JOB’S done. I’m convinced. No more need to badger. I’m thinking electric.
It’s Skoda’s new full electric the Enyaq that has changed my mind and this is why. Our infamous school run of 62 miles each way, then extra miles running errands, sees me pour around four gallons of fuel a day into a conventional tank, which equates to about £25.
Stick the Enyaq on a supermarket rapid charger for an hour and you can cover the same distance for around half the price – and it’s an excuse to go for a coffee or a pleasant stroll.
Full EV requires a mindset change and mine has just changed. Clean electric rids you of that life-long acquaintance with stinky petrol stations, where highly combustible fluids splash on your hands and clothes, carboniferous carcinogens flying up your nose. Who likes it? No one especially in the winter. Ok it’s quick and it’s all we know so we put up with it, but really? In the 21st century, I think not.
The alternative is so much more pleasant. Pull into wide bays at the supermarket or hotel. Take the clean plug from the rapid charger and plug it into the Enyaq. Wave your credit card at the contactless screen and it even tells you how long it will take to charge and how many miles that will add. One walk/coffee/shop later, or if you are like me and are a slave to a laptop just sit in the car and tap some keys, and you are done. Wave your credit card again at the machine and it tells you how much the charge has cost and you are off. Clean and simple.
There’s also the option to charge at home. Your domestic supply is slow – four hours on a three pin added just 20 miles. But you can have more powerful chargers installed which will top up in full overnight.
Then with around 250 miles of charge available there is little need to feel the range anxiety associated with early electrics.
My Toyota Hybrid has got me used to the wonderfully smooth and quiet feel of electric to the point that when the petrol motor does kick in it feels harsh. Full electric means all your motoring is blessed with the peacefulness of voltage. Aah.
With the roads being so cluttered this cocoon of serenity should not be under-stated. Noise, harshness and vibration are weapons in the war of attrition and the Enyaq is so swift, smooth and quiet that you feel much less tired after a journey, which means you remain more alert and less likely to have an accident.
EVs are so incredibly quick off the mark too which means to can nip out of junctions into traffic more efficiently. Huge reserves of instant torque make them a hill climber extraordinaire, they really are the complete drive.
Hitech propulsion, free from the crudeness of combustion, deserves an interior to match and the Enyaq doesn’t disappoint. It feels ultra-modern and lovely, its light and airy cabin featuring a minimal dash that comes complete with huge touch screen. It’s leaps and bounds from conventional motoring.
Make yourself comfortable on the excellent leather seats and you don’t even have to switch it on – it has already detected you are there. Just put your foot on the brake, move the gear switch to ‘D’ and press the accelerator. ‘D’ shares a switch with ‘B’ which introduces extra braking and therefore regenerates the battery every time you lift off the throttle. Then there’s ‘R’ for reverse. It could not be simpler.
Handling, ride and grip are excellent too and there is little else to do but steer and enjoy the ride.
So I’m done with expensive carbon-based petrochemicals that assault the senses with their crude explosions, noise and pollution and I’m ready to enjoy a future with electric.
Fact File
Skoda Enyaq iV60
Engine: Electric
Power: 132kW/179PS
Torque: 310Nm
Top speed: 99mph
0-62mph: 8.4 secs
Range: 256 miles
Transmission: one-speed rear wheel drive
CO2: 0g/km
Price: £34,910.00
