My BEV Journey at Week-1
Last week I took delivery of my first Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), a VW ID.3. I’d placed my order 9 months ago but covid, chip shortages and a war in Ukraine all conspired to delay my exciting new car day. That was 9 months in which I could simultaneously get excited but also nervous — had I done the right thing?
My previous diesel, an ageing Mercedes E-class, was 10 years old and had clocked 100,000 miles, so it was time for a change. The Big Merc had been a good car — I never spent a penny other than routine servicing on it and it never let me down. But it was time for a change and, for me, that change had to be to a BEV — whilst it’s still early in the transition, I feel the choice is now very practical. Time, of course, will tell how accurate that assessment is and I’ve gone into this accepting there may be some bumps along the road.
So, onwards to my initial experiences… I briefly considered writing about typical BEV issues like charging times and range, but there’s something more emotional I wanted to focus on instead. That’s the emotion of serenity and calmness.
Like all BEVs I’ve driven, my ID.3’s power delivery is instant. I never have to think “can the car do this?”. On paper it has a 0–60 of 7.1 seconds, which is not too shabby. But the numbers hide the reality of an electric drive’s instant torque. That’s torque that’s available at any time, with no reference to the engine’s rev count and no need to drop a gear to get into the rev sweet-spot. For an electric drive has no concept of either revs or gears. It’s just an instant wall of power, whenever you ask for it. In all practical senses this car’s ability to accelerate is way, way better than any petrol or diesel car I’ve ever driven.
But the point isn’t that my BEV is a fast car, it’s that it delivers that power with a total absence of any drama. There’s no screaming engine, no gearbox to drop a gear, no delays, no jerks. Just a smooth, continuous and silent acceleration. Overtaking, accelerating to join a motorway and moving off from junctions are achieved with a total absence of any drama. If I want to put a bit of welly into things, I can… but that welly doesn’t come with the kind of mechanical cacophony that makes passengers nervous. This is an easy car to drive because it has more power than I need, but it’s also a calm car to drive.
In contrast, when I now get into a car powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE), I find myself befuddled by all the noises, jerks and general drama. And then there’s the frustrating general resistance to acceleration — why are these things so slow? My Big Merc, as comfortable and smooth as it was, now feels like a mechanical dinosaur.
The ID.3’s adaptive cruise control adds to this feeling of peace. With it, the car takes on a life of its own, slowing down and speeding up to keep pace with surrounding traffic. Set it to 70 on the motorway and the car automatically slows when the car in front slows and accelerates when it accelerates. If I’m in an inside lane that’s slowed and I pull out to overtake, the car automatically accelerates back up to 70 without me doing anything. And because it’s a BEV, that acceleration is smooth and fast, without a need to drop a gear to get some power. It even has an option to read road traffic signs and automatically adjust the car’s speed to keep within legal limits. Given the increasing preponderance of speed cameras in the UK, this is quite a useful thing. Fancier specs of the ID.3 have the capability to automatically change lanes. But of course none of this is unique to the ID.3 or indeed to BEVs in general — all manufacturers are moving in this direction. I do, however, think these self-driving features add to the feeling of serenity because they smooth everything out and take care of things that are, frankly, somewhat tedious.
Let’s talk about one-pedal driving. All BEVs have the concept of regenerative braking, which is a kind of engine braking that slows the car (and in a BEV, the energy that’s dissipated in the process is used to recharge the battery). With an internal combustion engine you can create engine braking by changing down a gear, but that’s a comparative lot of work and also noisy. In a BEV you just take your foot off the accelerator and the car slows automatically, as if you were braking. In the ID.3 this is called “B Mode” driving, but all BEVs have a version of this. The result, “one pedal driving”, means that in urban conditions you can often drive just by using the accelerator and without the need to touch the brakes. Again, brilliant for a smooth and calm drive. One-pedal driving is also calming because I find myself looking ahead to anticipate traffic movement, in order to maximise the ability to avoid the brakes.
Much has been written about range anxiety with BEVs, but that’s something I’ve yet to experience. My car, in summer weather at least, has a range of something like 200–250 miles on a charge. Last weekend that took us to the coast and back for a day trip, with plenty of juice to spare. I’ll very rarely need to use a public charger because nearly all of my miles are within my car’s range of home. And charging from home is like having my very own private petrol station on my driveway — no more tiresome trips to the the Shell garage! I do make occasional trips to Scotland and these will need a bit of planning, but I’m not phased by that and will share my experiences when I make such trips.
Regarding the build of the ID.3, I find myself extremely impressed. It’s just what I’d expect from VW — everything is supremely well screwed together, the doors close with a confidence inspiring “thunk” (more so, even, than my Big Merc) and the car generally feels as solid as a rock.
One of the reasons I chose the ID.3 is because it was designed as a BEV, rather than being an ICE design adapted for batteries. Quite a few of the popular BEV choices are adapted ICE designs — the Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia e-Niro, Mini Electric and I think all the Peugeot, Citroën and Vauxhall options.
Pure BEV designs tend to have larger interiors because the absence of the need to accommodate ICE mechanicals allows the wheels to be pushed further to the corners, together with a completely flat floor. Sure enough, my ID.3’s interior feels bigger than the exterior of the car would suggest. Coming from a significantly larger car, I don’t feel that size difference on the inside, which is a good thing. The absence of ICE mechanicals also means it has a crazy tight turning circle, which is very handy on the UK’s space-restricted roads and parking places.
My car has some tweaks that give the interior a higher quality feel than early models, including new and very plush looking seats. But that interior has been a touch controversial. VW have clearly gone for a paired-back minimalist style that, to my eyes at least, looks modern and airy. Those who prefer a more cosseted feeling, with swathes of dark leather and wood, may be less impressed. But for me the light and modernist take adds to that feeling of calmness. I find it completely consistent with the car’s purpose and propulsion.
Early ID.3s seem to have had some software issues. Thankfully, my car is one of the first to be delivered with version 3.0, a major upgrade of the software, and I’ve seen no issues or glitches. I used to work for a company who refused to buy cars in their first year of manufacture, because of the inevitable teething troubles. Indeed, I did once buy a car pre-launch. That was a bad idea and in its first year it was in the garage getting fixed more often than I was driving it. The wisdom of avoiding early cars still holds and early glitches aren’t unique to BEVs.
The breadth of software features on the ID.3 is somewhat overwhelming to a new owner, but everything works well and as it should. It even has self-parking — take your hands off the steering wheel and feet off the pedals, then let the car do everything for you. It’s a weird experience. But you can just get in and drive, ignoring the fancy stuff, with which familiarisation comes over time.
The infotainment system is fine and certainly a big leap over that of my 10-year-old Big Merc. But mostly I’m using Apple CarPlay, which is instantly familiar — Siri, Apple Maps and Music exactly as on my iPhone. Nothing new to learn and no syncing of data. I just get in the car with my iPhone in my pocket and it automatically connects wirelessly, with the big dashboard display showing CarPlay — perfect.
One other item of brilliance: Matrix Headlights. These are, quite simply, a form of witchcraft. You drive the car on full beam and it dynamically shapes the light to avoid dazzling others. It’s really quite magical to see the headlight beam change shape and move around corners as you drive!
Oh, and before I go all serious on you, there’s one feature of the car I found slightly amusing (although it’s actually deadly serious). It has a heart-attack mode! If the car thinks the driver is unresponsive, it’ll tug the seatbelt and then jerk the brakes slightly. If there’s still no response, it’ll automatically bring itself to a halt, maintaining its position in the the current lane, put the hazard warning lights on, unlock the doors and sound the horn! It’s a feature I hope not to need.
Now, on a serious note, I changed from diesel to BEV because I want to reduce my carbon footprint. Virtually the entire scientific community is in agreement that climate change is real, serious and caused by humans — check out the IPCC’s work if you have any doubts. Most of us are able to take personal actions of some type to reduce our carbon footprint and collectively such actions will make a difference. This is one of my actions. Critically, it’s through such personal actions that politicians will get the message about what we value and do a better job of changing the big things that we as individuals can’t. I believe firmly that the power to enact the change we need lies within our grasp — but it does require us all to be part of that change.
BEVs are estimated to have lifetime emissions that are three times lower than those of a conventional car — and this will only get better as our grid becomes greener. For those, who like me live in places where it’s difficult to live without a car, changing to a BEV is one way to make a difference. But as this post shows, moving to a BEV is a positive experience for many reasons, not just environmental ones.
So in summary, at week one, a feeling of calmness has overtaken my driving experience and I love it. I don’t miss the mechanical drama of an internal combustion engine one jot. My BEV experience is smoother, calmer and faster.
Let me leave you with one final thought. I don’t feel that I’ve compromised in choosing a BEV, but rather made a giant leap into the future. And I’ve not found myself thinking “what have I done?”, but rather “why didn’t I do this earlier?”.
