HE’S CHANGED! CAN YOU?

Stand-up comedian and car nut Stephen Grant swapped diesel for electric five years ago, and hasn’t missed a gig yet.

Q: What made you go electric?

A: It wasn’t actually the savings or the whole green thing. I was just having a really miserable time in a store one day and saw a BMW i3 parked at one of the chargers outside, and thought it looked great. I booked a test drive expecting it to be all worthy and soulless, but I couldn’t believe how powerful it was and how well it handled. I was sold.

Q: Ever run out of electricity?

A: Never! And keep in mind that I got one of the early i3s, which only had a range of 80 or so miles in the real world, and that I got mine back in 2015, when there were way fewer chargers around. The charging network is so much bigger now, though not necessarily better, and the latest crop of electric cars have much longer ranges. Q: What’s wrong with the charging network? A: I think electric car users suffer from ‘charger anxiety’, not range anxiety. You’re relying on them being free when you get there, and not being ‘ICEd’, which is the term electric car users have for finding a charging bay blocked by a car with an internal combustion engine. But there are more points available now, and like most EV drivers I just charge up at home most of the time, even when I’m doing 11,000 miles a year.

Q: Ever struggled to make a long journey in the i3?

A: I have always had another car with a conventional engine to make really long journeys in. But I have also made them in the i3, with a bit of planning. And having an electric car just draws your attention to how infrequently you actually need to drive that far. A Kia eNiro will go 280 miles on a charge now, and that sort of range really does cover you for everything.

Q: So you’ll stick with electric?

A: Yes, and I’ll probably swap for the new BMW iX3 electric SUV coming next year – it has the right combination of long-range super-fast charging, and no rattles, because it’s German. That’s the main problem with electric cars: because there’s no engine noise, you notice every annoying squeak from the cabin. But apart from that, I just don’t see why you wouldn’t have an electric car now.

Q: And your vedict on the i3?

A: The best car I’ve ever owned – and I’ve had 43.