EV general discussion

Just had a text from British Gas. Been told Tomato Energy have stopped trading :cry: .

Had a good run, saved a decent chunk over 10 months but knew they wouldn't last long.

Not staying with British Gas that's for sure.

What's next best? EON Drive?
 
CaneyJ said:
Just had a text from British Gas. Been told Tomato Energy have stopped trading :cry: .

Had a good run, saved a decent chunk over 10 months but knew they wouldn't last long.

Not staying with British Gas that's for sure.

What's next best? EON Drive?
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Are they going to let you move easily? Based on previous dodgy suppliers going bust, you may be in for some time stuck at the price cap until it gets sorted.
 
CaneyJ said:
Just had a text from British Gas. Been told Tomato Energy have stopped trading :cry: .

Had a good run, saved a decent chunk over 10 months but knew they wouldn't last long.

Not staying with British Gas that's for sure.

What's next best? EON Drive?
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I think British Gas have a decent drive tariff but only if you have gas with them too.

I went Octopus but I’m having onboarding issues and not particularly impressed with the customer service so far.
 
Was on octopus go, then agile but got expensive in 2024. Kept gas on octopus and changed to tomato last December.

Surely there's better options now, octopus standing charges take the ****.
 
kefkef said:
So, i've done 300 miles so far in my i5. Starting to get used to it, been very happy with the preconditioning in the cold weather, as has the daughter on the school runs :D ! Did my first decent trip in it on Monday, 120 mile round trip which went ok, getting back used to driving it with a light touch but still getting the grin factor from the odd traffic light grand prix. My main issue is that the smart meter I had installed won't connect to the smart network, i'm in the North so it's the Arqiva radio network, means i can't benefit from Octopus Intelligent Go for cheaper charging overnight, they're coming out again to look at it, but not sure they can actually do anything as it's been 6 months and 3 visits and it's never been able to connect.

Averaged 2.27mi/kwh in the cold, today at 9c managed 3.03, so getting better. Off to Edinburgh from Leeds in Feb, so will need public charging, currently signed up for Ionity and BP Pulse, any others worth joining. Which apps are best for charger availability, i've got ZappMap and the MyBMW app but not sure if there are others i should be looking at?

Cheers!
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How you getting on with this after nearly a year? Pros and cons?
 
My cheap PCP Honda E:ny1 is going back in March. I doubt I will ever find another deal that cheap again (£179 with 1 month deposit). Unfortunately my company doesn't offer EV salary sacrifice so decided to plan ahead and take the next good deal I could find and put an order in for the Citroen eC5 Max long range. 8k miles per year, 1 month deposit and £300 a month, which I am happy with. Due for delivery in May/June.
Just means I'll have to daily my C63 until it arrives!
 
VincentHanna said:
How you getting on with this after nearly a year? Pros and cons?
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Still liking the car very much. Not had any issues with it apart from a dodgy parcel shelf rail in the back (still waiting on BMW to arrange a replacement). Charging has been a doddle, have done quite a few road trips and not had issues with rapid charging. Over night charging is easy using the Ohme charger. Car itself is very comfy, have used most of the toys apart from the pano roof i don't bother with, haven't used the in built games console or video viewing. Sat Nav works well. All in all, i'm happy with it.

What would i change, maybe consider the eDrive40 instead of the M60, it's not very often you get to use the full power of the car, i often forget to pull the paddle to get the boost, and the edrive40 would have been approx £200 a month cheaper.
 
lordrobs said:
Turns out the thermometer in the plug on my Masterplug granny charger wasn't up to much. Checked the charger this evening as the car only charged to 34%... Plug and socket melted.

Weird that it lasted well over 11 months before becoming an issue. Maybe arcing slightly and got worse over time?

Edit - chopping the plug off shows that there was no thermometer in the plug... So much for the temperature monitoring if it ignores the bit that actually gets hot.

On the plus side I can just wire a new plug on.
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That's disappointing, it was one of the reasons I went with the Masterplug one. Were you using an EV rated socket or just a regular double socket?
 
TheVoice said:
That's disappointing, it was one of the reasons I went with the Masterplug one. Were you using an EV rated socket or just a regular double socket?
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Just a regular double. It was a Crabtree one but I don't know how old or whether being in the garage the terminals inside were a bit cruddy.

House is only 10 years old though and the garage dry as a bone so it isn't like it was some 40 year old corroded thing.

Oh well, £7 later and it has a new heavy duty plug fitted and an MK socket to plug into (several people recommended them as a brand so went with that) and it is all up and running again. I'll make sure to check it periodically as the old one was plugged in nearly a year ago then it was out of sight out of mind until it melted :o

I watched the temperature reading on the unit last night for a couple of minutes, it seems to jump all over the place so god knows what it is actually measuring, all I do know is that it isn't the plug!
 
jpaul said:
for only 12months service I'd buy a new one and do your own exchange unless serial #'d, if you want to take the risk on another.
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I wouldn't buy another without properly doing my research and being 100% sure it had the thermocouple in the plug. For the sake of a couple of quid on a new plug I'll keep the current one in service for the time being.

The garage is 10m away from the house so if it does go up in flames it will only be my totally mint condition MX5 and priceless art collection that will go with it ;)
 
lordrobs said:
Just a regular double. It was a Crabtree one but I don't know how old or whether being in the garage the terminals inside were a bit cruddy.
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That may have contributed unfortunately, regular sockets just aren't built for the extra load and heat that a proper EV rated socket is. I'll certainly keep a close eye on mine though next time I'm using it at my parents house, the reason I got it was because the blurb I read said the plug temperature was monitored.
 
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