First plan your route

12 May 2021

Time flies. It’s over a month since the last article on Peter Beach’s experiences with his new electric car, so it’s high time I gave an update. 

Peter, sales and marketing manager with Genquip Groundhog, is seeing how practical this mode of transport is for high-mileage users. And as reported earlier, it’s proving to be a mixed experience. 

Calling in recently to the M42 services in Tamworth, a particular frustration was a badly parked car straddling the two parking bays for the available charging points, so Peter wasn’t able to connect his Jaguar iPace. 

“The car is brilliant but the downside is the UK charging infrastructure which is nowhere near what it should be for high-mileage drivers,” he says. 

“If you’ve got a home charger and just do local commuting then going electric is fine but for longer journeys a good deal of forward planning is required. 

“You can find more charging points at supermarkets and high street filling stations, but ideally you don’t want to be leaving the motorway, interrupting your journey and going out of your way.” 

Peter travels regularly from his Sheffield home to the Genquip Groundhog factory in Neath and he now knows a number of locations he can use to recharge en route, on and off the motorway. 

“But I do wonder whether the most practical way forward for many drivers will be hybrid cars running on low-carbon fuels like HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil which can replace diesel).” 

“Another complication is that different providers of charging points use different software interfaces, and some suit certain makes of car better than others,” says Peter, who adds that some research is needed to find the most suitable. 

Now that Covid restrictions are lifting, Peter plans to start travelling to customers throughout the country again. It will be fascinating to see how he gets on.

● To read an earlier post about another challenge some drivers of electric vehicles face, click here.