NADINE DORRIES: Why I handed my electric car back with less than 5,000 miles on the clock
One Sunday last December, it was snowing when I finally admitted it to myself: I had made a dreadful mistake in buying an electric car.
I was driving through a blizzard in heavy traffic on the M6 to collect my mother, who was coming to stay with us for Christmas.
My middle daughter had insisted we listen to an audiobook throughout the interminable journey — on the motorway I hate most in the world.
The wipers on my Renault Zoe were struggling against the snowfall — and even though it was 2pm, the headlights were on.
The farther north we travelled towards Mum’s home in Lytham St Annes, the lower the temperature outside dropped. The car’s heater was on full blast — and its battery was draining before my eyes.
NADINE DORRIES: One Sunday last December, it was snowing when I finally admitted it to myself: I had made a dreadful mistake in buying an electric car (stock image)
My ‘range anxiety’ — always present when I was at the wheel — was in overdrive. Just 30 per cent was left, so perhaps a few dozen miles given how the heater was sucking up all the power.
‘Where are the chargers in Lytham?’ I asked my daughter.
She checked her phone. ‘There’s one in Booths supermarket car park — only the app says it isn’t working.’
I can’t repeat my reply.
Available fast chargers, I had come to realise, more or less vanished north of the Watford Gap. That wasn’t in any government policy paper I had read.
And the thing is, I had really wanted an electric car.
I loved the fact that the noise on my street in London had fallen so much over the past few years, as electric cars are so much quieter than their petrol equivalents.
I support the push to cut Britain’s carbon emissions to ‘net zero’: it’s a policy that’s creating thousands of jobs and helping the environment. Cleaner air means we, our children and grandchildren can live longer, healthier lives.
I used to support the Government’s target to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, too — but that was before a pandemic, before Putin invaded Ukraine and before the cost of electricity shot through the roof.
Now, I believe that the target should be delayed. The cost of charging an electric car is bad enough — but the infrastructure to power millions of them simply isn’t there.
Even in London, as I learnt with my Renault, finding a working charger can be difficult. And for longer journeys, like going to pick up my mum, it could be a huge issue.
So, back to that journey north last Christmas.
NADINE DORRIES (pictured): Yes, the future is electric. But Britain isn’t ready yet — and it is time that the Government admitted it
‘Let’s pull off at Stafford services,’ said my daughter, as the illuminated ‘Welcome’ sign pierced through the freezing fog. ‘They have working chargers there.’
It sounded so simple. We cruised around the car park for ten minutes but could see only Tesla chargers, and I’d heard it was difficult to connect my car to that network.
Elon Musk has installed convenient forecourt chargers on the foggy M6. He’s nailed it — as long you buy his products. At the back of the lorry park and behind a petrol-station forecourt, we eventually found a charger we could use.
Once I had connected it, it took ten minutes to kick in, with a loud and worrying bang coming from a metal box about five yards away.
Eventually, the electric juices were flowing. God, it had been a stressful day.
With a wait of at least half an hour, we decided to go into the service station to buy a coffee.
But from the back end of the lorry park, that involved a long and wet walk in the freezing rain. I would not have felt safe doing it on my own.
So, that was it for me. Early in the New Year, I returned the car to the dealer with less than 5,000 miles on the clock. Now, every time I jump into my Discovery Sport — a hybrid, I’m pleased to say — I feel a sense of relief.
I’ve had a charger fitted at home and I’m glad to do all my local mileage on the battery.
But I also feel safe in the knowledge that when it runs out, or I have a long journey to make, the petrol kicks in.
Yes, the future is electric. But Britain isn’t ready yet — and it is time that the Government admitted it.
Twiggy deserves a glittering script for her iconic life
Close Up, a musical about the life of Twiggy, is set to open in London in September. I was just nine when Twiggy shot to stardom as ‘the face of 1966’, becoming a global superstar almost overnight.
What a shame that the show, about the model’s working-class background and her rise to fame, has been written and directed by the partisan Leftie comic Ben Elton.
Twiggy’s story deserves to be heard, so I hope the show won’t lose the plot and turn into one of his rants.
NADINE DORRIES: Close Up, a musical about the life of Twiggy, is set to open in London in September. I was just nine when Twiggy shot to stardom as ‘the face of 1966’, becoming a global superstar almost overnight
Labour big-hitters have been lining up to defend frontbench MP Jess Phillips against accusations of racist and bullying behaviour towards the respected head teacher Katharine Birbalsingh. They needn’t bother.
Birbalsingh’s open letter about Phillips (the ‘shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding’) is devastating.
‘She inspired a vicious mob attack against me on Twitter,’ writes the headteacher, adding that Phillips ‘holds me in contempt for being a black woman who does not . . . consider her master’.
Left-wing MPs like Phillips constantly complain about the online abuse they face — but don’t seem to mind so much when others suffer.
Aperol spritz? No, it’s the pits
Am I the only person who’s not gushing over the disgusting tipple Aperol spritz? It feels like everyone I know is going on about how excited they are to be having their first one this summer.
Maybe their slavish adoration is down to the colour, a gorgeous flaming sunset. But I have noticed one thing. No one ever seems to finish their Aperol before moving on to a nice glass of rosé — and pushing the luminescent gloop to one side.
Elon Musk is capping the number of tweets people can see on Twitter. A typical user can read perhaps 1,000 tweets a day — while a paid-for ‘verified’ account might view 10,000.
Conspiracy theories abound. Staff shortages at Twitter HQ? Forcing more people to stump up for verification?
Whatever the reason, he’s done us all a favour. Twitter is highly addictive, accused of worsening people’s mental health — and wasting their time. Now, a confession: I pay for my verified ‘blue tick’, so my cap is 10,000 tweets. Anyone staring at Twitter that long needs to step away from the phone.
Katie Price has announced that she has ADHD. I get how difficult it is, but everywhere you look a new celebrity is testing themselves for this condition and ‘bravely’ announcing the result to the world.
I’m quite amazed at the number of articulate, clever, successful individuals writing about their ADHD diagnosis.
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