DThe family celebration begins at 2 p.m. with a service. For the long journey in the electric car, we take a lot of time and plan ample reserves. But once again everything turns out differently. After an accident with road closures and miles of traffic jams, the planned route via the motorway with many quick-charging stations along the way is suddenly no longer an option. We take the country road.
There are charging stations here and there, but none can do it quickly. So we are forced to take risks. There’s a single quick-charging station just before you get onto the Autobahn again, behind the long traffic jam. But we will only get there with a minimal remaining range. We’ll only be on time if we can charge quickly there. If not, things are looking bleak.
The petrol station that we finally reached also seems gloomy. It’s hard to find, a dark corner in an industrial area. You don’t want or have to stop here at night. The fact that all three charging points are free is hopefully not a bad omen. And then a loading drama begins again as it is in the book: loading error, abortion of the loading process, authentication error. In the loading app, loading is progressing even though it hasn’t even started.
End the charging process, reinsert the charging plug into the station, the same game at the second charging point, repark the vehicle in order to reach the third after repeated failures. Only error messages there. After 10, 15 minutes, the realization that here and now there is no electricity at this station. What’s the alternative? Drive to a lame AC station with the few remaining kilometers, fill up there for an hour to get to the next fast charger? Arriving on time is therefore impossible.
The car has been giving freedom and independence for 100 years. It stands for the possibility of being able to drive off at any time, literally. But now careful planning and careful driving are called for. The inadequacies of the technology are paid for with huge time buffers.
If circumstances suddenly change, if the temperature drops to minus degrees and consumption soars, or if you have to drive beyond the quick-charging network on the motorway, if long detours are due to traffic jams and disruptions, then you unexpectedly find yourself in trouble. Individual, free mobility is decoupled from the resources that you personally have and have bought at great expense. Just a moment of frustration, everything will be fine?
You can spend 100,000 euros on the best electric car in the world and still be stranded in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes it feels like the idea of the free citizen is already there too. And free travel becomes the next victim.
#Dark #Side #Electric #Cars #Electric