Mate's about 150 miles from home... Polestar 2.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
In the US, the infrastructure is just not there yet. There are states saying they want to ban non EVs in about 10 years time. Where are all these millions of vehicles going to charge, many of which can’t just plug in at home overnight?
Impressive! Where is that?
The charging issue will be solved wherever cars park, no car is driving around 24/7, and at some point they’ll be parked either roadside or on a driveway/in a driveway or car park for hours.
That’s where the chargers need to be. It’s a challenge, but also an employment and revenue opportunity.
It's up in Edinburgh, sadly it's not my local office otherwise I'd be using the facilities. I'm fortunate enough to be able to have a home charging point - you're right though, they need to be everywhere. I did my first 'long' trip in my EV last week, I stopped at a large motorway service station and there was only 1 charging point! I had to wait for it to be free to charge enough to get home. They make money, I simply don't understand why there weren't 10, instead of just 1!
Yep, the service areas are very variable re charging, mostly bad!
I’ve just got back from a 1000+ mile long weekend trip that started last Thursday, and charging was pretty straightforward even in Scotland. My last charge was at Wetherby Services on the Monday lunchtime, 15 rapid chargers but only about half of them actually worked. Took me 5 attempts to find one that worked, so when even more cars are EVs isn’t a great sign. Gridserve need to do better, but I understand the Government are investing in the power supply infrastructure to such places.
Today I've had the guys out who inspect the meter, main fuse and spurs to make sure 100% that its 100 amps and ready for a home charger…thankfully i am. The chap was telling me that although many house may well be equipped with 100 amps a good majority especially terraced house aren’t able to have one fitted due to their connection being looped. Any of these houses have to have their own supply fitted which should be covered by the electricity company.
Interesting times ahead especially when theres a huge wait to get the work done
Yep, that’s an issue for some houses, also that a breaker with a 100A marker on the outside doesn’t always have a 100A fuse in it.
Fortunately, the DNO is responsible for unlooping supplies, and load monitoring smart EVSEs can be fitted in the meantime anyway that will drop the charge to the car when demand is high.
Does anyone know where to get a sensibly priced 1.5-2m type 2 charging cable?
Are the coiled ones any good?
I've found a 2m Mennekes 32a for £108 or 1.5m EV Extras coiled for £119. Seems high when the 4m via Tesla is £85
I am lucky that I have enough space for off road at home charging. Therefore, with the Tesla Model Y string by month end, I am getting a Tesla at home wall charger fitted and was a bit surprised at the cost!
The charger itself is reasonable at £425 and is a nice looking piece of kit but installation by an electrician is another £500 - £650 on top.
That’s hurts a little especially as Octopus are not accepting new accounts due to the price cap changes and the uncertainty so I need to stay with Scottish Power for a little longer it seems.
EV OneStop do reasonably priced 32A ones, 5m cable is £114.
https://evonestop.co.uk/products/ev-...=9690528874543
The cable is the cheap bit, it’s the connectors that cost the cash, so cable length isn’t the main driver.
I just specced up a at https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/elec...s/id-buzz.html and it came to £70k.
Two tone paint is £1800, upgraded Infotainment is £1560, heated seats £2305, assistance pack (ACC etc) is £1424, and tool kit with jack is £90 (!)
Ample amperes
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
My house has a 60a fuse fitted and has just been through a survey and PodPoint installation fine. It does also have the sensor installed to detect load, which mitigates any potential limitation somewhat. Time will tell if it’s a concern.
Apropos nothing, I just passed 20k miles travelled in my Nissan Leaf (bought at 40k) and it's been brilliant. Range has never been good (it's got a small battery so can't really fault it for that) but it's only ever used for journeys up to 40-40 miles - 90+% of what I do - so that's not been a limiting factor. Still shows a 110-120 mile range when fully charged (30kW battery).
I added up what it's cost me to do this.
Service: £130
Insurance: £160
Tyres: £200 (4 tyres, total £400, assume half-worn in 20k miles)
Charge: £250 (I can charge at work for free and at home only charge at the super-cheap Octopus rate)
Total cost/mile of 3.7p. There's zero depreciation (it's now worth more than I paid for it)
Compare that to my other daily driver, a Mercedes E220, over the same distance
Service: £500 (it's a 200k+ mile car that's 17 years old so something needs fixing every year. But there's no depreciation!)
Insurance: £320
Tyres: £300 (assume same wear rate as Leaf but they're more expensive)
Road tax: £300
Fuel: £4800
A total of 31p/mile. Cheap for general motoring, but almost 10x the price of the Leaf.
In both cases depreciation isn't a factor (one is so old it no longer applies, the other has appreciated) which is a bit of an oddity. Also there are no lease charges as I don't finance cars. In all other respects it's a fair comparison, though as I mainly use the Leaf for runaround duties the Mercedes gets used only for long runs and when we've a lot of stuff to move. Means the total cost is lower but the cost/mile would actually be higher.
Leave aside the green-ness of the car and it's still a brilliantly effective vehicle - accelerates well, silent/smooth, has been utterly reliable, still has 3 years of manufacturers warranty on the battery and it's the one that everyone in the family likes to drive. Not exciting, agreed, but much-loved in our household. And you never need to go near a filling station in ordinary usage.
I bought the Leaf as a cheap, dip-my-toe-in-the-water EV. I thought that it might be competent but I'd hate it. I'm now a total convert and wouldn't dream of buying another internal-combustion car. The Mercedes replacement will probably be a Kia 6 or Megane E-Tech, which will cover big-car duties.
Last edited by Longblackcoat; 8th September 2022 at 12:21.
Has anyone here tried the MG offerings? There are some very competitive private leasing deals currently where I live.
Thanks!
I’ve ordered a commercial Id buzz last month top spec and about £50k
Similar to a top spec t6.1 transporter
Vw fit a charge point a few weeks before delivery
This will solve most charging issues. That and the actual car price. But let's face it can you see our UK infrastructure being able to support this amount of KW any time soon?
The realistic V WLTP on my electric BMW is circa 10% under as a rule, but in mild weather can easily be exceeded by 10%. I have never owned a petrol, diesel or PHEV in my 30+ years of driving which has ever come as close to published figures. I accept winter and extreme heat can cause loss of efficiency, but modern PHEV cars quoting 200mpg is ridiculous, at the very best my PHEV BMW achieved 80mpg. Electric is superb, I certainly would never go back. The running costs alone make it worthwhile at less than £40/month.
Make sure you get a cable rated for 22kw as some of the Tesco chargers are 22kw and if you have a 7kw cable it will downrate the charging speed. Many cars can't charge faster so that is the default but Tesla have 16 kW (I think) AC/DC convertor.
Also have a look at EV Charge King in Belgium - they make cables with the Tesla button in them for added convenience.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
My residential car park is offering a scheme where for £10 per month you get unlimited charging (3 pin slow 2 kw/h speed). No brainer really.
Yes, you’ve missed that most streets have lampposts which are powered by electricity and many of those are having charge sockets fitted, my sister in law is working a project where kerb sockets are installed on terraced streets. There’s also work place charging, charge posts would be easy to fit to every car park space in car parks (when required) and also that low mileage drivers will just rapid charge now and again to cover their needs, similar to visiting a petrol station now.
None of this stuff is complicated, but it will require investment (which will bring jobs for install and maintenance) and political as well as public will.
Very few cars are running 24/7, they’re parked way more than they’re driven, that’s where the charging needs to be whether that’s your driveway/garage or anywhere else your car spends a lot of time sat there. They don’t need to be rapid charge points, an overnight charge will be more than adequate for most peoples needs.
You’ve missed that there’s only something like one lamppost for a dozen or more houses and many aren’t even kerbside so there’s still problem of trailing wires. If EVs are commonplace most people will be disappointed and no doubt some will hog charger all night.
(No mention of under-road inductive charging though…)
Didn’t miss it, just mentioned it alongside kerbside charging which requires works to be carried out on pavements. The lamppost thing is more to say that there is power on just about every street already, it just needs to be accessed.
Induction charging is a good concept, but as of now it’s inefficient, almost no existing EVs can use it, and it’s more expensive to install than the simpler solutions.
There is a relatively simple solution to every problem with regard to charging a car without home charging, but many people without home charging are running an EV already without dedicated street side charging. Neighbours of ours charge their Leaf whilst doing the weekly shop at the supermarket and they’re covered for the rest of the weeks mileage. They have a driveway too.
When there are sufficient EVs out there, and they outnumber the lampposts in a street, then perhaps we’ll see the changes that are required for those households.
VW Buzz looking good as a family option.
I still think EV’s are a rich mans toy at their current prices. My eldest son just bought a really lovely VW scirocco 1,4tsi with a years warranty and full vw service history for just over £8k. 40k miles on the clock and he’s delighted with it. I appreciate he has to spend money filling it with petrol, but he needs a car for work and an electric car is way out of his reach. We have a drive with plenty of room so an EV charger would be a doddle but at current prices, for young drivers it’s a bit of a nonsense imho. All this talk of economy when the cars themselves cost a small fortune. I know it’s all about the environment but when you have limited funds that all goes out the window. He has plenty of mates driving cars that cost them £2k tops, and living in a rural area if you want to work you need a car. I think we’re a few years away from young drivers buying EV’s!
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They will be, the same way a 60k BMW 5 years ago is now.