Well, that was an experience.
I was quite nervous as it was my first EV, but once I sat inside I felt quite reassured. The build quality (on this particular car?) was very good. No obvious defects (White Performance, black interior).
The seats were immensely comfortable and supportive (big torso short legs!).
The sales agent had a programmed route in the car which made life easier for me and showed me about the keycard and basic gear shifter, setting steering and mirrors.
I drove around the carpark first testing the regen brakes, which weren’t as severe as I’d first expected - at slower speeds it was severe, but at higher speeds it was far gentler than I expected.
We gingerly pootled around the route at first before it left a roundabout with no other cars around straight into a dual carriage way. I asked the missus if she was ready for me to test the power... she nodded, knowing we’ve had powerful cars before. Pedal to metal and we both had a dirty big grin on our faces - her sunglasses launched into the backseat! It was effortless, grippy and felt very safe.
At speed, the car did have road noise, but it’s nothing to write home about - my M cars have been horrific noise-mobiles so this was better than them.
It had a bit of wind noise but once again, nothing major or worrying coming from raw car.
I was caught out by the lane safety, where I didn’t indicate to drop back into a lane and the steering wheel wrestled me a little but next time I remembered to simply indicate.
The cabin had unusual acoustics when talking, slightly echoey but also strangely muted (for those who have been in a sound-insulated booth it would be familiar!).
All in all, I went in there expecting shoddy build quality, dangerous feeling steering and just a jumpy car. I came out of there confident that I would be happy with a car of that level (provided it was free from problems!).