“It’s excellent just go for it!”

Claire Mitchell, Environmental Protection Service Officer from South Gloucestershire Council talks to Tusker about her experience with the salsac scheme and her Renault Zoe.

Where it all began

Claire was on the hunt for a car as she hadn’t had one for 18 months as her previous vehicle failed it’s MOT. She wanted an electric car and was saving up to buy one, until she was browsing her company’s internal website and she thought “great, I don’t need to put down a deposit or anything.” “I didn’t need any savings; salary sacrifice made it a lot easier. Everything was included, maintenance, insurance, roadside assistance is included as well. It sounded like a good offer. Hassle free driving really”.

Switching to electric

Claire previously had a petrol car, so we were intrigued to see what made her switch to electric; “it was just environmental issues and to reduce pollution emissions. We have a low emission zone in Bristol as well, so I can freely drive through it with no hassle whatsoever. No extra costs and no thinking needed, whereas I know people that have diesel cars that drive around with that stress.” She originally wanted a Fiat Panda because their compact size was perfect for her, but without an EV option, Claire opted for the Renault Zoe.. Claire visited a Renault showroom to test drive the Zoe and realised this was the car for her. “It’s a small car and suits my needs, the price was really attractive as well. It’s a nice sized city car.”

Claire took a stock car that was delivered within 6/8 weeks.

Going electric on long journeys…

Claire has already driven her car on long journeys, visiting Scotland and Norfolk! “It’s a whole different driving experience but I enjoy it. We got used to it, the first few months was a bit daunting as I thought the range was going to be an issue, but once you get over that it’s absolutely fine. We’ve got some favourite places which we stop to charge at on the way to Scotland and Norfolk. We really like that it takes us off the main road to see different towns where they have charge points so it actually makes us enjoy the journey a lot more as we see more of places we’d otherwise just pass through..”

Charging

Claire’s workplace provide a 3KW charging point for their employees to use throughout the day to make it easily accessible for people, like Claire, who don’t have a driveway or a home charging option. A local sports centre where Claire lives provide “good priced charging points”, so she also has that option when the car needs an extra boost.

Delivery of the car

Claire got a stock car through Tusker and was impressed with the quick delivery she received. “It was about 6 or 7 weeks; quicker than what they quoted initially. It was nice to get it just before Christmas as well, so I saw it as an early Christmas present. It gave me the freedom to drive wherever I wanted.” Some Tusker drivers choose a stock vehicle as it offers them a quicker order and delivery than building it from scratch.

Feedback

Claire’s thrilled with her new car. She’d recommend Tusker to her colleagues or friends.“It’s excellent, go for it. I’ve already recommended it to a friend who has a Tusker scheme at her, company. It’s a very smooth process, hassle free driving.” “What I’m paying from what I got quoted when I went to a garage to test drive the Zoe, it’s a lot less than what I would’ve paid as you get savings through the scheme as well so it’s a no brainer really for me.”