed to quickly replenish the battery to around 80 per cent, which was enough to get us to our destination.
Once we’d arrived, our only option was to trickle charge via the Jag’s three-pin plug. It’s
not ideal, but if your regular usage only demands 30-40 miles range a day, you could happily keep your car topped up through a conventional household socket. However, with a return journey scheduled within 48 hours, I knew we’d have to stop at another fast charger on the way home.
Feeling buoyed up by a mere 40-minute stopover on the way down, I suggested a trip into Plymouth on Saturday afternoon. I’d scoped out a GeniePoint fast charger in one of the city’s underground car parks, and was confident that, should anything go awry, we had enough range to return home. Alas, it was not meant to be; after we failed to hook up to the 50kW charger, the customer service representative was only able to remotely connect us to the slower 7kW point. But, if I’ve learnt anything, it’s that a slow charge is better than no charge.
The return journey to London was as uneventful as that on the way down. The range readout was dropping faster than usual – most likely due to the lashing rain and cooler temperatures – so we pulled in to the Instavolt charger at the Route 303 Diner near Honiton. Around 50 minutes (plus a couple of conversations with some passers-by) later, we were on our way with enough juice to see us home.
Another thing that this trip and the following six weeks have taught me is that contactless charging is essential for future EV infrastructure. It works as it would at a petrol station when paying for fuel; services like Polar Instant make spontaneous charging infinitely less stressful.
Having an account for my local charging station – where I can enjoy cheaper rates by plugging my car in overnight – makes perfect sense. A lack of convenience may be the only barrier to EV ownership for many.