EV charging

Afraid that there are a couple of inaccuracies in there.

1. There are some EVs at the higher end that quote WLTP figures in the high 300's but in reality 300 is achievable. But its probably fair to say that most EVs are in the 200 - 250 mile range bracket, like mine. It is high summer now, so it's more like 270 at the moment.

2. The £14 was in effect just a top up. The original post has a screenshot showing the receipt. It shows 16.5kWh delivered at 85p per kWh, which for an averagely efficient car would be 60-70 miles worth.

As much as I advocate for EVs, there is no hiding the fact that some rapid networks like Instavolt, are eye wateringly expensive. But most people would only use rapids when on a long trip. I have only used one 4 times this year when on a holiday in Kent.

 

Surveys suggest 90% of EV drivers would say the same.

 

In what way?

 

Thanks for your clarification mate.

 

It's all down to speed of charge for a lot of users though. That's why they pay a premium for faster charging rates.

 

Will never buy one ,glad I,m knocking on and will not be around when these are the only vehicles you can buy but that remains to be seen.

 

both the wife & i have EV's, both charge solely at home (bar me the odd time) on a standard variable tariff neither of ever suffered from the panic of running flat, i do extremely low mileage, 6.5k in 2 years! she a tad more,
thought of the overnight tariff but can't think of her doing the washing at that time ;-)
some folk genuinley think they must be charged every night, mine does 240 in summer, around 170 in winter, it even almost lasted when i got into mancs airport and i'd forgot my passport ;-)
tesco's used to be free, i'd nip into there to do a shop, go for a beer&burger and although slow it did give me 3 or 4 days of free fuel for something that i'd do anyway,
kinda pi$$ed off when podpoint stopped it being free

 

Why?

 

Free charging was never going to last once the volumes started going up. To be honest, it never bothered me, you could never get on them anyway for people taking the p!$$ (ie. Driving there, walking home and leaving it there all day as if it was their personal charger).

 

Personal choice, but I find is genuinely baffling and bizarre why some people seem to be so vociferously anti EV. It's just a car. Get in, drive it. After a very short time, you forget what powers it, it's just becomes "the car".

 

Just had my first EV experience as a rental on holiday. Also missed my first flight - the two are depressingly linked. In Spain and Portugal you seem to need a different app or physical card for each charging station and it's impossible to know which in advance. The 2 hour drive from Seville to Faro took 9.5 hours and we only made it at all thanks to the kindness of some really lovely people.

Had a new Cupra Born, said it would do 220km, but fell 40km short of our 190k journey. We then tried 6 different charging stations, which didn't work, never worked or had the wrong type of charge.

Travelling with a 3 month old to add a cherry to the **** sandwich.

 

wath, plug in tesco's then spoons over the road

 

That's surely a failure on the part of the rental company to give you an EV, when it's your first time driving one, abroad to boot, and then not make sure you are appraised and equipped with the means to charge it. Even as an EV driver for 4 years, who knows all about what charge point operators there are in the UK, which ones take contactless etc, I would need to do some research before I took it abroad. I know there are lots of Ionity chargers which are also in the UK and know how to use them, but wouldn't have a clue about other EU operators. That's entirely on them that it was less than successful.

 

That’s what a lot of rental companies are offering though. We’ve just booked a car for America next month and it was a sea of EVs to wade past.

 

I don't think it's a problem that the rental is an EV. I just think they should confirm you know some of the basics of living with one, and if the country is one where paying for rapid charging by debit card is not commonplace and you need an app for every operator, like you used to do here 5 years ago, it's just good customer service to let you know these details before you are stuck trying to download the app in the rain, when you are out of options and with a tetchy child in the back. A laminated information sheet on the passenger seat is not much to ask.

 

Agree totally, car was great, but we were beyond green and one member of staff mentioned it was our responsibility to know about the nuances of Spanish charging in advance, which seems nigh on impossible without being in the destination.

Thankfully other members of staff were great, but will be complaining to Europcar about the whole process. We're £600 in the red for the whole experience, plus an incredibly cranky infant. 6 hours till home.

Would imagine owning an ev adds quite a bit of stress to travel, constantly looking at how much battery you have and where there might be a charging point.

 

One thing people overlook is they are dangerous ie they don’t,t make noise.Imagine folk crossing the road or even worse one coming up behind you down a country lane.Long journeys having to piss about having to charge it before you can get home.
Sorry but you will never convince me to get one.