Columnist Alun Newman: Forget dodgems - electric cars on the road are the real deal
There are few things that are more fun than bumper cars when you’re a teenager.
I know there’s a group of people who have never cherished the idea of spending money to potentially get a neck injury for the weekend. However, simply by their continual existence, generations of people have loved them - when you’re young, it’s as close as you can get to owning a car.
As I reflect on bumper cars, there’s also the simple electric freedom of almost effortless, silent power via just one pedal.
This is how I feel about new electric cars.
I’m acutely aware of the dubious environmental questions that hang around these precious-mineral-chopping machines. That aside, if you haven’t driven one, then you must. It is the adult bumper car without the bump, but with all the smiles and a strange emotional joy.
They’re quiet, they’re quick, and there’s no one standing on the back telling you that you have to go in a clockwise direction.
The head of Ford Europe said recently that all their research suggests once people have tried one, they never want to go back. The challenges are cost and guarantees of battery life. I can see why. It’s not like normal motoring - you can drive some just using your right foot on the accelerator, one pedal, it brakes slowly for you.
On a cold day, they can warm the inside via the app before you even get in. On the posh new ones, when you look in the rear-view mirror, the car knows who you are, adjusts your seat, puts on BBC Radio Solent, and sets the temperature to your preferred settings.
However, there are some human challenges that technology can’t fix. My dad’s mate has recently taken the plunge, and he’s got a posh new electric car with all the bells and whistles.
To open it, he holds his phone by the wing mirror. Sadly, here is the human issue - he let his phone run flat, so no phone meant no car. They’re both in the Co-op car park and can’t get home.
My dad, who was with him at the time, has a phone, so they called his friend’s wife, who was asleep, and explain that they’re locked out of the new car.
They're not locked out of the house, so no throwing stones at windows here. They’re locked out of the car because the phone went flat while they were at keep fit (then the post-keep fit pub drinks with crisps). Amazingly, the irritated partner has the same car app on her phone and can open the car remotely. The dead phone is placed on the fast charger in the car, the car knows who it is, and you can now drive away.
Incredible.
If the same happens to you in the future, remember, we never had this problem with dodgems. You simply had a plastic token.