Electric vehicles

[Tony Griffiths]

The Jaguar came to us directly from the press fleet offices for some film work, fully charged with a claimed 230 mile range.
There was a lot of hanging around and the driver used the heater and radio while waiting. When it came to leave at the end of the day the car had done 43 miles and there was slightly less than half charge left.

Yes, the ranges quoted are always in ideal conditions with an experienced driver taking every opportunity to optimise the range - and I bet, like a fueled car, when gauge shows a half-full tank, in reality, it's only one-third. In real-world conditions these cars are only suitable for short trips or cleverly-planned longer journeys; they are utterly useless for anyone needing reliable, long-distance transport. The problem is, governments obsessed with believing the Green Blob's misguided moaning about man-made global warming, have forced car companies to lower their overall CO2 output and electric cars are one way of doing this - while still making cars that people actually want to buy. The next thing we know, when the cost of recycling these useless electric carts becomes clear - and China jacks up the price of the rare-earth elements needed to build them - is that that we'll all be driving around in a cardboard Trabant. In other words, hang on to your A7, it might suddenly become very desirable!