5 hours ago, roottoot said:

The issue is with a small battery like i have.

Going to be cold tonight, colder through Thursday and cold, windy and maybe snowy on Friday. 

 

So off to charge to 95% and later tonight i will top up again to 95% on the slow charger. 

It will not be plugged in at home tonight.

 

<snip>

As I cannot get a cheap rate for electric in the middle of the night rate, I can charge at whatever time I like at home. Now its getting colder, I've scheduled my charging slot for the early hours until 8am. This means in theory that when the car is plugged in and charging, the battery will be warmed by the charging effect and save me battery heating kW and give better efficiency when first driving. Also means the pre-heating will be drawn from the mains to preserve battery charge. This only works if charging from 40% or less, otherwise the charge will complete and the battery will cool before she's ready to leave. If VW could sort out the timed charging feature on the IDs, then I'd set the schedule in the car and it would work from any SoC.

Edited 24 November, 20214 yr by Luckypants
missing words

Bl00dy fiasco as often is the case with CPS chargers. Started out at 9.30 and now charging for the 3rd time at a different location.  Dunblane early on worked on CCS but dead slow and cutting out.  Charger in Ayr would not stay charging.  A new Charger at Turnberry would not unlock CCS and has no AC cable attached and has no number and is not recognised on the App.  So getting a free charge for an hour if nobody needs the single charger I am then free to do what I am here for.  Still 150 miles more to go tonight but going to use Polar Plus to charge super quick on someone else's Audi card.  Cold all day and only getting 2.7 miles per kWh with just me in the car and AC off.  Once car is loaded and the temperature drops below freezing I am interested to see what it gets me.   Had a tyre pressure warning so stopped and all 4 tyres were fine.  Put a couple more psi in each and reset so will see if all is OK. 

Edited 25 November, 20214 yr by roottoot

6 hours ago, roottoot said:

Charger in Ayr would not stay charging.

 

Down in my neck of the woods, were we? 

 

Dalmellington has chargers if you're looking for some another time and you don't mind the 15-17 miles needed to get there depending on where in Ayr you were.

Edited 25 November, 20214 yr by AnnoyingPentium

19 hours ago, roottoot said:

Bl00dy fiasco as often is the case with CPS chargers. Started out at 9.30 and now charging for the 3rd time at a different location.  Dunblane early on worked on CCS but dead slow and cutting out.  Charger in Ayr would not stay charging.  A new Charger at Turnberry would not unlock CCS and has no AC cable attached and has no number and is not recognised on the App.  So getting a free charge for an hour if nobody needs the single charger I am then free to do what I am here for.  Still 150 miles more to go tonight but going to use Polar Plus to charge super quick on someone else's Audi card.  Cold all day and only getting 2.7 miles per kWh with just me in the car and AC off.  Once car is loaded and the temperature drops below freezing I am interested to see what it gets me.   Had a tyre pressure warning so stopped and all 4 tyres were fine.  Put a couple more psi in each and reset so will see if all is OK. 

 

Hope the trip experience got better since the post.  It is frustrating being a pioneer sometimes.

 

I do not know about other EV owners/users but I have formed the opinion that I will only rely on journey stop off places which have half a dozen chargers or more which should be 22 kw AC or 50 kw DC at least.   

 

If I can start with a full charge, I am getting down to 180 miles shown for a full charge in this colder weather although it also shows I am still running at around 4 miles per kwh, that I can charge up at my destination.

 

Heating seems poor at start off unless I use the demist windscreen which is awesome and that seems to heat the cabin very quickly and then the cabin heater seems OK, even on ECO mode, but one has to wind the temperature up to 25c sometimes in ECO mode to get then temperature up to around 20C.

 

Mixture of excitement and fear for my first longish winter journey.

  

12 minutes ago, lol-lol said:

I do not know about other EV owners/users but I have formed the opinion that I will only rely on journey stop off places which have half a dozen chargers or more which should be 22 kw AC or 50 kw DC at least.   

Same here.

 

Rapid charging hubs like Milton Keynes coach station charger hub, the Braintree charging forecourt, new Rugby services are the only ones I'd plan to rely on when travelling with other people in the car.

 

All others with just single or even 4 stalls, I'd have to plan to arrive with miles to spare for Plan B when looking at the route. I said 4 stalls because with ever increasing EV owners, anything less than 4 is liable to queuing.

 

It's amazing in late 2021, public charging is still such a farce.

59 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

Same here.

 

Rapid charging hubs like Milton Keynes coach station charger hub, the Braintree charging forecourt, new Rugby services are the only ones I'd plan to rely on when travelling with other people in the car.

 

All others with just single or even 4 stalls, I'd have to plan to arrive with miles to spare for Plan B when looking at the route. I said 4 stalls because with ever increasing EV owners, anything less than 4 is liable to queuing.

 

It's amazing in late 2021, public charging is still such a farce.

 

GRIDSERVE talk a good talk though I struggle to find out exactly where they are installing and therefore how the whole program is going.

 

Two charger units, even with 6 outlets, being a Zoe owner I am happy with the 22 kwh AC outlet which I hope I can use if someone else is using the DC outlets but can I park in a space and plug in to the 22 kwh using my lead when someone else in using the DC tether I wonder. 

 

As I said good video talking the talk but is it the reality ie one new implementation a day and therefore the Electric Highway on the truck roads is just weeks away ? 

 

 

Twitter is the place to see how Gridserve are doing. Also use Maz Shah's map which he keeps updated with Gridserve roll out.  I find Twitter to be a mine of EV information and is the only reason I have it. e.g. I found out about the Welsh Government's initiative to install some chargers this way, which is handy as I live in Wales.

@lol-lol the fiasco continued.  3 charger could not be used as blocked or in 1 case failed to start.  Eventually at Edinburgh Airport the one Rapid was working and a nice Driver in a Tesla came off to let me charge.  They went around to the Tesla Supercharger site.  It cut out twice on me while I used it.  No card or app required on it.  A EV Taxi driver turned up. He said he can use the rapid or AC and gets 43Kw on the AC.  Now charging ok n Aberdeenshire in torrential rain. EDIT.  Wet sleet which is now snow.     6 new rapids installed at Edinburgh Airport waiting to be commissioned. 

 

I am going to wait a while more before i get to see a e-Honda charging in Heavy Snow or Blizzard like conditions.

I am interested in how much snow builds up around the port.

Edited 26 November, 20214 yr by roottoot

SH!te......

One of the better networks.  Goes to show how much over and above the acutally cost they feel like they need to charge. ..........

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

InstaVolt issues statement in response to unprecedented rise in wholesale energy prices – 25 November 2021

25th November 2021

 

InstaVolt announces increase in pricing from 40p/kWh to 45p/kWh, effective 1 December 2021.   The network has maintained its underlying price since 2017 despite a continued increase in wholesale energy costs during this period

 

Adrian Keen, CEO of InstaVolt said: “We are in a period of unprecedented increases in the wholesale price of energy that is affecting consumers and businesses nationwide, including InstaVolt. As a result of this I am announcing a price increase on the InstaVolt network from 40p per kWh to 45p per kWh, effective 1 December 2021.  Rising energy prices are being felt by all. A homeowner seeking a new energy supply deal today would be offered a tariff similar to public charging, demonstrating the price pressures being faced. Whilst we have put our prices up 5p, this does not reflect the full cost impact of wholesale prices more than doubling, and we have for now absorbed the difference whilst we await market price stability.

An easy mistake to make when there are no cl;ear markings and there are no spare parking places around !....

 

She was very nice, she thought the cross hatch area was for Electric Cars.   

 

Edited 29 November, 20214 yr by roottoot

Big family sized EV's again with just a driver or 1 passenger in.

Adding an additional 300-400 kg or even more will make a difference.  As will a drop of another 4 degrees ambient temp.

Maybe that will get shown eventually rather than the Rep / travelling salesperson type driving that so many comparisons show.

 

 

 

Edited 7 December, 20214 yr by roottoot

I went on a BP Pulse 175kWh charger at Harthill Services Eastbound.  There are 4 chargers with 1 OOO and 2 that would not start a charge on my car which can charge at 100 kWh.  So with only 26% on arrival it was charging at no more than 40kWh.  So I knocked that on the head and moved on.  No idea yet what that cost me but at 50 pence a kWh I took 10 I think so I will a fiver.  Moved 16 miles to a PodPoint 50 kWh charger that put out full power at 26 pence a kWh.  So that's another fiver spent.  There is BP pulse chargers at Edinburgh Airport which still might not be activated yet but no way will I be paying 50 a kWh unless they actually charge at a good power to at lease 80%. 

 

Edit.

The crappy setup that needs attention.

While charging you can get a Regular Coffee or Hot Drink for £1 in the very expensive shop. 

Pity the advertising pieces around the bollards catch the heavy cable and make things awkward.

 

EDIT.

7/1/22

The cost was £6.03 & that was 12 kWh & the speed it was delivered at was 33 kWh which is pathetic on a charger that displays 175 kW and being used on a car with 100 kW charging capacity.  

(the usual charging speed on a 50 kW charger from near empty to near full is 33 kWh.  but faster if charging from near empty to 80%.)

 

on the PodPoint 50 kW charger it cost me £5.51 and that took 39 minutes to get 21.21kWh. 

 

 

 

Edited 7 January, 20224 yr by roottoot

4 minutes ago, roottoot said:

There are 4 chargers with 1 OOO and 2 that would not start a charge

Good summary of public charging experience today.

 

It's been 11 years since first modern EV became available as Nissan Leaf.

In 8 years time government want most people to buy EV's..........

F in cars playing up now.  Sitting parked waiting at airport.   First thing was I noticed that I had done a very good 4.1 miles to the kWh.  Then sitting listening to the radio that cut out.  Now the car does not want to sit powered up ready to go but without it actually READY having put my foot on the brake.  Also it thinks it is in ECO.    Shortly when it goes for a blast it better buck up its ideas or it will be suffering the indignity of getting dropped off at Arnold Clark where it will learn all about abuse.      EDIT,    car had done over air updates.  New features appeared on screen and it now on a 100 kWh charger just to see if it would take a proper rapid charge and all is well. 

Edited 5 January, 20224 yr by roottoot

Suddenly thousands of pounds off the price of EVs so they still get the UK government now even smaller grant.........

Stellantis cuts electric MPV prices as combustion variants axed

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/business-tech%2C-development-and-manufacturing/stellantis-cuts-electric-mpv-prices-combustion

 

Citroën, Peugeot and Vauxhall have adjusted the pricing of their electric MPVs to lessen the blow of removing more affordable combustion variants from order.   The brands, part of the automotive group Stellantis, removed all ICE versions of their MPVs from sale in most of Europe in an effort to accelerate the group’s move to all-electric power.  With the UK government’s £1500 grant for EVs applied, the ë-Berlingo now starts at £29,495, while the larger ë-Spacetourer is now priced from £30,295. The decision to continue with only electric versions of these vehicles was announced in separate statements by Citroën, Peugeot and Opel/Vauxhall, which sell the technically idential Berlingo, Combo and Partner MPVs respectively. The group's mid-sized MPVs – the Citroën Spacetourer, Peugeot Rifter and Vauxhall Vivaro Life –will also go all-electric in the designated markets...

 

“There is no alternative to electrification. In the future, Opel will gain even more traction with environmentally friendly innovations,” said Opel CEO Uwe Hochgeschurtz. 

 

Edited 11 January, 20224 yr by lol-lol

The manufacturers were taking the Michael out of UK tax payers with the UK Government complacent in allowing them to put ridiculous RRP,s on EV,s being sold in the UK.      They will still be making profits at the new prices.    

11 hours ago, roottoot said:

The manufacturers were taking the Michael out of UK tax payers with the UK Government complacent in allowing them to put ridiculous RRP,s on EV,s being sold in the UK.      They will still be making profits at the new prices.    

 

Indeed so.  I love to try and drive a hard bargain going for the best deal in every detail I can but when getting the Zoe, RRP £34.8k-ish but then a string of discounts and over egged trade in and I was left virtually speechless on what the end price was after nearly down to £20k with my 5 year old 70k miles Octy traded in to.  Turn that in to a PCP with a highish end value ie £13k and ones monthly payments are less than £300 a month and being lecky and charging with 5p a kWh, or getting it free from work, means quite low overall costs.  

 

I not sure about Renault or any of the other car companies currently earning much money as their net worth is incredibly low in my opinion, Renault as a whole is only worth a couple of tens of billions as are most the car companies with the exception of Tesla of course which has lead such as trailblaze that it is hard to think of any other industry where the building of a "better mousetrap" has just about wiped out the opposition financially.

Maybe some people might think Apple in their field of manufacture and Amazon with their model of sales and distribution.

Between the 3 of them they appear to be worth more than a hundred of the big household names of a decade ago.

 

Two of them making such obscene profits that can sponsor space programs as play things and all three of them could buy major car manufacturers without denting their overall worth much at all and I expect each of them to buy automotive assets in the next few years and many car manufacturers names will be consigned to the history books and the new Giga firms will dominate the transport industry with their monikered product logos.

  

As long as it is OK value I suppose we just have to accept it.

 

Edited 11 January, 20224 yr by lol-lol

The village "shopping area" down the road from me is getting two EV charging points fitted. Unsure of details as of yet as they've just painted over the parking spaces for now.

Where is "down the road" or will that blow your cover? 

12 minutes ago, Luckypants said:

Where is "down the road" or will that blow your cover? 

 

No comment on both counts. 

Edited 12 January, 20224 yr by AnnoyingPentium

It is not the ones going in near Pets at Home according to Plugshare but nearer Dominos.

Never heard of Tritium but they are 75kW chargers so i will check them out when on as handy while getting munchies. 

New 150 kW BP ones at Monkton as well. 

3 minutes ago, roottoot said:

It is not the ones going in near Pets at Home according to Plugshare but nearer Dominos.

Never heard of Tritium but they are 75kW chargers so i will check them out when on as handy while getting munchies. 

New 150 kW BP ones at Monkton as well. 

 

None of those, you need to go a little outside of Ayr to know where I'm referring to.

1 hour ago, roottoot said:

Never heard of Tritium but they are 75kW chargers so i will check them out when on as handy while getting munchies. 

Pretty sure Instavolt use Tritium and Osprey will be using the latest Tritium model at some of their new charging hubs.

Thanks.  40 pence a kWh. 

1 hour ago, roottoot said:

Never heard of Tritium

Quote

Quote

Tritium (/ˈtrɪtiəm/ or /ˈtrɪʃiəm/, from Ancient Greek τρίτος (trítos) 'third') or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or ³H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen.