Test drive: A review of the e-Car club

Affordable, easy to use and rather plush – what’s not to like?

e-car opinion

The decision was made one night riding home on the train from London. I was in a foul mood after having spent the last two months in London paying over £500 in tube costs combined with the ridiculous cost of getting a Virgin train from London to Coventry with standing room only. Through this fog of frustration, the decision to join e-Car club hit me.

I had heard about the club towards the end of last year, and over summer I had been hesitant to signing up, wondering if the benefits outweighed the costs, especially on a student budget. However, having lived in London for 2 months over summer I realized that if there was one thing that actually offered value for money, it was the e-Car club scheme.

This was (roughly) my thought process: The e-Car Club has a £50 joining fee, however I had received a promotion code that reduced this to £25*. This joining fee is a one-off lifetime fee which allows me to use any e-Car across the UK. After joining, cars are rented on a pay-as-you-go basis only cost £4.50 an hour to hire, or £35 for 24 hours.

And that was more or less it. Electric cars and clubs like e-Car are only set to get bigger as ‘green’ becomes the new ‘red’, and so, compared to my £20 one-way train ticket, the £25 one-off joining fee was only too compelling. Zac Goldsmith, the potential candidate for London Mayor has already indicated his desire to increase the number of electric cars in central London.

After returning to St Andrews last week and moving into my flat after summer I decided to take the e-Car for a test drive. Seeing as a number of friends needed to move from one flat to another, I offered to help ferry their boxes and cases rather than using a taxi.

The e-Car team guided me over the phone on how to unplug the car from its charging point and start the car. It’s more complicated than you’d think! As I got into the driving seat of the e-Car I realised I had never actually driven an automatic before. Fortunately, my American flat mate was able to guide me on how to actually use the ‘gearstick’.

The first thing that struck me about the Renault Zoe was how plush and modern it was, with very comfortable seats and a touchscreen GPS/Radio. The electric engine was so quiet that as I reversed out of the parking space I had to check that the engine was actually on.

After having shifted my friend’s boxes I went on a short ride around town, getting used to the car and finding out for the first time what it’s actually like to be a driver in St Andrews. rather than a pedestrian. I can now sympathise with those drivers trying to exit Bell Street amid the constant stream of pedestrians in front of the Vic.

The e-Car Club is a fantastic service, and its affordability and flexibility means that there really is no need to bring a car to university. I’m sure it also will become a much larger trend for our generation, especially for those working in cities. Less people will actually buy cars, instead ‘renting’ one as they need it.

For myself and other students at St Andrews, e-cars mean that we can travel freely around the glorious Kingdom of Fife (and further afield) without being constrained by bus routes or timetables. In fact, in many cases it is often cheaper than the bus, especially when you split the cost between 4 or 5 friends. So, if you too are keen to get out and explore some more of Scotland than our 3 streets, sign up to the e-Car Club.

* A new 50% off offer is currently ongoing – get in touch with e-Car to find out more.