Chris Swallow drives a Kia e-Niro 4+ 64kWh 2021 electric car.
This is Chris’s first electric car, she’s owned the e-Niro from new and drives between 10,000-15,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 10,000-20,000 miles and she achieves 245 miles range from a full charge.
Rate your e-Niro out of 5.
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Why did you choose this electric car?
I wanted a car that happened to be electric, that could carry 4 people comfortably and 5 occasionally. I also needed a car that could carry items on the roof rack, had a sunroof and could get me about 240 miles approx. once every couple of months.
Positives – List 3 or more reasons why you love this electric car.
- It is fun to drive, pretty zippy 0 – 60
- It’s GOM is pretty accurate and it will do 240 miles on average with 220 in the winter and 280 in the summer
- It just works, there is so little to go wrong.
Negatives – List 3 or more things that you really don’t like about this electric car.
- The map and charger planner is not up-to-date with a quickly developing charger network
- The bongs when reversing
- Had to buy an aftermarket frunk to keep the charging cables. Under the rear floor is not a lot of use when there is stuff in the boot.
Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?
No faults
What are the standout tech features of your e-Niro?
The efficiency of a car that is not an EV from the ground up, it is still amazingly efficient even compared to those which are.
Surprise us! Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about this electric car.
The acceleration is about as fast as a hot hatchback in a family car.
What electric car are you interested in next and why?
The next car will have similar requirements but with faster charging speeds, However, I plan to keep this one for 5 years.
What home charging unit do you use? Would you recommend it to others and why?
Ohme – a smart charger so I can make use of low overnight electricity pricing. I would recommend it as it’s small and very capable. It’s a smart charger that talks to your car and knows your electricity supplier tariff and doesn’t need to connect to your home wi-fi.
Rate your home charging unit out of 5.
What home electricity supplier & tariff do you use? Would you recommend it to others and why?
Octopus Go great supplier. Do the best they can to help. Open about change and give you options like donating to help others. Reasonable pricing and low overnight pricing with a smart meter to allow cheap charging of the car and other electrical items.
Rate your electricity supplier out of 5.
What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?
InstaVolt – it’s the most reliable network I have used. There are usually at least two chargers and they work 95% of the time.
List your top 3 favourite public charging networks (in order of preference).
1. InstaVolt
2. Osprey
3. Electric Highway/Gridserve.
Who do you insure your electric car with? Would you recommend them to others and why?
Direct Line – it’s just a car that happens to be electric. Good rate that does not increase unnecessarily every year.
Rate your insurance provider out of 5.
Estimate how much money you save per month owning and running an electric car compared to a petrol/diesel car.
£160
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