Until last year, I'd been car free for 6 years. However, with a planned amalgamation of 3 properties into 1 over an 18 month period, it meant I would have to get a vehicle to deal with all the moving of stuff between properties, charity shops & the tip. And more importantly, I'd also want something to carry our bikes in the future.
As I've mentioned on a another thread, I ended up getting a Nissan eNV200 as it was the only vehicle which had the load space and was electric. Basically it a van but with the innards of a 24kWh Leaf.
4,000 litres of space in total, which has come in very handy.
Driving in London in the summer, I can get over 100 miles out of it. In the depths of winter, when it's raining, at night with a fierce headwind on the motorway at 65 mph, I might get 60 miles.
So yes, range anxiety can be a thing, at the moment *. However, 68% of all car journeys are for 5 miles or less (and even more shocking is that 24% are under 1 mile). So yes, there should be far more Government intervention to force people not to use any cars at all for shorter journeys, and to walk & cycle more. Sadly, that just isn't going to happen in the UK.
As stated above, very few people do drive long distances. So for the majority of car drivers, an electric car would fulfil the vast majority of their driving. So an increasing trend in the normal 2 car household would be to use one conventional powered car for the longer once a year long distance holiday. But with planning, it can be all done with electric cars. In May I went up to the Isle of Skye to get married, with the trip up spread over 2 days. We stopped every 60 miles or so for a 25-30 minute break to recharge the car, and we're back up to Scotland again in a week's time.
However, the other crazy aspect is that with 90% of all private car purchases being via PCP, it's made cars much cheaper to own, and so people have got accustomed to getting a new car every 2-3 years which further encourages a waste of resources. So of course comparing a brand new EV against a 10 year old petrol car means the old car wins hands down on a sustainability and cost front. So I quite understand those who would want to keep old cars going, as that's better overall than buying a new car you don't actually need.
* Bigger batteries are being introduced all the time, with 40kWh being the minimum now, with 64kWh also appearing. Something like the new Hyundai Kona in the long range 64kWh version will do 250 miles on the motorway which will help allay a lot people's concerns.
