Decision time…
I do love my Audi A5. It’s lovely to drive, smooth, easy, fast when you want it. But, it’s come to that important decision time where I can either keep it and pay off the final balance, trade it in and get a new one, or hand it back. Given how much I love it it seems like a no brainer right? Wrong! There is a problem, a big problem, and that problem is that the car is not worth what is left to pay for it. So when Audi contacted me to see what I wanted to do, there really was no decision to make. It has to go back. 🙁
So what now? Do I really want another Diesel car given now we all know just how bad they are? The last time I tried to find a suitable hybrid or electric car the market didn’t have what I needed. How about now? Can I really justify another big luxury car given how little I drive nowadays, when I do drive it’s usually just me in the car now the kids are all grown. And what with the world still in lockdown and me working full-time from home… Ok, big gas guzzling, planet destroying car out, green, world hugging, echo friendly it is!
Are “friends” electric?
There’s a lot of information out there about the challenges with making the switch to an electric vehicle. Most of it is biased and misses a key point. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are NOT the same as Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles! They just aren’t. Most reviews treat them as though they are, as do a lot of people who talk about them. But thinking you can have the same relationship with an EV as you did with your ICE is just not realistic. Instead of thinking in Miles per gallon (MPG), it’s Kilowatts per hour (KW/h), instead of “have I got enough fuel?” it’s “have I got enough range?”. It’s closer to how you think of your phone. Before going off for a long trip, you make sure it’s charged. And if you may be using it quite a bit you think about how you can recharge it while you are away. Most of the time you just charge it overnight and don’t worry about it, it’s only when you are going further afield. Same with an EV. Most of the time the trips will be short, local trips which you don’t need to think about. It’s just the larger trips that need a little planning, Which leads me onto the next point…
Range anxiety is something you will hear a lot when thinking about making the switch. Lots of people have said to me that they would not even consider an EV because they do long trips. But think about it for a second. How often do you really do 100’s of miles in one trip? And when you do, how often do you need a comfort break? Well for most EV’s you can get a decent amount of miles into the car in a 30-45 minute pit-stop. Just about the same time it would take to go take a break, get a drink and stretch your legs. In fact it is probably a good thing that the car forces you to take regular breaks on long journeys.
Another big problem is pretty much all reviews are comparing the different car options to a tesla. Which is fine, but the tesla car is just too expensive, poorly put together and for me, probably the most important point, it’s really ugly 😛
Exciting times
So, lots to learn, but with all that said, yes, I think it is the right time to make the switch to electric. I have taken the plunge into EV and ordered a VW ID.3 due for delivery end of July. I’ll let you know how I get on 🙂