The Car Thread

[Tredman]

Was on that earlier. Using the Q4 to drive to MK tomorrow and back home Saturday.
Says I should need an 8 min charge at Watford gap on the return journey.
Hopefully can get on the hotel charger so no need to stop at all on the way back.

Watford Gap is pretty good now I think. Gridserve though so no discounts available.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

I'm coming over to Northumberland in November.
As I arrive into Scotland I've downloaded the impressive 'ChargePlace' Scotland. and there are a number of free chargers and the app tells you if they're in use or available.
Which is the most/best provider in England so I can do the same?

 

[Tredman]

ChargePlace Scotland is not very reliable… chargers are generally slower 50kwh. There is no one network which is the best here - use the app above to plan your route.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

ChargePlace Scotland is not very reliable… chargers are generally slower 50kwh. There is no one network which is the best here - use the app above to plan your route.

Thanks. I have my route sorted and after I stop at the available free one in Dumfries Railway Station I'll be good to get to my destination.
It's after that, that app might be useful.

 

[Tredman]

Thanks. I have my route sorted and after I stop at the available free one in Dumfries Railway Station I'll be good to get to my destination.
It's after that, that app might be useful.

I wouldn’t rely on one network just as I wouldnt rely on only filing up at Texaco for example.

Zapmap shows all chargers. You can filter based on your car and speed of charge etc.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

Have to say I used the charging station in Tesco in Banbridge last friday and apart from no one ion Tesco knowing fuck all about it, (Laughably, Customer Services didn't know they had one!) I sort of worked it out and it gave me 15 mins of charge before ceasing....
Called Pod Point. Fucking useless. I eventually rang their helpline and she suggested "...try locking it and unlocking your car 3 times..."

I wouldn’t rely on one network just as I wouldnt rely on only filing up at Texaco for example.

Zapmap shows all chargers. You can filter based on your car and speed of charge etc.

That's helpful, thanks.

 

[sycophantia]

What’s the range on the MG?

Did a trip to Devon recently in one hit with 3 passengers, a dog and a roof box. 200 miles I think it was. But I only did 60-65 on the motorway as any faster than that and I wouldn’t have made it.

Without the roof box would be over 250miles based on shorter runs.

If you’re going further to Cornwall/Scotland are you realistically going to do that in one go? Because if you park up and rapid charge then by the time you’ve gone in and out for a piss it will have done most of it anyway.

Something I noticed a few months ago moving my son up to Scotland. At one point we stopped for summat to eat at lunch time, Tebay services, we parked near the ev chargers, there were quite few but all were full, with a couple of cars waiting to use them. When we came out after about 45 minutes, the same cars were still hooked up. So potentially you might have a wait to charge your car. Dunno if it's always like that or a one off.

 

[Tredman]

Have to say I used the charging station in Tesco in Banbridge last friday and apart from no one ion Tesco knowing fuck all about it, (Laughably, Customer Services didn't know they had one!) I sort of worked it out and it gave me 15 mins of charge before ceasing....
Called Pod Point. Fucking useless. I eventually rang their helpline and she suggested "...try locking it and unlocking your car 3 times..."

That's helpful, thanks.

You only get 15 mins free at tescos, if you want longer you need to claim it and pay for it on the pod point app. Sign usually says that at the chargers.

 

[The Bear]

Something I noticed a few months ago moving my son up to Scotland. At one point we stopped for summat to eat at lunch time, Tebay services, we parked near the ev chargers, there were quite few but all were full, with a couple of cars waiting to use them. When we came out after about 45 minutes, the same cars were still hooked up. So potentially you might have a wait to charge your car. Dunno if it's always like that or a one off.

Tebay is notorious for being a really busy one.

Tesla enforces a payment if you overstay at a charger. But people do set their charge limits stupidly high instead of just driving away when they have enough to get them where they're going. Still locked into that "fill her up" way of thinking.

 

[Carrotdude]

Which is mad when it costs 10x more to fast charge than to charge at home!

 

[sycophantia]

Interestingly, I follow a German guy on YouTube, him and his missus are on their way from Berlin to New Zealand on a eV motorbike. In a lot of places including Tunisia, Turkey and Albania, the fast chargers are very cheap, a few euro to charge up, or in some cases free. Is it just UK or the Western world where its expensive?

 

[Tredman]

Interestingly, I follow a German guy on YouTube, him and his missus are on their way from Berlin to New Zealand on a eV motorbike. In a lot of places including Tunisia, Turkey and Albania, the fast chargers are very cheap, a few euro to charge up, or in some cases free. Is it just UK or the Western world where its expensive?

We've just done 2,500 miles around Europe - generally it's a little cheaper in Europe but not massively. In all cases my subscription price from Elli or Tesla is cheaper (and the same in UK / Europe). Fast charging worked out at around 9p / mile except when I chanced on a free charger

 

[MARKakaJIM]

It's the week long breaks that remain as a doubt for me around EVs in the current climate. I'd be fine 90% of the time with home charging, could potentially even upgrade to 22kw at home to make back to back long journeys a doddle. However whenever I've been away since driving a PHEV I don't think I've ever charged up during a break as I've not found myself anywhere that has a charger available.

Obviously using the sort of apps and route planners that have been shared on here is a good way to find them and incorporate them but for me it's still an inconvenience. I wouldn't usually stop at a motorway services for a break on a long journey, I'd find a town or attraction I wanted to visit en route and use that as a rest stop instead, so it would be a compromise for me to include a more viable charging location. Similar with accommodation for such a break, sure I could find somewhere with a charging point at the accommodation but it would probably mean making other compromises. I think for me it's going to be a while before it matches the convenience of swinging into a petrol station for 2 minutes and getting on with my plans.

I did go and test drive an i4 last week to see if it would sway me but I came away not really knowing what to make of it. On one hand a very pleasant serene driving experience just wafting around in near silence, for the most part anyway, but at the same time it felt a bit hollow, almost like I was sat in front of a PlayStation rather than in a car. Might have been negatively influenced by the ridiculous noises the thing made when you accelerate firmly though, sounded like dodgems at a shit fair. Also think I'd absolutely destroy the warranty with the amount of miles I do which would be a concern.

Think I'll end up plumping for another PHEV or even drop back to diesel for this run and reconsider full electric next time round, hopefully with more widespread infrastructure.

 

[Tredman]

It's the week long breaks that remain as a doubt for me around EVs in the current climate. I'd be fine 90% of the time with home charging, could potentially even upgrade to 22kw at home to make back to back long journeys a doddle. However whenever I've been away since driving a PHEV I don't think I've ever charged up during a break as I've not found myself anywhere that has a charger available.

Obviously using the sort of apps and route planners that have been shared on here is a good way to find them and incorporate them but for me it's still an inconvenience. I wouldn't usually stop at a motorway services for a break on a long journey, I'd find a town or attraction I wanted to visit en route and use that as a rest stop instead, so it would be a compromise for me to include a more viable charging location. Similar with accommodation for such a break, sure I could find somewhere with a charging point at the accommodation but it would probably mean making other compromises. I think for me it's going to be a while before it matches the convenience of swinging into a petrol station for 2 minutes and getting on with my plans.

I did go and test drive an i4 last week to see if it would sway me but I came away not really knowing what to make of it. On one hand a very pleasant serene driving experience just wafting around in near silence, for the most part anyway, but at the same time it felt a bit hollow, almost like I was sat in front of a PlayStation rather than in a car. Might have been negatively influenced by the ridiculous noises the thing made when you accelerate firmly though, sounded like dodgems at a shit fair. Also think I'd absolutely destroy the warranty with the amount of miles I do which would be a concern.

Think I'll end up plumping for another PHEV or even drop back to diesel for this run and reconsider full electric next time round, hopefully with more widespread infrastructure.

That's exactly what we did. Charged 2 or 3 times per day, depending on distance covered, and all bar once or twice was at large hubs at towns we wanted to visit.

PHEVs are an utter waste of time - full ICE or full electric are much more useful. Lugging a huge battery around when not using it is massively wasteful

 

[The Bear]

Don't you have to upgrade your electric circuits to 3-phase to get above 7kw?

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Don't you have to upgrade your electric circuits to 3-phase to get above 7kw?

My house was built with a 3 phase supply but at the moment just a single phase taken through the meter so would need to check with the IDNO that the 3 phase supply is still live up to that point. If so would need to change to a 3 phase meter and then an upgraded wall box.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

That's exactly what we did. Charged 2 or 3 times per day, depending on distance covered, and all bar once or twice was at large hubs at towns we wanted to visit.

PHEVs are an utter waste of time - full ICE or full electric are much more useful. Lugging a huge battery around when not using it is massively wasteful

PHEVs been great for me, as said before, in day to day use I rarely find the battery down to empty so the car is almost always able to chop and change between power sources for efficiency. Averaging about 63mpg at the moment which is better than a colleague with an equivalent diesel over similar mileage/driving conditions. Generally can get to/from motorways or major roads under hybrid/electric power and then just sit on the engine idling along for the bulk of the journey.

Not found it that accessible to incorporate charging in journeys in my experience unfortunately. Think in April I did about 1500 miles in the week we went up to Skye. Can't remember seeing a charger anywhere we went other than the accommodation halfway there/back on the first/last days so would've had to change plans through the week to find power, or compromised on accommodation. I'm sure it'll get there, it'll have to, but seeing the amount of faulty chargers knocking around already and the queues for the fast chargers whenever I pop into Donington services it's not at a place I'd want to be relying on it just yet.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

You only get 15 mins free at tescos, if you want longer you need to claim it and pay for it on the pod point app. Sign usually says that at the chargers.

Yes, but never having used them before (always charge at home) I followed the instructions, matched my car up, matched my credit card and loaded £15 onto it, plugged it in, got a message saying you're set to go, your charge has been confirmed, then when nothing was happening, I rang their helpline who told me to, "lock and unlock the car a few times", then when nothing worked, I un plugged the car and put the cable back in and it worked!!
Now in fairness it did say on the column, if you don't confirm the charge within 15 minutes the charge will cease, but as I'd already had it confirmed, we toddled over to McDonalds whilst it charged up. What I didn't realise was I needed to confirm the charge again, after I'd reinserted the cable. for the 2nd time. So it only gave me 15 mins of charge which cost me £5.

 

[EpsomWolf]

PHEVs been great for me, as said before, in day to day use I rarely find the battery down to empty so the car is almost always able to chop and change between power sources for efficiency. Averaging about 63mpg at the moment which is better than a colleague with an equivalent diesel over similar mileage/driving conditions. Generally can get to/from motorways or major roads under hybrid/electric power and then just sit on the engine idling along for the bulk of the journey.

Not found it that accessible to incorporate charging in journeys in my experience unfortunately. Think in April I did about 1500 miles in the week we went up to Skye. Can't remember seeing a charger anywhere we went other than the accommodation halfway there/back on the first/last days so would've had to change plans through the week to find power, or compromised on accommodation. I'm sure it'll get there, it'll have to, but seeing the amount of faulty chargers knocking around already and the queues for the fast chargers whenever I pop into Donington services it's not at a place I'd want to be relying on it just yet.

That post makes perfect sense to someone with no electric experience and a PHEV would suit a lot of people covering their short trips on electric without the faffing about on longer ones which sound like an absolute ball ache.

I think I’d go loopy planning a journey and getting to a charger to find it’s now occupied/there is a queue/there’s not enough range left to go somewhere else where the same thing might happen again etc etc.

 

[Tredman]

That post makes perfect sense to someone with no electric experience and a PHEV would suit a lot of people covering their short trips on electric without the faffing about on longer ones which sound like an absolute ball ache.

I think I’d go loopy planning a journey and getting to a charger to find it’s now occupied/there is a queue/there’s not enough range left to go somewhere else where the same thing might happen again etc etc.

2,500 miles and none of that happened..... Done nearly 20,000 miles in just over a year and queued twice I think.

Interesting to see how the lobbying from the petrochemicals is being successful though.