driving an electric car
A field report
As the managing director of an industrial design agency, I have an affinity for technology.
I like to try new things and I'm not overly attached to the traditional and traditional.
The best prerequisites for an early adopter - someone who doesn't wait for something to become established, but just does it.
The decision
When, after a total loss four and a half years ago, my practical petrol van was sold to the eternal hunting grounds in the east, it suddenly came faster than expected: the opportunity to buy a new car.
Electromobility has been a topic of debate for a long time. Without further ado, various appointments were made for test drives with different electric vehicles. The rides in the various vehicles (Renault ZOE, BMW i1, Nissan Leaf, Smart ED) were like a drug that I couldn't get rid of from then on. Power, acceleration, sound and an intuitive driving experience were intoxicating right from the start. In addition to these emotional factors, environmental considerations (which is why only small and economical vehicles were tested), practicality (I commute 35 km to work every day and have the opportunity to charge the vehicle at home) and curiosity were the driving forces behind the purchase strengthened.
The vehicle
The decision fell on the Smart ED fortwo (model 451).
The reason: We commute the route in pairs and have a second vehicle that can be used for vacation trips or transporting materials.
A two-seater is sufficient for the commute. A Smart is the perfect vehicle for the city anyway. It is small, manoeuvrable and safe, but offers everything you would expect from a modern vehicle.
Another factor was the price. From the group tested, it was the vehicle with by far the best leasing conditions. For around €200/month, the Smart became my daily companion at the start of the electromobility age.
Electric driving is economical and ecological.
Our agency is located at the inner harbor of Duisburg - my place of residence in the south of Essen.
The commuter route takes you via the A40 (formerly Ruhrschnellweg).
In any case, it is full: be it on the motorway or in the city when looking for a parking space.
The electric vehicle shows its strengths in both scenarios: On the freeway in stop-and-go traffic, an electrically operated vehicle consumes extremely little energy, since it recuperates with every deceleration (the battery is charged by the braking effect), and this is the case when the vehicle comes to a standstill hardly any energy is used since no engine is running.
You can imagine it like a cordless screwdriver that only discharges its battery when the switch is pressed.
The situation is similar in the city: many acceleration and braking phases.
In addition, there is an immense - but specific Duisburg advantage: The charging for customers of the Stadtwerke Duisburg is currently. free of charge and parking at the charging stations during the charging process as well.
However, this did not contribute to the purchase decision, as I was not aware of this at the time of purchase. It was an environmental bonus, so to speak (which did not yet exist as a purchase bonus at that time).
The electrifying driving experience
The best way to describe the feeling of driving electrically is with an experience from the first few weeks with the then new Smart 451.
One night - after seeing the then-current Star Wars episode - I got into the Smart and felt like I was in the X-Wing Fighter. The sound, the acceleration, the direct driving experience, the intuitive operation - everything was right.
So I drove through the city like a fighter of the Galactic Federation.
It was uplifting. And it still is.
Anyone who has never tried it will not understand it.
I recommend every V8 sound junkie to test drive one of these little e-fighters!
Range
In the beginning, the topic of range was always present. The view was always on the battery status, the kilometers already covered and the prognosis for the range.
The eyes could not tear themselves away from it.
The subliminal fear that one battery charge might not be enough for the daily journey was too great.
However, this gradually subsided with the almost exclusively positive experiences. In the last 4 ½ years I have experienced three situations in which range or battery charging thwarted my plans. On one occasion, the vehicle was not charged at the charging station because it failed during the charging process. In the other cases, it was my own fault because I forgot to connect the vehicle after not being able to drive directly to a charging station because it was occupied by another vehicle.
The range of my first model (Smart 451) was a good 140km in summer and about 110km in winter (due to heating and less efficient battery discharge).
That was more than enough for everyone – really all daily trips.
My current model (Smart fortwo 453 EQ) has a good 160km summer range. The required radius of action here in the Ruhr area is of course manageable at 50-60km.
However, around 15% of the German population also live here - a large target group for electromobility.
In this context, the fact that one increasingly sees an oversized SUV with a single person towering over it seems enormously out of place. I'm sure that a large proportion of SUV buyers would be just as enthusiastic about a small, modern city runabout after a test - even if it was "only" as a second car.
That is the reality anyway: most households have more than one vehicle. Second or third cars should therefore not cause any logistical problems as purely electric vehicles.
The problem with the charging stations
I've been driving a small battery-electric vehicle with the right battery capacity for the purpose for almost five years now.
I am enthusiastic and wish that many more people would do this.
But there is a contradiction. There has not been a public charging station in downtown Duisburg for five years. There are three charging stations within walking distance of our agency, each with two charging points (22KW); and that hasn't changed for five years.
Yes - the charging points were only moderately frequented in the first few years. But in the meantime it's a lottery game in the morning as to whether another vehicle is already being loaded there. And you can't know when the vehicle will leave the charging station again. The growing number of high-powered plug-in hybrids is increasingly exacerbating the problem, as I believe that free parking at the charging station is the priority here.
Something has to happen here! The charging infrastructure is clearly the bottleneck for electromobility. Private charging points are one thing - the other is an urban infrastructure that would have to be set up in the short term.
Charging still works because my new model (Smart 453 EQ) has a 22KW board charger installed and I can use it to charge enough energy in 15 minutes to drive home if the battery is completely empty. It can charge an 80% at a 22KW charging station in around 45 minutes. This gives me the flexibility to cope with somewhat adverse loading conditions.
Conclusion
It's fun, it feels good, it's (if you choose a small sensible vehicle) ecological and economical.
Our tax consultant can't believe the low company leasing costs with all the benefits for every deal.
Electromobility is one thing, choosing the right car for the job is another.
The combination of all aspects is important: anyone who can use public transport sensibly or can get to work by bicycle or electric bicycle should do so.
But if you want to / have to complete your commute by car, you should seriously consider whether this car has to have five seats, over 100 hp, a range of 500 km and a weight of over 1.5 tons. If not - then a small Stromer is definitely the right option.
