I didnt realise locations were divided between 'Aberystwyth' and 'The rest of the world' 😂 Thanks Ian 😊

Great video Ian! You’ll always get people moaning about EV’s but it’s nice to see you’re adding that element to the channel so people who are looking to buy one have an honest review

Your road test accurately reflects my experiences of EV ownership particularly when attempting long journeys. You don’t realise what range anxiety means until you are running round Liverpool at night with the battery below 10%. It’s happened to me twice this year and is a scary experience.

Very interesting and informative content Ian, you answered a lot of questions and shared a real time, real situation experience which you seldom get from electric car reviewers who read out a stack of data straight from the manufacturers press release but seldom a normal ' day in the life ' . Very good.

I wonder how much weight EV drivers gain in a year? All that stopping for pies and coffee! Enjoying the video's 👍

Loved the video, thank you!

"Apologies for the fact it's dark, but it's dark". A wonderful piece of Hubnuttery Ian and one of the reasons we love your channel.

Nice to have a HubNut video to watch after a rubbish day. Thanks Ian

Interesting video, I appreciate that you say it's not for everyone and a truer statement I have not heard. What a kerfuffle!

Brilliant stuff, very enjoyable, viewing.

"Some people like this lifestyle" - Sat round in car parks waiting - Doggers.

Nice video. Love the diversity 🎉

Great little road trip Ian, much more relaxing than the Ipace you took to Stirling, the more I watch of EV's the More I would consider one, through my favourite at the moment is the MG4, but the little 500 is a close second.

Great to see you delving into EVs got one on order for next year so useful stuff even though I’m in Sydney..

Great video

That looked like a lot of fun. I'm genuinely envious but in a good way.

This looks like a total pain to me.

I have range anxiety just watching Ian😱😱

another great video has always Ian and miss hubnut and hublets and hubmutts 👍

From experience, the cost of EV charging on the road is mainly determined by the food you consume from the locations nearby 😉

you are the number 1 on unseeing the flaws on cars. bless your heart

Absolutely brilliant video Ian 👍 well at least you got home and it didn't break down most cars would have done still.a lovely car brilliant

I love this channel

The need to plan ahead is what complicates things although as the network coverage increases it should become less of a problem.

I would imagine the last 20% is mainly balancing the packs and cells within the packs, that is why it takes so long. Although the cells will leave the factory nicely matched, in service they soon start to vary their discharge rates and recharge rates. In theory, the older an EV gets, the longer the process of balancing the cells will take. Sadly unavoidable when a system is made up of hundreds, if not thousands of separate cells.

Anyone else want a Sherpa mode which, transformers style turns your car into a rusty 1970s van followed by a cloud of diesel smoke?

Robert Llewellyn (aka Kryten) has had a good set-up at his home for 12 years with his Leaf. Solar panels and a battery wall. Free motoring after initial costs. With todays prices, you should be able to recoup your investment pretty quickly.

Great video. Great content. Although not my cup of tea due to the cost and stress of it all. I remember as a rep for one company I could only use Shell. I was on fumes trying to find a station. Its really not a nice feeling.

Despite the fact my annual automobile budget is less than 2 months subscription to this 500E, I`m still finding this series interesting, & I care not what alarmist Daily Mail readers have to say about it. 😁

As an Aber alumnus seeing the campus brings back memories, thanks Ian

Your experiences with the Fiat 500e match my own, right down to the average of 4 miles per KWh with a degree of restraint. Due the the lack of rapid chargers on Scotland's trunk roads, I have never used a public charger after a year of EV ownership and probably never will!

Whilst it wouldn't suit many of my use cases, an EV like this would make a great run about second car for most of the day-to-day scenarios, especially as I would be able to charge at home. I just wish I could afford it!

My wife drives an electric Mokka e & she loves it . Such a smooth & comfortable car with a great range . YTD it's cost just over £300 to run which is fantastic conside ring the last car ,a Mazda cx3 cost on average £50-£60 per week 😏 love you're channel keep up the good work & merry Christmas to you ,Miss hubbnut & the hubblets 🎅👍

Great video. Although I have to convert your miles per kWh to kilometres lol on the one road trip I have done with my atto3 I started looking for a charger at 20% battery. Our chargers are roughly every 75ks apart on theain highways which you will be familiar with what they are like. My car will do 300ks on the highway 400 around town

Thanks for showing us how the other half live. I've put diesel in my 15 year old Citroen 5 times this year, which I think is the same number of refuelling events the FIAT had on this one trip. 796 miles on the last tankful No messages telling me that I need to service the fuel tank

so driving these cars is like working with a 15 year old laptop

Great overview! Loved this one. And indeed, google streetview may help you a little with this. Costs less time than it saves :)

excellent video! i love how youre being pragmatic about EV's saying that they arent for everyone, but EV's still have their place. Ppl need to do their homework to see if EV's are viable for them

This series is really good. I think the advantages of EVs are fairly obvious and heavily promoted, the downsides, not so much. The real world application, as per the HubNut testing is invaluable information prior to purchase or lease. One thing though, I would argue that it is not your fault that you cannot charge at home. Loads of folks dont have driveways and local authorities are quite slow in rolling out on street charging.

Great video nice to see real world use. I 100% agree with your comments about electric isn't for everyone but they are still trying. The amazing thing is that companies like volvo are about to start production of electric heavy tractor units. How viable those will be in the long run we shall see but with the about to be massive uptake in eVehicles the charging infrastructure is gonna have to get better quick or the current situation will get worse.

I love watching your channel on all things ICE cars but as a BEV owner as you indicate it's the way to go. My Kia is brilliant went to visit our daughter on Sunday 210 mile round trip, M25, M3 then cross country to Newbury temp down to 5° and got home with 50 miles to spare. Driving at 65mph when I could, heated seats on and temp set at 22° centigrade we returned 4miles per kilowatt hour and if you can charge at home it can be as low as 12p per Kw.

Nice and interesting video, funny enough there's a Health Spa owned by that person who you mentioned near to where live.

I have been using FIATs "fiddly wiper controls" for about 30 years now (since the first Tipo) and I can confirm that you can operate them blindfolded after a short period of getting used to them. I think they're ideal.

EV range videos make me anxious and I could never put up with searching for chargers and then sitting around waiting for volts. However it was Interesting to see it in action (or inaction!).

I think that your alert at the last charging point was probably due to the famous Fiat electrical system. I've driven Fiats since 1980 but the electric warnings pop up on the more recent ones. There one minute then gone the next. The weirdest one was when it stated that it could not detect the key and asked me to press a sign on the touchscreen. Of course I didn't and the car was fine when I got in again. It never fails to keep me on my toes. The 500e is doing great, a lot better than I thought. But, as I tell my car salesman, it's too small for me.

I remember getting my first mobile no signal outside of the m25 now it works everywhere, almost, hopefully be the same with chargers soon

On Saturday in the early hours we got a call to say that a relative in deepest France was very ill. We got in the car, bombed it to the Eurotunnel, then 400 miles through France. We managed to get there to be with the relative when he died, 30 minutes after we arrived. With the current shitty EV infrastructure, range and charging time we would have missed his final moments. A car should get you where you need to be as QUICKLY as possible.

Thank you, a very informative and a real life review. I think I will stick with my 5 year old 62 true average mpg diesel Peugeot 308 for a few more years. I think I would love an electric car and hopefully the niggles will be sorted by then Just out of interest can a tow bar be fitted to EVs with all that battery gubbings underneath.

I had a 40kwh leaf for 4 years and 45k miles and for 80% of trips in to london (work) it was fine. Decent enough to drive and with enough range, but the charging time on a road trip quickly became annoying. Battery health also dropped to about 88% when i got rid of it I fairly regularly have to do 120 miles round trip to guildford which needed 1 charge of 20 mins to be safe and also loughborough, which in a Petrol is about 280 miles and 5 hours, in a leaf this became 7.5 or more depending on chargers with 3 stops (heat was also a problem for the leaf) And it cost 25k.... in a few years, the charging network will be better and electric cars will be able to go a genuine 250 miles on a tank, and that is when think it will be for me again - cant fault the driving experience of electric but the charging is painful and the silly gadgets are annoying - cruise control and limiter are good, others not so

Ian, I don’t think you have mentioned that Fiat have half Allegro-ed the steering wheel 😂

Reminds me of taking long motorcycle trips, except a motorcycle can be filled up in a lot faster. Interesting how the network is kinda there but the problem is now there are enough other EVs on the road you have to queue for a spot.

Thanks for the review, Ian. It's confirmed my suspicion it would be great choice if I had home charging and a conventional vehicle as well. Otherwise, I'd hate the inconvenience of it.

Interesting video, thanks Ian. New toy, all the fun. For local-ish use (i.e. Most use for most people), EVs are good but costly to get into. They need to sort the infrastructure out and give a bit more range because sitting eating in the car eating a sandwich waiting for a charge in 8 deg temp is a novelty that will wear off. Think I'd take the train for that kind of mission if this is the future of longer distance travel. Is that what 'they' want us to do?

Brilliant video as always 👍🏻 Public charging is slowly getting better, but it’s depressing that funds which could be used to improve it are instead going on technology to police the extended ULEZ zone to punish those who can’t afford EVs or choose to run classic cars.

A good HONEST review Ian. Both good points and bad shown.

I drive long distances (done about 55k in the last two years) and my company car is a BMW 330e, and I wouldn't want to go back to a non hybrid now. My use case isn't really what hybrids are built for, but it works really well for me, and I love the response, smoothness and quietness the car gives. A slightly bigger battery hybrid would be the sweet spot for me personally, but I am tempted by an EV6 or IONIQ5 next December when I chop my car in. My average MPG over those 55k is nearly 70mpg

26 minutes to 76%... I can fill up my Diesel 2009 1.6 golf in about 5 mins & get to anywhere I want in the country without stopping. Did cost me £90 + to fill up the tank though. I get the environmental help of an electric vehicle, & the cost(now) but quite frankly the convenience of being able to get anywhere in the country without actually having to stop (unless your bladder tells you you have too) is worth much of the extra coin.

Interesting review, thanks. BEVs obviously have their place, but I couldn't help feeling that you were 'forcing it to fit' a little. It seemed like a lot of faff for a 3-4 hour journey. I still can't help wondering how the comparative cost per mile will work out when the disparity between domestic 5% VAT and "public" charging points (they are all private) 20% VAT is levelled up through the now-compulsory smart meters on home charging stations. And when all of the other ICE taxation losses are added back into BEV motoring. The cost will be about the same or slightly more I reckon.

Unlikely I'll ever have an EV but this was very interesting Ian, thanks for sharing.

This was much better charging than when you were on the road with the I-Pace Ian. It is the mindset of driving a car in a different way, that driving EV, for some it is already now, for some only in a few years when there is even more charging infrastructure and even more choice of EV cars.

That could only be made better by putting it in a skip.

Enjoyed all your videos Ian, l really couldn’t be messing about with and electric vehicle, who the heck has time to wait that long to recharge, how frustrating is it when your internet is on the go slow, you get annoyed even if it takes slightly longer than normal, same difference.

FOI. There are 4 chargers in Newtown main car park and at least one at Tesco's. I'm assuming you came that way. And a new cafe to try with lovely views of the river Severn.

Best advice I have had for our little e208 has been using Zapmap, bloody brilliant app and actually the Peugueot satnav does a pretty good job itself. Check the chragers speed, cost, how many are free, how often they have had issues and all sorts. It made Wales and back to Cambridge nice and easy.

I have the la prima in celestial blue, had it 4 months and already done 7000 miles. Im not a million miles away in welshpool. I regularly drive to great Yarmouth charging once at rugby services...

Very interesting video, especially as my brother contemplates replacing his worn out 27 year-old Nissan Maxima with a BEV. He liked the 2nd gen Leaf, but it doesn't have the latest charging tech (in NZ at least), so I'm trying to convince him to buy a 4 or 5 year-old Toyota Camry hybrid. I believe we're still at least one technological leap in chemical battery advancement that doesn't rely on Lithium and gives us both much better range and an increase in charging speed, so he may as well enjoy the best of both worlds by going the hybrid route for the next 5 or so years. I've been an ICE man all the way and very much enjoy the sound of an engine, but after recently renting a Corolla Hybrid wagon in France, the impact on fuel consumption with the mix of ICE and EV was a compelling argument to go the hybrid route sometime in the future. At some point, PHEV, BEV and Hybrid cars are going to be old enough and dare I say bland to be classified as Modern Hubnut cars (the older fleet members will be Classic Hubnut cars)

Plug in hybrid is the best option so far. Hoping in future charging points will grow and battery tech will improve in next 5 to 10 years but so far plugin hybrid is the best choice

To replace my work van, an EV would be a nightmare. But, as our personal car, it would be perfect. We do maybe 3000 miles a year, so it would sit charging and probably be always, at 100% so yes, like you say, it suits certain applications. As a side note, I'm sure the cost of recharging, is offset by the costs of snacks and drinks to consume whilst you wait for recharging !!

My neice brought a Leaf and it’s good providing she dosent leave the city. Road trip to mothers (80km on way) is hard to her to do as a return trip. Mums in a small town with 1 charger, often out of service. But what amazes me more is the fact she rarely uses the heater or demister in winter, and seldom the aircon in summer for how much it kills her range. Cost wise we’ve worked it out her leaf using public charging (no off street parking at home for her) and my diesel Passat are neck and neck for running costs per I’m…but I don’t stress over heated seats or aircon. Her electric a move forward? I’m not so sure. Here in NZ most of our power is hydro generated, other countries not so much…so have we just shifted our tailpipe emissions to another source? And that’s before we even get into recycling a car instead of digging up material for new batteries. Love your coverage mate, they are doable for sure…but as always compromises are involved. Do the switch by all means if you life electric cars…just don’t do it on the short sighted belief you are saving the planet (or your wallet long term….wait till your battery degrades)

There’s chargers in Newtown, between Aber and Shrewsbury. Wife has friends near Aber, we are in the Midlands and she has used it as the halfway stop many times.

There's a DC charger at the Tesco in Newtown I've used before if that helps. The problem with Shrewsbury is twofold, the Gridserve at Dobbies is a single unit that rarely works and doesn't support contactless, and the charging network in Wales is so sparse that it's a popular place to stop. Wales really does need to up its game when it comes to DC chargers though.

Well done Ian such a balance view. I agree with you about Electric v petrol / diesel, I personally do think there will be a multi fuel solution whatever that may be, not just electric. There are many reasons why the solution that is being put forward at the moment will not work for everyone. The future is going to be interesting has we move to the new.

I really wish more funding went to the charging infrastructure, take a look at the Gridserve charging forecourt... looks marvellous with cafes inside etc.

Nice down to earth video on the driving style changes and planning needed for EV use on a long journey. I do wonder how EVs will fair over here in Oz, with the distances being much further.

Having my phone with enough juice is sometimes troublesome. I don;'t think I could live with a car when there is always the need to find a charging station.

I feel your pain regarding the lights; our 2010 Subaru goes one better - as soon as you put the key in the ignition, the lights come on, you don't even need the key to be fully in! With the same options, Auto or On, it's a real pain when stopped and waiting in the car.

Id love to have an EV but the initial cost and what seems to be a constant pain in the a** having to charge would put me off. Even if you are not driving “600 miles a day”, I think the novelty of finding chargers all the time would soon wear off and become really tedious. Really only works if you can charge at home and only ever make local short journeys. But for such a large investment I’d want more from a car than that! Batteries and charging are the achilles heel.

This is not a dig at your channel Ian. I don't do many long trips, but with my little MG TF, i'm getting really good MPG without the worries of constantly checking battery levels. Yes at the moment there is a lack of chargers, but it does not change your time you have to charge, there could be thousands of chargers but you still have to stop and do it for that same time. And waste time searching to charge All those flashing warnings, braking to regen, All too much hastle. I've just got the trusty fuel guage and 5 minutes in a garage to top up if needed. Get rid of all the kafubble and I would be interested.

The change over is comming faster than ppl think, not in my time I'll add lol but this video has showed what can happen when you have no charger at home, I dont as live in a flat, but on other hand I dont use the car much now just to morrisons and back prob twice a week and I've noticed no charge points on journey, so for now while I'm here I'll stick with the aygo 😉 Oh and btw, I've noticed we have a similar driving habit, one handed driving 😉🤭

Whilst some will moan that EV's aren't standard HubNut fayre, I will say that I found this video interesting, even if it is aa a reminder that EV's aren't quite there just yet. We could definitely replace one IC vehicle in our household, but the sheer cost of doing so for a local-use commuter car is a financial write off. For me, an EV would do 90% of the time, but I can't justify replacing an IC car that does 100% of what I need. Thirdly, I'm a coupe guy, and I don't want a small city car, or an SUV/Crossover - so I'm extremely limited in choice if I were to buy a new car, regardless of fuel type...

One of these would suit me to a T and tempt me out of my PT Cruiser, so relax on flack from me, I like it too. The deal breaker for me is the cost of just getting it licensed. The state license fees for an EV cost more than I am currently paying for license and fuel for a year on the PT. Throw in the cost of home charging (only option) and it gets worse....

I liked this video and I think the main point of it which you repeated several times is that this is not for everybody. This is for certain people that drive predictable distances daily where the routine of charging can be built in to your day or for those that can put in a home charger. You have also brought up the great point of the lack of charging stations and the price of new electric cars. I think that as long as the motoring public can ease into using an electric car, it will work out. Let's give it a chance and work out the kinks in the system. There is a person that has a Nissan Leaf electric here in the USA where I work in a city environment and they live in an apartment with no nearby charger. They have owned that car for years and they are happy with it. Let's stop the bickering and coexist as there is room for both and let's see where it leads us. Thanks for the video.

I would really like to know how much these journeys actually cost. Including all the teas and sundries that is spent whilst waiting on a charge. It would be interesting.

Another enjoyable video Ian. Electric carscare the future of motoring but they somehow confuse me with all the different chooses.

Outstanding review! I am from Costa Rica. You can see quite a few 500 e's imported from the USA into the country roaming around in our chocked full of cars roads! Being 100% electric vehicles they only pay 45% import duty and display a green license plate. The other cars pay 67% import duty. These Fiat's still command a steep price of US$15,000 or more vs US$12,500 for a 2017 500 POP or Sport being used cars. Albeit, we would seldomly use the heater we would always have the A/C on! The 500 would make a cute companion to our household, however, the "e" would limit us for a city car only. There is no chance of taking it to the coast. However, there is no nicer car around, period!

Good real world tests highlighting the pros and cons. One thing I couldn't help but see is the real issue with the charging of EVs/BEVs. Go for a long journey needing to charge your electric vehicle only to find 2 charge points and then having a long wait, plus of course you can't guarantee the charger would be working. Just seems like it's a good idea however the charge network seems slow on updating to cover this new uptake in EVs, I wonder if it'll be better by the time the government bans the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars.

Your video was a fascinating glimpse into real world EV motoring. I think I would enjoy driving one but it seems to be a lot of faff around charging and range and good mental maths skills necessary. There also seems to be quite a lot of waiting around eating expensive junk food while charging so would be frustrating to someone leading a busy stressed life so poor health and obesity might be a price too. Long journeys would be impractical, especially for business travel. As you say, horses for courses, at the moment EVs seem to have many practical drawbacks, so not a sensible option for most drivers yet.

Whilst I can’t fuel my diesel car at formula one Pitt stop speeds, it’s a damn sight quicker than charging time or waiting for charging time. 😂. The range roulette would panic me more than I would want to be panicked.

I can't get over how absolutely silent the drive is. I don't know if I could ever get used to that but it intrigues me so much.

Great video showing the car and the EV experience, you wonder what it will be like in twenty years, you think we will be tinkering with these ? Its bizarre you cant turn the headlights off when your in the car, that's not very energy efficient! Best wishes.

To turn off the headlights, try turning off the 'ignition' and then open and close the door. It works fine on a Renault. But we can also turn off the headlights!

When you say the charging infrastructure is getting better, it is in reality getting worse because although the number of chargers is increasing, the number of new electric vehicles using it is increasing at a greater rate, resulting in greater wait times and oversubscription. When I got my electric car nearly 7 years ago, not only was it generally free, you never, ever had to wait. The only delay to charging generally then was the charger parking space being iced. I have learned my lesson now and only use my electric car within it's tethered to home charger range and never use it on a long run. Instead I use my 14 year old Mercedes E Class diesel, with a brimmed range of 650 miles st 70 mph and an on a run consumption of 51 mpg. The perfect tool for the long distance drive job !

Very interesting, I remember your Jag EV video which just reinforced my objections to buying an electric car. Since then I have mellowed, I see that an EV is totally fine for everyday motoring in the UK, even if you do a 100 mile daily commute... BUT you need off street parking with a home charging facility. Then it is peachy, plug it in and go to sleep while it charges on cheap leccy. No need to worry about finding a charging point and it's really cheap to get around. Trouble is so many of us don't have that luxury, so it means logistical planning and hanging around at charging points to complete your journey. It needs a sizable leap in technology like wireless charging roads or parking spaces, then we are talking the future. I'm going to hang on to my trusty petrol Skoda and see what happens before making the change.😉

I really want an EV but they just aren't ready for my use yet. But I have to admit I loved this video. You've given me an experience that I wouldn't have otherwise had. I can't wait until an EV can do what I need.

Its really nice to hear your opinion on EV's, Thankyou Ian. For me though, I still think they are a gimmick and out of reach for everyday people, on top of that most EV owners around me in South Lakes are just so aggressive, its kinda scary to be around Tesla's or Polestar's. I think if EV's had speed limiters and start tech to avoid dangerous driving I'd be more for them. Maybe some simpler dashes with less gadgets and battery information.. But until they come down to a couple of K.. I can't afford them 🤣I'll stick with my dream of buying an Oxford MO.

It's interesting to watch your experience with the 500 as it's the size of car I like and I'm in a similar situation re: no home charging, the joys of living in a flat! I still think I'm nowhere near being able to have an EV as I only ever do 50 mile journeys each way to places where I can't charge (work and my parents, local journeys are usually by bike or walk) plus my hobbies take me to the middle of nowhere (hiking, mountain biking) so the range and charging issues would be really annoying for me currently. Add in the cost of a decent EV and I'll stick with my Fabia until it dies or is legislated off the road. Oh and relying on public chargers leaves you at the mercy of the local pranksters who love to hit the Emergency Stop buttons!

I think given that charger situation when you do charge, going up to 80 percent would seem a no brainer, you could go to 65 percent knowing it's enough to get to the next charger but as you've shown if that's full you may not have much in reserve to get to the one after!

It seems like a nice little car, but I think the need to take extended breaks to charge it would drive me crazy. I drive a hybrid and am used to putting in 10 gallons and driving for 3 weeks or 500 miles (US) without having to worry about it. It just seems too expensive when I can drive for a month for less than $200 including insurance, maintenance and fuel right now.

Just a new way of driving I suppose Ian. I'd carry a spare gallon of electricity though! Hey,I've got an ebike,it's great!

The trouble in my job I can’t wait around for hours to refill. I do a lot of miles a day. Need petrol go and fill up. Even with a rapid charge I will be stopped for a hours plus.