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I admit: I feel guilty on the outward journey. For convenience, I drive my combustion engine to the Umwelt Arena instead of using the climate-friendly Limmattalbahn that stops nearby. The tram would of course be better suited for a place where everything revolves around low-carbon living and biodiversity, sustainable construction and renewable energies. But still: I came to deal with electromobility.
Once you arrive at the multi-storey car park, one thing becomes clear: the peripheral area is well equipped for all-electric mobility. Plenty of electric vehicle parking is available, including charging options for visitors right at the entrance. When I see the boxes on the wall, I ask myself: Is charging really as easy as charging? Or are there pitfalls here to read here?
About that later. I start my tour from the ground floor of the five-story environmental arena. Here the makers have built a kind of “kart track” for all kinds of electric vehicles: e-bikes, Segways, rickshaws, scooters for kids, but also electric cars like the smart EQ fortwo and Hyundai KONA are available for selection. I book the second one and in 45 minutes I have a vacancy – the first time in an electric car!
From battery to driving simulator
By the way, I use it to further educate myself on electromobility. This is possible in the “Mobility” exhibition area on the first floor of the building. Here I learn many interesting facts about different types of electric cars, from hybrids to plug-in hybrids to hydrogen cars.
How big an electric battery is, even in a small car like the Renault “Zoe” is impressively demonstrated in one of the neighboring shop windows. It measures approximately 1.6 x 1.2 meters and is approximately 33 centimeters thick. I had imagined they were much smaller. However, looking at the components used, it becomes clear that this central part of the electric car only needs a certain size: For example, it contains 69 kilos of aluminum, 36 kilos of graphite, 30 kilos of iron, 26 kilos of iron. nickel, 18 kilos of copper and 8 kilos each of 5 manganese and cobalt. When batteries reach the end of their service life after 20 to 30 years, they are recycled and made into valuable materials that go back into battery manufacturing. I also learn this on the trip.
Next, a simulator that’s also very popular with young visitors, shows you how to make sure you’re using resources efficiently on the road with an internal combustion engine. It’s an important point for the environmental field, as spokesperson Monika Sigg emphasized. “We have a lot of families and school classrooms who are interested in environmental and sustainability issues.” And apparently also knowledgeable: Unlike the young visitor in front of me, my virtual journey is sobering: Apparently, I drive so profusely that my current tank runs out in less than half the time. The simulator advises me to let the car spin more. Or driving with foresight.
Electro fun on the course
Maybe pretty good, I’ll switch to an electric car in the near future. Then the (very) high fuel consumption will be resolved for sure. Now I want to test what it feels like to be in an all-electric vehicle on the track. Umwelt Arena employee Yvonne Köhli introduced me to the features of Hyundai KONA electricity. A minor disappointment for me: This car is in no way different from my internal combustion engine car, purely for starting and driving. So the change in this direction will only happen for people who are used to gear cars until now.
I’m driving – and now I still see a difference. Acceleration is extremely fast, you are accelerating very quickly. But of course, it is not fashionable to push the limits of what is in the car on the closed track. Rather, it serves to get a feel for different electric vehicles. But that’s also fun, because Hyundai’s driving experience is so enjoyable, sometimes I feel like I’m floating. This e-car also maneuvers very well in corners. The ride is also very quiet. Explanation behind: Driving electromagnetism does not cause any noise.
Umwelt Arena visitors wishing to take more extensive test drives can do so on the street as well – in addition to the electric Hyundai KONA, a Volvo XC40 Recharge is available for reservation. Another feature of an electric car can be discovered outside: recovery. The term means that electricity can be recovered when the brake pedal is depressed, as Yvonne Köhli explained to me. You can get the impression that he is driving an electric car in the test laps in the hall. It feels comfortable! In the meantime, if I had switched to the vehicle under test, I would have had a range of 484 kilometers. With a daily trip of 60 kilometers, this would easily be enough for a week without recharging.
The download isn’t witchcraft, but…
However, sooner or later every electric car has to be charged – which brings us to the part of electromobility that I have the most reservations about – or let’s put it: question marks. So how complicated or easy is it? Course worker Yvonne Köhli teaches visitors using a practice charging station right next to the track.
As a little extra, I can connect my parked Volvo XC40 Recharge test car to the electrical grid in one of the wall boxes in the downstairs car park for practice. My trainer is the mobility expert Andreas Kriesi, stv. Environmental Arena General Manager. It shows how easy charging really is: Plug it into the wall socket in the car, then hold the charging card up to the box on the wall – and the car is ready. “It’s as easy as filling up and paying at the gas station,” says Andreas Kriesi. Type 2 plug, which is common in Europe and used in all electric cars, is used here. What about the charge card? As Andreas Kriesi explains, I get one by signing up with one of the many providers. All uploads are processed through it. The credit card on file will be billed. So it’s not witchcraft.
But there is a smaller trap. Because a charging station is not just a charging station. In other words, the process takes longer or shorter depending on how “tapped” a charging station is. A graphics card provides a compact overview of the most common types of charging stations and shows how long the respective charging takes. It is particularly fast with a fast charging station, for example. 7 minutes of 100 kilometers of electricity is only enough to drink a coffee, so this charging speed is also called “espresso & charge”. The charging station in the Umwelt Arena car park is an 11 kW wall box. It charges 100 kilometers of electricity in an hour and a half. This speed is called «shop&charge». For example, anyone traveling from the Bern region and spending three hours at the exhibition will easily have enough electricity for the return trip.
I, on the other hand, return to my “normal” gas car park after visiting the environmental arena and return home with a bit of guilt. However, the insightful hands-on exhibit has given me a lot of confidence so I can feel ready to switch to an electric car in the near future. Now I have to convince my landlord to let me install a wall box in the underground car park… That would be the electric quintet and the Weggli!
Source: Blick
I’m Ella Sammie, author specializing in the Technology sector. I have been writing for 24 Instatnt News since 2020, and am passionate about staying up to date with the latest developments in this ever-changing industry.
