Once you plug in, there’s no turning back

Making that leap into the electric world of motoring is daunting.

Of that I have no doubt.

There’s much to consider, particularly for fleets: recharging infrastructure both at work and at home; range – is an electric vehicle (EV) viable and fit for purpose; and what about vehicle availability?

These are not inconsiderable questions. And require proper and full consideration before progressing, but with new vehicles arriving each month with greater range – from the brilliant new Nissan Leaf to the awe-inspiring Jaguar i-Pace – the excuse for not considering an EV becomes weaker.

I was reading a report from America that looked at the user experience of EVs. If I can paraphrase, it found that once you’re plugged into EV motoring, there is no going back.

Typically the first argument against EVs is limited range – justifiable, too. But while first time EV-ers suffered range anxiety to start with, it was soon overcome.

EV drivers have different journey requirements. There is more of a need for rest and recharging stops, for example.

So one of the crucial elements is excellent satnav that can keep drivers up to speed on range, and where suitable re-charging points exist.

And while the survey found that most journeys were fairly short or city to city this was not the case with EVs with a longer range, such as Teslas that also had access to rapid chargers.

Given that the latest EVs have much greater range – the new Nissan Leaf can travel in excess of 200 miles – this should be less of an issue in the future.

Now, I do understand that EVs are not for every fleet because they will not be practical. But increasingly the reasons not to go electric are being knocked down one by one.

My advice?

Go try one. You’ll be surprised what a great driving experience you’ll have. And who knows? There may be no turning back for you too.