Electric Motoring: Tring to Cambridge and Back on a Single Charge Proves Practicality

Tring's Hertfordshire County Councillor, Nick Hollinghurst, remains very pleased with electric motoring and very satisfied with the performance of his 30 kWh Nissan Leaf.

He says,
"At an effective on-the-road purchase price of just under £21,000 for a 5-door hatchback I realise that I've made an expensive purchase - but after that you get clean pollution-free driving at around 3 pence a mile. The annual servicing is onloy a few hours work, comes in at just over £100 and includes a full valeting."

"These cars are extremely easy to drive, can't roll back on hill starts, have a very tight turning circle that makes parking easier and, because they are so simple mechanically, are very reliable. They have very few components to wear out or go wrong."

Recently Nick made a journey from Tring to Cambridge and back via Hemel Hempstead, with the return journey in the dark - so the headlights had to be used - without needing to recharge.

He says,
"I'm glad I upgraded from the 24 to the 30 kWh capacity model. The 25% extra capacity - and extra range of course - has made all the difference. The round trip to Cambridge was about 125 miles. Three of us went there and back at a fuel cost of less than £4 and without any time spent recharging.

As far as I'm concerned this has really demonstrated the practicality and economy of electric motoring. Once the practical range gets up to 200 miles or so, there'll be no stopping the change to electric."