This is the Future!

A few weeks ago I dragged my long suffering family to West Way Nissan just outside of Oxford to have a look at the Nissan Leafs in their showroom.

I was expecting to find a tiny car, with cheap, plastic interior and every comfort-reducing feature possible. But I was pleasantly surprised, very pleasantly.  I looked at a Nissan Leaf with the Tekna specification. This is the top of the range Leaf and had every conceivable toy one could imagine.

It was also much bigger than I expected. About the size of a Ford Focus. The interior was very comfortable and superbly screwed together. The materials were excellent quality, with leather and soft touch plastics all around. The driving position, though not quite a good as in my Volvo, was still very good. I've yet to find a car with a better driving seat than my Volvo.

The salesman, Brett, let me take their demonstrator for a spin. What a strange experience that was. We got in the car and Brett talked me through the controls, the level of kit was amazing especially for a gadget geek like me! All-round cameras as well as the usual reversing camera; Bose premium sound system, Sat-Nav, bluetooth etc. the list just goes on and on.

What impressed me most though was the silence as I pulled away in the car, and the instant torque. Then as I accelerated I noticed the smooth, linear acceleration and strangest of all, no gear changes. And I felt all of this, as there was no engine noise to go by!

This is the future!

I was sold. The internal combustion engine (ICE) seemed brutal and primeval in comparison! Every time I drive my Volvo now I wince at the sound of the engine being churned into life and the thought of the chemical reactions physically pushing big lumps of metal up and down their pistons. Primitive.

As we drove we talked about some of the aspects of the car, especially the range and so-called 'range anxiety'. It turns out the estimated remaining range displayed on the (digital) dashboard is at best a guesstimate, at worst very optimistic. We worked out that the car probably would do my 75 mile daily commute, but that this was by no means guaranteed. But I wasn't too bothered about this because I already discovered that there is a charging station in the car park that I park at during the day when I am at work.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I almost signed up there and then but the price wasn't quite right. It was the end of the month and I was counting on the dealer trying to close some last minute sales in order to hit monthly targets but it wasn't to be. As it happened this was serendipitous, as I shall clarify in a future post.

In my next blog post I will list some of the cars that are currently available on the market (or will be soon) and put up some comparisons based on my research. Hope to see you then!

The Adventure Starts Here!

A few weeks ago I almost bought an electric car. Almost.

Lydia (my wife) and my sons, Nathan and Patrick, and I were sat in the Nissan dealership just outside of Oxford negotiating lease terms with the Salesman, Brett.  Brett is a nice guy, not too pushy and very knowledgeable on the subject of electric cars.  We were negotiating terms on a two year lease of a Nissan Leaf but try as we might we just couldn't get the monthly payments down to a point where Lydia and I (well, mostly Lydia) were willing to sign on the dotted line. But boy, did we get close!

Many of my peers ridiculed my idea to get an electric car, or EV (Electric Vehicle) claiming I would spend most of my time on the hard shoulder, phoning in to work, apologizing for my impending lateness due to running out of charge on my car! Clearly I am going to have to work hard to re-educate my friends, colleagues and family members.

So how did it all come to this?

I have always been conscious of our impact on the environment and I am utterly convinced that we all have a part to play in saving our planet for our children. Unfortunately, I have been a bit of a hypocrite in this regard. You see, I drive a gas-guzzling car that churns out eye-watering amounts of CO2.

In the back of my mind I have always felt a tinge of guilt about driving this car to work and back, but was reluctant to give up the comfort and serenity one only gets with a large, heavy car.

I don't recall what it was that gave me the impetus to finally make the change but here we are, I'm actively looking to make a positive impact on my environment and I'm starting with my car!