As temperatures have dropped, I’ve found myself growing accustomed to using the cabin heaters almost every morning – before I unplug the car from my wallbox. Operated from a button on the key, which shows a graphic of a thermometer, it pre-heats the cabin and demists the windows ready for a quick departure. As an added advantage, it saves depleting the range with the power-hungry heaters.

These seem to operate far more quickly than in a petrol or diesel car. Conventional cars often use the heat of the engine coolant to warm the cabin, which makes demisting the windows a chore while the engine is cold. By comparison, the Ampera uses an electric heater which gets up to temperature almost instantly while I’m indoors finishing my coffee.

If I were to grumble about anything, my only gripe would be the lack of a timer for the above. This would allow the car to warm up ready for a pre-set departure time, rather than having to go out and start it manually using the key. But it’s a small problem with an otherwise useful feature.

The last few weeks have also highlighted the reduced need to visit chilly forecourts. We’ve been using almost a full charge each day and, while the petrol range extender kicked into life a few times, we barely made a dent in the ‘emergency’ quarter tank I tend to carry around. There’s a pleasing simplicity to always having a full battery and warm cabinwaiting for me when I’m ready to go.