On a quest to see if electric motoring can match the pleasures of petrol, Nick Harman heads deep into the Shropshire Hills in the all-electric Lexus GX450e — and finds a rare-breed retreat at Middle Farm, where luxury meets the low-carbon life…
Chickens are natural comedians, it’s no wonder they star so often in cartoons. I’m standing in a barn at twilight chuckling to myself at the sight of twenty or so chooks crammed together on the roof of their coop in two fat layers and all facing me with beady, suspicious, eyes. Every now and then one quietly falls off and lands on its head, as if it happens all the time – perhaps it does?
Middle Farm , the source of this merriment, has rare-breed chickens, endangered Soay sheep, Aylesbury ducks, cows and two magnificent Shire horses, all just a few hundred yards from our luxury cottage. Converted from an ancient barn, it is one of three self-catering cottages around the farmhouse and sized for couples as well as families, and with dogs welcome.
This is an incredibly beautiful spot in the Shropshire Hills, accessed by the narrowest of single track, high-hedged lanes. Every bend has to be inched around slowly in case of oncoming traffic, not that there is much of that but it’s best to be very careful, especially when you’re driving £60k worth of brand new all-electric Lexus GX450e.
Not mine, of course, but loaned to test drive so I could travel some distance, in style, emitting no pollution and see for myself if electric motoring could lure me away from petrol.
The journey from London to Shropshire was certainly comfortable; the Lexus is a very luxurious motor, packed with gadgets, to make driving a quiet, gliding breeze. The 10” Head-Up Display makes one feel like a fighter pilot and the sizable, easy-to-use touchscreen featured the most-used controls on the surface, not buried layers deep, all very intuitive. I particularly liked the way Lexus put the aircon/heating controls off-screen, using physical dials you can work without taking your eyes off the road. Clever.
More’s the point, despite its size and weight, it goes like something smelly off a shovel. In Sport mode, all four wheels are driven and 0-60 comes up faster than you can say ‘three points on your licence’. It even has the option for ‘paddle’ gear change, if you fancy a bit more fun. Being a little more measured, I chose the Economy mode for the motorway, but power was always there aplenty, and leaving annoying tailgaters eating dust in seconds was particularly satisfying.
Ah, but the charging…what a nightmare. It’s not Lexus’ fault that there are so many charging brands, all requiring their own app – I ended up with seven apps on my phone – this needs to be addressed, nationally, asap. I don’t need a phone full of apps when I buy petrol, after all. Nor is it Lexus’ fault that the charging companies think EV drivers don’t need protection from the rain as they wrestle with cables as thick as a shot putter’s thigh and peer with incomprehension at the instructions on the ‘pump’. I had to get drenched numerous times as the charge on the car kept falling away pretty quickly, giving me serious ‘range anxiety’.
Thus, we finally arrived at Middle Farm with the power gauge suggesting I was only twenty miles away from having a nervous breakdown and then getting out to walk. And our hosts were kind enough to let me use the Lexus-supplied plug to hook into their 13 Amp, giving me enough mileage to get to town the next day, which dawned with wonderful sunshine.
And so it proved a great night’s sleep in the cottage for two. Immaculately presented and luxuriously equipped, it made our own home suddenly seem rather grubby and dull. We’d even self-catered the night before on some of the home-made meals stocked in the farm shop, which also sold their local rare breed lamb, sausages, bacon and beef mince. Eat your heart out, Didley Squat. And, after dinner, an internet-enabled telly gave us all we needed to relax.
For breakfast we boiled some fresh eggs, compliments of the aforementioned free-range chooks, which had gorgeous yellow yolks, and then took to embracing our inner farmer, wandering the smallholding talking to the animals. There is a lovely shared garden for guests, along with sheltered as well as open BBQ areas with firepits, and with the cottage, courtyard and grounds, it all feels like staying in a very luxurious country estate.
The Shropshire Hills AONB covers an area of 802 square kilometres, and its stunning vistas mean walking is very much a thing to do here, and is not hard going for the averagely fit. Our hosts Marcus and Amy provided plenty of good maps and guide books to help out, but being softies, with all best intentions we only managed the half mile to the Bottle & Glass, Picklescott for a lunchtime drink, and noted their food menu looked very good.
The nearby historic market town of Church Stretton was once nicknamed Little Switzerland for its almost alpine landscape, and was a popular health resort. Today, it’s a walking base packed with interesting shops, pubs and cafes. It also has – thanks be to the driving gods – a fast-charging station for electric cars.
And you do want to drive; there’s a lot to see. We wafted along in glorious electric silence absorbing great views and visiting interesting places.
The Lexus is as smooth as silk to drive, even on back roads, and the all-round cameras, collision warnings and auto braking all make manoeuvring in the occasionally very tight spots, stress-free. Did I miss changing gears? Well, kind of, but my left leg was grateful for the rest.
So, neat ending alert, we were grateful for our mini break; a gorgeous location, a lovely cottage and – charging issues aside – a fine means to travel in.
Would I go back to Shropshire? In a heartbeat. Will I buy an electric car? Ask me when the UK charging infrastructure is better organised – and if the UK can actually meet the massively increased electricity demand just from wind and sun!
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