My experience as EV driver

I have been driving an electric car for about 2 years now and I want to share my experience as private person. I bought the electric car because I am convinced that the future of the automobile sector lies in electric drive. I am talking here about normal car traffic, there will be alternative drives in niches, but that would be a separate discussion. To this end, I have also been able to look behind the scenes at manufacturers and operators of charging infrastructure through my professional stations. This leads here and there to a differentiated approach, which hopefully brings transparency into the subject.

I chose a German brand and am satisfied with it, even though there are many controversial opinions about technology, equipment and other things. As my electric car is equipped, I chose to do so and I did not regret it. To this one has to say that the whole family enjoys it and they all like to drive the electric car. Driving an electric car is a new and comfortable move. Yes, of course, the range can be larger. The next generation of electric cars will be able to do even more. I personally only travel long distances 2-3 times a year. Mostly on vacation and there you can get ready for it. On the highway, I manage well 300 km without having fear of sweat regarding the next charging stop. As an example, I can take here one of my trips from home in Schwelm to island Rügen. That's about 700 km and it takes two charging stops, so I also arrived at the destination with enough residual energy. I would also take a break 2 times with a petrol or diesel car, even if the diesel would make the route without a gas stop. But I don't want to, because it's not fun to drive this long distance non-stop. Unfortunately, the island Rügen, although a real tourist magnet, is one of the regions underdeveloped in terms of charging infrastructure. On the way there, especially along the highway, there is now a lot of choice. Either directly on the motorway or at a nearby car park. More is always possible, but it still fits well with the current e-car density.

This brings me to the subject of loading experience and loading locations. In the meantime, I have spent more than 35,000 km of electricity behind me and charged at several charging locations. Both on DC fast charging stations or on AC Wallboxes. At home, by the way, I have my own AC Wallbox, one that I think is very nice from #hesotec. Probably makes the stainless-steel design. But the tastes are different, which is good.

Charging locations are the subject. There is a growing number of charging points, in Germany and throughout Europe, also in many other countries of the world, but I have not been there with my electric car yet. And there is, whoever wonders, still a growing need in the public sector in Germany and probably in other countries as well. And in the public domain, I'm talking about the DC fast charging infrastructure. I mentioned above that we are already on the right track along the highways. Of course, if you think 10 years further, there will be a need for larger charging hubs, directly at the highway on the parking lots or resting places. Since today there are 1-10 DC fast charging poles, then there must be >>>10 charging poles.

There is clearly a need for remediation in urban areas. In urban areas, you can see that in the meantime, the oil companies (see #aral, #shell, #total, etc.) are upgrading their existing gas stations with DC fast charging poles. Of course, the locations are already there, but in the future, they are the wrong locations. Who parks his car to the gas station and then stays there for 20-30 minutes or even more without being able to make a meaningful use of the time. Today you have to, as there are no other offers, the coffee can still be so good. I need meaningful service offers or locations where I spend some time. That means that it needs more DC fast-charging infrastructure at supermarkets, sports venues, gyms, shopping malls or in the middle of every city. So everywhere I spend less than one or two hours. In the middle of the city is the keyword. Here, I see cities in the duty to provide areas, or rather the fast-charging infrastructure, just as it is their duty, to take care of the infrastructure for electricity, gas or water. Unfortunately, this has not yet reached the heads of many local politicians. Many cities will be lagging behind in 5-10 years and saying, "If we had thought about it earlier." But they are still hoping that the e-mobility hype will pass by. Not so long ago, the same people thought the same thing on the Internet - "Who needs this?" - and now they are running behind the digitization of their processes. Fast-charging infrastructure in the public area should be now simply part of every mobility concept in a city.

However, I am very hopeful, as there are already right approaches and examples for good public charging infrastructure. If you are interested in the ranking of your city Germany, you can take a look at the VDA (Association of the automotive industry). Next time I like to talk about the user experience at public charging stations, but I need to find time to do so, stay in touch.