A Day in the Life of an EV Driver

Making the change from a petrol car, to an electric car

Harry, our Digital Marketing Manager, recently became an EV driver, switching from a petrol Ford Focus, to a brand new MG4 via the Tusker salary sacrifice scheme.

Harry says, “I’m not afraid to admit to the fact that I was hugely sceptical of switching to an EV.  I live in a rented property, so I do not have access to a home charge point which I thought would make it impractical for me to have an EV.  I also frequently travel to see my parents and wider family who all live up in Cambridgeshire, which is a round trip of approximately 160 miles, so I really didn’t feel it was viable to drive Electric.

With all that said, my partner has the original Mini Electric which gets around 90 miles on a full charge.  I was added to the insurance this year – and WOW did my view suddenly change.  It’s incredibly quick and full of tech, comfortable to drive, and steers brilliantly.  I love it.

Then came the range anxiety.  I was that person that would fill their car up once it got to 100 miles in the tank.  I just hated the idea of being stuck in a jam and running out of fuel, and I’m not afraid to admit that mentality transferred across into the EV.  However, once I’d done my fair share of driving round the busy town of Watford and charging locally, my range anxiety began to subside.  To take matters even further, we drove it to my parents, a 132 mile round-trip with a max range of 90 miles in the Mini.  Because of the distance, we decided to leave the car to charge in Cambridge and planned for my mum to pick us up and take us out, so we didn’t have to wait. Charging itself was easy and I found myself enjoying the whole electric experience. Now all I needed to do, was to find a car with more range to suit my lifestyle.

I decided on the MG4 which means we are a fully electric household! The MG gets around 240-260 miles on a fully charge so that range anxiety I had initially, is now no longer an issue.

MG4

There are a few things which are different for EV drivers:

1. Charging my electric car

It’s a breeze.  I actually think my extended family members were more concerned over my ability to charge than I was.  We still don’t have a charge point at home, but I’m incredibly lucky enough to charge at work as there are fast charge points available.  I think all employers should offer this as it removes a huge barrier for most prospective EV drivers. On the off-chance I need to use a public charge point, I’ll use it. Rapid charging can get the car from 10-80% battery capacity in just over 35 minutes – which just means I get some time scrolling on my phone.  It’s painless.  If the charge point is being used, I’ll just find another one via zap-map and factor that into my journey planning.

The MG4 also came with a 3-pin charging cable as well as the standard charging cable.  This means that, if I’m ever desperate, I can charge overnight in my garage which would give me around 50 miles to make a trip to the nearest public charging point (which as it happens is only across the road from me in ASDA!).

2. Driving my electric car

The technology inside this vehicle is incredible.  Given the fact that the MG4 has been dubbed one of the cheapest electric cars on the road, it’s got tech that doesn’t far match it off of one of the most expensive electric car brands! I’d read reviews leading up to ordering the MG, all of which described the value for money being incredible – and they’re not wrong.

I can customize things from the indicator noises, steering wheel buttons, A/C settings – I can even choose whether I want the car to sound the horn and flash the headlights (either individually or at the same time) if I forget where I’ve parked it!  I can favorite my radio stations, which all appear on a driver dashboard, play videos, and the car can even function as a hotspot using 4G!

The entire vehicle can be controlled by an App where I can pre-heat the car (can’t wait to use this in winter), run various diagnostics and lots of other techy things I’ve yet to find out.  The cockpit is spacious because there’s no huge engine under the bonnet – so compared to my Ford Focus, the room is incredible. The drive is silent, which is amazing considering I have been listening to the revs of my Focus for the past 6 years.

3. Driving with Tusker

The added benefit I’ve found of getting the car through salary sacrifice is that cliché peace of mind.  Yes, I work in our marketing department, I read that line most days – but it couldn’t be more true.  If I need to change the tyres, I’m covered.  If the car is a written off I’m covered and I’m not left to with the finance like I would have been in the days where I had my Ford on PCP (and turned my nose up at GAP insurance).  I no longer have to worry about the need to maintain my car because the costs are covered in my monthly amount, and these benefits, in addition to the lifestyle protections and the extremely low benefit in kind (which wasn’t a core factor in my decision here, just a big bonus) really made it a no brainer for me.

I love driving electric, I loved it before I got my MG, and I can confidently say I have no desire to switch back to a petrol or diesel car. I love the technology, the drive; I actually like the fact that it forces me to take a break to charge on those longer journeys.  The infrastructure isn’t perfect, yet, but the enjoyment I get out of driving my new electric car far outweighs the ‘hassle’ of pulling up to the local charge point on rare occasions I need to, to charge my car.”