130: Tuesday 9th March 2010

Today I got my tax disc. It was not without some issues though. First thing I saw when I arrived at the DVLA office was pickets for a strike over pay claims. So I went in and took my ticket. There were only 2 people queing before me. I noticed there was a sign saying that only a limited service would be offered today due to industrial action. My turn came and I handed over my log book, insurance cover note and MOT certificate with the Engineers report. The woman serving me had to fax the Engineers report over to the head office at Swansea. She told me that she was not sure if anybody was picking up faxes at Swansea because of industrial action so it may take a while. I waited a while and I was called up and told that the Engineers report was o.k., but it does not mention the chassis number and this would be needed to process the change of tax class. I got on the phone to the garage and then went there and the Engineer had a signed and stamped report with the chassis number on it, then back to the DVLA. I didn't need to que this time and after a quick check over the new Engineers report I filled in a form for the change of tax class and the log book was changed and then I was issued with the new tax disc. In the photo I have defaced this so it can't be copied. I have blacked out my car registration number and written SAMPLE across it in red. Just below this you will see "NIL" charge and "ELECTRIC" as the class, cool. When I got home I went for a few drives. I only clocked up about 13 miles before the batteries were flat. This is plenty for my commute to work where I can charge up again for the journey home. It is a bit disappointing, but the batteries are second hand and near the end of their life. With a set of nice fresh batteries I should get much more. Anyway, I shall drive it around like this for a while and then try switching on the regen braking to try to recoup some energy back to the batteries.