Batteries Included? Life With An Electric Car

3:00pm UK, Wednesday June 30, 2010

Hazel Tyldesley, Sky News Online

In the hours after collecting the all-electric Smart car, I felt like I had slipped into the four-wheeled future.

It was jaw-droppingly quiet, surprisingly agile and entirely exhaust-fume free.

I certainly didn't expect that 48 hours, numerous phone calls, five attempted charging attempts and two aborted journeys later, it would feel like a liability.

My three-day trial began well and the first spin to the shops was a joy.

The courier who dropped it off told me it would be like driving a hairdryer, but he couldn't have been more wrong.

When I turned the ignition, there was no buzz or purr, let alone a hairdryer-like roar. Cyclists did double takes as I glided silently past.


The Smart fortwo Electric Drive
Range: 84 miles
Full charge time: 8 hours
Average cost of charge: £3
Acceleration: 0–38mph, 6.5s
Top speed: 62mph
Released: 2012
Retail price: unknown

At the traffic lights I could hear chattering outside, thanks to the absence of engine noise, and when the lights turned green, the Smart electric pulled away just as easily as my small petrol car.

Looking back, the first warning sign came when the courier noted that I lived in a flat, and questioned where I would charge the car - a process that can take up to eight hours and can't be done using a standard extension lead.

I assumed electric cars were aimed at flat-dwelling urbanites and that I would be well-served by the council-run charging point network in central London.

That might have been the case - if I had read the small print.

The nearest charging bay was under a mile from my home, but I discovered I needed to sign up to local council scheme, with an annual charge of £100, in order to use it.

Great value for a year, less so for a three-day trial, and illustrative of the need for different councils to arrange a co-ordinated electric car policy.

I turned to my employer, thinking I was fortunate to work for a company large and forward-looking enough to have installed three dedicated electric car charging bays on site.

Unfortunately, the bays were so infrequently-used that nobody seemed to know exactly where on the large campus they were.

Having finally located them via a string of emails and a hot hike around the site, I was faced with the disappointing discovery that my three-pin plug didn't fit their two-pin socket.

A rather basic problem, and one easily fixed with an adapter, but that didn't solve my immediate problem of a rapidly emptying battery.

More calling round found me a saviour in the form of a supermarket - Sainsbury's - where a helpful security guard tried to fit the lead so I could use the two hours of free charging offered to shoppers with electric cars.
It took some time, but eventually the blue led lights on the charge point flashed a cheery green and pink to let me know it had recognised my car.

The security guard looked pleased. I imagine I looked pleased. Until I looked at my watch and realised I would need to unplug it again in 20 minutes.

By Wednesday morning, the Smart electric was running on 30% and my evening's plans looked to be in peril.

An afternoon date with the local Smart showroom gave the battery a brief boost, but when they closed at 6pm I left still woefully undercharged and had to cancel the lift home I had promised my colleague.

As a last resort, I manoeuvred the car through the gates of my local boat club and awkwardly hooked it up to the mains. Not a sustainable option, but it worked - and three hours later the battery had an 80% charge.

With the sky darkening, I headed out of town, determined to fulfil the lift home I had offered my fiance.

The car reached its top speed of 62mph easily on the quiet motorway, but as I zipped along, in the corner of my eye I could see the charge level falling.

With 40% of battery gone, and still several miles from the pick-up point, I had to cut my losses if I wanted to be sure of getting home.

Sitting in a layby off the M4, waiting for my passenger to be dropped off in a friend's (petrol) car, was a low point of the electric car experience.

I gave back the keys the next morning with some relief.

The Smart electric is a delight to drive round town, and I imagine the 100 people picked for a year-long trial may be won round by the benefits of petrol-free motoring.

But unless you have a reliable charge point and no road trip ambitions, going all-electric will be a bumpy ride.

:: 100 Smart fortwo electric drives have now been handed over to residents in London, the South East and the West Midlands for a 12-month trial under the Government-funded Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator Programme.