The situation is increasingly reminiscent of the Volkswagen scandal, where the company was caught manipulating software in diesel engines to produce flattering emissions results during tests.
A recent What Car magazine study has shown that electric car range claims tend to be exaggerated by about one-third compared to real-world conditions. The vehicles were tested on a Bedfordshire track until their batteries depleted.
For instance, the Lexus UX 300e, with a claimed range of 273 miles, only reached 170 miles, falling short by 37.9%. The Volkswagen ID7 Pro, with a claimed 383 miles, achieved 254, and the Volvo XC40 Recharge, advertised at 331 miles, reached 252. These are all high-end, long-range models priced above £50,000.
I prefer the idea of a clean electric vehicle over a petrol one. However, I’m not convinced yet. Recently, I travelled to the Scottish Highlands and back, a 600-mile round trip, in my diesel Discovery Sport. It took 12 hours, including breaks, without needing a fuel stop, thanks to its 59 miles per gallon efficiency, giving it a 700-mile range.
Considering an electric vehicle like the Volvo XC40 Recharge for this journey raises challenges. It might just cover the distance on a full charge, but that would need a strategically timed overnight stop for recharging, as rapid chargers typically refill only from 20% to 80% in a reasonable time. Realistically, at least two or three lengthy charging stops would be necessary.
The situation looks even more daunting with a lower-range model like the Nissan Leaf. Under optimal conditions, its range drops to 99 miles. Planning a trip to Scotland would involve at least seven stops of an hour each for charging, assuming the availability of chargers. This presents a significant inconvenience if someone else is already using the charger.
Even worse would be when I eventually reached Scotland. Last week I took a trip down the 22-mile single-track road which leads to the back end of the Knoydart peninsula. I didn’t see any electric vehicles there, and no wonder. There is no hope whatsoever of charging a vehicle anywhere along that road – to attempt the journey I would end up feeling like Captain Scott fretting whether his rations were going to last to the South Pole and back.
Electric cars are practical as local runabouts, for motorists who have access to off-street parking within reach of an electric socket. But they are still not a practical solution for most of us. Nor are they likely to become so in the near future. If we plastered the country with rapid chargers it would blow out the grid.
As the chief of Toyota recently pointed out, Western governments have been trying to push for a complete transition to electric vehicles in ignorance of the fact that many parts of the world do not have effective electricity grids.
Trying to jump straight to electric cars has condemned the whole effort to decarbonise road transport to failure. What I really wanted to buy, by the way, was not a diesel car but a hybrid petrol one, with a 50-mile electric-only range and a small petrol engine to provide backup for longer journeys.
But no such vehicle seemed to exist when I was looking, and further innovation on hybrids has been undermined by the government’s pre-announced ban from 2035 onwards. As a result, manufacturers are being condemned to make vehicles which few of us will ever want to buy.
