apd007

Essentially, yes. However, I run my washing machine at night on cheap rate using the delay start built in to the machine, same with my dishwasher. As most of the time my house is running off a combination of solar and house battery I'm not using mains electricity at all, or at the most a few watts, I dump out to the grid from my battery for an hour the hour before the free electric period, then recharge my house battery and car and get a nice rebate of a few quid when the electric is free, and a bonus of export electric. It's hardly any messing about, takes maybe 30 seconds to set up the inverter controller app.

I went with a Givenergy All-in-One, similar specs but slightly cheaper and also Octopus can manage it if I choose to let them. For the moment though I'm using a Python script on an old laptop, could use the Givenergy app too but prefer the slightly more granular control I get with the script. It also has a gateway (mentioned elsewhere) so in the event of a power cut it'll supply up to 6kw continuous (for about 2 hours before batteries go flat), even without solar generation e.g. at night.

We really are heading backwards. Cars allow social mobility, allow people to visit other parts of the country, experience other lifestyles and get out of the city and visit the countryside at their own convenience and with their belongings. This gradual smothering of personal car ownership is going to send the UK back to the middle ages when most people never went more than a day walk away from where they grew up their whole life. Of course, our elected leaders will be exempt from these restrictions...

Imho it's not just Skoda's that are struggling, anything that wasn't a "halo" model during the life of the car seems to be ignored. But that's always been the case, when is the last time you saw a MK I Cavalier, Morris Ital, BMW 316 from 1990? For the vast majority of the UK population cars are a tool, the tool gets worn out, they replace it. Factor in things like scrappage schemes and the general loss of basic mechanic skills and cost it keeping a car on the road for maybe 500 miles a year and it makes sense the cars that people are going to be interested in buying from their youth are the ones that made them feel funny in their pants when it drove by.

I'm running a solar set up with a Givenergy All-in-one which is basically a 13.5kwh battery wall. The weather we've had the last few days has meant I've spent pennies on the grid electric and sold electric back to grid for pounds. So far this year I'm nearly £700 up on electric costs. The down side is I'm still about £15.5k in the red on the installation costs. 🫤

Bit of a sad update. I've checked the wiring etc. again today and spoken to my mechanic and we both agree there isn't much more we can realistically do without starting to swap things out "because it might be that". If I had a workshop, time and money I could park the car up, get it running and continue with the body repair work I was planning on gradually doing over the next few years. With no clear indication though of why it won't run and the car stuck outside I think it's time to let it go. 😪

Thanks for the replies so far, I think a little context might help. The car is a 2024 Jaguar I-Pace. Next month I'm planning on taking it down to around Southampton/Portsmouth area to meet up with friends at an Airbnb. I know the car will make the trip down in one go easily, the complication is I'll probably be driving everyone the following day to Goodwood FoS so I'll need to be up to around 80% charge depending on how far away we are so I can get there and back and make a charging point for the drive home. My concern is I get down that way expecting to be able to recharge up in about 45 minutes at a rapid charger only to find it takes 2 hours to get to 50%. In a petrol car I know irrespective of the fuel pump, weather or someone else refuelling next to me I can fill the tank from empty and pay in about 10 minutes, but with an electric car these variables seem to matter so I'm wondering what people's real world experience is like outside the hyperbole of YouTube and internet rants.

I'm still new to the world of EV ownership so I'm interested in people's experience of real world recharging. I ordered my car based on the ability of the vehicle being able to do about half its theoretical range, which I now know was pessimistic, as the car can comfortably do 200 miles. I also wasn't too concerned that its maximum recharge rate is only 90kwh as most EV complaints seemed to be recharged rates were lower than they'd expected (multiple different manufacturers) with the most common complaint being "The book says I can charge my "insert name of car" at xxxkwh but I only got yykwh" so again I based my decision on getting 50kwh real world. I'm aware of the 20 - 80 sweet spot and how battery condition effects recharge, but how does that fit in to real world? If I've just spent 30 minutes in a slow crawl at 15 mph will the battery be better/worse for recharge than if I'd just cruised up at 70mph and stopped off for a break and coffee, for example? What are people's experiences in the UK, and does it vary by region/charge company?

Actually, I'll start a new thread rather than highjack this one.

Thanks, but it seems to only confirm the theoretical recharge rates, I'm curious as to how close real world recharge rates are.

Thanks for the info, interesting read. Furthest I've driven so far is Birmingham to Bicester Village and back, which ended up being about 200 miles with faffing around picking people up etc. so I know my car can do that comfortably. One thing I am curious about though is you sheet with the Quantity base metric, am I correct in thinking that's the average charge rate you got over the time you were parked up? My car can't charge above 90kwh, so I wondering if my average charge rate will be lower even though none of the figures in your sheet (if I'm correct and it is the average charge rate) are 90kwh. Still new to EV ownership but from what I read before I acquired my car the limiting factor is often the battery state and the peak charge speeds are rarely reached consistently in the real world, would be interested to know yours, and anyone else's, experience of that.

Further update. I've checked the hall sensor wiring and confirmed I get 5 volts at the + end and I was using the plug for the - side, so that's all good. I also did a continuity test of the grey signal wire and confirmed that was good. Noticed too the rev counter isn't doing anything even when cranking. My current theory is the coil was starting to break down (mentioned in original post I got a shock from the casing when doing initial investigation) and this has sent a couple of thousand volts in to the ECU, possibly explaining why the car lost power before completely failing. Tbh, I would have thought if it was that it would have blown something straight away, but I guess it depends on how much voltage was leaking and if it got worse.

And that there is part of the reason I acquired an electric car. I am in a fortunate position that I can get it through work, it's NOT a company car, I have to pay for it out of my salary, but it is a lease deal that covers everything, including insurance. As it's a 4 year lease I can see how it fits in to my life outside of the vested interests, half truths and outright lies that both sides are guilty of without the risk of getting stuck with a vehicle that, whether through politics, market forces or other reasons, doesn't work for me. But if it does, I can get a replacement in 4 years time with, hopefully, 4 years of technology and infrastructure improvements.

Base Model Y in white is "only" £45k. Model S I don't think have been on sale, excluding the Plaid version, in the UK for a few years. Irrespective though of the price of the vehicle, unless you have means of charging it cheaply at home on a drive or in a garage then you're going to struggle to charge any electric car. I'm not saying an electric car is the answer to every question, if I was still having to drive all over the country with little to no notice as in a previous job then I'd be in an ICE vehicle. But, at the same time, if I didn't have a driveway where I could charge my car then I wouldn't be able to have an electric car. I don't see the cost of the vehicles as much of a barrier to entry if you're in the market for a new car, rather have you got somewhere to charge it cheaply and with house electrics up-to-date enough to have a home charger. Edit :- correct grammar. Edit :- corrected grammar again, 😕

High end electric cars, and you mention the most popular is a white Tesla. A base spec Model 3 in white (the only no cost option paint colour) is £39,990. That's assuming they were bought new.

I got an EV a few months ago, a Jaguar I-Pace. Prior to signing on the dotted line though I looked at a number of other options including the MGs and even briefly considered a BYD, all of which are significantly cheaper than the Jag and not much more than a decent spec ICE car. The estate I live on is largely a council estate, which is how I was able to afford to buy my house, and it does come with a drive. The estate I grew up on though was not a council estate but because of when it was built none of the houses have a drive. The issue around the drive is, IMHO less to do with how affluent a person is and more around the age of much of the UK's housing stock. There are parts of central London where house prices are lottery win money where there isn't a drive to park your car.

Quick update, despite the slight thread highjack. Life got in the way so wasn't able to have the auto electrician look at the car until today. He spent a couple of hours going through the electrics and has come to the conclusion the ECU has failed. His diagnostic equipment was able to get readings from all the sensors except the engine speed, he checked the crank sensor and confirmed the one I fitted is working. So it looks like a replacement ECU is required, but therein lies the irony. Replacing the ECU will require an immobiliser delete unit. However, there are also no guarantees that it is the ECU, and the MoT is up in a few weeks so I'm very tempted to let the car go spares or repairs. There isn't too much of a rush, got 2 other cars to use and the Felly is parked on a drive so even if the MoT expires it doesn't matter. One of the other 2 cars was supposed to have been sold though last month (life issues got in the way of that), so need to decide if Felly goes instead.

Quick update. Disconnected the knock sensor this morning and tried to start, I'd expect a "limp home" mode if the ECU thought the sensor was dead, still no start. Cleaned the electrical connectors under the bonnet, all seemed clean and well weather sealed, still no improvement. Spoke to my mechanic, he's going to speak to his auto electrician and get him to pop over and have a look.

I'm well aware of that, the car has been written off once before and I bought it back, got it repaired and carried on driving it for another 10 years. Parts aren't that hard to get either, wings and rear arches are available, and even complete front end panels, so it depends on what gets damaged.

Certainly an eye-opening question. My Felly renewal came through this week, insurance runs out end of the month. Fully comprehensive, which means the insurance company will pay to repair my car even if the accident is my fault, is £261. That also includes business miles, so I can use the car for work if I need to go to site. Not sure on the exact details as per the OP breakdown, but I do have windscreen cover, courtesy car, driving in the EU, driving other people's cars and personal belongings cover. My excess is also normally £0, or as close to that as I can make it. EDIT :- To clarify, that is £261 for the year.

@mikefelicia, just curious but whereabouts in Brum are you? And regarding the insurance question, the car was written off about 10 years ago but I bought it back and got it repaired.

🤔Knock sensor...hadn't thought of that, worth a look. When I get chance, probably the weekend now, I'll have a look and update.

Spray whilst cranking.

Hi, the car cranks over fine but won't run (or occasionally 1 second run). I can't remember now the cylinder pressures, 3 were fine, and even the one that was low was over 110psi. I'm not sure either if it's the immobiliser, hence my uncertainty.

Just to add, have also done a compression test on all 4 cylinders, 1 was a little low but the rest were fine.