So what are the servicing requirements of BEV's?

Do Facts light your fire? well heres one then - when Philosopher Aldous Huxley wrote 'Facts do not cease to exist just because they are ignored' in his book 'The Doors of Perception' in 1954 little did he know that one American aspiring musician Jim Morrison, would read and admire it in 1965 and name his band after it ( The Doors )!.

Aldous ( although rather an odd character who believed you could correct your vision by staring at the sun - DO NOT TRY THAT AT HOME!! ) was not of course writing about the myths and mistruths swirling around currently about Electric vehicle ownership - but his quote neatly fits the current state of play.

As I like to deal in the facts, even an ardent BEV convert like me cannot profess to know the whole truth until we have experienced it for ourselves.

So when my own BEV came up for its first 20,000 mile service recently, I saw this as an opportunity to see for myself ( and share ) the true cost of this part of ownership.

Carbase.co.uk says that initial services for new cars on average are usually set at 12 months or for between 12,000 - 15,000 miles which ever comes first, so the extended 20K service schedule is straightaway saving me time and money.

Firstly, the experience around the service was nearly seamless and automated - from the car telling me it needed a service, to the on line booking of service date and time ( I did have to make a call as part of the process - so marks off for that - it should just be fully digitized!! ), topped off with the plush experience of comfy chairs with free wifi, coffee croissants and Danishes. Watching the technician complete the whole service from the comfort of my leather faced upholstery through the glazed service bay wall, I wondered exactly what he would find and what the cost would be.

My curiosity was satisfied when I received the Technician walk around video via SMS, that to be fair I had experienced a few times before during my time at Volvo who had first innovated this great customer communication tool.

Lets focus on one key component ( as to be fair there is considerably less parts to choose on a BEV! ) the brakes.

The UK Automobile Association ( AA ) states the average UK life of brakes to be between 25,000 and 60,000 miles - so lets be fair and call it 50,000.

With 20,000 miles under its belt my car should have on average lost @40% of its brakes - my technician confirmed it had lost 20% ( see image below ) - so half of the brake wear expected. On that basis my brakes could last 100,000 miles!!!

My Polestar 2 comes with One Pedal Drive otherwise technically known as regenerative braking. When I lift my foot from the accelerator the friction from the alternator is used to both slow down the car and generate electricity which it puts back into the battery. Using just this to slow the car means you are not using the hydraulic brakes and discs and hence saving wear and cost of replacement!

Next and last service fact to share, Tyre wear.

After 20,000 miles my front tyres had 3.6mm of tread left and 5.2mm on the rear - not that its recommended to run them to the legal limit, but that is 1.6MM across the 75% of the center of the tyre.

Again Tyre age – How many miles do tyres last? (theaa.com) says that I should get at least 20,000 out of my fronts and 40,000 out of my rears. My tyres came new with @8mm of tread depth so my fronts have worn 55% and should last @another 9,000 miles - thats a total of 29,000 miles.

My rears have only worn 35% so on the same basis could last another 25,000 miles giving a total life of 45,000.

So that was it - nothing else to repair - no other cost - but a lot inspected.

Apparently the servicing dealer doesn't check battery degradation but I would bet that is being monitored remotely anyway. This is a big question of course so I am going to come back to that when I can.

The service interval on the polestar 2 is 2 years or 20,500 miles whichever comes first - my car actually called itself in slightly early for a safety recall to check the charging pins on which there had been reported problems in Europe - mine were fine.

So I dont think Ill be seeing a free cappuccino and a croissant for another 2 years but for sure my car will remind me when I should.

Ok, I only have the facts of a first service but on the basis of that, this BEV is proving very economical from a servicing cost perspective with on the face of it greater longevity of components compared to average UK cars.

But hey why let truth get in the way of a good story...........( Mark Twain 1875 or was it?? )