EV general discussion

Some more EV noobie shenanigans for your entertainment :p.

As I mentioned before Storm Floris has caused widespread power outages across the Highlands, myself included. My EV was at 38% charge but couldn't granny charge it with no power so ventured out to top it up so that I could V2L the house essentials.

The first Charge Place Scotland charger I tried refused multiple times to charge on the 50kW CCS charger which meant £300 in pre-authorisations on my credit card (4x £75, I didn't want to give up!). I finally opted for the AC 43 kW charger that worked, but only at 11kW as that's the maximum AC charge of the BYD Seal. But of course the charger won't give 11kW, 8kW was the maximum. It would take more than 8 hours to charge but the parking sign said I was only allowed to stay for 45 minutes :rolleyes:. I decided to give up on that charger but it wouldn't let me disconnect. I couldn't stop the charge via the app and I didn't have the CPS RFID tag to show as identification. I had to call CPS and request them to stop the charge remotely, which they did. While on the phone I asked them to try the CCS charger which they did but it still wouldn't work. Apparently it was in "self-preservation mode" having been used by someone else an hour before. Sounds like ******** to me. I gave up and headed home.

At home with 36% charge now :cry:. I then read on the Scottish networks app that the power won't be fixed in my area until Thursday night at the latest. The freezer will have definitely defrosted by then. There are over a hundred power outages affecting thousands of people so the engineers are working flat out to restore power. I'd better get some charge then.

So I head out again and finally manage to connect to a different CPS 50kW charger (yay!) but it only delivers 38kW (boo!) so a wait of 90 minutes give or take. Fine, the lad and I will watch youtube on the Seal's big centre display while it charges :). The charger stops charging at 68% for no reason or input from me. I try again and it kicks me off again at 83% a little while later. I've had enough. £450 now in pre-authorisations on my credit card. Obviously I won't have to pay that money but if the credit card had a low limit set and if I was near that limit then it could have disabled further use of the card. It'll be interesting to see how long those pre-auth's stay on my account.

I get home with 79% charge. Finally I set up the V2L 4-gang extension and plug in the fridge, the freezer and a few other essentials (this old laptop!) which barely exceeds 200W peak according to the power meter so I think we'll be set for a while.

On one had I was starting to regret getting an EV because in a rare situation such as this, with the "local" EV charger infrastructure so damn poor and not having the home charger installed for another week, it just all feels flawed. However, the Vehicle to Load feature has been awesome and has saved a freezer full of food, kept the internet running and charged our devices. Or maybe I should have bought a new diesel car and a generator :cry:.

I just hope the bottle of gas for the cooker hob doesn't run out! Hydrogen anybody?!
 
Long drive to Leicestershire but picked it up thought why not. Came from Hyundai was a bit expensive but is low miles and the colour and spec I wanted so happy. It is massive compared to the Corsa which is why we got it. Will have a proper play tomorrow when a bit more awake but so far really like it…

 
Would love to hear how you get on with it. Have added it to my possibility list, along side the e-niro and id3. And possibly Kona.
 
MOOGLEYS said:
Long drive to Leicestershire but picked it up thought why not. Came from Hyundai was a bit expensive but is low miles and the colour and spec I wanted so happy. It is massive compared to the Corsa which is why we got it. Will have a proper play tomorrow when a bit more awake but so far really like it…

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I'll give you the secret cult of EV wave if I see you around town :D
 
FNG said:
Would love to hear how you get on with it. Have added it to my possibility list, along side the e-niro and id3. And possibly Kona.
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It’s far nicer than both the eNiro and ID.3, not to mention larger in every way.. but it is more expensive..

personally I just like the looks and prefer it’s softer suspension setup to most in its class.. the battery size / efficiency are really it’s only niggles, and that is really down to what you need, The 73kwh AWD is really only marginally better in terms of real world range as the 58kwh ID.3 which we managed with for nearly 3 years and only became more inconvenient on long trips as we did more and more.

MOOGLEYS said:
Long drive to Leicestershire but picked it up thought why not. Came from Hyundai was a bit expensive but is low miles and the colour and spec I wanted so happy. It is massive compared to the Corsa which is why we got it. Will have a proper play tomorrow when a bit more awake but so far really like it…

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Enjoy, love the retro/cyberpunk looks
 
MOOGLEYS said:
Long drive to Leicestershire but picked it up thought why not. Came from Hyundai was a bit expensive but is low miles and the colour and spec I wanted so happy. It is massive compared to the Corsa which is why we got it. Will have a proper play tomorrow when a bit more awake but so far really like it…

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Nice, have you downloaded and activated the bluelink app yet? It's not upto the info you get from the Tesla App, but does pretty much all you want, pre heat/cool, charging, etc. Get a obd2 port scanner as you can get loads of info from it, some apps work with android auto so can display live info on the main screen.
 
Sold the BMW M135i through Carwow last week for more than I expected which sort of forced me hand and picked up and drove home 300 miles a 2023 Tesla Model 3 Performance yesterday.

I hate that I like the car as much as I do.

Few snags with the dealership that will hopefully be sorted within 30 days or I’ll be rejecting. They didn’t say there was some damage on the vehicle so they’re going to pay for that to be repaired and they didn’t even service the thing…not that it’s a great deal of work but it’s a glaring omission to sell a car without a service however small.

Also, the car is currently tied to the previous owner and says there is unpaid charges. I need to wait for the V5 to prove ownership to Tesla to make use of the features that are in the app, which is quite a lot! Luckily I have some Electroverse cards for work and they came in useful for the drive home. 300 miles on a charge and it was true!

Hopefully once this issue with the dealership gets rectified, I’ll have some trouble free motoring. Was a surprise to not have to pay the luxury car tax anymore. In a couple years I’ll try and grab “highland” performance.
 
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msmalls74 said:
Nice, have you downloaded and activated the bluelink app yet? It's not upto the info you get from the Tesla App, but does pretty much all you want, pre heat/cool, charging, etc. Get a obd2 port scanner as you can get loads of info from it, some apps work with android auto so can display live info on the main screen.
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If you want a really barebones app look no further than VWs, the MyHyndai app is leagues above it :o
 
@Logsi the main service item on a model 3 of that age is changing the cabin filter. A lot of dealers (and owners) ignore it because it’s a recommendation and there is no impact on warranty if it’s not done.
 
msmalls74 said:
Nice, have you downloaded and activated the bluelink app yet? It's not upto the info you get from the Tesla App, but does pretty much all you want, pre heat/cool, charging, etc. Get a obd2 port scanner as you can get loads of info from it, some apps work with android auto so can display live info on the main screen.
Click to expand...

Not yet was a bit frazzled after getting back last night so will have a good play today. My son did insist on making it drive itself up and down the driveway though which is a pretty cool feature…
 
Just a heads up you should be able to do all the linking through the MyHyundai app according to all the instructions but my wifes Kona refused to work and it wasn't until I downloaded the specific bluelink app that it let me register it, even then it was through the VIN rather than the QR code. It then worked fine in the MyHyundai app which generally seems a bit nicer to use.

We're off to my parents this weekend so I'll be offering to share some of the driving (for a change :D) just to see what the Kona is like to drive compared to my ID3.
 
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Mysterae_ said:
Some more EV noobie shenanigans for your entertainment :p.

As I mentioned before Storm Floris has caused widespread power outages across the Highlands, myself included. My EV was at 38% charge but couldn't granny charge it with no power so ventured out to top it up so that I could V2L the house essentials.

The first Charge Place Scotland charger I tried refused multiple times to charge on the 50kW CCS charger which meant £300 in pre-authorisations on my credit card (4x £75, I didn't want to give up!). I finally opted for the AC 43 kW charger that worked, but only at 11kW as that's the maximum AC charge of the BYD Seal. But of course the charger won't give 11kW, 8kW was the maximum. It would take more than 8 hours to charge but the parking sign said I was only allowed to stay for 45 minutes :rolleyes:. I decided to give up on that charger but it wouldn't let me disconnect. I couldn't stop the charge via the app and I didn't have the CPS RFID tag to show as identification. I had to call CPS and request them to stop the charge remotely, which they did. While on the phone I asked them to try the CCS charger which they did but it still wouldn't work. Apparently it was in "self-preservation mode" having been used by someone else an hour before. Sounds like ******** to me. I gave up and headed home.

At home with 36% charge now :cry:. I then read on the Scottish networks app that the power won't be fixed in my area until Thursday night at the latest. The freezer will have definitely defrosted by then. There are over a hundred power outages affecting thousands of people so the engineers are working flat out to restore power. I'd better get some charge then.

So I head out again and finally manage to connect to a different CPS 50kW charger (yay!) but it only delivers 38kW (boo!) so a wait of 90 minutes give or take. Fine, the lad and I will watch youtube on the Seal's big centre display while it charges :). The charger stops charging at 68% for no reason or input from me. I try again and it kicks me off again at 83% a little while later. I've had enough. £450 now in pre-authorisations on my credit card. Obviously I won't have to pay that money but if the credit card had a low limit set and if I was near that limit then it could have disabled further use of the card. It'll be interesting to see how long those pre-auth's stay on my account.

I get home with 79% charge. Finally I set up the V2L 4-gang extension and plug in the fridge, the freezer and a few other essentials (this old laptop!) which barely exceeds 200W peak according to the power meter so I think we'll be set for a while.

On one had I was starting to regret getting an EV because in a rare situation such as this, with the "local" EV charger infrastructure so damn poor and not having the home charger installed for another week, it just all feels flawed. However, the Vehicle to Load feature has been awesome and has saved a freezer full of food, kept the internet running and charged our devices. Or maybe I should have bought a new diesel car and a generator :cry:.

I just hope the bottle of gas for the cooker hob doesn't run out! Hydrogen anybody?!
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you got there in the end at least. sounds like CPS are rubbish, were there no other charging companies nearby (Tesla are usually a winner if there is one near you open to all cars)
 
MOOGLEYS said:
Long drive to Leicestershire but picked it up thought why not. Came from Hyundai was a bit expensive but is low miles and the colour and spec I wanted so happy. It is massive compared to the Corsa which is why we got it. Will have a proper play tomorrow when a bit more awake but so far really like it…

Click to expand...
Nice . If don't mind asking what did you pay roughly?
 
Is there any benefit to going for an official 3 pin charger over say one from screwfix? The charger install may or not get sorted in time, but I suppose having one could be useful for backup.

I was quoted £250 for the official one, but screwfix version is £115.
 
VaderDSL said:
Is there any benefit to going for an official 3 pin charger over say one from screwfix? The charger install may or not get sorted in time, but I suppose having one could be useful for backup.

I was quoted £250 for the official one, but screwfix version is £115.
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As long as it’s well reviewed and a decent brand, it should be fine.


That being said, I wouldn’t want to skimp out on something handling near max 3 pin power capabilities for the sake of £135, given I assume you’d be charging overnight?


Edit: think cheap PC power supplies. Technically fine, not worth the risk.
 
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MrRockliffe said:
As long as it’s well reviewed and a decent brand, it should be fine.


That being said, I wouldn’t want to skimp out on something handling near max 3 pin power capabilities for the sake of £135, given I assume you’d be charging overnight?
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I'd probably just suck up the costs from charging at on peak rates, so 6pm > 10pm when i get home to when i go to bed type scenario if I end up being say 1-2 weeks out on getting the EV charger sorted. It might not happen, the electrician comes next Wednesday to do the DNO form, I'm fairly confident we have a 100A fuse fitted, but we do have an induction hob and electric shower, but presumably the wall charger having dynamic load capabilities would mean the DNO shouldn't have any issues?
 
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