It feels these days that everything I do is bad for me and I have to give up everything. Even using a credit card is bad, why, because it’s made of Plastic, let alone all the containers I use in the morning, meaning it’s now ok for me not to brush my teeth or wash my hair again. I now need an app to see what foods I am allowed to eat according to some very smart food person who munches on salad daily . Then I have the activists in my village who just despise anything petrol and some of those parents on the school run, who drive an electric car and give that look at you as you are getting out of one of your V8s or a giant range rover. The look I am now going to call EV smug and I imagine they are saying under their breath,“yeah I am saving the world and you are a bad bad person David”
Enter the Kia E Niro into my life for a week. Forget saving the planet, much more selfish is that EV’s , are really good for your health and well being. I have never exercised or read books so much in the past week than I have this past week. When Kia delivered the car to my wife, the nice delivery chap jokingly said it will probably take 2 days to charge from a normal house plug. He wasn’t kidding.
So as this is the first Electric vehicle we have tried at home, we don’t have a charger at the house. Enter, Deddington Windmill center our local community hall that has two chargers. Day 1, I found myself using the charger, sitting on a bench in the field and reading a book about motivation.. The output of this book was I felt great, EV smug and decided I was long overdue to start learning Mandarin. Day 2 followed with the same charger and going for a 10k run. The list went on.
Then we get to the actual Kia itself. I wanted to dislike it when it turned up. Kias are for people who want 7 years, 100k warranties, and probably don’t care about cars. The little Kia has a knack of looking like a baby whale from the front and everyone loves a baby whale. It has the knack of growing on you as well in a really annoying way. Inside I expected it to be ok but inside it’s functional but not a bad place to be. Leather steering wheel gives the car a feel that it’s not just an electric hatchback. The seats are comfortable and nicely finished, the media system is very good. Then there is the fact when the car wakes up, you get a little happy ping and suddenly your day is good.
Then you drive it, I initially thought the car was pulling to the side when I realized the lane assist is quite effective. It has a lot of torque, just try going up a steep hill where some cars struggle and the little Kia tries to pull your head off. Then there are the brakes, honestly on the back roads, not only did it handle great but you can hit those brakes very late. The entertainment value of having an annoying Ford Fiesta ST3 driver behind you until you fly off in the Kia is very amusing. In fact during the seven days I jumped back into my wifes Audi and was getting annoyed that it wouldnt deliver power straight away like a Electric Kia does.
Drive around the village and little whale makes a Bladerunner type whirl, out on open roads, there is some road noise, but who cares, because I am too busy listening to the built-in rainforest sounds from the media unit. However if you have never driven a electric car you will soon realise that squirrels cannot hear you when they are in the middle of the road and nor can most human beings who wander around car parks looking at their phone.
The little whale has space too. I had two car seats in the back for the girls, who out of all the cars I own, fell for the little Kia. It has a boot you can use, even put a small dog in. Certainly will fit a stroller in the back.
And maybe people who like Electric Kias are smart. Let’s face it, not much to go wrong with most electric cars. You can get 250miles for £13 or there abouts. That is just crazy and all at the same time you can feel like you are doing your bit for the planet and get healthy and impress people in your pub with your chinese speaking.
And yes it charges at the pace of a snail, but I don’t care. Because in the 7 days of the Kia being in our household, I have read two books, eat a lot more fruit than usual, ran 100k, felt EV smug at times, and as a good friend said to me, “it just converted a massive petrol head that you are mate”.
David Murray-Hundley
Advisor to FleetEV / “The Grumpy Entrepreneur”
www.the grumpyentrepreneur.com