When are you going fully electric?

My first winter approaching now with my first EV, any advice/tips on best approach to charging or with using pre conditioning the cars inside temp screen/mirrors de-icing etc? Do’s and don’ts
Thanks.
 
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The car will probably pull energy from the grid if it’s plugged in and pre-heating.

It can draw a lot of power so just bear in mind it will not be at your cheap rate if using a time of use tariff. Unplug the car if you don’t need to use its full rage for the journey.
 
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b0rn2sk8 said:
Why wouldn’t an electric be viable?
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I'd put it down to having a new electric charger installed unless we stick with 3 pints plug, along with having it topped up for journeys where when we do a journey it's usually a longer journey (folks live far away) with minimal charge points on route addition of extra time to stop to charge. The uplift of an electric car Vs a hybrid think new Tesla 3 Vs a byb hybrid, I'd have to go second hand Tesla to get close to a new hybrid.
 
goldy6660 said:
Currently looking at hybrid options as I just don't think it's viable to get full electric when my wife and I only do 6000 miles a year combined.
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I do 6k a year in my Pug. It is our second car; occasionally I'll use it for a 200 mile round trip. It works great.

Don't picture charging like fueling up. Picture it like a change in habit. I essentially pull up on the drive and automatically/muscle memory plug it in and walk off.

It then trickle charges on the 13amp plug; it's never been an issue for constant day to day use.

The only issue is that EV insurance seems to have gone up a fortune, so at 6k miles it may not be the bargain you want it to be.
 
dlockers said:
Nerd

Edit: age appropriate, I label you an anorak.
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It worked :)

Strange, it gave me 4 time slots from 11pm to 6am which all followed each other, no gaps.
The car didn't start charging until midnight but I couldn't visibly see the the charging point on my car turn green. Usually blue when you plug in then changes to green.
I then checked my Zappi app and it showed the car charging on ECO+ so perhaps thinking it only goes green on FAST charge.
 
goldy6660 said:
I'd put it down to having a new electric charger installed unless we stick with 3 pints plug, along with having it topped up for journeys where when we do a journey it's usually a longer journey (folks live far away) with minimal charge points on route addition of extra time to stop to charge. The uplift of an electric car Vs a hybrid think new Tesla 3 Vs a byb hybrid, I'd have to go second hand Tesla to get close to a new hybrid.
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I think you’d be surprised at how price competitive EVs are compared to hybrids, even just on purchase price. Likewise don’t forget the fuel savings. Ignore RRPs, they are stupidly inflated. There are also some mega bargains out there in the used market at the moment.

Likewise installing a charge point isn’t a massive barrier, particularly if you are looking at buying a new car (and their associated cost). As @dlockers said, you may not even need one, lots don’t use them at home.

What’s your typical long journey, perhaps someone here will be able to prove you with some real world experience on that route.
 
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goldy6660 said:
Currently looking at hybrid options as I just don't think it's viable to get full electric when my wife and I only do 6000 miles a year combined.
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goldy6660 said:
I'd put it down to having a new electric charger installed unless we stick with 3 pints plug, along with having it topped up for journeys where when we do a journey it's usually a longer journey (folks live far away) with minimal charge points on route addition of extra time to stop to charge. The uplift of an electric car Vs a hybrid think new Tesla 3 Vs a byb hybrid, I'd have to go second hand Tesla to get close to a new hybrid.
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Why does it have to be a Tesla? There are plenty of other options available and I would also say not to buy a brand new EV because the depreciation is atrocious. I only do 3500-4000 miles a year and a EV was the perfect choice for me. I bought a three year old, very low mileage, top of the range Nissan Leaf Tekna and I love it. So far it's working out at £1.66 per 100 miles compared to around £15 per 100 miles when I had my Ford B-Max. The Leaf only has a practical range of around 140-150 miles but that's more than enough for the trips I take (max of 120 miles round trip).
 
pastymuncher said:
Why does it have to be a Tesla? There are plenty of other options available and I would also say not to buy a brand new EV because the depreciation is atrocious. I only do 3500-4000 miles a year and a EV was the perfect choice for me. I bought a three year old, very low mileage, top of the range Nissan Leaf Tekna and I love it. So far it's working out at £1.66 per 100 miles compared to around £15 per 100 miles when I had my Ford B-Max. The Leaf only has a practical range of around 140-150 miles but that's more than enough for the trips I take (max of 120 miles round trip).
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Totally this!

Lots of people here have experience with many types of EVs with many different usage needs.
Given a price range, car size and journey length requirements you could get a lot of decent value suggestions other than a Tesla Model 3!
 
goldy6660 said:
I'd put it down to having a new electric charger installed unless we stick with 3 pints plug, along with having it topped up for journeys where when we do a journey it's usually a longer journey (folks live far away) with minimal charge points on route addition of extra time to stop to charge. The uplift of an electric car Vs a hybrid think new Tesla 3 Vs a byb hybrid, I'd have to go second hand Tesla to get close to a new hybrid.
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I don't fully understand this, on one hand you are doing long journeys which means you are more likely to stop regardless of the type of car, and if you aren't likely to stop then its not really a long journey.

From what you've said I don't think you have fully investigated EV's in general, the charging network(s) or the costs involved.
 
pastymuncher said:
Why does it have to be a Tesla? There are plenty of other options available and I would also say not to buy a brand new EV because the depreciation is atrocious. I only do 3500-4000 miles a year and a EV was the perfect choice for me. I bought a three year old, very low mileage, top of the range Nissan Leaf Tekna and I love it. So far it's working out at £1.66 per 100 miles compared to around £15 per 100 miles when I had my Ford B-Max. The Leaf only has a practical range of around 140-150 miles but that's more than enough for the trips I take (max of 120 miles round trip).
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How much was your insurance out of interest?
 
goldy6660 said:
Currently looking at hybrid options as I just don't think it's viable to get full electric when my wife and I only do 6000 miles a year combined.
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There are some serious bargains to be had on used EVs that suit lots of different budgets. What cars are you looking at, you may be surprised at what you can get by going EV.
 
It looks like Tesla are starting to roll out ‘proper’ V4 chargers early next year which should be a lot better for those with 800V cars.

The TLDR:
Up to 500kw per stall at 800V
Just under 1mw per cabinet suppling 8 stalls
They say full power will be available to cars 99% of the time.
No more DC bus bar between cabinets so there will be some power sharing limits if a few fast charging cars rock up at the same time and all plug into the same cabinet.
2% efficiency savings on the AC to DC.
Cheaper and faster to install

Up to 1.2mw per cabinet for semi-truck chargers.

Full statement for those without Twitter:
Supercharging has come a long way — our first opening in 2012 started with charging speeds of just 90kW.
Since then, our engineering teams have continuously been upgrading our Supercharger equipment.
In 2023, we launched our V4 Post, which made improvements to the charging experience for all EVs.
Today, we're announcing the V4 Cabinet — capable of delivering up to 500kW for cars and 1.2MW for Semi.
  • Faster charging: Supports 400V-1000V vehicle architectures, including 30% faster charging for Cybertruck. S3XY vehicles enjoy 250kW charge rates they already experience on V3 Cabinet — charging up to 200 miles in 15 minutes.
  • Faster deployments: V4 Cabinet powers 8 posts, 2X the stalls per cabinet. Lower footprint and complexity = more sites coming online faster.
  • Next-generation hardware: Cutting-edge power electronics designed to be the most reliable on the planet, with 3X power density enabling higher throughput with lower costs.
Our first sites with V4 Cabinets are going into permitting now. First openings in 2025.

Posts can peak up to 500kW for cars, but we need less than 1MW across 8 posts to deliver maximum power to cars 99% of the time.No more DC busbar between cabinets. Power comes from a single V4 cabinet to 8 stalls. Easier to install, cheaper, more reliable.Even some of the small incremental improvements matter. V4 Cabinet has a 2% efficiency improvement. Superchargers already deliver over 5 TWh/year, 100 GWh/year in waste heat that can be saved.
 
Av8 said:
My first winter approaching now with my first EV, any advice/tips on best approach to charging or with using pre conditioning the cars inside temp screen/mirrors de-icing etc? Do’s and don’ts
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Will depend on your electric supplier and your in car scheduling.

I tend to keep my EV between 40-60% most of the time which gives me around 3 times the range I actually need to get to work and back. I charge partially everyday I need to commute which helps to keep some heat in the battery but to be honest for about 5 months of the year it's always showing the battery as cold. I find driving a bit harder when it's cold initially does more to bring the battery up to a more efficient battery temp.

I tend to finish charging by 6am but that can change as it's on a smart tariff. Then between 06:30-7am when I leave it's defrosting/heating. That can draw 8kw initially which slowly ramps down. Only the LED headlight covers need a scrape now though the flush door handles can be a bit stubborn at times.
 
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goldy6660 said:
Currently looking at hybrid options as I just don't think it's viable to get full electric when my wife and I only do 6000 miles a year combined.
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I ruled out hybrid because, despite good ex-fleet deals, limited battery warranty/risk is too high for my tastes, used ID3's are sweet spot for me (rwd/insurance+repairs),
(housing developer now told me should have 50mm conduit to garage through which a beefy charging cable could be pulled, so that install wouldn't be $$$)
 
Journey said:
I don't fully understand this, on one hand you are doing long journeys which means you are more likely to stop regardless of the type of car, and if you aren't likely to stop then its not really a long journey.

From what you've said I don't think you have fully investigated EV's in general, the charging network(s) or the costs involved.
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he needs to test an app like this for charging, he may be surprised what is on route, personally I should never need it - https://play.google.com/store/search?q=a+better+route+planner&c=apps
 
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