EVs for Hire: DriveEasy

Terry and his Renault Zoe Dynamique Zen

Our friend Terry Thompson, mentioned in our last post, owns three Renault Zoes and a Renault Kangoo Maxi van.

This might look like greed but in fact there is a sensible purpose to all this electric vehiclery: Terry is running an EV rental business. Drivers aged 25 and over can take out a Zoe or Kangoo on a daily or weekly basis through Terry’s business, DriveEasy. The cars are kept in Roper Yard, close to Canterbury West Station where Terry also has a 32A charge point. He attracts custom from the nearby University of Kent, which restricts the number of cars that may be kept on its premises, as well as from the wider Canterbury district. The Kangoo, also electric, is perfect for deliveries and house moves.

Aircon in winter

We had been puzzling over the heating in our Zoe. It seemed erratic, often taking ages to come on when it chose to do so at all.

We would try to solve it while speeding to our destination – not while actually driving of course, but the passenger would press every button, try every combination to squeeze some heat out of the system, all the while putting up with cold air being blown at us. It would eventually come to life, as though reluctantly, and we’d have a few minutes’ warmth before arriving.

We wondered if the problem was a malfunction, a loose connection, or some other secret to which we weren’t privy.

Pushing the limits of a charge

Zero on the dashboard as we begin charging at Clacket Lane

Ownership of an electric vehicle opens up a whole alternative way of life. Unconverted petrol heads anxiously explain why they would never undertake a long journey with an electric car, while happy EV owners tell us they would do exactly that, planning in the charge stops with a coffee here and a lunch there.

And of course the best place to meet fellow enthusiasts is at a public charge point, which functions a bit like the office water cooler: a place to gossip and exchange the news.

Shopping with the Renault Zoe

In the days before the Zoe, a shopping trip went like this: drive to the supermarket, load up, leave.

What we do now is this: drive to the leisure centre, negotiate a parking space near the charge point, connect the car, don a rucksack and walk to the supermarket….

I’ve got the Z E blues

We’ve got used to the clean white car on the drive, the smooth journeys to local destinations, the occasional comment from a savvy passerby. We love returning to our drive and seeing the blue light on the new charge point winking comfortingly as we glide into position by the house.

Well there’s a thing: that light really is blue. When we plug in our Zoe, and after it has conducted a few tests and begun to charge, the light turns green. When the charge is over and we disconnect, it goes back to blue.

This may explain some confusion

Ecotricity EV chargers get the thumbs down

Perhaps we were being too ambitious with the Zoe. We made a long journey last Friday expecting to be able to charge on the motorway, and only just made it to our destination and then home again, no thanks to Ecotricity.

Ecotricity, a company providing sustainably produced electricity, have installed EV charge points at major motorway service stations. Although they claim to make no money on their “Electric Highway”, they have had the vision to provide motorway charge points in our part of the UK, and at the moment at least, they are ostensibly providing a service to the EV-using public.

Based on information supplied on their website, we thought it would be reasonable to rely on their charge points for a journey to Surrey with the Zoe, to walk the dog near Godstone and then visit friends in New Malden. The plan was to charge at the Cobham services on the way up and at the Clacket Lane services on the way home (both on the M25). Ecotricity’s website does not give live information on the status of charge points. You have to phone, so just before setting out, we duly did.

The home EV charger arrives

Little Green Energy Company van

We are now fully independent EV drivers with our own home charger. Our Rolec Wallpod was installed yesterday by Rolec’s local installer, the Little Green Energy Company based in Marden, Kent.

We chose Rolec because they are still (as I write) installing for free, even though British Gas, who are normally recommended by Renault and also used to do it for free, now charge £115. Even this price is heavily subsidised by the government; I believe the actual cost is ten times that much.

Tomorrow is the big day

Tomorrow we pick up the car and we are already arguing about who will dive it. Maidstone, where the garage is, is on a bus route from our house but the buses run every two hours, and our appointment falls smack at the wrong time. Our choices are: arrive an hour early, arrive an hour late, or travel in two cars. Since we have chosen the latter, only one of us will have the privilege of driving home in the Renault Zoe.

That said, there was a last-minute panic today when our salesman rang to say an ominous light had come on and the car need to be checked over. Could we put off picking it up for a few days?

No U-turns now with our Renault Zoe

Another step on the way to ownership of the Renault Zoe: we signed the battery lease today. The car will be ours but the batteries won’t – they will continue to be owned by Renault Credit International (RCI) while we lease them for £70 per month (this figure changes with mileage). The document signed today passes the lease from Renault in Maidstone to us, and if we sell the car, we will have to transfer the lease to the new owner in the same manner.