Essay by Eric Worrall
“… I sat in a café one street back from the ruins of the seafront, watching as zombies lurched past. It gave me time to think. …”
I tried circumnavigating the UK in an electric van — here’s why it was impossible
It’s green, it’s eco-friendly … and it can take up to six hours to charge, as Chris Haslam discovered. The road trip revolution is still a long way off
My annual circumnavigation of mainland Britain and Northern Ireland presented the perfect opportunity to try to prove that it was not only possible, but, ideally, a breeze to complete a four-week road trip in an electric van.
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The next day was worse. Despite beginning the day with a 90-minute top-up in a BP garage, the last 40 miles to Normans Bay felt like a scene from the 1953 film The Wages of Fear.
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Unless you’re a student of urban decline or a fan of post-apocalyptic horror, you’ll find three hours is too long to be in Eastbourne. I sat in a café one street back from the ruins of the seafront, watching as zombies lurched past. It gave me time to think.
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So I admitted defeat, called VW and asked if it had anything that ran on diesel. It brought me a California camper van. It took five minutes to fill, had a range of 550 miles, an electric pop-up roof and a fridge that looked great when I loaded it with beer.
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The entire article is well worth reading, laughed at every paragraph – as is MGUY’s hilarious take on this road trip disaster.
I did a similar road trip 25 years ago, at least the drive along the Kent and Sussex coast in the south east corner of Britain. Some towns along the coast road were absolutely charming, laid back sleepy beach front oasis, so I have good memories of that drive.
Other towns not so much.
I don’t remember zombies in Eastbourne, though Eastbourne did look a little run down, so we kind of drove through without stopping. I didn’t have to stop anywhere I didn’t want to or worry about range anxiety, because I was driving a diesel.
I did some more research on Eastbourne, things have really deteriorated since I visited. The town has a major Meth crisis, which nobody seems to be dealing with. Even a local Eastbourne priest recently admitted his drug use, but claimed drug use helps him with his pastoral mission.
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