EV general discussion

Journey said:
Octopus does reduced pricing in the Electrovese app when there is excess.
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That's not public tho.

It'll be because of their KPIs, they can't sell leccy on what may or may not happen so their business model is designed around a worst case scenario.
 
It is public, anyone can benefit via their electroverse charging app.

You get notifications in advance and it covers a few of big providers (Ionity being one). Not that I have ever used it as charging at home is still 10% of the price.
 
It's funny i've been an Octopus customer for 5 years and wasn't even aware of that app.

Doesn't seem to be a way to link my account to it though, unless it's done automatically when using the same email address?

The only account linking possible seems to be for Ford and 'Freenow'

Edit - Ah you have to add it as the payment method. I assume once it's added that way, you can simply reselect your credit card
 
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VincentHanna said:
It's funny i've been an Octopus customer for 5 years and wasn't even aware of that app.

Doesn't seem to be a way to link my account to it though, unless it's done automatically when using the same email address?

The only account linking possible seems to be for Ford and 'Freenow'

Edit - Ah you have to add it as the payment method. I assume once it's added that way, you can simply reselect your credit card
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You can link it with your electricity bill so they charge it directly to your bill. With IOG you also get 8% off at anytime.
 
My id7 lease is up at the end of the year and I've started looking for my next car. I had a test drive in the new ix3 last week and it's by a distance the best ev I've ever driven. Obviously the design is subjective and it's expensive for what it is but with the build quality, ride, handling, tech, range and charging speed, there's really no compromises which isn't the case with everything else I've looked at.

I initially wasn't considering it as a serious option and just wanted to have a play around with it to get an idea of what to expect from the new i3 but it was that good that I've started to give it some serious consideration. I'll be coming from an id7 tourer so the boot space on an i3 saloon might be an issue and the touring isn't due anytime soon - is the ix3 the answer? Once the shooting break is available, I'm going to take a proper look at the CLA too. I'm not a fan of the interior but at nearly £15k cheaper than the ix3 and probably £10k less than the i3, I might be able to live with it if everything else is up to scratch.

Beyond the CLA, I'm struggling for other options. I'm likely going to buy outright this time so I want to future proof whatever I buy which rules out the Seal - the car itself is great but the limited range and charging speeds put me off. Similar story with the Polestar 4. The im5 looked cheap and nasty, I'm not spending £70k on an A6 and I'm not sure I can bring myself to get a Tesla. If there was a dealer closer to me then I'd have a drive in the Xpeng G6 - the range isn't amazing but with it's charging speed it might not be a big issue and I really like the look of the interior.

Is there anything else due out in the next 9 months or so in the £50k range (ideally below £50k for tax purposes) with a real world range of 300+ miles and or super fast charging and doesn't feel as cheap and tacky as the im5? Or do I lease a Seal for 2 years and revisit this when we've got 500 mile ranges and 1000kw charging speeds?
 
BaZ87 said:
.....Or do I lease a Seal for 2 years and revisit this when we've got 500 mile ranges and 1000kw charging speeds?
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I have the Seal and it's a fantastic car, realistic range is about 250 miles (will probably stretch to 300 in summer, depending on the type of driving i.e. short local trips). Typically with charging away from home, even if the car states 150kw capability - I have generally found it stabilises at 100kw and drops a lot as the car nears full charge. The problem with 1000kw charging speeds is that you'll struggle to find a charger that will do it even if your car can - the upgrades to charging infrastructure are likely to be far slower than the improvement in charging tech installed in the cars. But the car itself is probably the best car I have ever owned (it replaced a Mercedes GLA and we still have a Volvo XC40)
 
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BaZ87 said:
I'm likely going to buy outright this time so I want to future proof whatever I buy which rules out the Seal
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Ironically buying a new(ish) Seal and keeping it for 2 years would probably be the much better option, then see what else is on the market and let some of the other ones you like depreciate a bit.
 
esmozz said:
I have the Seal and it's a fantastic car, realistic range is about 250 miles (will probably stretch to 300 in summer, depending on the type of driving i.e. short local trips). Typically with charging away from home, even if the car states 150kw capability - I have generally found it stabilises at 100kw and drops a lot as the car nears full charge. The problem with 1000kw charging speeds is that you'll struggle to find a charger that will do it even if your car can - the upgrades to charging infrastructure are likely to be far slower than the improvement in charging tech installed in the cars. But the car itself is probably the best car I have ever owned (it replaced a Mercedes GLA and we still have a Volvo XC40)
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The 500 mile range & 1000kw charging was an exaggeration, the point was simply do I get something to tide me over for a couple of years and then buy a longer term car when there's more 400-500 mile range cars on the market and more & faster charging available.

I could live with the Seal for a couple of years (range and speed isn't much worse than my id7) but in 3-4 years time when I'm on the way home from a 600 mile round trip at midnight, it'll probably start to frustrate me that I'm only charging at 70-100kw when an i3 rocks up next to me and is doing 3 or 4 times that.
 
esmozz said:
The problem with 1000kw charging speeds is that you'll struggle to find a charger that will do it even if your car can - the upgrades to charging infrastructure are likely to be far slower than the improvement in charging tech installed in the cars.
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I'm sure you are right but these Megawatt plus chargers could be part of the solution to the excess solar problem with their massive buffer batteries. It makes sense that the likes of BYD are rolling these out at pace in China. In the UK even if they have all the plans laid out there will be years of faffing about to slow roll the process.
 
Has anyone been using roof boxes on their EV, curious as to what kind of mileage loss you had while doing long trips.Obviously you'd just charge it more frequently but our diesel looses about 7-8mpg.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
If you are interested in the iX3, the new Volvo EX60 seems like a fairly comparable option.
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The ix3 is already pushing what I'd like to spend and the equivalent spec Volvo, from a battery pov, is around £6k more.

I don't necessarily want or need a SUV either, an estate would be ideal but the i3 touring is probably going to arrive a bit too late for me. It looks like the CLA shooting break is now readily available so I might pop into my local Mercedes soon and see if they have one to play about with.
 
BaZ87 said:
The ix3 is already pushing what I'd like to spend and the equivalent spec Volvo, from a battery pov, is around £6k more.

I don't necessarily want or need a SUV either, an estate would be ideal but the i3 touring is probably going to arrive a bit too late for me. It looks like the CLA shooting break is now readily available so I might pop into my local Mercedes soon and see if they have one to play about with.
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CLA tops out at 85kWh which is actually comparable to the not yet for sale iX3 40, so prices might not be that different at the end of the day
 
chanjy said:
CLA tops out at 85kWh which is actually comparable to the not yet for sale iX3 40, so prices might not be that different at the end of the day
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Sorry if I wasn't clear but when I mentioned the comparable batteries in the BMW and Volvo, it was in relation to the range and charging speed.

The CLA being a much smaller, more efficient car means it's 85kwh battery is able to produce a similar range to the 110ish kwh batteries in the Volvo and BMW. The ix3 40, like the smaller battery Volvo options has a much reduced range so wouldn't be considerations for me.
 
snips86x said:
Has anyone been using roof boxes on their EV, curious as to what kind of mileage loss you had while doing long trips.Obviously you'd just charge it more frequently but our diesel looses about 7-8mpg.
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Someone actually did that in this thread a while back and the range loss was quite a huge hit.
 
I read data that suggests putting the roof box on backwards actually gets you better range, which seems counter intuitive.

You are better off with a rear box, than a roof box, on an EV.
 
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