EV general discussion

When you say regular DC charging is ‘bad’, is that charging from 10-80%? Or all charging done at ultra fast chargers? I’ve been using DC charging pretty much once a week for the last few weeks, but it’s been adding 10 or 20kw just enough to get me home with 10% remaining.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
It’s not just the charger, you also need to consider the tariff and how the charger integrates with that.

Hypervolt enables you to access two of the most popular smart tariffs in the country (Octopus Intelligent Go and Ovo Anytime). The other charger doesn’t.

if you know someone who is already on octopus, ask them for their referral code and you’ll get £50 to switch. Ovo is probably the same.

Edit: Eon Drive next is also popular, no ‘clever’ charger needed.
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The Eon Drive offering has improved a lot since I last checked, with the rates inc. standing charge similar to what I was already paying except for the low overnight rate, although it's fixed for a year. Finally made the switch to an EV tariff anyway after nearly 4 years of ownership and using the car a lot more.
 
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Tinders said:
When you say regular DC charging is ‘bad’, is that charging from 10-80%? Or all charging done at ultra fast chargers? I’ve been using DC charging pretty much once a week for the last few weeks, but it’s been adding 10 or 20kw just enough to get me home with 10% remaining.
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I must admit that if the company was covering all my charging costs then it would sit on the charger for precisely however long I happen to want to stop for :p
 
We’re getting a second EV on Tuesday, Sal Sac MG4 to go with my i4 company car. Can charge the BMW at work for freeso previously kept on Octopus Agile for elec as wasn’t doing much at home, but switched to Tomato lifestyle from Tuesday. Only 45p standing charge, 5p midnight to 6am then 2 x 2 hour slots during the day at 14p at 09:30 and 22:00. The rest at price cap. Seemed about the best I could find as OIGo won’t link to MGs!
 
lordrobs said:
I must admit that if the company was covering all my charging costs then it would sit on the charger for precisely however long I happen to want to stop for :p
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:D

To be fair we get a pretty decent deal so I try not to take the mickey. They expect us to do =<200 miles and claim at the HMRC rate, anything over that we still claim at the HMRC rate but we get to expense any public charging. So pretty fair.
 
Went fully EV (XC40 - company car, and EV6 - salary sacrifice scheme) early 2024. The EV6 has never been charged anywhere other than at home and I have only had to charge the XC40 on longer return trips - generally free at the companies I'm visiting.

With Octopus Intelligent we seem to be able to smart charge anytime of day @7p/kWh, despite the off-peak hours being 23:30 to 05:30.

Haven't done the detailed calculations but we're saving a lot of money with the change from my old 330e company car (limited electric range) and petrol family car.

Couldn't be happier with the change.
 
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Tinders said:
:D

To be fair we get a pretty decent deal so I try not to take the mickey. They expect us to do =<200 miles and claim at the HMRC rate, anything over that we still claim at the HMRC rate but we get to expense any public charging. So pretty fair.
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That seems extremely good!

No way our new finance chap would go for that unfortunately, not that I'm due another change for years now anyway.
 
Car didn't charge properly last night. Zappi put about 3kWh in at around 10pm then stopped. Zappi appears to be reporting 'car is full' but car itself is only on 52%.

Will try again tonight see if it was just a one off bug.
 
Im absolutely loving the look for the new Renault 5, this would be an ideal commute car for me going in and out of town. There seems to be some good deals on it also.
 
Chrisc said:
Yeah, there still seems to be a lot of hate towards EV's. Harrys garage uploaded a video earlier and the hate is just tiresome now.
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He is well known for being an EV ludite (and heavily sponsored by JLR). The comments on the video don't seem too bad though?
 
Chrisc said:
A couple of 0% APR deals direct on Renault.
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0% doesn't mean it is a good deal. It just means you aren't getting a discount, and looking at the GFV's they are offering it on 25 months with a 52kWh Techno being worth £13.7k after this time with 12k miles on it, you are also putting £8k down. If it is going to be worth £13.7k after 2 years, then you'd be better off looking at a PCH for 24 months which is ~£9.6k all in, with nothing upfront, and £400pcm, (£400 isn't cheap either, just to be clear) leaving you £3.6k better off, not including the opportunity cost of the interest on the £8k with £400 taken off monthly, that would net you ~£325 at 4.5%. If you wanted to keep it after 2 years it's highly likely the GFV is going to be more than the car is worth, so pick up a used one, or buy it out from the funder.
 
Have to say, I feel like this is a really good change. I was slightly worried I would regret moving over but it has been a positive experience so far (will ignore the dealership/handover as that was terrible).

Still not too sure on the Ohme, I'd have liked to say charge to X% rather than having to keep amending the app to add a certain % of charge but I'm sure it will become part of the routine.
 
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