Planning for EV life

My planning for the arrival of my EV (Electric Vehicle) started about 10 months prior to its arrival - actually, about the time the car was ordered.

Hang on a minute? Planning? What planning?

Well, it turns out, if you want to get the most from going electric, you need to know what you are letting yourself in for and make some plans accordingly. Owning and running an EV is a shift in mindset and behaviour, which some may find easier than others.

Now, it just so happened in my case that I had some idea of what was involved, because I’d been dabbling in relevant forums even prior to this T-minus-10 point (particularly forums about solar power and going off grid).
It also just so happens that my home is all-electric. There is no mains gas where we live and we use heat pumps - so we are used to being all-electric, and on a green tariff. That meant I also had a good idea of what the domestic energy supply landscape looked like, what tariffs were available etc.

But let’s wind back a minute, and talk about some of the basics that are part and parcel of this journey.

• Where to charge: Hopefully you will be able to mainly charge your car at home

  • this is by far the most cost-effective and frictionless way of doing things. If you can buy a car that has a range larger than the number of miles you need on an ordinary day, then this option can work for you. Since many cars now offer 200 or even 300+ miles of range (depending on your budget), this is very achievable for many people.

  • This certainly was the case for me - although historically I was a high mileage driver (business miles) that reduced somewhat prior to the pandemic and even more so during it. Long trips are now mainly confined to family occasions, and 95% of all my trips are under 100 miles, starting from home.

  • So, the first bit of planning is to work out if the EV you want or can afford is suitable for your travel patterns, and preferably biased to charging at home

• Tariffs: Most of us are used to paying a fixed rate for our electricity units (kWh = kilowatt hours) because meter readings are taken at best once per month, and historically way less often. However, the advent of smart meters has changed that landscape, opening up the possibility of tariffs that change every 30 minutes (no kidding).

  • So what’s the point of that? The advantage of variable tarriffs is that energy suppliers can offer incentives (i.e. reduced rates) to use electricity when demand is low and where there may even be a surplus on the grid. This usually means outside peak times and overnight.

  • As a result, a number of suppliers offer “dual rate” tariffs which have low overnight price during a certain time window (e.g. 12.30 - 4.30, or 11.30pm - 5.30am)

  • These tariffs are perfect, indeed often designed for, charging EVs overnight at cheap rate. Remember that EVs use a lot of electric: a 77kWh car consumes (obviously) 77kWh energy to charge from 0 - 100%. For some people this might be equivalent to a fornight’s or even a month’s total normal electric usage. Therefore cheap overnight tariffs are massively beneficial financially.

  • Octopus Energy, at the time of writing, are leaders in this space. They even have a tariff system which can remote control the charging on your car, so that they can allocate the cheapest time slot to you!

  • If you have solar and/or a domestic battery, the landscape looks even better for you, with the potential to fill your car for nothing, nada, zero, purely on solar energy!

    • An alternative to having your own solar panels, might be ownership in a solar cooperative, such as Ripple. While this won’t give you free solar power, it will still provide you with discount based on how much solar your share generates.

• Smart Meters: the world of variable tariffs is opened up by, and only by, having a smart meter.

  • A UK smart meter records and send your usage data in half-hour time windows. Thus, not only can you track your usage with great accuracy over the course of a day, but your supplier can bill you differently during those time slots.

  • Part of my planning was to get a smart meter installed. I did this before doing anything about changing suppliers. Actually, originally I had been with Pureplanet, who went bust during the “Energy Crisis” in 2022, and I was moved by default to Shell Energy. So, as soon as I had ordered my car, I requested a smart meter.

  • It was fitted in about 6 weeks, and I had no idea if it would actually work. We live in rural Scotland and I’d heard stories around the village that they were “bricks” (not able to communicate). As it happened, it took about 2 weeks to fully come online, but it did indeed work. (It’s also stopped reporting data for 2 months which caused me great concern, but it started working again - touch wood).

  • With the smart meter up and running, I knew I was then free to start looking at new energy suppliers with good EV tariffs.

    • There was no real advantage in switching straight away, as over winter 2022, UK tariffs were “capped” by the government and basically the same everywhere; and also suppliers weren’t necessarily allowing switching. This was not a problem - good planning meant I had 10 months to go.

    • In the end, I actually switched to Octopus about a week after I took delivery of the car, and the process was really quick and simple, taking 2 days. After all my readings had stabilised (another couple of days), I switched to their Octopus GO tariff, which offers 4 hours of cheap rate (about 1/3rd the unit price) overnight, specifically for charging EV’s. (Again, this was easy and all done online)

    • This has been a brilliant tariff, which you’ll see when I talk about costs.

• Home charger: charging your car is easy, but it seems very complicated to begin with. For a start there are all these different numbers and units (kW and kWh), then AC and DC charging, then slow, fast, ultra fast, rapid charging, and so on. Let’s keep it simple and talk about home charging.

  • You can charge you car from a regular mains socket on what’s called a “portable charger” or “granny cable”. It has some built-in electronics, but basically, you plug it into your wall socket, plug the other end into you car, and it charges using 230V AC mains supply.

    • But it’s slow. The “granny cable” will deliver a peak of about 2.5kW (kilowatts) which is equivalent to 10A (amps) at 250V (volts). This is in the same ball park power-wise as running a kettle.

    • if you have a car with 50kWh battery (e.g. a Corsa-e) and charge from 0% at 2.5kW rate, then it will take 20 hours to fill the car. (Actually, it may take a bit longer if the car battery management system slows the charging down at certain points to protect the battery lifetime).

    • 20 hours is obviously longer than “overnight”, so unless you are really only doing a local miles each day, it can be an unsuitable solution, but good as a backup.

  • This is where a home charger comes in. This is an AC charger that attaches to your wall, is connected more directly to your electricity supply in the home (i.e. direct into your consumer unit), and charges at up to 7kW rate.

    • this is almost 3 times the rate of the “granny charger” so offers a significant speed reduction in charging. In a 4-hour window, for example, you can add 4x7 = 28kWh to your car, which for a 50kWh Corsa-e is over half a “tank” (battery).

      • At the time of writing, my tariff for this 4-hour window is 9.5p per kWh, so 28kWh costs 28x9.5 = £2.66. That 28kWh will give the car about 112 miles range, which works out at a cost of 2.4 pence per mile.

    • There is a large choice of home chargers and many installers, and another part of the planning is researching what is suitable for your needs and getting quotes to compare.

    • UK legislation has advocated that all new home chargers be “smart” meaning they have remote-control type capability and app connectivity. So, in actual fact, there is quite a high level of base functionality across all chargers, which may make choosing one a little less agonising.

    • The smartest chargers (such as OHME) can actually integrate with Octopus so they can remotely start and stop charging and give the most advantageous overnight costs, but you may not need these level of sophistication, or even if you do, your car itself may also integrate regardless of the charger.

    • In the end I went for a Vchrged charger, which looks neat, is simple to operate, and has an app with security features and the ability to schedule charges - that’s all we need

    • You will also have to think about whether you want a Tethered (comes with a cable built in) or Untethered charger (comes with a socket to use your own cable). There are pros and cons of each:

      • Tethered means you never have to think of the cable at home, but also means you have (usually) 5m of cable to stow on your wall. Also, you will need to commit to a connector type, and although these are more-or-less now standardised on “CCS” in Europe, some older/specific cars might not be able to connect to your charger. There’s also the possibility with a tethered charger that someone could try and charge their car, because the cable is already there.

      • Note that your car almost certainly will come with a suitable cable for AC and DC charging, so you will be able to use that cable if you have an untethered charger. This is the option we went for.

  • It’s useful to have your charger installed before you car arrives, but not essential if you have a “granny cable” and/or access to nearby public chargers. But it also makes sense not to go too long without it, as it will make charging very easy and quicker.

• Public Charging: this is something you may not need much of, but it pays to be aware of your options. Public charging is supported by a plethora of different suppliers, all in different locations, with different prices, and different charging machines. Frankly, to the beginner, it looks like a complex and unholy mess (and to some extent, it is).

  • It’s worth checking whether your car manufacturer offers any charging plans. This may bring together a network of charge providers, and even offer a discount rate. Kia, for example, offer “Kia Charge” which does exactly that.

  • So too, your electricity supplier might do something similar. Octopus offer, for example, Electroverse - a card which allows you to charge on a number of different networks, gives a small discount, and adds all the charges to your monthly electricity bill.

• Get to know your car: sounds odd if you haven’t got your car yet, but I joined the relevant online forums ( https://www.kiaevforums.com/ ) and started to soak up everything there was to know about the car, from hidden features, to things that rattle and issues to watch out for (Such as 12V battery going flat). By the time I came to do the paperwork for my car at the dealership, they admitted I was way more knowledgeable about the car than they were!

  • Yes, there are lots of things to know about an EV to get the best out of it, such as maximising range, optimising your battery lifetime, how to drive on “Regen” (braking regeneration) and much more.

  • Who knew that EVs have a 12V battery to power all the infotainment and other standard systems? And that if this battery goes flat, you can’t start the car? But you can jump start it like a regular car!

  • I also watched lots of videos about the car and EVs, such as how to charge them and experiences of doing so, what the range tests showed, and so on.

• Apps: the forums also taught me a lot about the apps that are going to smooth EV ownership. Aside from the apps that allow you to pay for, and get discounts, on charging (usually issued by the a particular charging network), there are apps for finding chargers and route planning with them.

  • Indeed, apps such as ABRP (a better route planner) will take account of your car’s stated range and battery performance, and plan trips for you based on how much charge you want to leave and arrive with, and how often you want to stop. Not only is this practically essential (at least in the early days of getting to know your car and routes), moreover, with a suitable ODB2 dongle plugged into your car, it will adjust your route real-time based on current battery and usage.

    • your car may actually have this facility built in too - an update on the Kia EV6 did provide this capability, but I don’t really like the display.

  • In Scotland, Chargeplacescotland is the a key network across the country especially in rural areas.

• All the usual car stuff: Don’t forget all the usual car stuff too, such as insurance quotes, private number plates, part-exchange, loans and finance, and even whether you will get your car protected with wrap, PPF (pain protection film) or Ceramic coating.

  • AT THE TIME OF WRITING (2023) in the UK the VED (Vehicle Excise Duty aka Road Tax) is £0 per annum due to an exemption, BUT you must actually have the car registered for VED at the zero rate, rather than simply not register it. A competent car dealer will handle this for you.

  • Note, however, the UK Government have declared that from 2025, EVs will pay VED, including the “expensive car” supplement.

So, - PHEW - once you’ve got all that lined up, you’re ready to sit back and await the great day of the arrival of your electric car!

ready to exchange our old car for the new one!

The dawn of a new EV-era

On 8th July 2023 my life changed forever.

That sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? Actually, there’s some truth in it: After 10 months of waiting I took ownership of my new/first BEV - Battery Electric Vehicle. And thus, for me, like many before me, personal travel has entered a new chapter.

My vehicle of choice is the 2023 Kia EV6 GT, World Performance car 2023, quite capable of holding its own against its fair share of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Teslas, at a price that looks like pocket change in comparison.

I’m going to blog here about my experiences so that others may benefit from my learnings. Whether BEVs in their current form are the saviour of personal travel in a World tackling climate change remains to be seen (unlikely), but they are certainly an important stepping stone in the here-and-now. The next iteration of BEVs will have super-long range and fast charging times, and before too long we may have hydrogen cars available. Who knows; but we certainly live in interesting times.

This moment has been 10 months in the planning and waiting, although some years of agonising before that. As my ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car continued to age during the COVID pandemic, I was left wondering “what next”? Knowing that ICE sales are (at the time of writing) forbidden in the UK beyond 2030, it seemed like either I buy my last-ever ICE, or make the leap now.

The lauch of the Ioniq 5 piqued my interest and it became top of my maybe-list, threatening to break my 17-year love affair with fast Skodas. It was the launch of the Kia EV6 (Kia is actually part of Hyundai group) that sealed the deal - at least in my head: here was a car that, like Skoda, was quick, practical, multi-function, and actually really good looking. If ever a car was going to tempt an anxious ICE driver into the world of range anxiety, this was it.

Finally, it was the high performance GT version that tipped the balance and won my heart: here was a vehicle capable of 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, yet also capable of carrying rear passengers in cavernous comfort and bikes on the back. In short, not unlike the skoda but twice the horsepower (and a lot less range)

And here it is, affectionately nicknamed The Stormtrooper.

How does the Kia EV6 GT compare to other cars in its class?

The Kia EV6 GT is a fully electric crossover SUV that is designed to compete with other cars in its class, such as the Tesla Model Y, Audi e-tron, and Mercedes-Benz EQC. Some key features of the Kia EV6 GT include:

1. Performance: The EV6 GT is powered by a dual electric motor setup that delivers a total of 577 horsepower and 740 pound-feet of torque, making it one of the most powerful EVs in its class. It also has a range of up to 300 miles on a single charge.

2. Design: The EV6 GT has a sleek and sporty design, with a sloping roofline and distinctive LED headlights and taillights. It also has a spacious and luxurious interior, with high-quality materials and advanced technology features.

3. Handling: The EV6 GT has a suspension system that has been specifically tuned for electric vehicles, which helps to deliver a smooth and responsive ride. It also has a low center of gravity and a well-balanced weight distribution, which helps to improve handling and stability.

4. Safety: The EV6 GT has a range of advanced safety features, including autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist, and a 360-degree camera system. It also has a strong and rigid body structure that helps to protect occupants in the event of a collision.

Overall, the Kia EV6 GT is a highly competitive car in its class, offering a combination of performance, design, handling, and safety that sets it apart from other electric crossover SUVs.

This is Chad Varah crossing the border (WH Auden's Night Mail updated)

Virgin Trains have well and truly touched our lives. When we had our son we knew we wanted to raise him closer to family in Scotland and it meant moving from the South East of England. The Virgin service on the West Coast Main Line was instrumental in enabling us to make that move while I continued to work remotely out of an HQ in London.

An amazing gift from Virgin Trains

Little did we know that our son would become so utterly devoted to the trains that made that upbringing possible. Virgin Trains gave him an incredible gift: the gift of inspiration and on 30th Nov 2019 they added to that gift with something quite amazing. (see here).

I thought that as a way to remember Virgin Train’s contribution to the West Coast Main Line, and to my son, I would attempt a a rewrite of W H Auden’s famous poem “Night Mail”.

It’s a wonderful, rhythmic poem that captures the essence of the Royal Mail train rushing North through the night to Glasgow. Over and above that it has a poignancy for us because it is essentially “local”.

This is the Night Mail crossing the Border, 
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,

Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, 
The shop at the corner, the girl next door.

Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient's against her, but she's on time.

And so it goes on…

Of course, those were the days of steam. In contrast, the staple express of the modern WCML has been the class 390 Virgin Pendolino.

I wanted the poem to be clearly “Virgin Pendolino” and to include a smattering of Pendolino names, since this is what’s really brought the trains alive for my son and indeed is at the heart of recent events.

So, without further ado:

---

Pendolino

This is Chad Varah crossing the Border, 
Passengers happy, all is in order. 
"Welcome to Virgin!" says a voice in the sky,  
"Sit back, relax, this Scouseman can fly."   
Travelling for business, travelling for fun, 
Adventure with grandad, home to see Mum. 

 The shop’s in coach C for nibbles and snacks, 
Mustn’t get hungry while riding the tracks.  
Powering up Beattock, the motors are whirring, 
Past windmills and forest, the countryside’s stirring.  

“Rethink Mental Illness” or true “Virgin Glory”, 
Each one of these locos can tell their own story. 

Tunefully humming as she passes, 
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses,
Birds turn their heads as she approaches,  
Stare from bushes at her sleek streamlined  coaches. 
A farmhouse tilts by, where no one wakes,  
But a jug in a bedroom gently shakes.   

Dawn is behind us, in pours the sun, 
She descends towards Glasgow at over a ton. 
Scotland awaits her, there’s business to do, 
A Treaty of Union from City of Crewe.  

Edan always had a soft spot for Chad Varah (founder of the Samaritans)

People from England, those from afar, 
People asleep in the quiet zone car,  
Lego is scattered across the table, 
Passengers visiting aunty Mable. 
Travelling to weddings with invitations,  
To meet the team or visit relations,  
Interview prep for job applications,  
Off to the wilds to explore new sensations,  
Gossip and chatter from all the nations, 
Twitter and Facebook and all the views, 
The onboard Wi-fi delivering the news. 
Travelling to uncles and cousins and aunts, 
Heading to Scotland from somewhere in France.  
Sadness for some with lost ones to bear,  
Not sure what to say when the train gets there. 
The chatty, the catty, the boring, the snoring,  
The mobile phone guy and his heart’s outpouring,   
Tapping of laptops and tablets and phones,  
A palmful of pixels that everyone owns.  

Let’s Bee Together this memorable day 
Through mountains and cities, speeding our way. 

“To Scotland!” We say, “that’s where we’re going!” 
On Charles Rennie Mac with red silk a-flowing 

It’s better by train, we’d rather not drive, 
But what shall await us when we arrive?  
The hustle and bustle, the city’s heart beating,  
A handshake, a hug, a warm tender greeting.  

This journey is over, heads held with Pride. 
Passengers happy, thanks for the ride. 

(c) Nik Sargent 2019

A saga with Virgin Trains Mobile e-tickets

I've often considered myself an early adopter, but being of the nervous disposition I am in fact wary of things like e-tickets because no technology is perfect. Typically I like to have a paper backup of such things, just in case.

So, this also applied when I recently booked the whole family on return Virgin West Coast tickets from Scotland to London. I hesitantly ordered my tickets to be delivered to my mobile phone because I have been let down by the post before, and we have no self-service machine at our local station. (Sure, I can use the one at the main station on the day, which is 20 miles away, but I always feel it's a bit too late to find out something is wrong just before your train; I like to have these things in my hand in advance).

The thing is, Virgin seem to have changed their delivery of e-tickets and their app a few times lately. There was a time when you could download them into your iPhone wallet and display them on your lock-screen, which was ultra handy. And once they were on the phone, they were on the phone (or so it seemed anyway). I had very little issue with this system other than the risk of my phone conking out.

Now, however, tickets are accessed through the Virgin mobile app. The process seems similar: you "download" tickets, then on the day "activate" them. Well, our outward journey was fine, but it started to go wrong on the return journey.

We were sitting in Euston and about an hour before the journey I went into the app and made sure the tickets were "downloaded". All good. I then activated them, to make sure I had everything ready to present. Again, all good.

30 minutes before the journey I checked my phone again, checked the tickets were ok, and explained to my fellow-travellers that we'd have to show them at the platform entrance. All good.

Where did my tickets go?

About 20 minutes before the departure of the train we got the text notification to proceed to concourse. So, down we went.

I told you I was the nervous type, so I checked the tickets again. This time not good. I had been logged out of the app, and was presenting with a login screen. I tried to login with my regular details and it was rejected. Panic started to set in.

Now, I should also add that the week before when I booked the tickets, Virgin had taken it upon themselves to forcibly reject my existing password as not meeting their "new requirements" and so I had changed password. I started to wonder whether I was making a mistake or if it was them. Either way, whatever I tried, I was not getting in: I could not display my tickets.

I raced to the virgin ticket area to seek assistance - massive queues; one member of staff out front assisting and busy with two people ahead of me. Anyway, politely I waited while my blood pressure doubled, and eventually explained the predicament to him.

Now, I had taken what reasonable and available "backup" precautions I could, in the sense i had screen shots of my booking, the reference number etc. I asked would this be sufficient to at least get on the train and then try and sort the problem? He said no - the best he could offer was go over to the corner where there's a phone to virgin central command and see if they can do something like change your train!

A flash of inspiration

By now I was proper panicking, and was trying to do a password reset.

THEN, suddenly, I just had a light-bulb moment. Was this the internet? I realised my phone was showing a public WiFi connection but I'd not been asked to log in. I killed the WiFi, dropped back to 4G, and fired up the app again. I re-entered my login details and -boom- lo and behold I was back in my account.

However, my tickets were not in the app, despite previously having been "downloaded"! I "downloaded" them again, which thankfully worked, and was then able to activate them, before dragging my family at breakneck speed to the platform. We were back up and running.

This was a terrible experience on many counts: poor process design, poor user experience [failing a login attempt because of no internet connection but reporting just a login failure; loss of already "downloaded" tickets for example], poor customer service. It may have expanded my child’s vocabulary somewhat, but it didn’t do my cardiac system any good.

I had a quick look at the Virgin FAQ on e-tickets, and it says this:

Q: What happens if I run out of battery?

A: Ensure your mobile is charged, if you are unable to display your mobile ticket, you'll need to buy a new ticket at the full fare.

In other words: "no-show, no go.."

Obviously anyone reading that FAQ ought to realise that it would include any reason for failure to display the ticket; but what it doesn’t say is that mobile app appears to rely on an internet connection to display tickets. Had I known this at the outset this whole saga could have been avoided. Although, it does then beg the question, if the tickets are "downloaded" and "activated" why is an internet connection required at all after that point?

I suspect the answer is the tickets actually only live on the virgin server, and unless you can display that, you are stuffed.

back to good old paper

Suffice to say, I won't be using this system any time soon again in future unless I really have no option or Virgin introduce some kind of mitigation for device or connectivity failure. And if I do end up having to use the app again in future, at least I will take screenshots of all the tickets and bar-codes from inside the app in advance.

You have been warned.

When is a holiday not a holiday?

We've now returned from our Scottish holiday, taking in 5 days of the Edinburgh Fringe and a trip to the Highlands. It's been a wonderful time away, my nails have grown substantially, and despite the food and whisky I only seem to have put on a pound in weight. 

Like many "holidays" it turned out to be rather busy and many of the things I thought I would do in my downtime (a lot of writing, for example) just didn't get done. 

Here's a run down of some of the things we got up to:

• We saw about a dozen shows, not including the freebies and impromptu acts in streets and bars. This included big names such as Rich Hall, Sarah Millican, Ed Byrne and Dave Gorman (who was brilliant) as well as less well-known acts such as James Acaster and Andrew Lawrence (also exceptional); of course, not forgetting our favourite magicians Barry and Stuart. 
• We frequented The Whiski Rooms - a wonderful bar, bistro and whisky shop, providing exceptional food and great live Scottish Music. 
• We woke up at 5.45am on our first day thanks to Veolia coming to empty the bins at the travelodge. Well done folks. 
• We walked between 20 and 30 miles over the week, as tracked by DeviceLocator and Google Latitude on my iPhone. That helped keep the weight down.
• We avoided blisters by wearing state of the art Rohan footwear. 
• We fed a Squirrel in Princes Street gardens and watched it burying his food. 
• We discovered bumblebees going nuts over Oregano and Marjoram. 
• We drove 1200 miles. 
• We had a spa day at Bannatynes in Edinburgh to try and recover. It really helped!
• I processed a few photos while on the move, but most still have to be done :) 
• We did some "baby sitting" with my niece Chloe, who was wonderful entertainment. 
• We gave an impromptu talk about bumblebees to a nursery of twelve 3 and 4 year olds. We managed to succesfully keep them entertained for an hour and got a wonderful thankyou card made by them all.
• We did a circular tour round the back of Loch Ness to soak up the scenery and make the best of a window in the weather. 
• I had a meeting with Cafe Beag who agreed to display and sell my scottish photos
• Roy Bridge post office also agreed to stock and sell my photos
• I had a very interesting and productive meeting with Me On My Wall canvas company who have agreed to licensing some of my images for their Highland Collection of canvases. This is a really exciting complement to my Scottish prints, which will see them on display in some prime locations.  

Here's a mock of up what's coming:

example canvas

Not a moment was wasted - my last meeting took me to within 15 minutes of my planned leaving time for the journey home and I still had to pack! Most of my photo processing, blogging and writing all had to go on the back burner and  didn't get done. But as you can see, it was a very productive and busy time nonetheless, and I was really delighted to be making progress with getting the photography "out there". All part of the long term Scottish plan. 

Please forgive me - it's fossil fuel...

This household is about to buy a new car, a supermini, and it won't be electric and it won't be a hybrid.

Before you yell, no-one is sadder about this than me.

As an early adopter and general planet-hugger, I already switched to a diesel car with double the MPG (and diesel particulate filter) a few years ago. So, the prospect of a car that is cleaner still and costs about 90% less per mile is a very tantalising idea. [By the way, I won't even enter a debate on the stats and benefits of electric - if you want a decent argument on the topic, follow Bobby Llewelyn on twitter or read his blog - he knows his stuff.] 

So, firstly, the car is not for me, but my better half; so ultimately it's her decision and has to fit her needs. I will only drive it occasionally. (Unless, perhaps, she was getting a car that was faster than mine, in which case I might hanker after it all the time :-) But she's not.)

Secondly, electric cars currently just don't suit our needs. A lot of criticism comes the way of the current breed of electric cars, most centred around range, which is typically 100 - 140 miles on a charge. For many, many people who are based in towns and doing lots of short trips and school runs, this type of vehicle would surely meet their needs. However, it just so happens that our life doesn't follow that pattern - in fact we both have long distance journeys to do as our main journeys (so not only can we not share one car, but we need two). Turns out those journeys are beyond the distance of the average electric range and we also don't have the necessary charging means at the other end. I think an electric car would be brilliant to have - but we need a simpler life. (I reckon that's true regardless.)

So, much as I believe that electric cars represent a realistic future and can deliver some cracking performance, the current range limitation rules them out of our driving pattern for the time-being. Next time round might be a possibility though.

Now, what would be a good alternative for our lifestyle is a hybrid car, which combines fossil fuel and electric power to deliver more MPG and extended range when there is no battery power. Volvo, for example, have just announced an S60 saloon than can deliver about 125mpg and drive 1000 miles on a tank. Awesome. Truly Awesome.

The issue with this breed of cars basically comes down to cost and choice. There are not that many models available at the moment and they are also beyond our current target budget (and form factor) of a super-mini. I can pretty much guarantee that if Skoda produced a hybrid Fabia at Skoda prices, it would be a no-brainer purchase.

But they don't. No-one does. 

So, that leaves us going for a conventional fossil burner. Another requirement is to have an automatic, which also limits the choice and price - and in the end the best all-round value vehicle we have found is the Skoda Fabia with 7 Speed DSG auto box (a beautiful piece of equipment in its own right, complete with "flappy paddles" as the girls on Top Gear would say). Better still, the auto is actually more economical than the equivalent manual! I am confident it will be a smooth and economical drive, as I have the 6 speed DSG on my Octavia and it's nothing short of fantastic. These cars must be popular as the waiting list is currently 4 - 5 months.

Once again, it will be a step change in economy and lower emissions compared to the car it is replacing - so it's all in the right direction. I hope you feel forgiving. 

How to suck a mattress down to size

AN UPDATED NOTE: quite a few readers have contacted via the comments with questions about their own situation - will it work with this mattress so-and-so? Am I doing it right?  Why can't I get my back to shrink?  etc. etc. PLEASE NOTE - if you want to ask a question, please contact me via the contact form rather than post a comment, as these go unseen, and there is no way for me to reply to them. 

This article was written for memory foam mattresses. If you are trying it with a sprung mattress, I suspect it won't work. (But it does work with a futon! ) If you want to buy the items used, just try eBay. I did!

---

I recently had the challenge of transporting a king size memory foam mattress. The choices seemed to be hire a van (or removal company) or somehow ram it into the Skoda Octavia in the hope it would bend and fit. I wasn’t over-keen on that option as it would mean leaving little room for anything else in the car.

Rewind and little, and the mattress originally came rolled up in a vacuum packed bag and box (which expanded with great amusement when sliced open). Could I therefore repeat this feat of wizardy and reverse the great unfolding? Well, I do like a challenge, especially when science is on my side.

I was inspired by those “vac pac” bags you can get that: you suck the air from a sealed polythene bag with your favourite dysonomatic and compress the contents down to an n-th their size. Seemed like a perfect solution but it didn’t take long scouring the internet to discover vac-pacs don’t come in that size (and if they did, they would cost a pretty penny).

So I figured I could make one. I ordered a king size mattress polythene bag, as used by removal companies for protection. That only cost a couple of pounds. Then I ordered a small vac-pac bag off eBay, which also costs under 2 pounds.

I wrapped the mattress in the large bag and sealed with gaffer & parcel tape. I cut out the valve from the vac pac and taped it to the inside of the large bag and sliced a hole to bring the valve through; and again, taped it up as airtight as I could. (see picture)

Then, with the help of my able assistant, we attached a vacuum cleaner and began sucking the air from the mattress bag. It compressed beautifully. We kept going (somewhat startled by how effective it was) until the mattress was thin enough to start rolling; stopping every once in a while to listen for leaks (very obvious hissing!) and sealing them with parcel tape. Then I rolled the mattress and stood it on end. The bag was still a bit leaky so we continued vacuuming while I wrapped it in tape to keep the roll shape intact.

It worked a treat, you can see the mattress loaded in the car and also 24 hours later when it was unpacked, still pretty much roll shaped! Gotta be one of the best 4 quid I have spent!

Driving routes from England to Scotland (Cambridge to Inverness)

I'm often asked about driving to Scotland - since I do the journey myself pretty often. There are fewer main roads in Scotland which simplifies the choices, but there are still options for distance versus scenery. My main recommendations are presented below, based on a journey from Cambridge to Inverness - which raises the question: do I go East or West?

Option 1: Head West

The most scenic route in my opinion (for the scottish part) is the west - through GLENCOE- i.e. A82... 

My recommended way to take that from is:  (524 miles)

A1 north -> A66 at scotch corner to cut west -> M6/M74 north -> M8 round glasgow -> Erskine bridge -> (A82) Glencoe -> Fort William -> Inverness

Route Map

At the scottish end this is the more interesting route as it goes through Glencoe and past Loch Ness. The English end is basically just motoroway.

Option 2: A9 East Scotland

The M6 is the main motorway up the west of the country - and surprisingly it costs very little in extra miles to cut across to the west then back again. 

Via M6 / A9 (510 Miles)

Route Map

Google suggests this route - which is basically simplest, but also arguably most boring.. The English and lowland Scotland stretch is the same as option 1, but then it takes the A9 (i.e. the eastern side of the highlands) up to Inverness, so is more direct... saves about 15 miles - (amazingly you'd think it would be a lot more.. )

Option 3: Stay entirely East

499 miles

The natural inclination might be to stay East for the whole journey and head towards Edinburgh. Instead of doing that all the way up the A1, it is shorter and quicker and more scenic to cut across country from Newcastle. You CAN go through Northumberland National park which is a very scenic, but quite twisty route... so I tend to skirt round the edge on this route through COLDSTREAM:

Route Map

As you can see - this misses out Glencoe on the west and uses the A9 - i.e. stays East for the whole journey. Consequently it is the shortest route, but still by less than 30 miles...   this is the route I would take if pressed for time and wanting "just to get there" without being too bothered about scenery..

Option 4: The tourist route

535 miles

This is option is if you really want to go past Edinburgh and also do the scenic route through glencoe...  so overall, it probably is THE most scenic route..

This is longest - but picks up Edinburgh, Glencoe and Loch Ness

Route Map

As you can see, timewise and distance wise there is not a whole load in it..

[photos: Nik Sargent]

Driving Tips for Freshers

For students starting university this term, the last thing on their mind is probably driver safety.

But the roads before Fresher’s Week are increasingly filled with students moving their worldly possessions across the country - usually in heavily-laden, small, second-hand cars, raising a number of potential risks; fatigue, view blocking and driving on unfamiliar roads.

The IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) has a few tips for those travelling to university this week on how to load all their clothes, books, stereos, TV’s and food, and allow students to kick-start their uni life safely.

• Make sure belongings are securely packed - bear in mind, drivers can face prosecution for travelling with an ‘unsecure load’. More importantly, loose objects can be distracting and if the driver needs to brake sharply, unsecured items could fly forward and hit those sitting in front.
• Loading a car until it’s ready to burst can obstruct the already dangerous ‘blind spot’ view further, making the driver more vulnerable when changing lanes. Loads should be made as small as possible and positioned for a clear view. Students should take essentials on the first trip and ask family to bring more when they visit.
• A long drive can lead to fatigue, so drivers should get plenty of rest beforehand. For the journey, comfortable, loose clothing should be worn, the driving seat should be adjusted to a safe upright position and the heating/air-conditioning set to a cool – not cold – temperature, regular breaks should be taken at least every two hours and driving at night should be avoided.
• Having a full car will use more fuel; keep an eye on the fuel level to ensure it doesn’t run out.
• Check tyre pressures before setting off. Tyres on a full and heavy car usually require higher pressure. The right pressures prevent unnecessary wear, excess fuel consumption and potentially dangerous blow outs.
• Finally, driving on unfamiliar roads can be unnerving. Sat navs can help and enable the driver to re-route quickly and relatively easily, however, they can be expensive so it is best to plan the journey before hitting the road. 

University life is fantastic; students should make sure theirs isn’t postponed by keeping their car safely loaded while driving there.

[source IAM]