More tips on electric vehicles – from driver to driver

We’ve been talking to London based driver, John. He’s been telling us about his journey to Uber and how driving a Tesla has been a game changer.

From July 2016.

I was working on the motorway for ten years. I was breathing in all of the toxic fumes, day in day out. I’ve got asthma now, it’s something that’s developed since I’ve been doing that job. So I decided I was going to do something different, do something green. And that’s why I bought the car and I went with Tesla.

With Uber I can choose my own hours, it’s quite nice as I’m not that far away from retiring now. I can choose when I want to work, I just go out early in the morning and come back home after the rush hour and go and play golf with my friends, then go out again in the evening.

I think the main reservation other people have if they haven’t driven EVs before is range anxiety. And the secret is to get a car that has a good range, they’re more expensive but you have to look at it. The range on the Tesla is between 270 and 300.

It’s when you’re worried that you haven’t got enough power in your car to see you through your shift. It’s probably the number one priority when a driver is looking at EVs. However, after a month, range anxiety is on the back-burner.

I always charge in my car at home overnight. I use the nighttime tariff, it costs less than 2 pence a mile.

I don’t need to charge during the day. But for comfort’s sake if I haven’t got a passenger and I’m passing a rapid charger, then I’ll take the opportunity for a rapid charge.

Compared to how it charges at home, it’s probably about eight times faster. So I might just sit down for 20 minutes, just to put back in what I’ve used during rush hour in the morning.

You get to learn where your rapid chargers are very quickly. You have mental notes, ‘I know there’s one about a mile away’. There’s also lots of apps you can get on your phone that let you know where the chargers are.

Most people you see on the sidewalk, and they look like they’re thinking ‘have I ordered an executive car when I only wanted an UberX?’. I have to say, ‘relax you’re only being charged UberX’. They absolutely love it.

Obviously! I’ve got a very good rating, it’s very difficult not to give me a high rating when you get a lovely car. I like to make it the best experience they’ve got.

Really good. In an urban environment, you’re not going to get quite as many miles as you would up and down a motorway. But having said that, I have got enough miles in my battery to last the day and that’s the important thing. Because there’s no internal combustion engine, the maintenance costs just don’t exist. You just need to check your tyres and suspension frequently.

How quiet it is, how smooth the ride is and especially how cheap it is to run. A new person wanting to go EV might be frightened by the purchase price but you have to look at the overall cost of ownership. In my case, I will own the car at the end of the finance period. The cost of the finance is less than the money I’m saving by putting petrol or diesel into my car.

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