Hastings man hits out at electric car 'misinformation'

For one Hastings man, the future can't come soon enough.
Malcolm GreenhillMalcolm Greenhill
Malcolm Greenhill

Business owner Malcolm Greenhill is an early and enthusiastic adopter of electric cars. His whole family drives electric; his wife in a stylish Mercedes, his son in a smart Mitsubishi hybrid and Malcolm himself driving a luxury Tesla.

So when the government last month announced plans to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2040, Malcolm greeted the news with glee. But, he says, he was surprised by the ‘negativity’ in the reaction of most people and now wants to set people’s minds at ease.

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“Range anxiety is the biggest problem. But you soon get over it,” said Malcolm.

“It is the future in any case. Younger people, by 2040 they’ve got to go this way.

“The problem is there’s been a lot of misinformation and a lot of negativity in the press. There’s also been a lot of misunderstanding.

“It’s not for everyone and you would have to change the way you think about driving, but people will just have to get used to it.

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“At home, with my home charging point, I can put around 24 miles into the battery per hour. If I’m at home for 12 hours, well the sums are simple to see.

“Well, you say, that’s costing you money to charge. Well to fill to full, which is 270 miles , it costs me around £9.”

Elsewhere Malcolm can charge at one of thousands of charging points around the UK. As a Tesla driver Malcom can also use one of the Tesla’s superchargers, which can take just 20 mins to put 150 miles into the battery.

“About the same time as it takes to get a coffee and a sandwich,” Malcolm said.

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Malcolm also argues that the long-term costs of buying electric are far lower than owning a fossil fuel car.

He said: “The fact is it’s less expensive for me to buy and run this car than the Jaguar XFs I used to run. I’ve had three XF’s over the last ten years

“There’s no road tax, no congestion charge and a lot of cities are going to be charging for diesel vehicles soon.

“I’m not an environmental campaigner, I’m not a tree hugger. If anything I’m a pragmatist. I’ve known for a long time that this is the way the market is going.”

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