EV general discussion

[Rroff]

Is that lifetime?

If so that’s rather stingy to say the least.

The manual doesn't specific other than saying that when 4000 hours and 10,000kwh are reached the discharge function will become unavailable. 4000 hours seems to be a lifetime limit though but 2 different semi-official statements on the 10,000kwh one saying it is a yearly limit and one saying it is a total lifetime limit. The intention seems to be to cover emergency use rather than regular charge and discharge cycles - the battery would only last about 3 years if you were daily using it for a significant amount of V2H/G (assuming the specs online are correct).

 

[lordrobs]

Call your DNO, they have to fix it and they may not know there is a supply issue.

There is still a load of network disruption in Scotland. I'd wait it out until that has been resolved as the voltage may return to normal once all the issues are resolved.

@pastymuncher just be thankful your problem is an extra few volts, not zero volts like many still have!

 

[Mysterae_]

My OHME Home Pro has been throwing up error messages on and off since Monday but was consistant since last night so I wasn't able to charge the Leaf. I contacted OHME this morning via chat which seems to be the only way to get in touch if you don't use social media and first you go through a AI bot that asks you some questions and then passed me onto a support person. Told her the problem and charger ID and she said it's a overvoltage error as too much voltage was being supplied to the charger. It wasn't that much over so she reset the limits on the charger and all is good again. Start to finish took around five minutes. Out of curiosity I plugged in my power monitor and sure enough the house voltage is 151.6v compared to our normal which is around 244v. It's been like this since the storm that passed through here on Monday.

On a side note, I have had the Leaf for 14 months now and only found out on Friday that if I press the camera button repeatedly it cycles through the different views. Duh!!

At least you had some power . As @b0rn2sk8 says, I'd let SSEN know as there's likely to be a fault somewhere.

 

[lordrobs]

The manual doesn't specific other than saying that when 4000 hours and 10,000kwh are reached the discharge function will become unavailable. 4000 hours seems to be a lifetime limit though but 2 different semi-official statements on the 10,000kwh one saying it is a yearly limit and one saying it is a total lifetime limit. The intention seems to be to cover emergency use rather than regular charge and discharge cycles - the battery would only last about 3 years if you were daily using it for V2H/G (assuming the specs online are correct).

It's a very niche thing at the moment but if that changes it will be a roll of the dice buying used whether the first sal sac / company car / motability leaser of the car rinsed it for all its worth to save a few quid on their electricity bills!

 

[Mysterae_]

It's a great idea but I'd be a bit wary of using my EV as a consistent battery storage for the home. Home batteries will be a lot easier to replace than the batteries of a car.

However, BYD are in partnership with Octopus (and others will follow) for this kind of thing so there must be some confidence in the technology.

 

[sovietspybob]

I guess the idea is the kind of usage a house will put on a battery is a lot less than during driving.

Far smaller current draw and it wouldn't cycle the battery very deeply at all, saying that if i owned the car myself and wanted to keep it long term i don't think i'd want to do it really. Much prefer separate house batteries which as said are far easier to replace than the cars traction battery.

I think just having the ability to sling an extension cable from the car to your freezer and to charge your phones up is a huge win for most people, i personally wouldn't want more than that.

 

[arty]

Apologies if this is constantly asked, but for use with Intelligent Octopus Go, is there any specific individual recommended charger to have installed? My parents have and recommend a Zappi, but I've also seen the more expensive Ohme recommended. Is there much difference between them? I'm finding it difficult to get any good impartial information on the internet - just loads of sales waffle

 

[b0rn2sk8]

The manual doesn't specific other than saying that when 4000 hours and 10,000kwh are reached the discharge function will become unavailable. 4000 hours seems to be a lifetime limit though but 2 different semi-official statements on the 10,000kwh one saying it is a yearly limit and one saying it is a total lifetime limit. The intention seems to be to cover emergency use rather than regular charge and discharge cycles - the battery would only last about 3 years if you were daily using it for a significant amount of V2H/G (assuming the specs online are correct).

Not sure I buy the ‘reduced’ life argument, certainly not 3 years. We are not talking about massive amounts of energy here compared to say driving the car when used ‘normally’.

The 4000 hours is more of a concern if that’s lifetime, you are going to hit that long before 10,000kwh if you are using it in leu of say a house battery. That’s only 166 days, no you are not going to have it plugged in continuously but conceivably you could hit that number in a couple of years without really trying too hard.

 

[jpaul]

[v2g seems like renault 5 ev set a precedent https://thedriven.io/2025/06/17/why...with-parking-car-share-evs-are-also-doing-it/
The culmination of this effort is the launch of 50 Renault 5 vehicles in Utrecht. This will grow to 500 Renault 4, Renault 5, Megane and Scenic vehicles.
What is notable is that Didier Duruy, CTO of Renault’s software-defined vehicle business, Ampere, said that all Renault 5s are V2G capable, irrespective of trim level, meaning that V2G is not optional — it’s included.
Duruy also said that Renault are confident enough in their battery technology that they can include ‘intensive V2G use’ in the 8-year warranty on the Renault 5 battery.
]

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Apologies if this is constantly asked, but for use with Intelligent Octopus Go, is there any specific individual recommended charger to have installed? My parents have and recommend a Zappi, but I've also seen the more expensive Ohme recommended. Is there much difference between them? I'm finding it difficult to get any good impartial information on the internet - just loads of sales waffle

Zappi has far more features and can be used as part of a broader ecosystem/home energy system (solar, batteries, hot water). Zappi uses WiFi or Ethernet for connectivity and it can be controlled locally on its screen.

Ohme is just a charger - it uses 4g for communication and has no local control so bare that in mind.

Neither are particularly aesthetic, Zappi looks like a toilet seat and the Ohme has no cable management so it just looks like a mess regardless. Obviously that’s personal preference and my opinion.

Hypervolt is another option and is a balance between the two. It’s not as cheap as the Ohme but cheaper than the Zappi. It looks far better than both but doesn’t quite have the features of Zappi but more than the Ohme.

 

[TheVoice]

Some more EV noobie shenanigans for your entertainment .

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 . 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 . 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 .

I just hope the bottle of gas for the cooker hob doesn't run out! Hydrogen anybody?!

I've heard so many bad things about CPS chargers, seems it wasn't exaggeration. I've not had the need to use any yet as fortunately where I am and have visited has had other faster, cheaper options available.

I assume as you're seemingly quite remote there's no Arnold Clark within a reasonable distance? They've been installing chargers at dealer sites, I've used them a couple of times and they work well and aren't expensive either.

 

[arty]

Zappi has far more features and can be used as part of a broader ecosystem/home energy system (solar, batteries, hot water). Zappi uses WiFi or Ethernet for connectivity and it can be controlled locally on its screen.

Ohme is just a charger - it uses 4g for communication and has no local control so bare that in mind.

Neither are particularly aesthetic, Zappi looks like a toilet seat and the Ohme has no cable management so it just looks like a mess regardless. Obviously that’s personal preference and my opinion.

Hypervolt is another option and is a balance between the two. It’s not as cheap as the Ohme but cheaper than the Zappi. It looks far better than both but doesn’t quite have the features of Zappi but more than the Ohme.

Thank you. It actually appears that Ohme is more expensive than Zappi, but perhaps I'm misunderstanding the cost of installation. Does anyone know much about the Zappi GLO? It looks a bit smaller and neater than their main unit.

I will also have a look at Hypervolt.

 

[Mysterae_]

I've heard so many bad things about CPS chargers, seems it wasn't exaggeration. I've not had the need to use any yet as fortunately where I am and have visited has had other faster, cheaper options available.

I assume as you're seemingly quite remote there's no Arnold Clark within a reasonable distance? They've been installing chargers at dealer sites, I've used them a couple of times and they work well and aren't expensive either.

I've been told that once I get the CPS RFID tag things will be much easier, but the high cost, low charging rate and charger condition/status will remain the same. I was also told that CPS led the way for EV chargers in Scotland initially but increased costs and a lack of investment and maintenance has had their impact.

I'm north of Inverness and having looked the nearest Arnold Clark charging site is Aberdeen with Perth coming soon. Good to know though for when I'm travelling, thanks!

 

[lordrobs]

I was also told that CPS led the way for EV chargers in Scotland initially but increased costs and a lack of investment and maintenance has had their impact.

To be honest, that's why it's a good thing that most public charging provision is done by commercial entities. If there is a business case, they will put them in and once they are in they will only make money if the services are running. Likewise where there is competition there is an element of self regulation when it comes to pricing.

 

[pastymuncher]

I've never had any success with CPS chargers, they are either offline or won't talk to my car so I use Podpoint on the rare occassion that I need to charge when I am out and about because they just seem to work. Both are expensive though at around 75p per kWh. The cheapest I have found so far is in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary's multi storey car park as they are only 44p per kWh, still expensive compared to 5p at home but not too bad for a public charger.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Thank you. It actually appears that Ohme is more expensive than Zappi, but perhaps I'm misunderstanding the cost of installation. Does anyone know much about the Zappi GLO? It looks a bit smaller and neater than their main unit.

I will also have a look at Hypervolt.

I’ve not seen one in the wild but it looks like a slightly better looking but slightly cut down version of the original Zappi.

It seems to be missing Ethernet, 3phase compatibility and the screen/buttons but gains Bluetooth and RFID.

The cable management is a bit rough with it just being loosely wrapped around the unit a bit like the Tesla wall connector but better than Ohme.

 

[Mysterae_]

To be honest, that's why it's a good thing that most public charging provision is done by commercial entities. If there is a business case, they will put them in and once they are in they will only make money if the services are running. Likewise where there is competition there is an element of self regulation when it comes to pricing.

I think someone heard you:

"ChargePlace Scotland is phasing out and will cease to be operational by the end of 2025, with all public charge points moving to new operators and providers under the control of Scotland's unitary authorities. The move is part of a transition to commercial networks, with owners needing to migrate their charging infrastructure and drivers using the same methods to access chargers until the network fully closes."

Further info here.

 

[Diddums]

the secret cult of EV wave

 

[Junglist]

That's usually the shapes I throw at my partner when I want some spicy time.

Not as successful as you'd believe.

 

[arty]

I’ve not seen one in the wild but it looks like a slightly better looking but slightly cut down version of the original Zappi.

It seems to be missing Ethernet, 3phase compatibility and the screen/buttons but gains Bluetooth and RFID.

The cable management is a bit rough with it just being loosely wrapped around the unit a bit like the Tesla wall connector but better than Ohme.

Yes, the downside of having a smaller unit is probably that cable management will be more awkward.

I actually prefer the look of the Hypervolt at the moment, though I hope you can turn off / down that dodgy light on the front