Guest Blogger #3 (BMW i3)

The range, and more precisley the limitation of the range, is often cited as a reason not to buy into the EV dream. More often than not, you will hear about how EVs are only suitable for short trips but this month's guest blogger has a longer trip story or two to tell. Guillaume Séguin is the editor for www.irishevowners.ie ; of French origin he has been living in Ireland for over a decade and has been advocating EV adoption through the Irish EV owners Association. Contact: editor@irishevowners.ie - Instagram & Twitter : Lutecia44

For many, EVs are just good for the city, or maybe further if your range is enough to cover your daily commute plus some errands. But not made for long distance trips. They are right and wrong at the same time.

I'm based in Cork and bought my first EV exactly 5 years ago. A first generation used Leaf found in the UK. That's what my budget allowed.  So my first real EV experience (bar some short test drives) was also a long distance trip. I had never driven a Leaf before and here I am in Nissan Oxford picking up my new car when the salesman tells me, realizing I'm going to drive to Ireland the next day : "You're brave". I'm sure that in 2019 dealers believe more in their own EVs ! :)

So the next day I drive from Milton Keynes (where I was staying for a few days) all the way to Fishguard, 400km west. That first trip went actually quite smoothly, all chargers were available and operational (Ecotricity did a great job with their Electric Highway network back then), with a charge every 80km or so (winter range of the Leaf 1 isn't too impressive)... The key to that smooth trip was serious planning, with plan Bs, and plenty of extra time (12 hours total!), just in case something went wrong (and a flexible ferry ticket!). In hindsight, I can say that I've actually had more stressful trips later, just because I didn't plan correctly!

The Irish leg (from Rosslare to Cork) was actually quite interesting, as the existing network was not completed back then, and there were no fast chargers in Waterford. The range was too limited to drive from Rosslare to Dungarvan, so I actually had to drive to Kilkenny before driving down to Cahir and Cork. A 6 hour mini-adventure for a 200km distance. After a few months, the range anxiety faded, and I felt more comfortable with the capabilities of my car (and got myself the Leafspy app, a great investment for any Leaf driver going for long distances, allowing to have a more precise battery gauge).

I'm telling you that story to show that driving a mainstream EV could be quite a challenge, just a few years ago. Thankfully things changed since.

In 2015 I did my first trip to France. I usually drive to Nantes to see my family for Christmas but the fast charging network was just not there that year so for the first time I had to wait for the summer crossing to Roscoff which was much easier to manage (and without need for heating!) thanks to a better charging network on that route.

The following year (2016) I upgraded my Leaf to a 30kWh model. What a great feeling to see the range expanding! It meant, thanks to an ever improving network, that I could drive to France in winter and enjoy my first electric Christmas trip, all the way to Paris, even if the route to home was not straight forward and added a few hours to my trip.

In 2017 I decided to go to Scotland (great charging network!) and the north of England : it was so easy! And of course another French Christmas, this time, I could drive the 350km home just like in an ICE, bar the 3 quick charges (but without detour) and more moderate speeds. Very acceptable.

In Autumn 2018 I decided to go for a 33kWh BMW i3. The range is a bit better. Far from what Tesla or newer models can do now but a fair progress over the Leaf. Next week I will drive from Cork to Wexford. But won't go through Kilkenny, and it won't take me 6 hours. I'll actually do the 180km trip without recharging on the way. At the same pace as the other cars, with the added comfort, toll discount, and cheap "fuel".

My next EV will have an even longer range. Maybe it'll be a Tesla Model 3, a Kia e-Niro, or another of these newer EVs that have battery packs of over 60 kWh. I'll go from Cork to Dublin in one go, with some electricity to spare. The range anxiety will be gone, but then I will probably suffer from bladder anxiety.

Guest Blogger #2 (Tesla Model S)

This month I'm very pleased to present John Casey as the Guest Blogger. John is an Electronic Engineer and self-professed early adopter. Living in the Banner County, he has driven dirty diesel [his phrase!] until his EV adoption. John has produced a video review of his car, which you can view below his post.

In May 2017 following a change in work that necessitated more driving I began to look at changing my car. This coincided with the opening of the Tesla showroom in Sandyford so I figured I’d satisfy my curiosity and check out what was on offer.

A few months later I pulled the trigger on the purchase of a new model S 75 which I took possession of on January 2nd. To say it has been a life change is an understatement.

The car has exceeded any expectations I had. Comfortable and so easy to drive, it means that our second car is relegated to the one that is only driven if absolutely necessary. So in fact we have displaced one and a half diesel cars off the road with the Tesla.

The car has, in little over eleven months, clocked up 59,000 kilometers. I benefit from free workplace charging at the various work locations I frequent but I’m now arranging meetings offsite at places with chargers and challenging hotels that have none.

Frosty mornings now present no suffering due to the preheat function available from the phone app. The long journeys are further enhanced by the Autosteer feature on the car. This has eliminated fatigue and made this driving inherently safer.

Yes, driving an EV has its drawbacks. I plan my itinerary around chargers on the road. I check and check again charger statuses. I’m fortunate enough that my 300 kilometer range allows me to drive by some busy ones to the next one. I’ve had little waiting for a charge. But would I change back to a fossil fuel car? Not a chance. I’ve seen the future and will drive into it smoothly.

Guest Blogger #1 (LEAF 30kWh)

This month, Dr. Iain McLaren has been kind enough to write a guest blog post for EV Galway. Iain describes himself as a "Scot in Ireland/astrophysicist/educator/bluffer". Iain is the Director of the Centre for  Excellence in Learning and Teaching at NUI Galway. You can follow Iain on Twitter.

I've been driving a Nissan Leaf for over two and a half years now, having traded in a Citroen which although I was fond of it, had started to acquire a painful hold on my credit card with repair after repair. At the time we were thinking of making the switch, we had lots of information sent to us on 'full cost of ownership', discount electricity rates versus petrol, 'time to break even' and the like. In truth, though, the underlying reason we decided to make the move was that we were sick of the thought of every day pumping out greenhouse gases, especially in those long traffic jams coming into town. What had put us off before, was the classic 'range anxiety' but when the battery capacity moved up to 30kwh (giving that nice psychological reassurance of distances over 200km on a full charge -even though in practice the Leaf's distance 'guessometer' is somewhat optimistic!), we decided to have a test drive.

From the minute the car was switched on and the accelerator pressed, I was hooked. It's such a pleasure to drive an electric car. Responsive acceleration, no hassle with gears and clutch (the source of a lot of our previous expense) and the added thrill of being able to sneak up behind our annoying little dog whilst in 'stealth mode' and give her a surprise as payback for all the times she barked incessantly at us and our neighbours as we drove off in the mornings.

Once we bought the car, the range worries just faded away. The vast majority of our driving was the daily commute into work and back, 20km each way, so a full charge set us up for days, and with free workplace charge points, a little top up now and again was possible anytime. If we needed a quick charge for a longer journey (say to Knock or Shannon airports) then sitting in the Topaz garage for twenty minutes was usually enough and coincides nicely with the time for a coffee and a muffin!

Of course we still have our occasional long distance drives. Some, we've done in the Leaf, with a bit of planning for charge stops, for others we've made use of our other, older (and now much neglected) wagon that's fuelled by the usual crushed dinosaur juice. Friends of ours, fellow Leaf drivers, just hire a car if they need it for a long haul or a binge shop over in Ikea.

So we've never had a moment's doubt or regret since we made that purchase. Sorry, let me just check with my wife. Oh, she says the only problem is arguing over who gets to drive the nifty little thing in the morning and who's stuck in the passenger seat!