EV – Bournemouth to Bristol North

My first blog entry about my electric car journey but I’ve cheated as I didn’t even visit an innovation park or did I need to charge.

This is such a long way from using my 2012 Nissan Leaf. That car’s battery has degraded so much that I only get a realistic 40 miles max driving to work from Southbourne to the Dorset Innovation Park, which is 25 miles away. In winter I can arrive with a single digit figure for the mileage on the guessometer, the predicted miles you can get with your remaining battery. I also arrive pretty cold myself too as the heating can barely be used as I might not even get to work.

Good job there is free charging at work.

One piece of learning that I will share is that you can avoid driving through the centre of Bath, which can be such a pain at any time, by using the toll bridge at Bathampton. Pay your £1 and it saves so much time. My sat nav is set to avoid tolls, hence I never tried that route, but my business partner suggested it and I am banking that.

There is one small spanner in the works though, the IONIQ 5 still feels so wide, especially when you cross the toll bridge southbound and have to squeeze past cars and hedges in the narrow lane. Once I get my first dent I won’t care as much but it’s the first time I have had such a brand new car.

Yes, the lack of a rear windscreen wiper is so annoying, but the car is so nice to drive, and I can have heating on which feels like such a luxury.

Levels:
Left with 100% charge and 290 miles range.
Arrived at destination with 70% charge and 201 miles range. (33% charge giving 89 miles)
Arrive home with 37% charge and 100 miles range. (33% charge giving 101 miles)
Reminder, what you get depends on how you drove, the weather and if you used heating etc.