The Adventures Begin

We'd been thinking about buying a Electric Vehicle (EV) for some time.

Research, research, discuss, discuss, blah, blah, blah.

As it happens, a 2013 Leaf was available in Christchurch, less than 200 km away. Martin, our knowledgeable local EV expert offered to check the battery out for us. Chris had a test drive.

Lunchtime Saturday. Martin says it's all good. We decide it's a winner, so I'm off to pick it up. Two hours later I'm in Lincoln changing ownership papers and handing over a lot of money. Ken, the seller is worried.

"It's only got 70% charge" he said.

"No worries" I replied. "I can make the charger in Ashburton on that with kms to spare."

And with that, I was off. Somehow I knew I wanted to be doing this in daylight.

The thing with electric cars is they are quiet. Quiet and fast. The acceleration has to be experienced to be believed but other than that, it drives like an automatic. The display panel is bright and half in Japanese, but I figure out I need to be in Economy mode. Sorted.

Except that by the time I hit the main road, I'm down from 100 km to 80 km range. The distance I need to go is only 68 km but if the battery drops this quickly the whole way, I am in trouble. So I drop back to 80km/hour, leave the lights off until half an hour after the sun goes down, and put my purple puffer jacket on.

An hour later I roll into Ashburton with the 30 km warning display starting to flash. I pop the heaters on, turn into the EV charging station in Moore Street and plug in. Blue light flashes on the dashboard, green plug flashes on the display, I am charging by 5:40 so I wander off for dinner feeling pretty pleased with myself. This was the longest leg of the journey, the next stretch would be a piece of cake.

After a very nice meal at the local Indian restaurant, I pop back to the car and check. 36 km. Oh. That doesn't look too flash after an hour, but there is nothing else to do but sit tight. I fill in another hour and the charge is up to 68. Excellent. I want to be sitting on 90 at least, so I turn on the heaters, upload some photos and by eightish I am bored, sitting on 84 km and toasty warm. I flick off the heaters and the range jumps up to 90km. Excellent. Good to go.

Again, I drive conservatively, watching the outside temperature plummet. At 4 degrees C a chime sounds, just as it does in my VW Golf. Yes, I know its cold. By the time I get to Temuka, I am starting to worry. My range has dropped far faster than the distance I have covered. My buffer has gone, and I am wondering just how accurate the displays are. Hoping for the best, and having the experience of petrol cars that under report I decide not to try and find the number of someone I know in Temuka and press on.

As I go, I run through the options. Straight through town? There are a number of hills, there is more traffic, and it is longer. That 2 km might make all the difference. Old North Road? Again, more hills and there is little room to pull over on parts of that road. Kellands Hill it is. If I can make it to the top, I will be OK. I think.

Halfway between Temuka and Timaru the display stops showing how much range I have left. The last number was 15 - I think I can make it. A tiny Japanese lady is growing increasingly anxious in the background and I have deliberately kept the radio off. This is not good. As I turn off the main highway onto Washdyke flat road I start hearing a ping every thirty seconds. The red battery bars are flashing. This can't be good but I am committed now.

Bother.

I am expecting the car to go into turtle mode, refusing to go above 50km when things get dire. I am still travelling at 80 km so I should be right. There is still juice in the tank. I turn onto Kellends Hill Road. The monster hill looms ahead of me in the darkness. There is no other traffic. I debate whether accelerating or keeping a consistent speed is going to be the best option. I compromise, hitting 70 km at the bottom but allowing the car to slow to 50km as we head up the steep hill.

But we keep slowing. I am in trouble. Trying not to panic, I keep going, hoping that once we crest the hill the slight downhill will be enough to keep the car in motion but as I creep over the top of the hill the car takes itself out of drive and refuses to go into gear. I roll off to the side. There are no battery lights left although all the car displays are worked fine.

Bother.

This is less than ideal. I am just over the brow of the hill, invisible to traffic until they are almost on me. I turn the car off but put the hazards on. Wondering if the poor thing just needs a wee break I turn it on again only to be scolded by a very upset Japanese woman. I quickly turn it off and ring Chris.

While I am waiting I wonder what happened. There was plenty of charge and this was a shorter leg. I had driven very conservatively, and it wasn't as if the weather was a problem. Just the opposite - it was brilliantly clear.

I am agonisingly close to home. Chris arrives and  looks for a tow attachment but it isn't obvious and then, quite sensibly, I ring the AA, wondering why I didn't do that first. Chris parks the van behind me with his hazards on and we settle in for a wait. It is a brilliantly clear night, the stars twinkling in the cold air. There is going to be a frost.

AA are brilliant. There is a little bit of upskilling to go on, the techie googles the Leaf as he hasn't had to deal with one before but before long he is organising a towie to get us home. By midnight we are home and the car is plugged in.

At half past two I am awake, convinced I have wreaked the car. I creep outside and check the display. To my relief the charging bars come up and 36 km on the range. All is well.

Since my first adventure I have learned two things. Firstly, battery efficiency falls off markedly in the cold, by as much as 20 %. I had better range during daylight hours because it was warmer. During the night hours the temperature fell to below zero so the battery was simply less efficient. Lesson learnt.

Secondly, I have learnt that my car is hopelessly optimistic. Good to know.