Adventures in an all electric vehicle.

[DAPPH]

We are actually disadvantaged as our stupid meters dont communicate so cant use fancy tarrifs through the night!

You can ask your supplier to change the meter to one that does if you are seeking such a thing . Ours was changed FOC when we moved from SWALEC to EON 15 yrs ago , had a new one a few months ago as part of the local area uplift .

 

[addjunkie]

You can ask your supplier to change the meter to one that does if you are seeking such a thing . Ours was changed FOC when we moved from SWALEC to EON 15 yrs ago , had a new one a few months ago as part of the local area uplift .

Ours are fairly new and able to communicate, but it doesn't connect with the network as there is no signal.

 

[Erie Fred]

This would make a nice insignia on the front of the electric car eh ?

ready kilowatt at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

or:

Reddy Kilowatt - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Bobtail4x4]

Ours are fairly new and able to communicate, but it doesn't connect with the network as there is no signal.

ours wont connect to the display thing

 

[DAPPH]

ours wont connect to the display thing

I think you have to plug them in and turn the power socket on. Our very first EON display was clipped over the live meter tail inside the external meter ox and a plug in internal to the bungalow .

 

[premmington]

I will just leave this here....

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I went to the MG showroom to look at their new EV offerings this week ...have to say they've come quite a long way since I looked at them a few years ago.

I'm quite tempted by the MG4 EV Trophy...has 270 mile range....£31k for the top spec which is getting more towards what I'd like to be paying...would be a city run around which is ideal use I think.

I also took a look at the MG4 xPOWER...£37k...0-60 in 3.8 seconds (twin motor 4wd)...but the range drops quite a bit so thats not for me.

 

[atomant48]

Sounds like they are not bad. I very rarely do long journeys in my EV but I went to Birmingham and back today (140 each way). As an example - thought it useful to describe “a day in the life”. I left home at about 95% charge and it predicted arriving at 49%. In theory I would have had enough for there and back. I stopped off en route for a coffee and plugged it in while i ran In to SBs then unplugged as soon as I was back to the car so probably 10-15 mins charging. Then did the same on the way home (although I did sit for 10 mins extra and respond to some emails). Arrived home with 55% and now it’s back on charge and will be reasonably full by morning (I only use a 13A socket). No stress on range … actually passed a Seat overheating on the side of the A34 and another chap carrying a petrol can (would have stopped to give him a lift but he had made it out the lay-by and was walking along the verge - literally nowhere safe to stop) which I thought was somewhat ironic …. So yep I could have easily done that trip with no stops probably 3 times in my Volvo but I wanted to stop for a coffee anyway. Hopefully provides some real life context to EV use.

Forgot to add. Average was 230w/mile - mostly in cruise control at 70. It told me of the 90% battery I used, 80% was driving, 6% was air conditioning (including heating the battery) and the rest was things like wind. So about 10% penalty on the range which feels about right.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

@atomant48 do you have a rough idea of the cost per 100 miles...I'm calculating that the MG4 will cost around £20 to charge and that will give 270 miles....have I got this totally wrong?

My use will be mostly city miles...from what I've read it'll generally do a lot more miles for this use?

 

[atomant48]

@atomant48 do you have a rough idea of the cost per 100 miles...I'm calculating that the MG4 will cost around £20 to charge and that will give 270 miles....have I got this totally wrong?

My use will be mostly city miles...from what I've read it'll generally do a lot more miles for this use?

The superchargers were 43p/kw today so at “about” 4 miles/kW that would be 11p/mile or £11 per 100 miles. So you are not far off (particularly as i imagine it does closer to 5miles/kw). My home rate is (i think!) 30p /kW so that would be more like £7.50 per 100 miles. Might also be worth considering servicing… i am coming up to 15k miles and 2 years ownership and servicing so far is £0.

How bit is the battery in those things (likely 50 or 75kW or something?) Using a rough 4-5 miles /kW should give you a real world range.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

The superchargers were 43p/kw today so at “about” 4 miles/kW that would be 11p/mile or £11 per 100 miles

Cheers...good to have a sense check .

For what I need the MG4 is a good fit I think...they're doing a 0% deal over 2 years which I like because it gives me the (put) option to hand it back if someone suddenly invents a 1,000 battery the size of a shoe box that charges in 10 seconds in the next 2 years!

 

[atomant48]

Cheers...good to have a sense check .

For what I need the MG4 is a good fit I think...they're doing a 0% deal over 2 years which I like because it gives me the (put) option to hand it back if someone suddenly invents a 1,000 battery the size of a shoe box that charges in 10 seconds in the next 2 years!

That does sound good. If you are only doing short journeys then charging at home becomes easy and i honestly wouldn’t go to the expense of a 30A charger until youve tried on a standard plug for a while. Particularly as the incentives seem to have stopped. Unless you have one of those short window cheap tariffs (4 hour window i think) where you would want to maximise the current draw.

 

[Nomad]

If anyone is looking there's a bargain on Eb@y : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235136398775

Maxus E DELIVER 9 MWB ELECTRIC FWD (2022-) Maxus LWB Chassis cab 65kwh.

“Fantastic Electric Maxus Van. We have owned this electric Maxus Dropside from new. We bought this vehicle to support our business but have since changed the dynamics of the business. The vehicle has only done 700 miles since bought from main dealer. DONT MISS OUT ON THIS BARGAIN £29.5K PLUS VAT. COST NEW £60000”

My rough calculations say that's super low mileage, less than a year old and it's 50% cheaper than a new one, or it's cost them £35 per mile (+ electricity) @Pigeon_Droppings2

 

[willie.macleod]

I'm not long back from my holidays to Yorkshire with wee diversions through Fife, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle. 30kWh Nissan Leaf, 5 up with luggage, 1520miles in 7 days. Never skimped on a/c, taking it steady and being wary to avoid the bottom 1/3rd of the pack but it was no great hardship taking the EV this time.

Highs - there are some really decent facilities going in designed by folk who know what they are doing although nowhere near enough. Wallyford park and ride was a good example with dozens of low power chargers and some well designed layout for rapids allowing trailers through. Catterick rapid chargers also excellent, how a filling station should be even selling LPG. Few other hubs on the A9 that are worth a mention, Pitlochry, Kingussie all good options.

Lows - Way too many rubbish EV charging facilities - Glasgow - 3 broken rapids in a row?! Tebay services - joke of a place, 2 rapids charging at 25kW with no queue facility and quite a few EVs unable to proceed to next services due to low batteries. Get a diesel genny and run it to power rapids if you can't get an electric connection. No provision for slow charging for those willing to sit in your overpriced cafes and spend money for longer. Broxden park and ride, 1 rapid and banks of unused Tesla chargers, something way wrong there. Straighton park and ride a joke as well, 1 rapid and one slow charger.

My own strategy was to keep the battery in the sweet spot charging, rapid charge of c.10kWh and unplug as soon as it started tailing down to less than 20kW so most of the time charging stops would be somewhere around 15 minutes max. Worked well and allowed plenty of stops for toilet breaks and stretching of legs. As I use CHAdeMO I managed to jump queues to get on a shared dual charger, Tebay was the only charger I think I actually had to queue for and that was only 10 minutes. Looking back I never took more than 16kWh from any rapid charger so even a degraded 24kWh Leaf would have managed the trip although they'd possibly have been a few minutes more at the chargers as the charger curve isn't quite as good as the slightly larger battery.

I paid a few quid extra to granny charge at our accommodation, they had a handy socket outside which helped day to day. I saw the best ever economy with over 5 miles per kWh for most of my travel in the Dales. The car really liked being able to regen on the steep braes and the low overall speeds on the lanes, way better economy there than similar roads here. Tourist pace perhaps?! No tailbacks though, I have mirrors and use them. Not a huge amount of charging infrastructure on my travels there - dead rapid in Kirby Stephen, next closest rapid showing on the map didn't exist.

I haven't added up the total charging costs yet as charging is a mess financially. I have the CPS card so easily keep track of most of my Scottish spend (apart from Perth, where I used BP Pulse ultra rapids) but South of the border it is every man for themselves and even though I have an Electroverse card it was pretty useless and it was a case of contactless payment or signing up for stupid apps like at Thirsk car park to allow slow charging. In most cases I had little control over the rates I would pay so paid the going rate of up to 90p/kWh in some cases. The journey cost will be more than the equivalent petrol model though, I'm pretty sure of that.

In terms of inappropriate vehicles to take on a family holiday the Leaf wasn't too bad at all, consider last year we were using a Discovery 3. Not too many complaints from the passengers although we didn't fit anything like the same baggage and the car noticed the weight when fully loaded. I think next year we will take the Series 2a before the powers that be dictate some legislation to stop us (went through three LEZs in the course of the trip). Forget your 90kWh battery monsters, have yourself a real adventure with a <20 kWh Leaf!

 

[Farside]

1 rapid and banks of unused Tesla chargers, something way wrong there.

Saw the other day that the US have decided to standardise on the Tesla charge connector.
Similar may happen in other places.

 

[rhubarb7]

It can't be doing your batteries any good keep doing short top ups...

Good to see some real world experiences with a EV...It's a long way off from being hassle free charging wise by the looks of it.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

How bit is the battery in those things (likely 50 or 75kW or something?)

The long range battery is 64kwh....they've also released an extended range (confusing name!) which I think is 77kwh but thats around £37k and I just think I won't get the use out of the extra capacity vs the extra cost. Also that one doesn't have the 0% finance and I really like the (put) option of being able to give it back if it doesn't work out.

We did a house refurb around 12 years ago...I had the good sense to have a 10mm cable installed under the floors (on a separate breaker) and out to the drive in anticipation of EVs becoming popular. I'm thinking (hoping) that should be able to run a 7Kwh charger which would be enough for overnight charges.

Is there anything stopping me just fitting a 32A IP rated socket to the house wall (the 10mm runs to an accessory box currently) and then buying a 32A to EV type2 cable to charge the car...I guess it won't have all the fancy features but to be honest all I want to do is just plug it in!

 

[not done it yet]

It can't be doing your batteries any good keep doing short top ups...

Why? I don’t see any problem at all with that strategy. Neither charging to high level nor discharging to low level will actually likely to be good for the battery.

The manufacturers clearly allow charging and discharging over the full 100% range (or it would be restricted). We know that it is likely better to not fully charge and fully discharge every day - particularly on the maximum charge rates all the time (DC charging). The battery BMS protects the battery from high rates of charging as the charge level approaches the maximum.

Further, charging heats the battery so there will be a balance between charge rate, temperature control and charge acceptance to achieve the maximum energy absorption for the energy supplied.

We have recently arrived back from a ~420 mile week away. Th car started at 100% charge (@~19-/kWh using a 7kW home charger), ran it to about 2%, charged on a public charger (at around 100kW) for the last ~65 miles and arrived home with about 11% of battery capacity. Since then, I have charged twice with my 7kW home charger for 1 1/2 hours (at a time) at a bit less than 19p/kWh (some early-morning solar power used). Each charge period puts in about 40 miles so battery charge is rising steadily - as the car has travelled less than 40 miles each day since arriving home. By the end of the week, the battery will be back up to about 80%, I expect. Pray tell me what is bad about that. If you come up with some carp, l can then check it out with my supplier and let the forum know.

 

[Bullet2012]

SWMBO, is keen on one of these, https://www.mazda.co.uk/cars/mazda-mx-30/mazda-mx-30-r-ev/
tried the full electric version but prefers the concept of a hybrid.
test drive booked as soon as the dealer gets one..

 

[GRW]

The long range battery is 64kwh....they've also released an extended range (confusing name!) which I think is 77kwh but thats around £37k and I just think I won't get the use out of the extra capacity vs the extra cost. Also that one doesn't have the 0% finance and I really like the (put) option of being able to give it back if it doesn't work out.

We did a house refurb around 12 years ago...I had the good sense to have a 10mm cable installed under the floors (on a separate breaker) and out to the drive in anticipation of EVs becoming popular. I'm thinking (hoping) that should be able to run a 7Kwh charger which would be enough for overnight charges.

Is there anything stopping me just fitting a 32A IP rated socket to the house wall (the 10mm runs to an accessory box currently) and then buying a 32A to EV type2 cable to charge the car...I guess it won't have all the fancy features but to be honest all I want to do is just plug it in!

I had an article pop up on my phone over the weekend.
It was all about Toyota, & why they've not fully committed to the EV despite them leading the way with the Prius & having a reputation for developing new technologies.
Toyota as many will know, are sinking a lot of money into Hydrogen development and the Hydrogen-fuelled ICE, & the Hydrogen Fuel Cell (to provide energy to power Hybrid systems).

Now.... the first thing to say is that while the tech & cars undoubtedly work extremely well (witness their Dakar performances etc) - there is still the same problem that EV's have I.e. the amount of energy needed that is mostly only available from fossil fuel powered Generation - to produce the fuel - so its far from being "the answer".
Also, Govt adoption of the EV as "the answer" means that Hydrogen refuelling infrastructure gets no support.

But.... the interesting thing is the statements Toyota make unequivocally about EV's, Lithium, Manganese & rare metals, & the Energy Networks (& I doubt anyone can really 2nd-guess Toyota on known their onions)....

Toyota's research is that only 1% of the world's vehicles - are Electric. The low percentage is why the fact that there simply isn't remotely enough Lithium, Manganese (& one other I can't recall) isn't yet a factor anyone is considering let alone shouting about.... & one outcome of the limited availability - is that the prices for the raw materials must escalate.
The rising cost, combined with the inevitable removal of incentives artificially reducing the (already high) consumer purchase price - Toyota say makes the future of the EV non-viable (even if they could get enough raw material, which there isn't).

They also stated that outside the most developed nations (& they did not include the USA in that, as they state that the USA has nowhere near enough energy or infrastructure to have a hope in hell of ditching the ICE & converting to EV by 2035) - that all the African Continent & S. America etc etc - it's impossible for them even given decades (plus of course see above- there isn't enough raw material anyway).

Basically, Toyota say the EV is a cul-de-sac - a dead-end, & it's simply not possible for the EV to ever be "the answer". They are certain that the Hydrogen ICE/Hybrid (if they can solve the fuel issue - will eliminate the EV market, as it has none of the range & refuelling time drawbacks of EV, nor the dependence upon raw materials that aren't plentiful enough.

Now - I don't know if they can find a way to affordably mass produce Hydrogen (Nuclear??) - but I do think Toyota are bang-on with their assessment that regardless, the EV is an expensive White Elephant.