Sanday residents Huw and Sheena Evans have both leased and purchased an electric vehicle through Jonathan Porterfield of Eco-cars.
Porterfield has been supplying electric vehicles to Orkney residents for many years and is working in partnership with ReFLEX Orkney’s experienced electric vehicle delivery partners, DriveElectric, to offer EVs for lease and purchase in Orkney.
21 July 2020
- Name: Huw Evans
- Location: Sanday, Orkney
- Car: Nissan env200
Did you lease or purchase your car?
Three-year lease from November 2015; purchased in November 2018 with assistance from Jonathan Porterfield of Eco-cars.
How did you decide what car to lease?
After thoroughly researching our options, the final step in purchasing an EV was to seek the advice of Jonathan Porterfield at Eco-cars.
Porterfield’s experienced input confirmed for us that a Nissan env200 would fit our needs. Porterfield sourced the exact vehicle we wanted, put us in touch with the dealership and facilitated our lease. When the lease was due to expire in November 2018, we decided to buy our env200. Jonathan Porterfield acted as the intermediary, purchasing the car from Nissan and selling it to us, all without the env200 leaving our drive on Sanday.
Why did you decide to go electric?
I have always been interested in technology, and it made sense to me to drive a vehicle powered by the abundance of wind energy on Orkney. Our car needed to be convenient for everyday personal use, big enough to fit our two large dogs, and — most important — a reliable work vehicle. Because Sheena is a carer on Sanday, it was essential our new EV could handle rounds of between 45-90 miles in a 24-hour period (recharging at home during Sheena’s breaks). In 2015, we leased a Nissan env200 as a way to first test the developing technology, particularly how it performed in the North Isles environment.
Results
When we told Jonathan we’d decided to lease a white Nissan env200, he sourced one within 48 hours. I was already south for a work trip, so a Nissan representative met me with the env200 at the Aberdeen ferry port on my return home. By the time our lease came up for renewal in 2018, we were convinced EVs were the way forward in Orkney, and Jonathan facilitated the purchase of the vehicle through his company, Eco-cars. When we eventually go to upgrade our EV, we plan to use the expertise of Jonathan and Eco-cars once again.
What they say...
Jonathan is an amazing guy because he asks you what you would like to do then he just lists all the options and you pick the option that suits you. He gave it [the Nissan env200] the thumbs up, and I trusted him.
Huw Evans
He is very, very enthusiastic. He is very, very knowledgeable [from both a technical point of view and on the vehicle marketplace.] If you add those together, you get somebody who I could have confidence in.
We wouldn't go anywhere else. He has done us proud. I’m happy to say that, and I do tell everybody the same story who is interested in EVs and point them in his direction.
When the lease came up for renewal/expiry we decided that EVs were the only way forward. They work perfectly in places like Orkney and Sanday and we were completely dialled in to that.
Huw Evans
The van is gently charging for 90 percent of its life. Range within Orkney [is not an issue.] It’s just trying to educate people away from standing at a pump for ten minutes. With EVs you don’t.
