You need to own a couple of Gucci belts to afford motorway charging prices and the gamblers
EV general discussion
- Thread starter Ricochet J
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I doubt it tbh, given the buffer 100% isn't actually 100% anyway
A lot of assumptions and probables there for such a short sentence.
Let me do some of my own.
There enough scientific data available for the 80% rule to be advised as best practice and not just by the EV companies. Even if it’s only an additional ~1% per year over the average age of a car, that could be almost 10% by the time the car is 8.
That may not sound like much but if by 8 years that could be the difference of owning an EV with ~85% SoH vs one with ~77%.
Anecdotal non evidence alert
A friend and I both had (has in his case) a leased I-Pace. After three years mine was at 96% SoH and his is at 93% after 2.5 years. He charges his to 100% every time he charges at home and I keep mine at 80% - 90%.
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Soon to be EV owner. How does one pick the correct charger in a hurry - I'm referencing cost. This is if you're a non-Tesla owner. Scenario:
I'm going between London to Birmingham up the M40. I decide I need a top up at Oxford services. My car charges at a rate of 150w. Do i jump on an app and pre-book any charger on the slip road? Do I turn up and queue? Does it matter which charger I use? Are they all priced the same? If not , how do I get the best rate?
I'm going between London to Birmingham up the M40. I decide I need a top up at Oxford services. My car charges at a rate of 150w. Do i jump on an app and pre-book any charger on the slip road? Do I turn up and queue? Does it matter which charger I use? Are they all priced the same? If not , how do I get the best rate?
Associate
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If I know before I leave that I’ll have to charge on the way, I will look at Zapmap and filter for the fastest charger I can find in the rough area I will need it, whether on the motorway or a few miles off it. I don’t worry about cost as all public DC charging is extremely expensive in comparison to home charging so this is a niche situation.
MacDonalds are usually a good bet for fast Ionity chargers.
i've done the same trip in the autumn. depending on what EV you have and how you drive, a full trip is actually doable without stopping to charge midway...or if you do need to top up, only a 5-10 min charge on the return journey
if i did not have a tesla i would still aim to use a tesla supercharge because it's cheaper than the competition. just do note that not all superchargers are open to other EVs
A lot of assumptions and probables there for such a short sentence.
Let me do some of my own.
There enough scientific data available for the 80% rule to be advised as best practice and not just by the EV companies. Even if it’s only an additional ~1% per year over the average age of a car, that could be almost 10% by the time the car is 8.
That may not sound like much but if by 8 years that could be the difference of owning an EV with ~85% SoH vs one with ~77%.
Anecdotal non evidence alert
A friend and I both had (has in his case) a leased I-Pace. After three years mine was at 96% SoH and his is at 93% after 2.5 years. He charges his to 100% every time he charges at home and I keep mine at 80% - 90%.
He'd probably say the 3% was worth it. That's the counter argument.
If you plan to own/lease shorter term, fair enough. But those of us who plan to own a car until it is 7 or 8 will appreciate that extra SoH longer term.
Obviously it’s down to personal choice.
Soldato
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Full car is annoying with limited regen anyway.
A lot of the Tesla network is now open to all EV’s, see if there are any en-route as they are usually fairly quick and also the cheapest without have a subscription.
Tesla chargers at Oxford are open, not the services but the park and ride and the other side of Oxford to the M40, it’s a bit of a detour.
There is an open site at Banbury but it’s a mile off the motorway. There is plenty of apple green and gridserve units at most of the services but they cost 80p/kwh where as Tesla is more like 57p without subscriptions.
As for the rest of your questions, it’s a case of turn up and use them. Some have apps which offer a cheaper price or a subscription. Some 3rd party roaming apps can give you a discount, for example Octopus Electroverse gives you a discount if you are an octopus electricity customer on their smart EV tariff (intelligent go).
I wouldn’t expect to queue most of the time, the exception is notoriously busy sites on notoriously busy travel days.
There is an open site at Banbury but it’s a mile off the motorway. There is plenty of apple green and gridserve units at most of the services but they cost 80p/kwh where as Tesla is more like 57p without subscriptions.
As for the rest of your questions, it’s a case of turn up and use them. Some have apps which offer a cheaper price or a subscription. Some 3rd party roaming apps can give you a discount, for example Octopus Electroverse gives you a discount if you are an octopus electricity customer on their smart EV tariff (intelligent go).
I wouldn’t expect to queue most of the time, the exception is notoriously busy sites on notoriously busy travel days.
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Never had to queue, ever, in close to 3 years of ownership. Just turn up, ideally to an electroverse compatible charger so I get the discount. I also have a years Porsche charging discount (Porsche supported network) which is keyfob (or Porsche app) activated, so I use that for the other EV too 
Quite a lot of the Tesla's have newer V4 covers/cabs and longer cables now, so not as much of an issue as it once was. Problem in opening an incumbent (large) network up that was only designed for their specific layout or charge port meant issues were going to be seen.But you can park in the right bay and don't have to t ake up 2 spaces
For anyone interested in costs of setting up some sites, M&M Contractors have a small case study- this was based on 2017 installation so prices will be much higher now I'd imagine
Supercharger Electric Charge Points - M&M Contractors
M&M were responsible for the construction of 24 Tesla Supercharger Points and associated civil works in Applegreen Service Stations at the following locations: Birdhill Castlebellingham North Castlebellingham South Thanks to these Supercharger Units, Tesla motorists can: Complete a full charge...
www.mm-contractors.com
Soldato
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Arnold Clark chargers are only 40p through the ONEEV app this month. No idea where they are though on the whole
It’s also worth factoring in that Tesla also do things quite cheaply.
They pre-fabricate as much of their installations as possible these days to get them in the ground faster.
The old V2 charge points were only provisioned for 65-70kw per stall and share power in pairs, hence the old urinal rule applies.
The old V2 units are really very slow by modern standards, I avoid them where possible, if you are sharing it’s pretty painful.
They also only provision the newer V3/V4 units for 90-100kw per stall. While this dramatically cuts down on grid supply costs and units share power across the site, when it’s over about 3/4 full the site is bouncing off its capacity limit.
When I stopped on the way home from France, the 32 bay Roye supercharger only 2 3 spare bays - two when I plugged in.
I was getting about 110kw initially, that shot up to 170kw as a few people left but then dropped back to 130kw as others plugged in. After about 10 mins, the car became the limiting factor rather than the charger.
I expect the sites which use standalone chargers are much more expensive to build out, while they also will not have the capacity to hit full speed at every stall, there is much more kit on the site.
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Don’t compare cable length?
Associate
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There isn’t much length to compare on a V2 Supercharger
I can sympathise.
Oh nice, thanks. I use the one near me fairly often.Arnold Clark chargers are only 40p through the ONEEV app this month. No idea where they are though on the whole