The air is clean up here, and so is the driving
Electric cars may be the future, but are they a realistic proposition for a road trip in remote and rural Scotland, asks Jack Rear
Ifelt a distinct sense of dread upon disembarking the plane at Stornoway airport. I’d arrived on the isles of Lewis and Harris (actually all one island, but with two names) 50 miles off the coast of Scotland to put the Nissan Leaf through its paces and had prepared for the worst on the 270-mile road trip from Stornoway, across the sea to Ullapool then on to Glasgow.
Friends had warned me to expect a dearth of charging points, and a cold, clinical driving experience. I was resigned to finding out the hard way how electric cars have a long way to go before 2040 when the Government aims to ban the sale of any new petrol or diesel motors.
Yet such targets present a need to assess the viability of electric cars away from the areas to which they are probably best suited – our towns and cities. Here was the chance to find out, by emulating the steadily growing number of buyers who choose a battery-powered car as their main mode of transport.
Despite my apprehension, as soon as I got behind the wheel and tapped the power button everything changed. Electric cars, as it turns out, are the real deal; fast, cheap to run, efficient, and a hell of a lot of fun to drive. And it’s just so easy.
I’d be the first to admit I am a serviceable, though not a fantastic, driver. I’ve never really experienced the exhilaration of driving; for me it’s always just been a means of getting from A to B, as it is for the majority of car owners. However, zipping about in the latest Leaf, swishing in almost total silence along wide, empty moorland roads, scrambling up perilous mountain climbs and cruising by beautiful coastline vistas, it all clicked. In short, my stint in the Leaf felt like driving without any of the bad stuff.
Hill starts, which used to fill me with anxiety, were deftly handled by the on-board computer taking over the brakes. Overtaking is a breeze thanks to the instantaneous acceleration – unlike a conventional engine that needs to rev to produce power, an electric motor delivers its peak torque from zero. Even finding a parking space was never a problem since most places I visited had a few spots reserved for electric vehicles.
Nissan has gone out of its way to make the Leaf as user-friendly as possible – less of a car and more of a giant go-kart. For the vast majority of my time with it, I only touched the accelerator and the steering wheel.
Regenerative braking slows the car to a standstill as soon as you take your foot off the accelerator, with no discernible difference from the gradual braking that every driving instructor in the country is constantly reminding their charges to focus on. You can come to a stop just as quickly and the energy is funnelled back into the battery for added efficiency. It
can take a little getting used to, but after five minutes it became natural. The actual brake pedal is more for slowing from higher speeds.
Despite my positive experiences, there are still some negatives. Chief among these is recharging; that and a perceived lack of range are still issues that need to be addressed before an electric car becomes more viable.
As of this April, there were 1,006 charge points in Scotland, according to research by the BBC Shared Data Unit. Of these, 85 are in the Highlands and 71 are in Glasgow. But, highlighting the variable coverage of charging points, there are only 10 in East Dunbartonshire, to the north-west of Glasgow.
Charging at home remains the simplest option, although I’d advise researching the ins and outs of the UK’s charging infrastructure before venturing to more remote parts of these isles.
The Leaf uses two charging standards for its inlets: Type 1 for charging at home or at public slow and fast AC points; and CHAdeMO to connect to a fast-charger. Both sit under a flap at the front above the Nissan badge, just above where the radiator would reside in a conventional car.
On a public charger, an activation process is required; depending on the network provider, this may be in the form of an RFID card or a smartphone app – note that most networks require you to set up an account beforehand, which might be a problem if you hired the car, although pay-asyou-go units are gaining ground.
It’s also worth noting that although many EV charge points are free to use, most fast and rapid chargers require payment. Then it’s a matter of plugging in. And waiting.
With a rapid charger, the Leaf ’s battery can be filled to 80 per cent of capacity in only 40 minutes. Using a fast charger extends the time to about six hours to take the battery from flat to full, while a slow charger (usually using a household-type three-pin socket) can take 14 hours from zero to full capacity.
The Leaf ’s inability to estimate its range based on the battery level also caused concern. On my drive from Ullapool to Glasgow, the Leaf predicted 150 miles before I’d need to recharge. I planned my route accordingly and found a fast-charger easily within range. In reality, I got 112 miles before the battery was on its last gasp and I had to pull into a service station to top up the charge.
Even so, I’m not necessarily worried about these issues. More powerful, faster-charging batteries are an inevitability. The real challenge will be making sure manufacturers offer those benefits at a price that is manageable for the average consumer.
After my weekend with the Nissan Leaf, I am convinced that electric cars are not only viable and ready for mass adoption, but that they’re fun, interesting, and perhaps even capable of bringing the joy back to driving – even for those who, like me, have yet to discover it.