The Y of E and V
Plug-in paranoia. By Ben Pulman
Just as the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent scrappage scheme propelled the likes of Kia and Hyundai into the nation’s car-buying consciousness, so the Covid-19 pandemic might have a similar effect on EV uptake. There’s talk of a ‘green revolution’ as the population realises the health benefits of fewer cars on the roads and next to no planes in the sky.
As part of a wider drive for sustainability, the thinking goes that if we reduce our emissions and have less of a detrimental impact on the planet, maybe it won’t fight back with another novel virus.
Hopefully it’s a tipping point, together with a push for real equality and justice (bit deep for a brief update on a Peugeot estate, I know),
Peugeot 508 SW GT 1.6 225 Month 8
The story so far
French estate is slowly charming us +
Good looks; great interior
Safety tech reckon it’s an 80mph limit in our village
Logbook but frankly I think any increase in EV sales will be for purely selfish reasons. I’m not even talking about smug self-satisfaction from ‘saving the planet’, but rather personal safety. Charging at home means not having to touch a fuel pump used by dozens of others each day. It means having a private sanctuary of sanitised space. At least that’s what went through my head as a Pod Point Expert (ironically not wearing any PPE) installed a charger for the electric car we don’t yet have.
Meantime, it’s time to glove up and get down to the nearest petrol station for the once-a-month fill. Thank goodness the 508 SW easily does over 400 miles on a tank, and we’re not going anywhere soon.
PS: I know I’m neurotic.
Price £38,605 (£39,780 as tested) Performance 1598cc turbo four-cyl, 221bhp, 7.3sec 0-62mph, 155mph E ciency 39.2mpg (o cial), 36.9mpg (tested), 124g/km CO2 Energy cost 15.0p per mile Miles this month 619 Total miles