Once home, I decided not to charge the van until the following day. I wanted to put myself in a situation where I had less than 50% charge and needed to find a charging point out and about as I live in a rural area with limited off road parking and no charge station infrastructure local to me.

The next day, I decided to venture into the local town to plug into one of the supermarket charge points (this was about 10 miles from home). We arrived to find two points free, the van just fitted into the space with a tiny overhang but any bigger van or tow bar may have posed a hazard.

I downloaded the app and followed the vague instructions but the van would not charge, so I swapped to another point and the same again. There were two other vehicles on the other 2 points all lit up green charging away. A kind man offered help and a lady also came over to state the two charging points were out of order and have been this way for some time. I had a lengthy discussion with both EV drivers who expressed a love for their EV’s but a frustration for the amount of charging points that were out of order at local convenient sites.

I carried on my journey to another large supermarket a further 5 miles away. I had the app open and could see that a charge point was free and set off. I was hoping that it would still be free when I arrive.

Finding the charging points was my first mission. These were placed in the center of the car park almost out of sight. They were under the building so a height limit was put in place, luckily we were under height but any higher vehicle would have to seek alternative charging. Again, the space was just adequate for this sized van. I successfully connected, the indication on the dash board was that it was charging at a rate of 14miles per hour of charge so in my 2hr shop I should have bagged more than enough miles to get me home. 2 hours later – surprise! There was no extra charge in the box as it seems someone may have tripped and pulled the lead out of the charge point slightly stopping the charge. Slightly frustrated I decided to venture home and put the van on charge using the 3 pin plug lead.

This was the easiest of all charging experiences – having a drive way with an outside socket. The display stated 14hrs to full so I left this a good 16hrs. I was a little disappointed to find later it wasn’t fully charged on my return, but the 80% (180miles) was more than enough for the journey I had planned.

I drove the van to Beaulieu Motor Museum to take part in the Simply Electric Event. It was a great turnout of vehicles and people, considering the terrible weather which certainly put one rumor to bed with electric vehicle safety in the rain.

The van had a great reception with lots of people amazed that a van was fully electric and that it had a really good range. This wasn’t a trade show but the comments of the general public were great with a few remarking how great it would be to see local businesses driving these around.

The main questions I was asked was about the range, how long it takes to charge and the price. The positive reaction when answering these questions was great with a few stating they would be in the market for one for personal use, especially if the people carrier version is available.

After a great day chatting to all kinds of people, showcasing the van and answering questions about KINTO, I headed home through the beautiful New Forest. I soon became apparent how quiet and unobtrusive the van was as we passed lots of free roaming horses and cattle without even a head lift from them. It was just noisy enough to warn the cyclists that we were close by as they did turn their head before we got close enough to pass.

I thought I would be brave and step out of the ECO mode once through the forest and gave it a drive in POWER mode. I have to say I was very impressed with the torque as it made light work of the hills and the torque felt constant throughout the cycle of the motors. Although it is not as economical on the battery, it surely has its place when it’s needed. For driving entertainment value the little game of getting the needle into charge mode was great knowing I was in effect gaining free miles whilst driving.

I arrived home with plenty of charge still in the box and plugged into my domestic supply once again. It charged overnight for me to return it to Portsmouth for collection the following day with a healthy 175 miles for the drive to get back to Banbury.

It has become very apparent that unless you have driven a good EV the rumors around how they are not suitable have stuck. Range anxiety can also be a common misconception.

Price wise this is going to be a big hit with businesses. It may seem a little expensive when compared to its ICE equivalent, but when you compare projected life spend the EV’s will definitely be more competitive as very little maintenance is required, and with the regenerative breaking even the brakes should not need replacing as often.