I coined a new term (to me, anyway) the other week: range resignation. We’ve all heard about range anxiety – and many drivers have probably experienced it. But, on this occasion, I faced a longish journey knowing full well that I wouldn’t make it to my destination in one hit. Technically speaking (literally!), the distance wasn’t a problem, it was more the capabilities of my faithful companion – a Dacia Spring – that helped coin the above term, which I’m now calling early as a future ‘buzz phrase’…

You can read all about my experience here but, essentially, I decided to take the Spring to an event in Banbury (140 miles away from Challen Towers), keenly aware that 140 miles was precisely the maximum distance possible in the Romanian runabout (according to WLTP).

That might sound like a brave/crazy/stupid (delete as appropriate) challenge – in fact, many people told me so to my face. But I was keen to take the car out of its natural comfort zone (towns and cities are where the Spring make most sense), safe in the knowledge that I knew I would have to charge multiple times. I just left the rest of the experiment to fate.

The whole exercise fascinated a lot of people before, during and after it took place. But I only had the Spring for one full day – and that day happened to coincide with an event that I had to attend.

So I made time adjustments and allowances – as we all have to do when it comes to living with EVs – and got on with the task at hand. Personally, I’ve never really bought into the whole ‘range anxiety’ thing, because I just think it’s a case of planning ahead (something, ironically, that I’m not very good at). So having to charge en route to a destination that I would normally make with ease in the majority of electric vehicles didn’t phase me. But the response from some people – especially those who are anti-EV or sceptical about the whole shift from ICE – was hilarious. Among the questions and comments I got were: “Why did you do that?”, “It must’ve been a nightmare” and “Why didn’t you take another car”. To which my responses were: “Because I thought it would make an interesting feature”; “No, not really” and “I needed to drive the Spring and this was the only opportunity I had”.

As some might expect, the round trip wasn’t without its challenges – and I was ably assisted by the wonderful people at BMW who helped replenish the Spring when I rocked up with 11 miles of range. But, in reality, it wasn’t THAT much of a ballache. I won’t go into details because you can read more in the feature but – spoiler alert – the Spring and I made it home unscathed.

And that’s the thing about life – not just EVs. However bad you think something is going to be, a bit of preparation will make it a lot easier – in reality and in your own mind. Is the Spring designed specifically for trips of 280 miles on a daily basis? No, of course it isn’t. But can it manage it without too much drama? You bet it can.

Enjoy the issue.

John Challen Editor