News on Surrey's Greener Future

This blog is part of a new series written by Surrey residents who will be sharing their personal experiences of making changes to reduce their carbon footprint. We hope the blogs will provide other people with inspiration and guidance to make changes of their own. If you think you would like to contribute, please submit an expression of interest via this form.

Surrey resident Peter shares his experience of switching to an electric car, overcoming range anxiety and saving on fuel.

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Okay, time for a confession: my name is Peter and I am convert to electric vehicles. Like many of you, I probably had some of the similar concerns about them previously – range anxiety, availability of charging points, the initial expense, etc. Conversations with family and friends who have already made the switch, as well as knowledgeable car dealers and a bit of research, however, convinced me that I could take the plunge.

So, just over two weeks ago my new DS 3 arrived and, frankly, I love it! The ride is smooth and quiet, it is responsive, looks sexy as hell and it obviously still has that lovely new car smell. Any residual worries I had about the life of the battery quickly evaporated. I can get most of the weekly driving I need done on a single charge, with another charge needed for those journeys ferrying people around at weekends.

And the cost, well I admit it is a big initial outlay and at the present time I appreciate not everyone will be able to make the switch, but it is pleasing to see I can get as much driving done on one-fifth of the cost I used to spend on petrol. When you consider that it also incurs no Vehicle Excise Duty (road tax to you and me), and servicing is much cheaper because there are almost no moving parts and the longer times between the need to take the car in, it is also hard to argue against.

And there is the range anxiety. First of all, I have had a charging point installed at home, and again I appreciate that this is something that not everyone will be able to afford. It will pay for itself in a short while, however, with savings from no longer needing to pay high petrol prices. This also means I am able to charge the car at less expensive times of the day and when it is not in use, meaning the range is never an issue.

Secondly, a full charge more than meets my daily requirements, as I said above. If I need more charge for longer journeys, it simply means that I now need to plan more carefully. Most routes now have charging points along them and I have even found that popping a mile or two off the motorway, rather than stopping at a service station, is the best way to find free, rapid charging stations.

All this is by no means a perfect solution. I would love to be able to function without a car entirely. Realistically, however, this is a more sustainable solution that eliminates emissions at the point of use and is something I was able to do to reduce my costs and environmental impact. If you are able to take the plunge but are worried about the functioning of the technology, I’d encourage you to do it. You won’t regret it!