Fully charged, the electric van silently hummed along Helmsdale’s even quieter main street as our climate crisis road trip continued.
We felt free – or as free as you can feel with 130 miles in the tank.
The previous evening we’d spent 45 minutes parked half on the pavement at Helmsdale’s only electric car charger.
Its strangely short charging cable and corner location meant it wouldn’t even reach the smallest and most nimble EV – let alone our van.
Kieran called his parking “crafty”. I called it ridiculous. But it wasn’t his fault. Why build a charger in an inaccessible location?
But that was in the past, and with our portable speaker blasting (we have avoided using the built-in radio as it appears to drain the battery faster) we hit the road heading south.
Did reverend’s Nissan Leaf make it from Lands End to John O’Groats?
Of course it wasn’t long before we needed to make an EV pit stop in a suitable Highlands town.
Loitering in an empty carpark in Tain, we discovered that a heavy-metal loving, electric vehicle driving reverend from Inverness had got in touch to share some of his EV insights.
“I tried to drive a Nissan Leaf from North Kessock to John O’Groats and then to Lands End,” he tweeted us. “Spoiler – I didn’t get there.”
A quick phone call later and we had arranged to meet him at our next mandatory charge stop in Inverness.
Finally, here's @Revinthenorth 's thoughts on the potential carbon footprint EV manufacture and usage can have. It was a pleasure chatting with you James, I really do hope to see you at a gig some day! pic.twitter.com/Cwe3rK73FH
— Kieran Beattie (@KNBeattie) October 22, 2021
“I got my Nissan Leaf in May 2020 in lockdown and it’s been ideal for me,” Reverend James Bisset said, sitting on a bench on the banks of the River Ness.
“We could do with more chargers though, but what comes first? Do we put in more chargers and wait for more cars or get more cars and wait for more chargers?”
It’s a chicken and egg situation which Kieran and I had discussed several times on our EV journey through the Highlands so far.
There needs to be more chargers (certainly in the north of Scotland) to make buying an electric vehicle more of a realistic option for most drivers.
‘Half of EV chargers’ in Highlands road trip stretch faulty
But without lots of EVs on the roads, there is little incentive for the Scottish Government and other independent firms to splurge on thousands of pounds on more charging stations.
Some might argue it’s more important to upgrade the ones we already have. About half of the chargers we’ve used so far have had some sort of fault or access issue.
We hit 93% charged and said goodbye to the reverend, heading south to the Highland Wildlife Park at Kingussie.
This was probably the most beautiful and relaxing (dare I say it) part of the trip so far.
The Cairngorms seemed to come alive in a blaze of red and gold as we turned into the park to talk all things climate change with director of engagement and business development.
I’m writing this with frozen hands sitting next to the macaque enclosure. The sun is dipping in the sky and although it’s beautiful, my mind is preoccupied with the fact we have only have a quarter tank (maybe less?) in the van.
Stranded in the wildlife park with polar bears and tigers? I suppose at least they might be warm.
That means we are in “eco-mode”. Which means no heating.
Brrrrrr.
