I swapped my diesel for an electric vehicle but the numbers don’t add up – my regular 350 mile trip went from £50 to almost £90!

A MAN who swapped his diesel BMW for an electric Volvo said the running costs weren’t right.

Steven Smith drove his electric car a 350-mile round trip between Cornwall and Bristol, but it cost him more money than driving his 19-year-old diesel BMW.

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He said the trip would normally cost him “about £50 at today’s diesel prices, assuming 55mpg and 173.9pa litre, which is the price at my nearest supermarket”.

This time Steven drove a Volvo C40 and spent £88.07 for the same return trip.

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Speak with Wales Onlinehe said: “All in all, I felt relieved to be coming home, but also like someone emptied my wallet while I wasn’t looking.”

He also said that the long EV ride was just too stressful.

“The whole day was honestly a bit of a brain melter constantly figuring out how far I could travel and what were the best places to stop on both legs of the journey.”

Steven started his journey at 8am from home with a fully loaded vehicle, which cost him around £20.

“Even though the battery showed 100%, when I was ready to go I still had only shown 180 miles as actual range, compared to a theoretical 273, according to Volvo’s official claim.

“In theory, I barely had enough for the 175-mile trip.”

Steven made his first stop at Taunton Dean Services on the M5 after driving an hour and forty minutes.

He got there with a 25% charge and 45 miles to go.

Steven waited 40 minutes for the battery to charge to 60%, which cost £19.62 for an additional 55 miles.

Unfortunately, it arrived in Bristol at 11am 30 minutes later than usual, with a 35% charge and a range of 60 miles.

The motorist charged his car “very slowly” with a three-pin plug at a relative’s and covered 30 miles in seven hours.

This was cheaper and cost him £5.

At 18:45 he began returning to Cornwall with a 52% charge and a range of 90 miles.

Steven began to worry about the car’s range when he planned to stop at Exeter services 75 miles away to use their super-fast chargers.

He said: “That was going to be tight, but I was determined to make it rather than potentially having to stop twice on the way home – I knew the super-fast charger would do me fine if I could get there.

“And, man, the next hour or so was stressful. I arrived – just now – in Exeter on a 7% charge, showing a range of 14 miles.

“I have to admit that the 20 minutes or so before arrival was not a pleasant feeling as the range seemed to be getting narrower and narrower.”

Luckily, he managed to charge his car in 45 minutes, giving him an 84% charge and a range of 140 miles.

Shockingly, the quick charge cost him £43.45.

After a long and tiring day, he arrived home at 10:20 p.m. – 50 minutes later than usual, with 25 miles remaining and 16% battery charge.