00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.720 Hello and welcome back to Take It EV, the podcast where we charge through the world 00:00:22.720 --> 00:00:47.720 of electric vehicles. Hi this is Greg, this is episode 49 of Take It EV, 49. So 00:00:47.720 --> 00:00:55.440 today's episode is electric in more way than one. We've just hit over 1 million 00:00:55.440 --> 00:01:01.840 EVs on the roads in the UK as of March 2024. That's right, we're in the 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:08.880 millions now, boy. It's a milestone that sparks a lot of excitement and shows the 00:01:08.880 --> 00:01:15.280 bright future of EVs. So buckle up as we drive into what this means for you 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:20.880 and others, whether you're a seasoned EV driver or just a starting and or you 00:01:20.880 --> 00:01:28.240 think about getting into the driver's seat of an electric vehicle. So let's 00:01:28.240 --> 00:01:34.040 get on with it, so to say. Here, 1 million. Who would have thought, right? 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:47.680 When I got my first EV in 2016, sorry 2016, there were quite few of us. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:52.080 I still remember people asking me like, are you sure you're getting an EV? 00:01:52.080 --> 00:01:57.640 You had a pretty good diesel car, powerful beauvoir, why would you get 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:04.000 yourself a pitly little Nissan Leaf? But I just loved it, I fell in love 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.680 with it the moment I took off the the Eco mode and pressed my foot on the 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:16.040 accelerator. What got you into your EV? If you're a new EV owner, welcome 00:02:16.040 --> 00:02:23.360 first of all, welcome to the still pretty elite club. But you know, I would 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:29.040 love to know like what got you over the threshold. Just write to me at 00:02:29.040 --> 00:02:36.320 takeitev@gmail.com, just drop me a line. I love hearing from people or 00:02:36.320 --> 00:02:39.840 MasterDon and all the other places where you can find me, just type in 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:51.240 takeitev and you'll see where I am. Yeah, 1 million, right? So I thought, why not 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:57.560 just have an episode where we kind of go through things that I would give you as 00:02:57.560 --> 00:03:02.840 an advice, you know, we're all friends here. You'd be like, oh yeah, I've got a 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:07.440 I've got a new EV or I want to get an EV. What should I do? Like what is the 00:03:07.440 --> 00:03:12.280 what is the stuff that I need to be aware of? You know, despite of everything 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:20.120 you hear in the news. What do you need to do to kind of make yourself 00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:25.160 comfortable? Right? I mean, first of all, it is just a car. So you know, let's just 00:03:25.160 --> 00:03:33.560 get out of that out of the way. It just drives out like a car. But here's, I'm 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:37.640 gonna try saying there's gonna be 10 things that you probably are not gonna 00:03:37.640 --> 00:03:43.040 hear from other media. Even the big, you know, podcasters or YouTubers that talk 00:03:43.040 --> 00:03:48.260 about electric cars, they generally avoid this stuff or some of the ways I like to 00:03:48.260 --> 00:03:52.040 put things, but you know, we're friends here so I'm gonna talk to you like a 00:03:52.040 --> 00:04:01.440 friend. So after the break, let's just say the tips for new EV owners. 00:04:01.440 --> 00:04:15.960 By the way, if you hear, you know, T.P. Tapi noise in the background, that's the 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:22.400 the techie TV co-host Snowy. Doesn't bark much, but he's an oldie and he likes to 00:04:22.400 --> 00:04:28.800 T.P. Tapi and my wife's just out of the house so he is trying to find her little 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:33.520 boy. He's 15 years old and he's just the cutest. The photos are on Instagram if 00:04:33.520 --> 00:04:38.520 you're curious. Anyway, back to the show. So before I actually get to the, you 00:04:38.520 --> 00:04:45.360 know, the tips for new EV owners or drivers, let's just talk about, you know, 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:49.560 hitting the first, the one million, sorry, not even the first, I hope it's the first, 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:55.000 but the one million in the UK. I think it's a powerful statement that the UK is 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.200 just plugging into the future, you know, a little bit more than we were hoping and 00:04:59.200 --> 00:05:08.760 or let me reinstate that. I'm not gonna prerecord this. It's way better than I 00:05:08.760 --> 00:05:13.240 thought. Should have come sooner, I think. You know, we were kind of all hoping that 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:18.240 2020 is gonna be the year of EVs, but then something's happened, right? And 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:23.280 things got kind of slowed down and there was a shortage of chips and whatever. The 00:05:23.280 --> 00:05:28.480 world kind of stopped for a bit and, you know, we had a holiday, let's 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:36.700 always say, as far as the growth of things like EVs. In many ways it was a 00:05:36.700 --> 00:05:41.280 great time for the planet because the pollution was actually on the pretty low 00:05:41.280 --> 00:05:47.680 for a few months or even a year or so, but it did impact things like the 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:53.520 transitioning to the greener and cleaner transportation to steal 00:05:53.520 --> 00:06:02.520 Niki's from transport-involved introduction. But I think it's still 00:06:02.520 --> 00:06:08.000 amazing that, you know, 2024 in the UK sees the one million. That's a huge 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:13.360 number. I remember, you know, for the first few years of owning EV we would be 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:19.280 like cheering every time we saw an EV driving past or overtaking one. And now, 00:06:19.280 --> 00:06:25.040 you know, I can just go down to the shops, 10-minute drive into town and I'll see 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:31.640 dozens of them. So how things have changed, right? Not to mention the 00:06:31.640 --> 00:06:37.080 amazing growth of the rapid network or rapid charging network around the 00:06:37.080 --> 00:06:42.320 country. It used to be sufficient for, you know, small trips where you had to plan 00:06:42.320 --> 00:06:48.080 them very carefully, but now you can't go 10 miles in this country without 00:06:48.080 --> 00:06:55.200 actually seeing an EV charger. And it's even better in Western Europe, I think, so 00:06:55.200 --> 00:07:01.120 you know, not too bad. I think this shifts, you know, this kind of signals the shift 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:05.480 towards the sustainable transportation and it just shows us that this isn't just 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:13.040 a phase regardless of, you know, how the current government is trying to 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:21.200 steer us off this target lately. You know, I think we're pretty good. And it 00:07:21.200 --> 00:07:27.120 is a new reality, so I think it's a clean and clear indication that the EV 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:32.360 market is charging ahead and we're all here for the ride. And by the way, 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:39.200 Norway, right, you heard of this little country, they're on the track to have, for 00:07:39.200 --> 00:07:43.840 the number of EVs on the road to surpass the ICE vehicles and that's just pure EVs, 00:07:43.840 --> 00:07:54.400 not hybrids. So this is just what we call "Chin-Nor-Wei" on the cake. That was 00:07:54.400 --> 00:08:04.040 terrible. Apologies for that. Anyway, the 10 or, you know, the things you 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:13.960 should do or the suggestions or things you, I think, you need to know when you're 00:08:13.960 --> 00:08:19.680 new to EV or I would like to, every EV owner, new EV owner to kind of keep in 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:25.640 mind or be aware of, and this actually sounds scary, but things you should do 00:08:25.640 --> 00:08:30.600 when you're an EV owner that will make your life way easier, I think, after this 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:32.840 break. 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:48.360 So first of all, you know, if you're entering the world of EVs, if 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:56.200 you're new to this, it might feel daunting. Like, not a day goes by when I 00:08:56.200 --> 00:09:01.120 hear on the forum, you know, I've got myself a new shiny EV, what should I do? 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:06.360 What, you know, what should I read? Like, what should I be aware of? What's the 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:12.400 cool stuff that I need to do? So the first thing I always tell people, it's 00:09:12.400 --> 00:09:18.200 just like I said before, it is just a car. It's, you know, it's surprising, it 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:24.760 surprised me how many people when we got the Nissan LEAF saw it for the first 00:09:24.760 --> 00:09:27.920 time in the flash and actually got in as a passenger and they were like, "Oh yeah, 00:09:27.920 --> 00:09:31.640 it's actually a solid car." I guess everybody was expecting, I don't know, a 00:09:31.640 --> 00:09:37.640 Flintstones car or, you know, a little tinny shell and they're quite surprised 00:09:37.640 --> 00:09:43.120 that it's a solidly built car. So yeah, EVs are just cars. I know, it's a 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:47.360 surprise, but you'd be surprised how many people think differently. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:54.720 Maybe not these days, but it used to be a thing. So the first thing when 00:09:54.720 --> 00:10:00.800 you get an EV that I would like for you to do is get yourself familiar 00:10:00.800 --> 00:10:08.320 with charging. And this might sound silly, but you know, it's a shift from 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:15.840 the way the society has been kind of taught how to operate with automobiles. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:22.160 Sorry, I just seem to trigger my Apple Watch. Again, I'm not gonna edit this 00:10:22.160 --> 00:10:31.960 episode. So this just goes in. Anyway, where was I? So charging. It's an 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:38.200 interesting one because you hear a lot of bad things on the news and 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:43.120 so on, but judging is not really that difficult or scary. I think what 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:48.640 happens most of the time is that people are caught off guard when they 00:10:48.640 --> 00:10:54.200 go further afield. So it's all great. It's all happy when you're 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:57.400 in the routine, when you're just driving around the town and you plug in at 00:10:57.400 --> 00:11:03.520 home. But when you go further afield and you feel like the lead 00:11:03.520 --> 00:11:10.640 basically has extended too far, it might be a bit daunting. So the thing that I 00:11:10.640 --> 00:11:15.440 always kind of suggest to people is simulate that sort of thing 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:22.040 minus the panic. Just go around your town or your city, find yourself all the 00:11:22.040 --> 00:11:27.320 rapid charges that you have in the area and just use them. It might be, you know, a 00:11:27.320 --> 00:11:33.120 bit of an expenditure, but I think it should put you at ease. Or at least, you 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:38.200 know, I think it beats sitting at home and just watching the telly or 00:11:38.200 --> 00:11:42.640 scrolling the, you know, Instagrams or whatever. I think it's a bit more 00:11:42.640 --> 00:11:47.640 entertainment. And let's face it, you got yourself a new toy, right? It's the 00:11:47.640 --> 00:11:52.440 reason why we buy new things in life is we want this adrenaline, we want 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:58.160 this, you know, the new shiny excitement in our life. And this is just an 00:11:58.160 --> 00:12:01.880 extension of it. You know, I think discovering new things in life is 00:12:01.880 --> 00:12:07.840 what the life is all about. So I would suggest embracing it. And who knows, you 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:12.120 might actually come across somebody like myself or other, you know, a seasoned 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:15.840 EV owner at the charger. And if you have any problems, you can always chat to 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:23.920 somebody. It's amazing. Again, just kind of reminiscing the old times. When we 00:12:23.920 --> 00:12:29.840 got ourselves in a sunleaf in 2016, I would drive around, you know, because it 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:38.240 would be usually me charging or driving on long distance trips. And I remember 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:42.440 just talking to pretty much every second driver that we would come across at the 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:47.360 charger, you know, you're going to be there for a good 15, 20, 30 minutes. So you 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:51.400 might as well just have a chat, especially when it's warm outside. And 00:12:51.400 --> 00:12:56.600 people were kind of a bit more friendly and open to have discussion. Not everybody, 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:59.600 of course, because it's just a human nature. You don't always want to talk to 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:04.240 other people. But quite often, you know, a chat would ensue. And people would 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:10.280 complain about how terrible the cultural city network is and, and so on. And it's 00:13:10.280 --> 00:13:16.120 amazing how things have changed. So yeah, go out and basically test the charging. 00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:17.200 You know, 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:26.160 you're about two weeks ago, I went to my local Costa coffee, and there's an 00:13:26.160 --> 00:13:31.760 Osprey charger or chargers, there's Osprey chargers at the retail park. And 00:13:31.760 --> 00:13:37.400 a guy turned up in a Renault, whatever one of those new electric reno's. And he 00:13:37.400 --> 00:13:40.640 was kind of looking around and you know, trying to see what's going on. He 00:13:40.640 --> 00:13:45.040 actually chatted me up, he said, Oh, yeah, how do you do this? And I showed him, 00:13:45.040 --> 00:13:48.560 you know, that you can use contactless, but you can do it, do this with the app 00:13:48.560 --> 00:13:51.880 and you know, and all that. But you don't have to have an app, you can just use 00:13:51.880 --> 00:13:57.320 contactless if you if you so want. And he was very, very grateful. And he said, Oh, 00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:01.120 yeah, this is the second day of my ownership of this car. And I don't have 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:04.600 the home charger yet. So I thought, you know, I'll just come around and check 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:08.520 out this this charger. And I thought, that's a, you know, this amazing job, 00:14:08.520 --> 00:14:12.840 like you'd be surprised how many people don't even try to to rapid charge the 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:18.520 car, like to test it's basically just to see what it's like. Because when you're 00:14:18.520 --> 00:14:22.080 in a pinch, when you're on the trip, or when you you know, when the other 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:26.120 charger you tried didn't work, it's good to have this confidence that you've 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:32.640 already done this and this isn't new to you. And by the way, the first thing I 00:14:32.640 --> 00:14:36.000 would like to like you to check, especially if you have an Audi, I think, 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:42.520 I think it's the Audi is to find the CCS port, the full, the full port, not just 00:14:42.520 --> 00:14:47.040 the one that you use at home. This is one of those things that you sometimes 00:14:47.040 --> 00:14:51.400 feed people turning up at the charges and they, they pick up the the cable, 00:14:51.400 --> 00:14:55.960 the CCS cable, and they look they open the port on the car and they look at 00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:58.960 the cable, look at the port, look at the cable, look at the port and they're like, 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:03.520 this doesn't match. There's usually like a little flippy, flappy thing at the 00:15:03.520 --> 00:15:08.640 bottom that you need to open up as well. So I think that's number one, just get 00:15:08.640 --> 00:15:12.440 familiar with the not just a home charger, but rapid charging and 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:16.600 destination charging is the other one, you know, take the cable out. If your 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:20.600 town has a, has a bunch of destination charges, I think this night, 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:24.600 destination charging is something that's underrated. And especially on long 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:29.080 trips, you might be surprised how useful it is to be able to just plug in the car, 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:33.320 leave it overnight and wake up with the full battery and not have to go to a 00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:37.200 rapid charger on your holidays. So charging, check it out. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:49.560 Second thing on my list is 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:57.360 finding your route, finding a way, you know, navigating the world of EVs, like 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:01.680 entering the EV world, you know, is a bit like navigating a new city without a map. 00:16:01.680 --> 00:16:08.040 You don't, you don't let that turn you off. But once you get your bearings, it's 00:16:08.040 --> 00:16:15.320 smooth and enjoyable, right? Right. So you need to understand your range. So, you 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:18.320 know, how far your car can go. But also things like 00:16:19.520 --> 00:16:23.360 you, even though your car might have a range, say of 200 miles on the, on the 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:29.720 full charge, you're never going to drive 200 miles from, you know, 100% to zero, 00:16:29.720 --> 00:16:34.200 just like an ICE car or any other vehicle. You're, you're not going to put yourself 00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:39.280 in a position where you're, you can't really go any further. And the estimated 00:16:39.280 --> 00:16:44.560 range of your car varies, right? The, what the manufacturer tells you is usually 00:16:44.560 --> 00:16:52.400 quite a, quite a blunt lie, just a marketing, you know, thing. So I would 00:16:52.400 --> 00:16:55.960 just throw that out of the window and just find out what is your, the real 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:59.000 range of your car, because it obviously depends on where you live on the 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:02.600 terrain, you know, obviously you're gonna, you're gonna use more power when you 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:06.560 drive up the hill, right? That's just physics. There's no getting around it. 00:17:06.560 --> 00:17:12.920 But also being able to see, okay, say your car has 200 miles range, that's quite 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:17.800 a reasonable assumption these days, but it might be that has 160 miles of range, 00:17:17.800 --> 00:17:27.520 whatever it is. Just think about that's 100%. So what is it going to be at 80%? 00:17:27.520 --> 00:17:34.840 Right? Just take that figure, plop it in the calculator and multiply it by 0.8, 00:17:34.840 --> 00:17:40.600 or not 0.8, as we would say. But I'm just, you know, I'm trying to make this 00:17:40.600 --> 00:17:45.160 friendly for international audience. That's going to be your figure, right? 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:52.640 So that's your 80% figure. And now assume your car is not going to be, you don't 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:56.840 want to drive your car down to 0%. It's just not going to be fun for anybody. 00:17:56.840 --> 00:18:01.160 You're gonna have to call, you know, somebody to tell you, essentially, that's 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:08.240 not, that's not fun. So whatever that figure is, basically now say, okay, I 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:14.520 want to be left with, say, no more than, or no less than 15%. So figure out what 00:18:14.520 --> 00:18:23.840 the 15% is. Do the maths. So, you know, again, 200 times 15% will be not 0.15, 00:18:23.840 --> 00:18:30.560 right? Subtract that figure from the previous one, or just do, you know, 65% or 00:18:30.560 --> 00:18:37.080 60% of that figure. That's going to be your comfortable, long range driving range. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.640 And that's something nobody tells you, but that's just the reality of it. Like 00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:47.640 when I, when I started driving EVs, or necessarily in theory, could do 105 miles, 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:52.720 even though the manufacturer was saying 130 or something silly like that, there's 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:57.080 no way that car could have done that ever, unless you just drive down the hill 00:18:57.080 --> 00:19:03.720 every time and then you put it on the train back up the other road. So even, 00:19:03.760 --> 00:19:11.720 even that figure, even say 90 miles, that takes way, way longer than you think to 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:16.800 drive. You know, say if you're driving on the motorway and the speed limit is 70 00:19:16.800 --> 00:19:21.960 miles an hour, you're not going to be driving 70 miles an hour average speed. 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:26.760 That's just, there's just no way that's not going to happen ever. Even if you're 00:19:26.760 --> 00:19:30.480 driving in the middle of the road, trust me, that's just not, that's just not the 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:37.640 way the real world works. So it takes, you know, say the figure comes out 130, 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:42.280 140 miles, that's your comfortable range. That is going to be quite a few hours of 00:19:42.280 --> 00:19:47.720 driving on the, on the road. And that's going to be the figure you actually, 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:52.560 you're interested in. And now, you know, put your favorite destination, your 00:19:52.560 --> 00:19:57.440 holiday destination, or your like, this is the furthest I want to go. Be 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:03.800 excitable, just try, try going somewhere and see how far you can go and how many 00:20:03.800 --> 00:20:09.320 times you would have to stop along the way to charge. So basically, you know, if 00:20:09.320 --> 00:20:14.800 you say you want to go from London to Edinburgh, however, mile that is, however 00:20:14.800 --> 00:20:19.680 many miles that is, sorry, divide that by the range you got out of your 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:24.960 confuser. And this is how many times likely we'll have to stop along the way. 00:20:26.120 --> 00:20:29.240 These days is actually quite easy to find charges, you have to go, you know, to 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:34.440 a place like ZapMap or, or if you're outside of the UK, PlugShare. They're very 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:37.880 good maps that actually show you where the charging points are. There might be a 00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:42.840 different place or different website in your country. These days, Apple Maps and 00:20:42.840 --> 00:20:46.680 Google Maps actually will show you charging points as well. So that's very 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:51.000 useful. I don't think it's easy to find it in using a navigation, but you know, 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:57.120 at least you might be able to spot them. You might be able to say, okay, in, in 00:20:57.120 --> 00:21:01.320 this town or the city, I want to see all the nearby electric vehicle charging 00:21:01.320 --> 00:21:06.240 points. And it will show you on the map, which is very, very useful. So, you know, 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:13.480 plot those trips on your couch in the comfort of your home. And who knows, you 00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:16.040 might be like me and you might say one day, well, I'm actually bored this 00:21:16.040 --> 00:21:20.400 weekend. Let's just go and drive to Edinburgh. You know, when I, when I got 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:26.440 my Nissan LEAF with the poor range that it had on one of the long weekends, I 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:30.920 think it was in May, in May, I can't remember exactly. I decided to just drive 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:37.600 from London to Edinburgh, Glasgow and back because, you know, stayed overnight 00:21:37.600 --> 00:21:42.840 in a couple of places. And it was fun. And there were some hairy moments 00:21:42.840 --> 00:21:47.920 because obviously the car had a very small range and there wasn't as many 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:52.400 chargers out there. I mean, I remember Scotland was actually pretty good 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:56.800 because the charging was free. Actually, now that I remember the 00:21:56.800 --> 00:22:00.240 electricity charges were actually free as well. At that time, those were the 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:05.360 days, right? They, but it was fun. It was, it was a challenge that, you know, 00:22:05.360 --> 00:22:11.240 I kind of, once I did that, I, I was like, okay, well, I got this, you know, 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:17.400 even if I am going to be in a pinch, I will, I'm kind of confident that I can 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:23.720 do this. Right. And wherever I went, I actually looked around for the local 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:29.200 charges because again, the car had a 90 something mile range. So you have to be, 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:34.560 you have to be a bit more prolific about finding the charges nowadays with a 00:22:34.560 --> 00:22:40.800 E-Niro that we have, that car can do 250 miles on the charge. There is no 00:22:40.800 --> 00:22:45.440 hesitation. I find myself going to places like Yorkshire. I live in 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:53.680 Tumbridge in the UK in Kent, Yorkshire, you know, say four and a half hours 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:59.480 driving five if you're, if you're driving slow and carefully. I have no 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:05.040 hesitation sometimes to go to a meetup or to, you know, to see friends over 00:23:05.040 --> 00:23:10.920 there just because I want to. And the, and I have to stop once or twice along 00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:16.080 the way. And it's mostly because five, four or five hours that no, that 00:23:16.080 --> 00:23:19.880 requires me to actually have a comfort break as they call it nicely. Right. You 00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:23.640 need to go to the low. You need to have a coffee or just, just stretch your legs 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:29.200 because it's just boring sitting in a car for five hours. Let's be honest. So 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:34.400 yeah, just try to see whether you can navigate the world in your EV and you'd 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:41.640 be surprised how easy it is. And if you took my previous advice, you're going 00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:45.920 to be super comfortable with those rapid charges along the way. And trust me, you 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:50.360 will see loads of ones that you've never seen before, because this is still an 00:23:50.360 --> 00:23:54.720 upcoming and vibrant industry and things change all the time constantly. It's, 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:59.160 it's all exciting still. So I think we're in the sort of golden times when it 00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:14.280 comes to owning EV. So if you're an EV, new EV owner, welcome. So speaking of 00:24:14.280 --> 00:24:19.160 road trips and charging, the other thing that I always suggest to be able to try 00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:26.200 is to kind of maximize your EV driving experience. You know, it's surprising how 00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:32.680 many people who drive ICE cars, just rev them up because they need, they want that 00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:38.840 speed. And trust me, I'm just like everybody else. I, I'm aware of the 00:24:38.840 --> 00:24:43.160 speed. This is actually what hooked me, got me into EVs in the first place. It's 00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:46.360 a long story. You'd have to listen to some other previous episodes. But you 00:24:46.360 --> 00:24:54.720 know, when I test drove the Tesla Model S back in 2014, I think it was, I just, I 00:24:54.720 --> 00:25:00.320 was like, yeah, I need to get an EV. This is just the ICE cars are dead, basically. 00:25:00.320 --> 00:25:08.680 And even though my, my, you know, diesel car, voxel insignia could smoke the tires 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:15.440 at 70 miles an hour, if I reduced from sixth to fifth, I had loads of torque. EV 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:20.600 just blew it off, blew it away. Like the Nissan LEAF was just felt like so much 00:25:20.600 --> 00:25:25.240 more fun, which was hilarious, basically. When I would tell that to people and 00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:31.440 try and explain that to them, you'd see the blank stare on their face. How can 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:36.600 this little froggy looking thing be exciting, right? But the, but some of us 00:25:36.600 --> 00:25:40.840 got into EVs because we love the power and the, and this is, you know, it's quite 00:25:40.840 --> 00:25:45.200 exciting to be able to step on it and just get off the traffic lines or 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:51.200 whatever very quickly. So, but as much as fun that is, you can't really drive like 00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:57.000 that for five, six hours because, you know, physics is physics and it will eat into 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:00.880 your range. It's just the way it is. Just like with the ICE cars, it will eat into 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:06.040 your mileage, miles per gallon or whatever. It will eat into your range in 00:26:06.040 --> 00:26:13.440 an EV. And because the range of an EV is still smaller or lower than one of ICE 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:19.120 cars, you'll see that quicker. So we don't want that. So like she being able to, 00:26:19.120 --> 00:26:24.440 again, put yourself another challenge in front of you and, and get yourself to 00:26:24.440 --> 00:26:30.120 actually drive slower or, you know, a bit more conservative is one of those things 00:26:30.120 --> 00:26:33.440 that, you know, I always kind of recommend for people. Plus it's more fun. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:36.400 Like you have a car that actually doesn't make any noise when it 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:44.200 accelerates. It doesn't vibrate, doesn't rattle. Just turn that experience to 11, 00:26:44.200 --> 00:26:50.480 right? Try driving in a slow and kind of slow. You don't have to be slow, but you 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:55.400 have to accelerate slower. You have to bring it up to speed slower and then 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:59.200 kind of trying to maintain that speed, anticipate changes up ahead. So don't, 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:03.760 you know, don't drive too close to other people. There's, if it, when it comes to 00:27:03.760 --> 00:27:09.680 hypermiling, as it's called, there's so much out there, so much misinformation, 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:15.040 but so much actual information to try. And it's, I think it's as much as I hate 00:27:15.040 --> 00:27:19.720 this term, it is, or it should be a common sense to, to see what makes a 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:26.440 difference. And I think it's a challenge that is worth doing because going back 00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:30.800 to my previous statement where I said that I like to drive sometimes to, to 00:27:30.800 --> 00:27:36.120 Yorkshire. I'm not going to drive to Yorkshire, you know, like overtaking 00:27:36.120 --> 00:27:41.800 everybody and just be on the, on the, on the cusp of being the fastest driver on 00:27:41.800 --> 00:27:45.760 the road for five hours, because it is going to be tiring. Like, you know, I'm 00:27:45.760 --> 00:27:50.480 going there to visit friends and talk to people. I want to be fresh and relaxed. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:55.760 So I'm just going to put the, the cruise control on the, you know, the one that in 00:27:55.760 --> 00:28:01.520 the, in the, in Euro, it actually keeps the distance away from the cars in front of you. And it maintains 00:28:01.520 --> 00:28:09.520 the speed and it's just fun. You just sit there 69 miles per hour, put an e-book or a 00:28:09.520 --> 00:28:14.360 podcast like mine and just relax or just put the radio on and just chillax, you 00:28:14.360 --> 00:28:20.040 know, classic FM, whatever, and every self and just take it off to some overtaking 00:28:20.040 --> 00:28:24.600 and then get back to it. Let her, you know, see all the people rushing through and 00:28:24.600 --> 00:28:31.160 just be like, whatever, I'll be 10 minutes later, but I'll be relaxed. But when you 00:28:31.160 --> 00:28:35.400 were on the shared journeys around the town, you know, by all means, use the 00:28:35.400 --> 00:28:41.160 electric power because it's there for you to be used. So I'll be the last person to 00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:48.720 say, don't, don't drive, you know, like fun. Obviously, be mindful of other people 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:54.120 and be safe out there. So yeah, try to maximize your EV experience by learning, 00:28:54.120 --> 00:28:58.760 you know, other way of driving and because you don't have to shift the gears 00:28:58.760 --> 00:29:03.520 and do all the other nonsense. It is actually still fun. It is actually 00:29:03.520 --> 00:29:09.560 relaxing because your car doesn't make any rattling noises. So yeah, try driving 00:29:09.560 --> 00:29:16.600 differently just to kind of expand your horizons. That's my next hint. 00:29:16.600 --> 00:29:31.480 Next one is going to be fun. So just like me, you're off to Yorkshire, right? 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:37.680 You're there. Why did you go there? Well, in my case, it's because there's loads of 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:43.400 EV owners communities out there that are, you know, super fun to see and talk to 00:29:43.400 --> 00:29:48.960 people. And as much as I hate big crowds, I actually love small communities and 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:55.240 just be able to talk to people who, you know, when you're, when you're these days 00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:58.240 on the internet and you join the forums, there's going to be all sorts of people 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:03.880 out there. People are much friendlier and kind of approachable in person and being 00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:09.160 able to just drive somewhere, you know, like that and just see the community. It's 00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:15.000 amazing. So I mean, shout out to the Yorkshire EV Club because they're super. 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:18.120 But it could be just your local club. I live in Kent. We have a Kent EV meetup. 00:30:18.120 --> 00:30:23.480 There's one in Sussex as well. There's so many of them out there and they're fun. 00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:28.800 So yeah, by all means, look up your local EV community. You might not be the sort of 00:30:28.800 --> 00:30:33.320 person who likes to talk to other people, but you'll be, you might be surprised how 00:30:33.320 --> 00:30:38.240 many people from different walks of lives are in those communities. And sometimes 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:43.040 some of them just show up once, but you might develop some long term relationships. 00:30:43.040 --> 00:30:49.480 I do call my Yorkshire EV people friends because, you know, I've been there quite 00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:52.880 few times. And the reason I go there is because that's the only time sometimes I 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:58.280 get to see them. So join your local EV community. And on the subject of 00:30:58.280 --> 00:31:03.560 communities, every country, you know, we're still at the point where the 00:31:03.600 --> 00:31:08.600 legislation isn't there for every EV related things like we still have don't 00:31:08.600 --> 00:31:14.000 have things like mandated signage, right? One of the reasons you can see a petrol 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:17.040 station from a distance or you know where they're going to be is because 00:31:17.040 --> 00:31:21.560 there's usually signs, you know, it's quite easy to spot one. That's not true 00:31:21.560 --> 00:31:26.800 for EV chargers like the there was no universal way to find them. It's way 00:31:26.800 --> 00:31:32.040 better than it used to be. But you still have to you still have to use an app or, 00:31:32.040 --> 00:31:36.520 you know, or other other way. And that's just not the way I think it should be. 00:31:36.520 --> 00:31:41.240 And there's so many more things that need to be done for this experience to be even 00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:50.720 better. And this leads me to a suggestion that you should try finding your local 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:55.760 group that actually, you know, does any anything towards lobbying the the 00:31:55.760 --> 00:32:03.080 government or your local authorities? And in England, where I live, it's an EVA. 00:32:03.080 --> 00:32:08.960 And EVA England, sorry, there's loads of EVAs. It's EV Driver Association of 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:13.360 England. And if you live in England, I suggest joining them if you're not 00:32:13.360 --> 00:32:17.480 already a member. There's loads of perks that come with that. You get discounts at 00:32:17.480 --> 00:32:21.200 different things. And you know, it changes all the time. So I'm not gonna 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:25.080 gonna tell you exactly what it is because by the time you listen to this, 00:32:25.080 --> 00:32:30.920 it might be completely different. But the look it up, I had EVA England CEO on the 00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:36.960 podcast before. So go look up the previous episodes with James. 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:41.840 Whatever country you live in, I can guarantee you there's going to be one of 00:32:41.840 --> 00:32:46.760 those around. And they do amazing work. You know, one of the reasons we have 00:32:46.760 --> 00:32:53.160 contact last Monday to all the charges on the new rapid charges in the UK is 00:32:53.160 --> 00:32:58.280 due to them actually doing that work. So you know, meeting with MPs and lobbying 00:32:58.280 --> 00:33:04.320 the government. Because otherwise there is no voice from the drivers. It's all, you 00:33:04.320 --> 00:33:11.120 know, commercial entities, right? OEMs and charging and oil companies trying to slow 00:33:11.120 --> 00:33:18.560 down things. So yeah, I think if you have the money and you have the will, I think 00:33:18.560 --> 00:33:23.520 it's a good thing to join something like EVA. Again, look up your local 00:33:23.520 --> 00:33:29.240 communities. Just show up once, you know, see what it's like. Show up with kids. 00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:32.880 It's usually just people sitting in a car park and then going to a coffee 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:39.000 shop for a little chinwerk. You might find out things if you don't have an EV 00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:44.400 yet and you're still on the verge or you're thinking about it. 00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:48.560 It's good to see other people and actually with EVs and get the real life 00:33:48.560 --> 00:33:55.080 stories out there. So yeah, join the EV community. It's not just about, you know, 00:33:55.080 --> 00:34:01.200 sharing sockets and sparking connections. But you know, you might find friends in 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:09.560 there. So yeah, do that. We might meet at the EV community meetup if you are. 00:34:09.560 --> 00:34:13.720 If you do, just come and say hi. 00:34:13.720 --> 00:34:21.720 [Music] 00:34:21.720 --> 00:34:28.480 Another thing that I don't actually have on my list, but I think it's quite 00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:36.960 like not an obvious thing to mention, but EVs are still new, right? As far as 00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:42.960 OEMs are concerned and I mean technology is, you know, quite obvious. But the way 00:34:42.960 --> 00:34:48.160 to manufacture things on a greater scale is obviously a bit more difficult, right? 00:34:48.160 --> 00:34:55.200 So unlike the ICE cars and diesel cars or whatever, where if you bought 00:34:55.200 --> 00:35:02.480 yourself a BMW or Audi with 1.6 something litre engine and then you bought 00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:09.680 yourself an Opel, whatever, or you know, some other, you know, Fiat or whatever 00:35:09.680 --> 00:35:12.800 with the same sort of engine, there's a likelihood that these two cars will 00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:17.240 actually drive quite well. Quite similarly, there isn't going to be that 00:35:17.240 --> 00:35:19.720 much difference. All the other differences are going to be in the, you 00:35:19.720 --> 00:35:23.760 know, the interior, the way you get in the car and how it looks and all that jazz. 00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:28.800 But the drivability, the powertrain, the engine is going to be pretty much the 00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:35.280 same. That's not exactly true in the world of EVs, right? If you buy yourself 00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:42.440 a Kiai Niro like I have and then you buy yourself a Nissan LEAF with the same 00:35:42.440 --> 00:35:46.440 size of battery, so 64 kilowatts, those two cars are going to behave 00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:49.920 differently. They're going to have different levels of power. They're 00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:54.440 going to have a different range. They're going to have a different, you know, 00:35:54.440 --> 00:35:57.120 loads of things about the powertrain. They're going to charge in a different 00:35:57.120 --> 00:36:02.720 way. This is the one of the things that bugs me these days is, you know, as a 00:36:02.720 --> 00:36:08.480 society, we kind of, we pick our cars depending on different factors. But you 00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:11.560 kind of have to, if you're still new to this or you haven't bought yourself an 00:36:11.560 --> 00:36:17.200 EV, you have to think about it as a person who, you know, looks at it from the 00:36:17.200 --> 00:36:20.640 other, the perspective I just mentioned, the fact that, you know, they're all 00:36:20.640 --> 00:36:25.360 going to be slightly different under the hood. And that's probably, that 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:30.200 probably should be your primary concern. I mean, if you bought a car already, no 00:36:30.200 --> 00:36:34.360 worries. I'm sure that, you know, all EVs are amazing. Like, so, you know, they 00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:38.620 share a lot of same characteristics, but the, as far as efficiency goes and the 00:36:38.620 --> 00:36:42.280 speed of charging and all that, it's all going to be different. So it kind of bugs 00:36:42.280 --> 00:36:47.040 me these days when you read in a newspaper or just newspaper online, 00:36:47.040 --> 00:36:51.120 scaremongering acticles saying, oh yeah, you know, I got myself EV and I got 00:36:51.120 --> 00:36:57.400 stranded somewhere because EVs are terrible. It's the analogy that I always 00:36:57.400 --> 00:37:00.820 give people is like, it's like buying yourself an Android phone from, you know, 00:37:00.820 --> 00:37:05.760 AliExpress, being disappointed with it and just saying, oh yeah, all mobile 00:37:05.760 --> 00:37:11.040 phones are crap. So don't buy an iPhone or whatever, you know, greatest 00:37:11.040 --> 00:37:15.840 Android phone is because they're all equally crap. That's just, that's just 00:37:15.840 --> 00:37:20.800 nonsense, right? I think we can all see that. So just be mindful of that, that the 00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:25.680 EVs are still different and that's a good thing. The industry is still 00:37:25.680 --> 00:37:31.840 vibrant and kind of growing and, you know, developing. So there's still those to 00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:38.800 change and to kind of get better. Don't get me wrong, we're, you know, we're at 00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:44.240 amazing stage but there's still loads more to come. So just be mindful of that. 00:37:44.240 --> 00:37:48.520 Your EV will have loads of great things that you love about it, you know, if you're 00:37:48.520 --> 00:37:52.980 a fan of a particular brand. But that doesn't mean that, you know, all the 00:37:52.980 --> 00:37:58.720 downsides of your EV are shared with other EVs. Just be mindful of that. 00:37:58.720 --> 00:38:09.800 So as we power down today's episode, just let's remember that reaching 1 00:38:09.800 --> 00:38:14.920 million EVs in the UK is a milestone that deserves a standing ovation, I think. 00:38:14.920 --> 00:38:21.160 And honking over horn, let me see if I have a... 00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:29.440 There we go, that was very cheesy. And the journey ahead, you know, is charged with 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:36.140 potential. And it's all very exciting part of a, you know, and welcome to the 00:38:36.140 --> 00:38:42.620 exciting transition. I think it's amazing. Whether you're, you know, already an EV 00:38:42.620 --> 00:38:47.340 driver or thinking about it, becoming one, you're part of a movement that's bigger 00:38:47.340 --> 00:38:52.500 than all of us. And if you have any questions, these parts of insight or just 00:38:52.500 --> 00:38:57.500 want to share your journey, you know, just reach out on social media or email. Again, 00:38:57.500 --> 00:39:04.120 take it EV@gmail.com. And until next time, keep your batteries charged and your 00:39:04.120 --> 00:39:07.120 spirits high! 00:39:07.120 --> 00:39:17.620 [Music] 00:39:17.620 --> 00:39:30.820 Well, so thank you for turning into Take EV, listening to this episode. My name is 00:39:30.820 --> 00:39:38.980 Greg, it was awesome to have you. Don't forget to subscribe, share, give us a 00:39:38.980 --> 00:39:44.840 spark of feedback, send that email please, and drive safely, charge efficiently and 00:39:44.840 --> 00:39:49.920 let's accelerate towards a sustainable future together. Catch you on the next 00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:55.820 episode where we'll be, you know, having another conversation about EVs or I might 00:39:55.820 --> 00:39:59.340 have some exciting guests. So you'll never know, you might listen to next 00:39:59.340 --> 00:40:03.540 episode and find something interesting or learn something new. Or I might just 00:40:03.540 --> 00:40:08.660 respond to your email. So see you later, bye!