AN EV driver who made a 600-mile road trip in a new electric car said that it zapped the fun out of driving.
Matt from High Peak Autos took to his YouTube channel to slam a major car brand’s latest all-electric offering.
GettyYouTuber Matt claimed that EVs ‘sap the fun out’ of road trips[/caption]
Matt explained that he felt the lack of proper EV infrastructure in the UK meant that long trips were too much of an inconvenience.
He tested his theory by taking an Audi e-tron GT, which costs £93,000, on a trip from his Manchester home to Beachy Head, Sussex.
The results left him in no doubt that the UK is “just not ready” for widespread EV ownership.
Over the course of his journey, Matt found himself suffering from range anxiety and frustration with charging stations.
After the first charging point he went to was out of order, the next would not accept contactless payment.
Instead, he was forced to download an app and asked: “How much of my life would I waste doing this?”
Even when he finally got charging, he still had to endure a 25-minute wait at a service station while it filled up.
For comparison, when he made a similar trip in a 1990s petrol Mercedes, refuelling took about six minutes.
Even worse, charging up cost him £60, so around the same amount he would pay for an equivalent amount of petrol.
This led him to describe the notion that EVs are cheaper to run, offsetting their higher upfront cost, as a “lie”.
In conclusion, Matt said: “The Audi e-tron GT did get us here in one piece, but it did take a few more hours than it should have done.
“Had we been in a petrol or diesel car, we would have been here at about three or four o’clock.
“We wouldn’t have had all that stress at the charging stations.
“And this is the problem with EVs… you have to be organised, you need to pray that machines are working.
“It just kind of saps the fun out of it.”
He added that it killed the spontaneity of the road trip and also “cost a fortune” to run, putting people off driving extensively.
Social media commenters were quick to agree.
One wrote: “This is exactly the experience I had… I loved the car and hated the charging infrastructure.”
Another added: “Great test Matt, good consumer advice.”
It comes after it was revealed that EVs are more expensive to insure than their fossil fuel-powered counterparts.
Meanwhile, an MOT mechanic revealed how to save hundreds by checking a key part of your vehicle.