Electric cars-got to be a viable option now?

[jaytip]

Had a poke around an ID.3 and an MG5 today. The ID.3 seemed smaller than I thought it would be, it would be pretty snug for three adults across the back.
The MG5 surprised me. It seemed really good value for what you get. It looked packed with toys and with £1500 down it was coming in at £402 over 60 months on HP, so no balloon payment at the end.
The taxi trade has picked back up now so I’ll be going back and if I put my E220 back on as a taxi I would be looking at about £480-£500 a month on fuel for that, so the MG at £402 a month is going to come in cheaper than that even after charging costs.

[Jdh1]

I wonder how many are like me? I'm a prime candidate for an EV. I can buy or lease one through a company, I can have charging at home and I don't do a lot of long journeys. So why don't I have one? Because the potential cost savings are insignificant, the cars uninspiring, and most importantly I'm just not prepared to swap the potential benefits for the risk of being inconvenienced or stranded and the requirement to think ahead and plan.

I want to be convinced. Is there any hope for me?

[stuie-t]

I wonder how many are like me? I'm a prime candidate for an EV. I can buy or lease one through a company, I can have charging at home and I don't do a lot of long journeys. So why don't I have one? Because the potential cost savings are insignificant, the cars uninspiring, and most importantly I'm just not prepared to swap the potential benefits for the risk of being inconvenienced or stranded and the requirement to think ahead and plan.

I want to be convinced. Is there any hope for me?

Have you done the calculations on what you will save in BIK? That should be sufficient to convince you.


Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app

[Martylaa]

Quick question hoping you EV owners can help me with:

When you charge the car once it’s fully charged does the charger shut itself down?
Also if you left the car fully charged then went away for say 2 or 3 weeks, the will the battery be fully charged stil?

Thanks.

[Tooks]

Quick question hoping you EV owners can help me with:

When you charge the car once it’s fully charged does the charger shut itself down?
Also if you left the car fully charged then went away for say 2 or 3 weeks, the will the battery be fully charged stil?

Thanks.

Yes, the car doesn’t take any more charge once it has reached the level you require.

A small point, but the car battery charger/s are actually on board the car. The box on your wall is actually just an EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) and it’s job is to ‘talk’ to the car and understand what charge rate it can take and also tell the car what power it can supply. They negotiate every time you plug in.

EVs also have a sophisticated Battery Management System (BMS) and that will look after the car battery longer term. In the majority of newer EVs, you can’t actually use the whole battery, it has a buffer to protect the long term health of the battery, so you can’t ever over charge it or run it completely flat. Most also have a DC to DC converter that will trickle charge the 12v ancillary car battery and ensure that doesn’t go flat whilst it’s sitting unused.

Basically, just let the car manage itself.

[timor54]

Yes, the car doesn’t take any more charge once it has reached the level you require.

A small point, but the car battery charger/s are actually on board the car. The box on your wall is actually just an EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) and it’s job is to ‘talk’ to the car and understand what charge rate it can take and also tell the car what power it can supply. They negotiate every time you plug in.

EVs also have a sophisticated Battery Management System (BMS) and that will look after the car battery longer term. In the majority of newer EVs, you can’t actually use the whole battery, it has a buffer to protect the long term health of the battery, so you can’t ever over charge it or run it completely flat. Most also have a DC to DC converter that will trickle charge the 12v ancillary car battery and ensure that doesn’t go flat whilst it’s sitting unused.

Basically, just let the car manage itself.

It’s probably a broad question and will vary by manufacturer but can you program or otherwise control how much current the car will draw from the electricity supply?

I’m thinking specifically about when plugged into a 13A socket. I think I saw somewhere that most/all cars will then limit it to 10A but can it be set lower, say to 7A?

[Tooks]

It’s probably a broad question and will vary by manufacturer but can you program or otherwise control how much current the car will draw from the electricity supply?

I’m thinking specifically about when plugged into a 13A socket. I think I saw somewhere that most/all cars will then limit it to 10A but can it be set lower, say to 7A?

You can on a lot of EVs, I think the ID.3 can be set to a 5A max draw.

Many portable EVSEs (or ‘granny’ chargers that plug into a 3 pin socket) can also be set lower Amps than the default 10A, to again reduce the load on a normal 3 pin circuit.

Longer term, it’s always recommended to get a dedicated charge point though.

[Martylaa]

Yes, the car doesn’t take any more charge once it has reached the level you require.

A small point, but the car battery charger/s are actually on board the car. The box on your wall is actually just an EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) and it’s job is to ‘talk’ to the car and understand what charge rate it can take and also tell the car what power it can supply. They negotiate every time you plug in.

EVs also have a sophisticated Battery Management System (BMS) and that will look after the car battery longer term. In the majority of newer EVs, you can’t actually use the whole battery, it has a buffer to protect the long term health of the battery, so you can’t ever over charge it or run it completely flat. Most also have a DC to DC converter that will trickle charge the 12v ancillary car battery and ensure that doesn’t go flat whilst it’s sitting unused.

Basically, just let the car manage itself.

Ok so for me I live alone and work away for periods of time, I’m wondering if I could just leave the car plugged in for the time I’m away and that way the car would be fully charged when I came back. Or the other option would be to charge it fully then disconnect and then see what the battery life would be when I returned, I’d hate to think the system is draining itself whilst away if it’s never off and then would need another long charge when I returned home.

[Captain Morgan]

I would depend on the kind of duration you expect to be away I suspect

[Tooks]

Ok so for me I live alone and work away for periods of time, I’m wondering if I could just leave the car plugged in for the time I’m away and that way the car would be fully charged when I came back. Or the other option would be to charge it fully then disconnect and then see what the battery life would be when I returned, I’d hate to think the system is draining itself whilst away if it’s never off and then would need another long charge when I returned home.

I tend to charge my ID.3 up to 80%, if I don’t use it for even 3 or 4 weeks it’s still on 80%. It doesn’t seem to suffer any vampire drain.

My wife’s Tesla is slightly different, it loses a few percent a week, even more if Sentry mode is on as Pitch mentioned.

You could always leave it plugged in and monitor its state via the App, then you can remotely start or stop charging etc.

[Maysie]

Quick question hoping you EV owners can help me with:

When you charge the car once it’s fully charged does the charger shut itself down?
Also if you left the car fully charged then went away for say 2 or 3 weeks, the will the battery be fully charged stil?

Thanks.

The onboard systems/computers do use some power when the car is parked, I heard that Teslas have approx 1% per day 'phantom drain', others may obviously vary but are likely to use some power also for the same reasons.

[Pitch3110]

Quick question hoping you EV owners can help me with:

When you charge the car once it’s fully charged does the charger shut itself down?
Also if you left the car fully charged then went away for say 2 or 3 weeks, the will the battery be fully charged stil?

Thanks.

Mine is pretty good but if I have sentry mode activated if can zip the battery 2-3% is not unheard of. Likewise if I keep waking the car up it will use battery whilst parked.

It is worth mentioning that the car is never off like a ICE car, it simply is awake or sleeping but using power all the time managing the battery, it makes some strange strange noises at time.


Pitch

[AlphaOmega]

...it makes some strange strange noises at time.

Pitch

Don't we all.

I really hope someone commercialises this idea.