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E-mobility: questions and answers for newbies and curious minds
by Martin Jungfer
From combustion engine to electric car - an experience report with ups and downs
17-9-2022
Translation: machine translated
Our family car has been electric for a few months now. Before that, I had many questions and some concerns. Now most of them have disappeared into thin air. But not all of them.
This is an experience report. I'm not trying to convince you to switch to an electric car yourself. If you drive a diesel or petrol car, you certainly have good reasons to do so. These are my own personal thoughts on why I said goodbye to diesel. And a few facts and experiences after a good three months. I still have some criticisms; you'll find them in the second half of the article.
Secondly, we were able to install a photovoltaic system on the roof of the house in the autumn. The energy consultant confirmed that an electric car would be a pretty grateful consumer of the self-produced electricity. How nice that then - thirdly - electric cars suitable for families had meanwhile also come onto the market. We decided to swap the family estate for a Skoda Enyaq.
It took almost twelve months instead of five to get it because of the chip shortage and the Ukraine war. But it was worth the wait. For these reasons:
1. Electric driving pleasure
Electrically powered cars have the advantage over combustion engines that the energy is transferred to the drive axle virtually without delay. The full torque is available immediately, whereas with an internal combustion engine it depends on the engine speed, which first has to be reached by shifting gears in the transmission.
Such a little leap is the best way to get the power to the engine.
2. Charging? (Almost) no problem
Most charging stations are in Germany.
Most of the charging stations we have visited so far are equipped with cables. But there are also charging stations where you have to rely on your own cable. In such cases, it is advisable to have a second standard charging cable for on the road in your car.
Most charging stations in the region are equipped with cables.
Charging only with app or card
Many charging network offers (as of June 2022).
By the way, many charging network providers cooperate with each other, so that often the card of one provider also works at the charging stations of the other. But keeping track of this is almost impossible if you don't deal with it every week. At least the charging capacity and prices are displayed transparently in the app, and the information about whether the charging station is currently free or occupied is usually correct.
3. Lower costs
On the road, my costs are already rising. Instead of 15 centimes at the low tariff, a kilowatt hour at charging stations costs between 50 and 79 centimes. The price advantage shrinks accordingly, but remains. And of course this is a milk-cheese calculation, because an electric car is still more expensive to buy than a conventionally powered one. And yes, no one installs a wallbox for me free of charge either.
My colleague Dominik has drawn up a more precise cost comparison here as an example:
4. Pretty clean eco-conscience
5. Some things still annoy
For all the advantages, there are also things that annoy me. Not so much that I would switch back to the combustion engine, but enough that you should know about them, I think
.
Software in electric cars
I use Apple Car Play as much as possible. It allows me to mirror the content on my iPhone to the screen in the car and operate the apps right there.
Planning routes and charging stops
On longer routes with the electric car, from about 300 kilometres, I need a charging option on the way. In theory, the navigation system can help me plan the route. In practice, however, it makes suggestions that I don't want to accept. They are often too slow charging points or they are too far away from the motorway. Or you drive there and all the charging stations are occupied. Or the charging stations only exist in Skoda's database, but not in reality.
Charging on the edge of automotive society
When you drive electrically, you will feel part of an avant-garde, a pioneer. So far, not even two out of 100 cars on Swiss roads are electric. Such a pioneer has to reclaim undiscovered land. In Germany, for example, charging stations for electric cars are often found in the dark corners of motorway service stations, somewhere at the back left by the rubbish containers.
In Italy, I felt like a pioneer.
In Italy I felt like an exotic, but at least a welcome one, even invited to charge for free here and there. In the country of small cars, electric cars are not yet widespread, which at least guarantees a free spot at the charging stations.
Tips for further reading
If you want to know more about electric cars, you can post your questions as comments on this post. I will be happy to answer them. If you already drive an electric car yourself and I have forgotten an important point, you can also make a note of this as a comment. The same goes for wishes and suggestions for further topics on electromobility.
Here are some of the articles I have written on electromobility.
Here are a few more interesting sources I use for research:
Martin Jungfer
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Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.chJournalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.
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