I tried making a 900-mile journey in an EV and failed – I was left with serious pain in my knees and back
A DRIVER was left with severe knee and back pain after a 900-mile journey in an electric vehicle.
The driver drove his electric Porsche from Cornwall Scotland but it ended in a nightmare.
2
2
The engine expert tried to test the range of the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
But what should have been a 900-mile, smooth and painless journey ended in excruciating pain.
He said The mirror: “I arrived at the starting line at Land’s End around 5:30 a.m., the wind blowing through the peninsula and a wave of nervous anticipation coursing through my body.”
“On my route I used the navigation device and the integrated charging instructions to tell me where and for how long I should charge.
“This was useful for distance anxiety, but not completely foolproof.”
The journey initially went smoothly – the vehicle felt “in its element” on the wide back roads of Cornwall.
He said the 143 mph car’s steering was “direct” and the powerful control traction was “always available.”
However, his EV nightmare began when he entered the bumpy A30 motorway, as there is no direct connection between Land’s End and John O’Groats.
To avoid a range glitch, he decided to save energy by turning off the air conditioning and regenerative braking.
As he drove a few miles on the M5 he began to feel extremely uncomfortable in the £100,000 luxury car.
“You could imagine that sitting in a car this expensive and so fancy is like sitting in an armchair in a first-class airport lounge.
“As I found out later, it wasn’t,” he complained.
The electric vehicle enthusiast said he experienced severe pain in his knees, back, ribs, chest and even his elbow as a result of the long journey.
Even though he adjusted his driving position and cruise control to take a break from the accelerator, the pain persisted.
Frustrated, he raged: “As Scotland came into view I felt very uncomfortable, although I used the heated seats to relieve the strain on my back and stretched when possible.”
After the horrific driving experience and fearing for his safety, the driver decided not to complete the ride.
The car enthusiast said the 15-hour one-way journey to the Scottish border could have been a painful 24-hour electric vehicle journey.
He added: “As I crossed the Scottish border I began to question the safety behind what I was trying to do.”
“With this in mind, I aborted the attempt on John O’Groats and set the navigation device to a hotel that I had booked as a replacement in the event of the attempt.”
“14.5 hours after I left, I ended up parking exhausted outside a hotel north of Edinburgh.”
The engine expert eventually admitted that the car performs well in most areas, but the “limitations of the electric motor” prevent him from going on long journeys.
Another electric vehicle owner revealed that he was almost stranded on the highway because the charge level dropped even though he wasn’t driving the car.
Lee, known as ‘The MacMaster’ on YouTube, had to drive his electric Porsche Taycan from Heathrow Airport to Mansfield.