EV - Public Charger Usage

FerretBoy

FerretBoy

FerretBoy

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18 Oct 2003
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As an EV owner, how many times in the past 6 months have you used a public charger?

Personally:
Occasions: 2
Average charge time: 9 minutes.
Total kWh: 35
Car: M3P
Miles driven: 3573

*One of those charges was due to forgetting to plug in at home. The other due to only having a three pin at my destination.

Just like the majority of people, before I purchased an EV I was concerned about charging speed and inconvenience. But with access to home and destination chargers (sometimes) as well as a good range it doesn't really happen that often.

In fact so little I'd argue that never having to visit a petrol station far outweighs the inconvenience.
 
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I've used them more than that in the last 6 months, though often I use them because I'm stopping for food anyway and might as well charge rather than because I've been desperate.

They are very hit and miss.

I've used Tesla Superchargers (for my Polestar 3)
I've got to a destination and found lots of 'out of service' ones (even with Zap Map) - Why do they fail so much?
I've sat at queues for ones (South mimms)
I've used the Gridserve ones in Norfolk, very nice but not as fast as I expected.

If I am going on a long journey I always try to leave with 100% and don't like to go much below 40% if I am driving somewhere that I know doesn't have a charger the other end (Glastonbury, Airbnb etc)

On the way back from Glastonbury festival I had about 15% left when I found a charger that actually worked and was empty (having already stopped off twice to firstly find a broken one, and secondly one that was in use)
 
I’ve used a public charger once in the last year and that was to test the Tesla network for my P2.
 
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Twice in the same hour period as I didn't realise how slow the supermarket ones were and had to hunt down a fast charger.
 
About 10. Ionity in France was nice, InstaVolt near my house too for a poorly planned day. Worst part is the small talk, rain and winter should stop the chogging.
 
Not an EV owner however I'm curious if EVs come with guidelines for maintaining battery condition. I.E. aim to run as low and charge as much as possible as opposed to the equivalent of sticking £20 in every "fill up". Also, can faster charging be detrimental over time vs slower charging?
 
yeah the guidance is the opposite of what you just said, top ups in the middle is good with the occasional deep discharge and full overnight to allow cells to balance etc.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
yeah the guidance is the opposite of what you just said, top ups in the middle is good with the occasional deep discharge and full overnight to allow cells to balance etc.
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The Pug manual specifically says don't do a deep discharge as it can damage the battery. Assuming by deep discharge you meant nearing 0%.
 
I've used a local one a few times. If I need to do another journey soon after returning home, I'll use the local fast charger to top up.
 
I use one of the free public ones every wednesday - I drop my little boy off at his grandparents, drive to the shopping centre that has one, plug it in, go for a coffee, do some emails / catch up on some stuff, then go and get it anywhere between an hour and 2 hours later depending on how much charge needed. Costs me a coffee which I was gonna buy anyway
 
I'll use free public charger where I can find them without going out of my way. I know it's not sustainable but you've got to make hay while the sun is shining at the end of the day. I can be as much as 33% public charger powered because of this.

I've been doing a lot of long trips recently, loads of 500+ mile weekends with limited destination charging. I don't really track this but I reckon I have done 15-20 rapid sessions in the last 6 months. They are mostly very short, just enough to get to where I need to go or get home and its usually me needing to stop before the car. Typically charges are 5-15 mins at the most. As hinted, I'm doing something else while the car charges it's usually just the time it takes to pee and grab a drink.
 
Every weekend at the Podpoint in Sainsburys - chargers are next to the door :D

Sometimes it actually gives me some free juice, sometimes not.

Paid charging - twice, both at Gridserve.
 
Never used one with my i3, even though I've had it for 3 years now. Purely because if I know I'm going somewhere out of range (80 miles), then I'll use another car.

In the hybrid Q7, used them a few times during the summer holidays as I couldn't charge it at my in-laws. I'd have to charge it out of a window and it blew the fuses so much easier just going to a public charger.
 
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Not once with my M3P.

Twice total outside of the last 6 months. Once the day I collected it, due to the low SoC, and once when I had to visit the Tesla service center and I only used it because it was there, not due to requirement.
 
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2000 miles from new on my Tesla MY...

All public charging, cause it's free in my local authority still. Got a charger at home, but when I've got 50kw/2 x 22kw/ 6 x7kw chargers about 3 minutes walk from my house - why not use them.

So 2000 miles - total charging costs - £0
 
Looks like I should be hunting down some free charging, although 7.5p per kWh it doesn't seem that worth it. But looking at the above, it seems public charging is indeed of little concern and for some of you a boon.
 
FerretBoy said:
Looks like I should be hunting down some free charging, although 7.5p per kWh it doesn't seem that worth it. But looking at the above, it seems public charging is indeed of little concern and for some of you a boon.
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I'm the same as I on octopus Intelligent, but it's nice to get something for free, I feel like I'm "winning" when I get to use a charger :cry: .
 
I think I've needed to charge twice in 2 years on fast chargers. Charged a few times at a hotel we visit but that's just a slow charge overnight. Done a few freebie chargers whilst at Tesco etc.

Public charging has never been a major need and that's on an iPace which doesn't have amazing range (230 miles ish).
 
Don't any of you travel long distances? I've had holidays in England that were further away than the maximum range of my car.

Or do you have access to ICE cars for those types of trips?
 
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