Aleksi Lumme from Helsinki borrowed his father’s electric car for a couple of weeks, which started a real series of unfortunate incidents. He wondered how ready Helsinki is for electric cars to become more common.
When for a Helsinki resident To Aleksi Lumpee was offered a couple of weeks ago the opportunity to borrow his father’s electric car, he decided to test how life with one in Helsinki goes without its own charging station.
The end result: not very well.
At least, if you are not familiar with different charging plugs, the charger network and the characteristics of your car in advance.
“I may have had a somewhat naive approach to income. I just thought I’d give it a try, because I’ve borrowed cars before,” says Lumme.
Trouble already started at the first charging station, the one closest to Lumpee’s home. His father’s Nissan Leaf had a different connection to the post, so they weren’t compatible.
Charging was successful again at the second pole, but it would have taken up to six hours to fully charge the battery. So the game was over.
The next day Lumme was better prepared. He decided to leave the car during his working day at the nearby Lidl charging station, which had a compatible socket. However, the charger was out of order.
“I even got fined for my own stupidity in the shop yard,” says Lumme.
The charger at the Lidl near Aleksi Lumpee’s workplace was out of order. He called support who rebooted the charger point but this didn’t help.
In the evening he was supposed to go to dinner with his friends and continue to the cabin.
A suitable fast charger was found at Prisma in Hyvinkää, but charging took about an hour longer than Lumme had estimated. The friends’ dinner was thus missed. After arriving at the cabin, Lumme was lucky enough to charge the car at the neighbor’s pole.
After returning to Helsinki, Lumpee had a pole close to the ice rink in mind, but it had remained in the middle of the fences because of the Helsinki Horse Show.
The charging post in the Töölö competition hall, on the other hand, was blocked by a soccer match in progress. The next day, a petrol car was parked at the same post.
The previous electric car was still attached to one of the poles, even though its battery was already full. Once again, the phone app used to charge the car crashed in the middle of charging.
“It was all in all, this is quite a farce,” Lumme states.
He says that he is aware that he could have made the experience easier by finding out more about things in advance.
The choice of electric car model is also important: the Nissan Leaf has a so-called Chademo charger, which differs from the European standard.
“And there wouldn’t have been any problem if we had a home charging point in use,” says Lumme.
Still, he wonders if car dealerships give electric car buyers enough information about different options and practical issues before making a purchase decision.
Lummett is also wondering if Helsinki’s charging network will be able to keep up with the growing popularity of electric cars. Especially if the city starts to restrict the use of combustion engine cars in the center, such as has been flashed.
Due to the Helsinki International Horse Show organized at the Helsinki Ice Hall, the charging pole had been left behind the fences.
Self at least he’s not heading to electric car stores yet, but first plans to make exact calculations on whether it’s worth getting one with his mileage.
For those considering a similar purchase, Lumme advises that you should find out carefully in advance about the technical characteristics of the electric car and the charging network. In addition, he suggests getting some kind of electric car sponsor or mentor – that is, hiring a more experienced electric car driver for help.
Finally, Lumme would like to remind you that his experience probably does not match the experience of an ordinary electric car driver in Helsinki.
“Myself, I took this more in terms of humor. Of course, the setbacks were also annoying, but this was also fun in all its absurdity.”
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