EV general discussion

b0rn2sk8 said:
I dropped into rugby services just before lunchtime today, Christmas travel was in full swing and it was very busy.

Both Tesla and Gridserve had one unit down (I’ve not actually ever seen all 12 gridserve units working) which is less than ideal.

Tesla had 2-3 of their 28 slots free for the 15 mins I was there. The charging speed was okay but not amazing, I expect we were up against the site power limit but the turnover of cars was good.

Gridserve consistently had 4 cars waiting with a martial managing the queue.

It would have been messy without those additional 16 Tesla units put in earlier this year and it soon will not be long before they will need more in the area.
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Exeter services seems one of the best around, 32 Super chargers, 24 gridserve.. rocked up on Friday 22nd when everyone was travelling at 6pm and plenty of both free..

It was our first 'supercharge' so can attest it's by far the easiest charging experience I've ever had, and even lower rates (£0.55p/kwh).. however, had we been in the ID.3, the gridserve setup was pretty good, albeit it, very expensive.

Scary things with Tesla, looking at the telemetry available via their API (I installed Teslamate on my Unraid server), it has full GPS coordinates, and everything else logged, tyre pressures, even outside/inside temperatures etc.. it's all a bit intrusive?
Here's a 150 mile trip:
DXPbcvuh.jpg


It seems to be approx 8 to 9 second averages for the entire trip.. crazy..


It's our first Tesla, and overall, very impressive.. but not without fault.. namely we have named the car Wussy.. since TACC is so nervous.. and having the newer firmware with the 'recall' software behaviour for autopilot, it's 3 times more restrictive than our ID.3, if you dare look at the speed or your mirrors in the first few seconds of engaging autopilot you get a warning to pay attention to the road.. way too draconian IMO.
 
The second hand EV market is where I'm looking, don't want any finance so gonna be another 18ish months before I buy, loads of (relative) bargains are available, cars that were ~£35K are now ~£18K, one previous owner, most with a few years left on the warranty.

My current shortlist is Kona (awesome range), e-Niro (great range and slightly better to drive), MG4 (only thing I dislike is the look), ID3/Born (terrible infotainment). I'm used to driving hatchback size cars, have driven bigger compact SUV style with holiday rental, takes a bit of getting used to, mainly when trying to park! I don't really wanna go as big as a Tesla or the new Kona, they've gone too big for me.

Whatever I get will be a massive step up from my current cheap VW ICE car! Mostly for commute and Birmingham to Cornwall 1-2 times a year.

I'd be charging weekly elsewhere as have no drive, but there are plenty of local charging options, maybe a pub or supermarket for 1-1.5 hours should be all that's needed.

My sister and bro-in-law are EV converts due to company lease schemes available to both of them. They still use an outside granny charger for both cars.

ID2 should also be good to drive(!) the price of EVs down. But that's 2025. Citroen e-C3 is the only other EV coming in 2024 that I'm looking out for. I dislike bigger cars, not a fan of driving them on UK roads and not needed for me.
 
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Simon said:
I’d check the charging costs before commiting.
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Yeah some ball park calculations:

22kW charging is cheaper than the faster 50kW+, can get 33kW charged in 1.5 hours, unless the charge rate the car can accept is slower than that? I think that's only an issue when using CCS.

~150 miles per week, Kona has 64 kWh battery, all depends on miles per kW, Kona gets between high 3-low 4 which works out to 150/4 = 37kW of charge needed per week, lets round up to 40.

40 x 56p = £22 / per week, currently I'm spending £70 every 3 weeks on petrol so that's about the same, slightly cheaper. Some weeks might be less/more, I don't need a full 100% charge to get through a week, more likely I'm done at 80%.
 
I'll go fully electric the day that either

(1) I live in a house with private off-street parking where I can install a charger

or

(2) the government / developers / council find a way to solve the fact that my apartment building complex has ~85 car parking spaces, but only 1 electric charger
 
keyser van someone said:
The second hand EV market is where I'm looking, don't want any finance so gonna be another 18ish months before I buy, loads of (relative) bargains are available, cars that were ~£35K are now ~£18K, one previous owner, most with a few years left on the warranty.

My current shortlist is Kona (awesome range), e-Niro (great range and slightly better to drive), MG4 (only thing I dislike is the look), ID3/Born (terrible infotainment). I'm used to driving hatchback size cars, have driven bigger compact SUV style with holiday rental, takes a bit of getting used to, mainly when trying to park! I don't really wanna go as big as a Tesla or the new Kona, they've gone too big for me.

Whatever I get will be a massive step up from my current cheap VW ICE car! Mostly for commute and Birmingham to Cornwall 1-2 times a year.

I'd be charging weekly elsewhere as have no drive, but there are plenty of local charging options, maybe a pub or supermarket for 1-1.5 hours should be all that's needed.

My sister and bro-in-law are EV converts due to company lease schemes available to both of them. They still use an outside granny charger for both cars.

ID2 should also be good to drive(!) the price of EVs down. But that's 2025. Citroen e-C3 is the only other EV coming in 2024 that I'm looking out for. I dislike bigger cars, not a fan of driving them on UK roads and not needed for me.
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I wouldn't buy a EV in your situation. I don't see the point.

I got an used eGolf because it has buttons and I do 98% short journeys and it was a lot cheaper (short range) and I have a drive. Also we have a second ICE car.

A modern mild hybrid (non plugin) with all the toys is what you should buy.


petrol
 
OspreyO said:
I wouldn't buy a EV in your situation. I don't see the point.

I got an used eGolf because it has buttons and I do 98% short journeys and it was a lot cheaper (short range) and I have a drive. Also we have a second ICE car.

A modern mild hybrid (non plugin) with all the toys is what you should buy.


petrol
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Yeah, but I also wanna try an EV. In the same way a petrolhead likes erm petrol I'm an electrichead :)

No gears, instant power, quieter, better? The Kona has 200bhp and that's not even one of the fast ones!
 
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keyser van someone said:
Yeah some ball park calculations:

22kW charging is cheaper than the faster 50kW+, can get 33kW charged in 1.5 hours, unless the charge rate the car can accept is slower than that? I think that's only an issue when using CCS.

~150 miles per week, Kona has 64 kWh battery, all depends on miles per kW, Kona gets between high 3-low 4 which works out to 150/4 = 37kW of charge needed per week, lets round up to 40.

40 x 56p = £22 / per week, currently I'm spending £70 every 3 weeks on petrol so that's about the same, slightly cheaper. Some weeks might be less/more, I don't need a full 100% charge to get through a week, more likely I'm done at 80%.
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I believe the only EV with 22kw AC charging is the Zoe, with most others you'll be limited 7kw (or 11kw if the original buyer specced the option on some cars)
 
keyser van someone said:
Yeah some ball park calculations:

22kW charging is cheaper than the faster 50kW+, can get 33kW charged in 1.5 hours, unless the charge rate the car can accept is slower than that? I think that's only an issue when using CCS.

~150 miles per week, Kona has 64 kWh battery, all depends on miles per kW, Kona gets between high 3-low 4 which works out to 150/4 = 37kW of charge needed per week, lets round up to 40.

40 x 56p = £22 / per week, currently I'm spending £70 every 3 weeks on petrol so that's about the same, slightly cheaper. Some weeks might be less/more, I don't need a full 100% charge to get through a week, more likely I'm done at 80%.
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You’ll only get 11kW so that’s 3hours. Assume you won’t be sat in the car waiting ?
 
m4rmite said:
Cars with 22kw AC charging
BMW i3 - maybe, depends on individual car/model year
Renault Zoe - yes
Tesla Model S/X - maybe, depends on individual car/model year
Lotus Eletre S/R - I doubt the poster I was replying to is going to be looking at these if they're talking about 18k 2nd hand cars!
Lightyear 0 - as above
Smart #1 Brabus - yes
Nissan Leaf e+ - nope
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So out of your list, 2 will have it (one of which being the Zoe as I mentioned), 2 might have it depending on when they were built and the spec. 2 are way outside of budget, and 1 doesn't actually have it.
 
Haggisman said:
I believe the only EV with 22kw AC charging is the Zoe, with most others you'll be limited 7kw (or 11kw if the original buyer specced the option on some cars)
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Simon said:
You’ll only get 11kW so that’s 3hours. Assume you won’t be sat in the car waiting ?
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Yeah I must admit I didn't know this.

Just checked and there are 4x 22kW chargers down the road from me so might be an option to leave the car there for an evening after work, depending on how I feel about doing that.
 
Haggisman said:
So out of your list, 2 will have it (one of which being the Zoe as I mentioned), 2 might have it depending on when they were built and the spec. 2 are way outside of budget, and 1 doesn't actually have it.
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It's a list of cars with 22kw charging, as you point out some depending on spec.

Not on the list is the Renault megane e-tech, sub £25k used and has 22kw, well the ones i looked at had.
 
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m4rmite said:
It's a list of cars with 22kw charging, as you point out some depending on spec.

Not on the list is the Renault megane e-tech, sub £25k used and has 22kw, well the ones i looked at had.
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Thanks, not sure why that one passed me by, I'll look into that as an option, nice car. Needs be come down a bit more though before I can buy one.

EVs are expensive for sure but I can see one lasting me 5+ years maybe even closer to 10, by then there will be a lot more choice and easier charging. And cheaper?!
 
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m4rmite said:
Cars with 22kw AC charging
BMW i3
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does it? I have one and I didn't know that.. we have 22kw AC charging at work and have used it there but only have a 7kw T2 cable in the car so didn't benefit

I may have to nick the cable out of my ipace just to test it!

funny if true if my i3 with "tiny" 27kwh usable battery can charge twice as fast as my 84kwh usable battery ipace (which has 11kw,AC)
 
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bigmike20vt said:
does it? I have one and I didn't know that.. we have 22kw AC charging at work and have used it there but only have a 7kw T2 cable in the car so didn't benefit

I may have to nick the cable out of my ipace just to test it!

funny if true if my i3 with "tiny" 27kwh usable battery can charge twice as fast as my 84kwh usable battery ipace (which has 11kw,AC)
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OPen your flap :eek: and look inside the charge port to see if it has the 3 lives.
BLpZr.jpg
 
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