Newly retired Chris and Julie, a former sales director and accountant, ventured on an electric car road trip from the south coast of England to the Inner Hebrides in their EV6. Having had many friends who question the decision to go to a fully electric car we wanted a challenge that proved there are few boundaries to driving an EV.

“We started our electric journey 10 years ago when we installed solar panels on our home. More recently, we’d been looking for an electric car that could comfortably do at least 250 miles (and looked good) because we needed to visit elderly parents."

“We tend to keep cars for five years, so Kia's 7-year warranty appealed. We also wanted a car that was built to be a battery electric vehicle as there should be no compromises. On driving the Kia, we loved how quiet it was.”


At home we use a Zappi charger


“On sunny days it directs electricity that would have been exported to the grid to the car, and thus sometimes we’re able to drive on totally free and carbon-free electricity. It gives us a warm glow every time!”


We saved over £250


“We travelled 2250 miles using 782 kWh of electricity at a cost of £212. I estimate that in my previous car at 38mpg and £1.80 per litre of diesel I would have used 266 litres at a cost of £480.”


Charging points are fast, but sometimes remote


“Sometimes charging points are situated in a small car park right at the end of the village. So, more What3words addresses for EV chargers would be helpful. But, once you’re plugged in, the charging experience was good. We really liked the Ionity network which were super-quick – 20 minutes for 50kW.”


Sometimes free chargers weren’t always available


“Once, in Inverness, we struggled to find a free charger and had to charge in the morning. Another time, we arrived at a charger to find it in use. We checked into our room, returned 30 minutes later and were able to charge.” Theses were the only “problems” we had."

Our refinement recommendations

It’d be nice to see a more standardised approach to how and where chargers are located as well as the charging ports on cars. With car ports on the front and both front and back wings it can make getting close enough for the cable to reach a challenge. Given most cars have petrol filling caps at the rear and pumps have hoses that reach to either side of a fossil fuelled car it would make sense to standardise the recharging process for EV’s.

The country needs more super-fast chargers on major roads, we always got onto a charger but as EV acceptance grows we will need to ensure a better network. In addition destinations such as hotels, need to provide destination chargers so you can charge your car slowly overnight.


Our verdict

“The EV6 is brilliant. The instant torque is great and truly amazing on steep hills. It was quiet, easy to drive and received positive comments on its looks from people we met.” our next challenge is in September when we are traveling to the South of France."