Since when has travelling to Scotland been the bench test for a car?

Twice in the last week I've been asked 'what about driving to Scotland?' in reference to owning an electric car.

Since when has that been the standard?

For context, I live on the South Coast of England, some 340 miles from Gretna Green and a full 700 miles from John 'o Groats.

If you travel to scotland from the South Coast that often - consider moving.

To Scotland.

Otherwise it is either a holiday (shall we say every 5 years?) or you have family there (once a year?). If it is for holiday then, statistically you're only likely to drive there once in your ownership of the car in question. Or you drive there to spend time with family - fair enough.

For reference, my parents live about the same distance away and we charge once on the way, arriving with a reasonable amount of range. I would never consider doing that drive without a break - it's just not safe, and we probably add 15 minutes extra to our journey to put on those extra electrons. Not a big sacrifice.

It remains the case that the majority of journeys are local, and even your average sales rep would struggle to drive enough daily to challenge the range of some of the longer-range BEVs.

This picture is improving year-on-year, with better battery chemistry and new advances just around the corner.

Importantly though - if we all stop now, then we never get to a future where BEVs, with all of their significant benefits to us, our kids and our environment (over and above ICE cars), mature into the rangey, low-cost vehicles we need them to be.

We are all part of a bell curve, and we are so near the top. Don't stop now. Stalling isn't an option. That's something you can't do in an electric. . . .