The problem with driving an electric car is that you will find it exceptionally hard, if not impossible, to go back to your old petrol or diesel car again.
I know I’m the wrong Bobby to be doing car-talk on my page. That’s usually Bobby Nitro’s job, as deep-diving into all sorts of confusing specs and performance isn’t really my thing.
But I have been getting back into testing and reviewing newer-model cars and currently I am driving the very fancy Mercedes EQA 250.
Besides being a full-on electric vehicle, or EV, it is basically a collision-avoidance computer on wheels, loaded with all sorts of cool bells and whistles.
By way of example, my kids have been having a blast with the voice-activated onboard computer that responds to “Hey Mercedes,” followed by whatever command you have.
For example, you can tell it to change the radio station, play specific songs directly from Spotify, or change the ambient lighting in the car, to anything your mood desires.
It has no functional purpose other than having the coolest looking LED dash and centre console I’ve ever seen.
For function, there’s an array of sensors and alarms, paired with several cameras, including a birds-eye view one, all to warn you of close proximity to objects like walls, cars, pavements, people and so forth.
I dubbed it paranoid, because you’d swear I was murdering the car, when all I’m doing is reverse-parking it in my very tight garage.
The not-so-good problem is the unease I feel around the battery level.
I find myself constantly checking how much juice is left and how long I can still use it for.
It’s the same anxiety you feel around your phone battery running low, multiplied tenfold.
Because with your phone, you can at least be patient until you get to a charger.
If the car dies halfway to your destination, patience won’t help much, or worse - you might put yourself in danger on the side of the road.
Which brings me to the point I am actually trying to make.
EVs of course come with their own challenges, in the sense that their production isn’t as environmentally-friendly as some make it out to be.
But they have the advantage of having a green reputation and we can always improve how we make and power them.
There may be more sustainable materials in the future, and if we can improve the way we convert and store sunlight, then EVs are the clear way of future travel.
This is especially true if they can build some of the EVs using efficient solar panel materials, so the car itself becomes its own charger.
Right now, charging points are few and far between and you really have to plan your life and distance-travel needs around them.
The other problem is that public charging points usually come in pairs and it can take between one and two hours to charge your car to 100%.
So if you get there with a very low battery and there’s already a queue, then you could end up stuck there for several hours, while waiting your turn.
This challenge, together with concerns about range and the current pricing are why the EV uptake has been slow.
But more and more brands are bringing EVs into the market, so if government is serious about mitigating environmental damage, then they must look at creating favourable conditions for an increase in charging stations.
And maybe incentivising EV drivers with tax cuts of some sort. For example, there would be no need for them to pay the fuel levy that all car-owners have to pay.
Other than those challenges, driving an EV is a sublime experience.
Besides all the cool toys (like active park-assist and lane assist), the lack of an internal combustion engine and other associated parts, means it provides near-instantaneous power that can out-perform most other regular cars.
It’s eerily quiet, so you sometimes have to check if the thing is even on. And their range is equivalent to regular cars.
But if that’s a concern, and most of your commuting is around town, then I would definitely recommend you consider an EV.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za