EV charging

Discussion in 'Bulletin Board' started by Youuureds!, Jul 20, 2024.

  1. DSLRed

    DSLRed Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2006
    Messages:
    6,901
    Likes Received:
    4,997
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    wherever I lay my overnight bag!
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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.
     
    Brush likes this.
  2. DSLRed

    DSLRed Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2006
    Messages:
    6,901
    Likes Received:
    4,997
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    wherever I lay my overnight bag!
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    Surveys suggest 90% of EV drivers would say the same. ;)
     
  3. Rosco

    Rosco Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2005
    Messages:
    6,293
    Likes Received:
    2,779
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Optimist
    Location:
    Born in Birdwell, living in Sin (well...Cheshire).
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    In what way?
     
  4. Brush

    Brush Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2005
    Messages:
    16,064
    Likes Received:
    14,846
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Ex-IT professional
    Location:
    Swadlincote, South Derbyshire
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    Thanks for your clarification mate.
     
    DSLRed likes this.
  5. Marc

    Marc Administrator Staff Member Admin

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2012
    Messages:
    27,795
    Likes Received:
    22,214
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    I get about 240 range in mine. I would never recommend an EV to anyone who doesn’t have a home charger. Best thing I ever did. Running costs are around a fifth what they were, takes 30 seconds to plug in and never have to go a petrol station ever again.

    Will be interesting to see the cost difference once I’m retired though, as I’m on a works salary sacrifice scheme. Cheaper than private lease as there’s no BIK on it.
     
    Gordon Owen and Barnsleyshaun like this.
  6. Yor

    YorkyTyke Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2011
    Messages:
    238
    Likes Received:
    212
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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.
     
  7. Red

    Redsnut Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2011
    Messages:
    3,178
    Likes Received:
    1,258
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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.
     
  8. kor

    korky Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2005
    Messages:
    3,607
    Likes Received:
    1,252
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NoTpMaRb
    Home Page:
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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
     
  9. BarnsleyReds

    BarnsleyReds Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2013
    Messages:
    11,713
    Likes Received:
    13,786
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Style:
    XenForo - Xenith Reds
    Why?
     
  10. Marc

    Marc Administrator Staff Member Admin

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2012
    Messages:
    27,795
    Likes Received:
    22,214
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    which tesco does beer & burger?
     
  11. DSLRed

    DSLRed Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2006
    Messages:
    6,901
    Likes Received:
    4,997
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    wherever I lay my overnight bag!
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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).
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2024
  12. DSLRed

    DSLRed Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2006
    Messages:
    6,901
    Likes Received:
    4,997
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    wherever I lay my overnight bag!
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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".
     
    Rosco likes this.
  13. Red

    Red Rob Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2021
    Messages:
    661
    Likes Received:
    1,356
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    London
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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.
     
    JamDrop likes this.
  14. kor

    korky Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2005
    Messages:
    3,607
    Likes Received:
    1,252
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NoTpMaRb
    Home Page:
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    wath, plug in tesco's then spoons over the road
     
    Marc likes this.
  15. DSLRed

    DSLRed Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2006
    Messages:
    6,901
    Likes Received:
    4,997
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    wherever I lay my overnight bag!
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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.
     
    Red Rob likes this.
  16. JamDrop

    JamDrop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    Messages:
    18,348
    Likes Received:
    18,984
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Leeds
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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.
     
    Red Rob likes this.
  17. DSLRed

    DSLRed Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2006
    Messages:
    6,901
    Likes Received:
    4,997
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    wherever I lay my overnight bag!
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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.
     
    Rosco and Red Rob like this.
  18. Red

    Red Rob Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2021
    Messages:
    661
    Likes Received:
    1,356
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    London
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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.
     
  19. Marc

    Marc Administrator Staff Member Admin

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2012
    Messages:
    27,795
    Likes Received:
    22,214
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    I'm a big fan of EVs, but absolutely no way I would hire one. Especially in a different country. Personally speaking, absolutely no stress. Top it up every night and very rarely do more than 80 miles in a day. If I do a longer trip that will need public charging, I just plan it into a scheduled stop.
     
  20. Red

    Redsnut Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2011
    Messages:
    3,178
    Likes Received:
    1,258
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    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.
     

Share This Page