Category: Cars

A couple of months ago, I mentioned that I’d bought a Mazda MX-30 R-EV. It’s not a full EV, but a plug-in hybrid, albeit one that go 50 miles on battery alone and the petrol engine is just used as a generator.

As part of the sweetener from Mazda I was offered a home charger for half the usual price. Considering installing one of these generally adds to the value of your home, it would seem rude not to.

The Pod Point Solo 3 was the option available to me (there is a 3S but this is intended for those that have solar panels on their home) and it was installed quickly, cleanly and efficiently. But, a couple of months later, how am I getting on with it?

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Most cars these days come with connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, albeit it’s usually a wired solution. Being able to do this wirelessly is even more convenient, so there are a number of third party products available to achieve this.

However, costing anything up to £100 they’re not cheap and most appear to be have drawbacks of one kind of another – whether it’s a slow response between screen and device, or one where you can’t use any other Bluetooth devices at the same time (which would be a problem with me having an Apple Watch, for example).

To me, the inconvenience of plugging a cable in isn’t worth me spending that amount of money and for it still not being as good in use. But what if I didn’t have to spend that money to try something out? What if I spent just £11.52? Well, that’s exactly what I’ve done.

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I was due to replace my car early next year, and I’ve been looking at plug-in hybrids (PHEV). The cost and range anxiety of a full EV was always something that put me off, which is why the PHEV was the perfect solution.

I’d been looking for a while, online, at the options but was dismayed at the high costs or, where it wasn’t so expensive, the massive compromise.

And then I came across the recently released Mazda MX-30 R-EV. I went for a test drive, read the reviews and, days later, bought one. Why now? They have some fantastic offers, inc. a big chuck off the price.

So, how’s it gone?

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I used to hate Lily Allen’s music with a burning passion. Even more than I hated everything that Apple made. These days I’m surrounded by Apple products (typing on a MacBook Pro right now), and enjoy Lily’s music.

Some people, who know my when I thought this in the past, mock me as if “changing my mind” is some horrible weakness. The only weakness I had was making such insular, definite decisions. Particularly on things that I didn’t fully understand at the time. Changing your mind isn’t a weakness but a maturing of the person, who now better understands the world around them.

But that’s an aside. I can now strike the third thing off the “things I’ll never do” list.

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