EV general discussion

[tamzzy]

As a backup, although I doubt if will be needed, there's always ethernet and I would be happy to wire that up.

the wifi connection (before i had my mesh system) was pretty strong in my experience so there shouldn't be an issue

Thanks for the heads up with connecting it to OIG, the suggestion though is car first then put in the charger when setting it up?

(i've never tried it, so take with a pinch of salt) i've heard that you need to call octopus to change the IOG setting to the charger and you can't do it directly from the app

 

[dale1uk]

Does anyone on here have a Polestar Charge subscription, or can suggest an alternative?

I'll be driving my 2021 LRDM Polestar 2 from Newcastle to near Eindhoven, via Dover, for a family holiday at the end of May and Im just trying to work out the best solution to minimise public charging costs.

The Polestar Charge subscription is £12 per month and would give me a 30% discount at a number of different operators both in the UK and Europe. There's no minimum term so i would just cancel the subscription when i return. From what i can work out I'll need approximately 300kw of public charging whilst we're away, so if im saving ~20p per kw thats a saving of around £60, minus the subscription cost.

I looked at getting a 1 month Ionity subscription through Electroverse for £10 and would give me 40% off, but whilst it would work for my route through the UK, in Europe its far from ideal.

Are there any other subscriptions worth looking at that offer discounts from multiple operators?

 

[tamzzy]

The Polestar Charge subscription is £12 per month and would give me a 30% discount at a number of different operators both in the UK and Europe. There's no minimum term so i would just cancel the subscription when i return. From what i can work out I'll need approximately 300kw of public charging whilst we're away, so if im saving ~20p per kw thats a saving of around £60, minus the subscription cost.

@Logsi has the polestar charge sub
i would just get the polestar sub and use the tesla supercharger network, no need for other providers
by a country mile the cheapest way to charge en-route for a roadtrip

logsi may be able to tell you how much supercharging with a polestar sub would cost, but i'm sure it won't be too far off the realms of what tesla is charging for a tesla:

Tesla charges 41p peak and 22p off peak for Tesla cars

Here's what is showing on my app

 

[Journey]

Are there any other subscriptions worth looking at that offer discounts from multiple operators?

I'd just get 1 month Ionity and 1 month Tesla.

EDIT: To reflect why, both these operators will cover you at mostly the lowest cost you'll find in the UK or in the EU, and there are many, many charging hubs from both.

 

[cuke2u]

the wifi connection (before i had my mesh system) was pretty strong in my experience so there shouldn't be an issue


(i've never tried it, so take with a pinch of salt) i've heard that you need to call octopus to change the IOG setting to the charger and you can't do it directly from the app

You can set IOG to whatever charger you have, after first selecting the car, mine is set to my i4 and my commando charger currently but will delete that setup then out in the car again followed by the Hypervolt.
If I'm wrong please feel free to correct me, anyone else can add to this as well please..

 

[tamzzy]

I'd just get 1 month Ionity and 1 month Tesla.

EDIT: To reflect why, both these operators will cover you at mostly the lowest cost you'll find in the UK or in the EU, and there are many, many charging hubs from both.

polestar charge covers both tesla and ionity

 

[Journey]

polestar charge covers both tesla and ionity

I didn't think it (Tesla) was included in anyone else sub?

EDIT: And Ionity is only 30% off, where as the Ionity Power is £10.50 and give you 46p kWh in the UK, and Polestar is over 53p - I could be way off - I have had one of those days.

 

[tamzzy]

You can set IOG to whatever charger you have, after first selecting the car, mine is set to my i4 and my commando charger currently but will delete that setup then out in the car again followed by the Hypervolt.
If I'm wrong please feel free to correct me, anyone else can add to this as well please..

oh! do you have a quick and dirty step-by-step?
i tried to delete my initial tesla/hypervolt combo and re-add it but it still defaults to the tesla

 

[tamzzy]

I didn't think it (Tesla) was included in anyone else sub?

apparently it was, the last time logsi mentioned it (idk personally)

Whilst a slightly different more boring prospect a Polestar can hook up the supercharger network through Polestar Charge and benefit from cheaper charging. Supercharging was the biggest boon for Tesla when I was looking and after trying to find a 2023 Model 3, formally rejecting one and then giving up looking after so many were damaged I ended up just getting P2. I haven't extensively used fast charging as I have a charger at home/work but I was pleased when I was notified the Polestar Charge card works on Superchargers and can benefit from a cheap rate when subscribed like the Tesla service.

^

 

[Journey]

apparently it was, the last time logsi mentioned it (idk personally)

From what I can see it is on there but it's like 60p kWh - which makes no sense at all.

 

[tamzzy]

From what I can see it is on there but it's like 60p kWh - which makes no sense at all.

ooooh. that's pricey. how much do tesla charge on the tesla app for non-teslas on a sub? i'm guessing 50-ish p?
just have to work out whether that 8-10p/kwh difference on a polestar charge sub works out cheaper than two separate tesla/ionity subs i guess

 

[Journey]

ooooh. that's pricey. how much do tesla charge on the tesla app for non-teslas on a sub? i'm guessing 50-ish p?
just have to work out whether that 8-10p/kwh difference on a polestar charge sub works out cheaper than two separate tesla/ionity subs i guess

Same price as a Tesla, if not a franchised location.

 

[tamzzy]

Same price as a Tesla, if not a franchised location.

ah more than likely that two separate subs will work out cheaper then

 

[Journey]

ah more than likely that two separate subs will work out cheaper then

£8.99 + £10.50 to get both, which difference would be paid for in one decent charge session vs Polestars 30% discount.

EDIT: And just have Electroverse as a back up and watch out for Plunge pricing

 

[tamzzy]

£8.99 + £10.50 to get both, which difference would be paid for in one decent charge session vs Polestars 30% discount.

EDIT: And just have Electroverse as a back up and watch out for Plunge pricing

Or just get the Tesla sub and only get ionity if it's desperately needed (ie already parked up at an ionity charger and no nearby superchargers)
Might as well save that £10.50!

 

[dale1uk]

Thanks guys, will double check our route and around where we're staying again to see if the Teala/Ionity subscriptions will work for me or not. From the brief look ive already done i was certain the Polestar Charge sub worked out the cheapest/most convenient, but will check again and do some sums

 

[Journey]

Thanks guys, will double check our route and around where we're staying again to see if the Teala/Ionity subscriptions will work for me or not. From the brief look ive already done i was certain the Polestar Charge sub worked out the cheapest/most convenient, but will check again and do some sums

As I said I think the base discount of 30% put the cost quite a bit higher than the dedicated subscriptions from those operators direct, so if they do cover you adequately then I can't imagine the PS Charge would come close in over all cost, if doing 1300+ miles or about 430kWh of charging not including losses.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

We picked up a 21 plate LR AWD earlier this week for the Mrs on 60k miles.
Her 65 plate Corsa VXR was not really great with 2 older kids clambering in and out of the back. 4 door was needed and she always likes faster cars and after having my 330e for a while now she was open to the idea of a full electric as long is it got about 300 miles on a full charge.
Pretty impressed with it so far. I have driven it a bit and a few things have taken a little getting used to. We did put it in creep mode to make it feel more like an ICE car, the standard mode feels a bit alien and means we were stopping short often.
Its quite a pretty looking thing too. Went for the larger wheels and the blue with the dark interior.
The kids are happy they have heated seats in the back
I have set it to 80% max charge for now, but will play around with wome stuff in home assistant to let me use some of that spare 20% for dumping in excess solar power! May need to drop the charge down to 70% to give me some more headroom in the summer months.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

You can set IOG to whatever charger you have, after first selecting the car, mine is set to my i4 and my commando charger currently but will delete that setup then out in the car again followed by the Hypervolt.
If I'm wrong please feel free to correct me, anyone else can add to this as well please..

oh! do you have a quick and dirty step-by-step?
i tried to delete my initial tesla/hypervolt combo and re-add it but it still defaults to the tesla

IOG need a compatible car OR charger. If you have both available it integrates with the car's API rather than the chargers. If you want it to connect to the chargers API, you have to contact customer service.

@cuke2u IOG will be connected to your car as the commando charger almost certainly isnt compatible unless its an old Ohme unit from 'back in the day' which might be (?).

 

[bigmike20vt]

IOG need a compatible car OR charger. If you have both available it integrates with the car's API rather than the chargers. If you want it to connect to the chargers API, you have to contact customer service.

@cuke2u IOG will be connected to your car as the commando charger almost certainly isnt compatible unless its an old Ohme unit from 'back in the day' which might be (?).

if you don't want to connect the car but the charger (and imo charger is a better solution) then find a car with a similar sized battery which you know isn't supported by octopus.
for instance my mate who has a long range Tesla model y put in an ipace.

that way you can charge any car you want on intelligent.

note this is with a zappi, dunno about others.