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My EV at home consistently charges at 7.2kw in all weathers and charges pretty much in line with the advertised DC charge curve
Home charging is AC not DC. Assuming the mistype both ours also consistently* charge at the full AC rate at home.
* I say consistently but the Zoe charges consistently when it decides the wind is blowing the right way to actually charge (it doesn't like the chargers earth).
Ok maybe I should have typed that “my EV at home consistently charges at 7.2kw AC in all weathers and charges pretty much in line with the advertised DC charge curve away from home” but assumed people knew home charging was not DC.
just reading the above Oceanskipper, is you friend using a granny plug for home/AC charging as they only give the 2-3kw rate you mention?
Ours pretty consistently hits what you would expect provided it is preconditioned (which happens automatically provided the satnav knows a stop is coming up).
The peak charge rate normally only occurs at around 10% battery falling to at best half that by 80% full. However this does vary by manufacturer/model. This is accounted for in the quoted charge times.
just reading the above Oceanskipper, is you friend using a granny plug for home/AC charging as they only give the 2-3kw rate you mention?
No, I think he was using an away from home AC charger - it might even have been an 11kW one. We only spoke briefly on the phone as he was wondering if mine was the same except I haven’t got mine yet because it got stuck in Emden…
Sounds like a decent trip @Dr J
Ionity are currently installing additional chargers at the Perth site.
I'm a big fan on the 1 month Ionity sub when I need to charge away from home. The next one I need, I'm going to setup it through the Electroverse account to see if there are any stackable discounts.
Ionity are currently installing additional chargers at the Perth site.
That’s good news. Perth is pretty much a lunch stop for me going and returning so I will always be hitting peak hours.
Next trip is to Harris in October so hopefully that is similarly smooth.
@oceanskipper quick Google says his car should be able to AC home charge at up to 11kw so I'd be thinking down the same lines as you, check thru menus to see whether amps settings have been altered (you can certainly do it with my car).
With regards him only getting 20kw charge speeds on DC public chargers. More than likely he's doing it with a cold battery and/or the car already at a highish state of charge. You only get max charge speeds at the lower end of the battery's state of charge.
@B.A.Nana - Yep most likely one of the above. When mine eventually turns up I'll test fully myself.
That's me done with electric cars for the moment (it goes back in August). I need to drive my daughter to and from a gig tonight. The car needs fully charging to do it in one go so we put it on overnight last night at home (slow charger) and by 11am today, charge was still only at 60% and it wouldn't have charged sufficiently by this evening. So I went to the newly installed superfast chargers near where I live – both out of order already. So I then went to the other side of town for the nearest fast chargers then had to sit there for almost an hour to put an additional 25% charge into the battery, now it's back home and it'll finish off charging sufficiently to get us there and back tonight.
Yes, I could install a fast charger at home, but I don't have one.
Yes, I could have had more charge in the battery in the first place "just in case", but I didn't.
So, a task that would have taken an extra five minutes in an ICE (filling up on the way to the gig) instead took about 1hr 30mins of my day – time wasted.
I then went to the other side of town for the nearest fast chargers then had to sit there for almost an hour to put an additional 25% charge into the battery,
How fast is fast? I have a 77kwh battery and 25% would take about 5 minutes on a genuinely fast charger. Sure you weren't on an 11kwh charger?
lots to consider there but I suspect you aren't open to reasoning and are just venting off about one failed charge experience vs all the positive things.
I then went to the other side of town for the nearest fast chargers then had to sit there for almost an hour to put an additional 25% charge into the battery,
How fast is fast? I have a 77kwh battery and 25% would take about 5 minutes on a genuinely fast charger. Sure you weren't on an 11kwh charger?
Do remember that above 80% charging slows a lot to protect batteries. It would have been better to start the overnight slow charge with the car at 80%.
I'm intrigued though how slow to get such a low charge. I worked out on day 1 of EV ownership that my wall box was set to just 6amps, and I cranked it up to 32amps. Last night it put 50kwh / 200 miles into my car in 5 hours. Which seemed good to me.
Iirc only has a 3kW granny charger. Even then, overnight charging up to 11am and ending at that point at 60% charged, suggests was very low to start. 33kWh would be 50% of my battery.
Also he might get 3kW overnight but if it's all pulling on the home circuit once the house wakes up and starts the kettle, toaster, and shower then it might not be able to supply that much. How much did you actually get in during that session?
Getting the best out of an EV does require learning some new skills and I can absolutely understand why some people might not want to bother.
It doesn't take too long to work out how much you can add each night and to plan for long journeys accordingly. Similarly, even if your car doesn't tell you directly, it doesn't take long to work out how to use apps to find out which chargers nearby are free and what power they offer. But it's all new stuff to learn, we are all busy people and there is still the option of going back to what you know if you like.
At least @johndoe gave it a go and can speak from experience, which is better than many.
I can sympathise with @johndoe's general disappointment with the public charging network, It is presently a world away from petrol stations where you can pull in as the need arises and be sure that the pumps work - usually exactly the same as all other pumps - and you will be able to refuel with confidence. I love my EV but it is sometimes unnecessarily stressful !!
Last night it put 50kwh / 200 miles into my car in 5 hours. Which seemed good to me.
I’d be surprised if it did. Domestic single phase chargers usually deliver 7kw per hour. I’d check it wasn’t charging outwith the cheap rate time.
Don’t throw the towel in just yet @johndoe it is a bit of a learning curve, but the advantages are real once you can fully commit.
and, I’ve never seen the full 3kw out of a granny charger, but that might just be me.
Don’t throw the towel in just yet @johndoe it is a bit of a learning curve, but the advantages are real once you can fully commit.
I think that's one of the things holding EV adoption back - there shouldn't be a need to "fully commit"
It should be super easy. I know you're going to say that it is no more difficult than filling up with petrol or diesel but it seems it isn't [yet] - I don't see a "ICE *filling* thread".
😉
Don’t throw the towel in just yet @johndoe it is a bit of a learning curve, but the advantages are real once you can fully commit.
It looks like he's had an EV for a decent amount of time (seeing as it's going back in a couple of months) - how long does it take?!
It sounds like he hasnt been able to fit a charger at his house and is realising that without a car charger at your house EV ownership is difficult and expensive.
Does that make it hard for EVs to become "mainstream"?
Here's a question that I hadn't thought of - does your car charge at its maximum rate when you charge at home? My car's max charge rate is 6.73 kW, but it doesn't necessarily charge at that rate. I have Octopus Intelligent whateveritscalled and the "smart charging" consistently under-charges the car compared with what I ask it to do. I'm wondering if Octopus is so dumb that they set up schedules on the assumption that the car will be charging at max rate at all times. That seems like a poor assumption - but maybe everyone but me gets max rate ....
Does that make it hard for EVs to become "mainstream"?
That's my suspicion. What are (e.g.) flat-dwellers supposed to do?
They don't suit everyone as much as "EV guy" wants to evangelise on the socials. But if your not going into it with your eyes at least half open I've minimal sympathy . A minute amount of research highlights the pitfalls of not having a charger at home.
It should be super easy. I know you're going to say that it is no more difficult than filling up with petrol or diesel but it seems it isn't [yet] - I don't see a "ICE *filling* thread".
It is super easy IF you do the research, understand what you are getting into, learn to plan ahead and have a home charger fitted.
Much more difficult less economical at the moment for flat dwellers though.
It is super easy IF you do the research, understand what you are getting into, learn to plan ahead and have a home charger fitted.
I suspect that alone is enough to put a fair proportion of people off because they don't want all that.... If it's not as easy as putting petrol in a car then they're going to be unhappy.
But when when having a home charger still doesn't work as it should (and I've read plenty of instances of overnight charges not going as planned) then there's a problem.
I don't think it's EVs as such it's software problems and systems behind some of the very cheap overnight rates (i. e intelligent octopus go) overcomplicating things.
If it's not as easy as putting petrol in a car then they're going to be unhappy.
It's easier. Unless your trying to get the absolute rock bottom price but then most people don't drive round looking for the cheapest fuel do they.....- a bit like trying to get intelligent octopus to work reliable.
Standard octopus go. Just plug it in and it does it's thing.
Last summer we had a period using the granny charger with the leaf and that was pish and hassle.
We’ve been fully electric for 5 years. I occasionally get conned into taking one of the kids ICE cars for fuel. That’s more intrusive an activity than plugging in every night.
We are on our second home charger and yes there have been a few instances where the charge didn’t happen as planned, but our current setup is stable and predictable.
There are always going to edge cases where they don’t work, but there are also fictional ambitions eg wanting to drive for 250 miles without a stop which are nonsense.
a bit like trying to get intelligent octopus to work reliable.
Standard octopus go. Just plug it in and it does its thing.
This 👆100%
It's easier
I concur - I've always hated filling up at petrol stations - charging at home is up there for me in terms of convenience.
Always loved that element.
I'm looking at going electric at the moment. I can't install a home charger. I've test driven electric cars, I don't need convincing to make the switch.
However, to say the charging is just as easy as filling up an ICE simply isn't true. The only fast chargers near me are on a retail park that I never visit, because well it is a retail park with shit shops. I can charge at work but I only go in twice a month and car parks need to be booked - becoming more and more difficult under the pressure to get people back to work. My wife can't charge at work. There isn't a single public charger of any speed in our small town/village.
So there will have to be special journeys to drop the car off at public chargers and leave it for a few hours and then collect it again.
I'm still inclined to do it, but if I was on the fence or really needed persuading it isn't very attractive.
There needs to be a massive ramp up in charger installation. Our local authority declared a climate emergency in 2019 and yet my wife (a teacher) can't charge a car at her place of work. That's 7 years of being in an emergency and entire villages/majority of local authority workplaces without charging availability. Piss poor.
If you can't charge at home it will be expensive. Even slow commercial chargers are expensive to use. We need a huge investment in slow chargers, 7.5kW and 22kW in residential areas where people can park overnight along with street charging. Supermarket car parks would be ideal, not in use over night, Lidls and Aldis are often in fairly residential areas. Trouble is it doesn't stack up commercially unless the price per kW is really high and then people can't afford to use them. I really don't know what the answer is for people who can't home charge.
It has to be government led and regulated.
Youd be mad considering it currently without the ability to have a home charger.
Youd be mad considering it currently without the ability to have a home charger.
That’s quite a sweeping statement. A girl in my team at work has had her EV for three years without home charging and it’s working out for her. We are fortunate to have 30p kWh chargers at work and this makes it viable for her.
everyone’s circumstances, charge options and usage is different. It will still work out for some people.
a bit like trying to get intelligent octopus to work reliable
Never had any issues with IOG and I'm not sure why many struggle with it. I set charge to 100% and time required in octopus app leave it at that, then use car app to set % of charge required. Plug in and it sets a schedule, car is currently charging and the whole house is on cheap rate.
It just works
Never had any issues with IOG and I'm not sure why many struggle with it. I set charge to 100% and time required in octopus app leave it at that, then use car app to set % of charge required.
I think this is against the T&Cs ?
Fine if it works for you, but for many people it doesn't, and not because they have done something wrong. Last night I asked it for 20%. It gave me 15%. Other times it works, with precisely the same settings.
Youd be mad considering it currently without the ability to have a home charger.
That’s quite a sweeping statement. A girl in my team at work has had her EV for three years without home charging and it’s working out for her. We are fortunate to have 30p kWh chargers at work and this makes it viable for her.
everyone’s circumstances, charge options and usage is different. It will still work out for some people.
Yes, it is far less clear cut. I can charge at 14p kWh at work but only go in twice a month. I'll probably still do it but it will require some behaviour changes, possibly involving extra journeys.
I do the same as @bruneep (although only ask for 65% as that is still far more than I will ever need in one night) but I accept that it is breaking the spirit (and maybe the letter) of the agreement as it limits the ability of Octopus to schedule things (since they don’t know how much I will really take that night). I did try doing it properly by saying what percentage I wanted each night but a) it’s a bit of extra faff to work out each time you plug in what you need and b) I could never see any relationship between what I asked for and what it delivers. So now I just plug in when I get home and walk away safe in the knowledge that it will be back to 80% (or whatever limit I set in the car) by the morning. Plus there is a decent change of a bit of cheap electricity for the whole house in the evening. Don’t expect this to last though. Just hoping they sort out direct communication with my car before they stop me doing what I’m doing. Can’t complain if they do stop me though.
Yep same with me, octopus app won't talk to my Kia, I just set the Ohme charger to 100%, car to 80% max charge and it all works. Octopus are changing the rules though so it'll be a maximum of 6 hours cheap charging in 24 hours in future.
How fast is fast? I have a 77kwh battery and 25% would take about 5 minutes on a genuinely fast charger. Sure you weren't on an 11kwh charger?
They claim to be 150kw (Sainsbury's in Harrogate). Clearly something was not working as it was taking an age.
I suspect you aren't open to reasoning and are just venting off about one failed charge experience vs all the positive things.
Nope – I have discussed previous bad experiences on here more than once (and that doesn't include all of my experiences).
Ohh, and last week, my wife went to a new superfast station that was listed on Zapmap (on the M42 at Tamworth I think). It's not open yet. And, as she had little charge (she'd driven from harrogate to Birmingham), she then had no choice but to find the next nearest and spent over an hour trying to get enough charge in the car to get back home.
Don’t throw the towel in just yet @johndoe it is a bit of a learning curve, but the advantages are real once you can fully commit.
I generally like it as a driving experience, and much of the time it feels better than an ICE, but, nah, multiple bad experiences with charging is getting too much. And the added frustration that some chargers can take contactless payment, whereas others are RFID, others are Tesla-only, and some need you to download an app. Imagine not being able to "just pay" at a petrol station and having to drive somewhere else to find one that takes the payment method you have available.
After almost two years, that's it, I think I have had it (unless the lease company offers me a very silly price to buy it).
Question to the Ohme users...
How quickly does the Ohme app update and show the latest charge use/cost these days?
Like a total tool I installed one on our holiday let business for guests to use knowing it was OCPP compliant but not appreciating they had not made it open for 3rd party apps to work for paying for use. Not a massive issue as we see guests as the depart 95% of the time. I'll just tot up use from the app and charge with a sumup card reader. Not quite as tidy and a bit more open to abuse - I am a tit.
I used it briefly when first installed and there seemed to be a big delay between the last charge finishing and it appearing on the app. Still the same experience. Obviously if you do a nice big topup before setting off home I'd want to capture that.
I have an Ohme home pro and recently we got a second car (PHEV but I think that's irrelevant - its still something that we plug in).
We installed the Ohme app on my wife's phone and connected the new car to the app / charger as a second vehicle. It all appears to be syncing up well, expect I no longer get notifications form the Ohme app to approve the plug in of the vehicle, although my wife does. I know its not the end of the world but it is annoying - anyone know how to fix this?
And the added frustration that some chargers can take contactless payment, whereas others are RFID, others are Tesla-only, and some need you to download an app
Are you sure? Which chargers do you have in mind? I don't think I have found a rapid that needed an app or didn't take contactless. I did however find one that had two card readers - one for RFID and a different one for contactless. That caught me out.
The car needs fully charging to do it in one go so we put it on overnight last night at home (slow charger) and by 11am today, charge was still only at 60% and it wouldn't have charged sufficiently by this evening.
Aren't you plugging in every night?
had to sit there for almost an hour to put an additional 25% charge into the battery
You didn't plug into the slow charger that some rapids have on the side, did you? Did you use the cable that came with your car or the one attached to it.
I don't see a "ICE *filling* thread".
Only because it's familiar. How many "I've put petrol in a diesel" calls do you think the RAC get, or how many "I've run out of petrol" calls? People don't post on social media about it because it's just part of life, rather than some novel challenge.
I don't see a "ICE *filling* thread".
Only because it's familiar. How many "I've put petrol in a diesel" calls do you think the RAC get, or how many "I've run out of petrol" calls? People don't post on social media about it because it's just part of life, rather than some novel challenge.
Mrs XPS was caller #45 last Saturday to the AA's misfuelling line. Petrol into a diesel.
Busy searching for a convenient 2/h EV as a replacement, but somehow the guy managed to resurrect without any apparent problem. 210,000 miles. I had presumed toast / beyond economic repair, but so far so good.
I don't see a "ICE *filling* thread".
Only because it's familiar. How many "I've put petrol in a diesel" calls do you think the RAC get, or how many "I've run out of petrol" calls? People don't post on social media about it because it's just part of life, rather than some novel challenge.
Mrs XPS was caller #45 last Saturday to the AA's misfuelling line. Petrol into a diesel.
Busy searching for a convenient 2/h EV as a replacement, but somehow the guy managed to resurrect without any apparent problem. 210,000 miles. I had presumed toast / beyond economic repair, but so far so good.
I once put 1/2 tank of petrol into a work pool diesel vectra. Topped it up with Diesel and drove it from Edinburgh to Skye and back over a couple of days. The only (apparent) damage was to my wallet as the fuel card that came with the car couldn't be used for petrol.
IIRC it got written off by being driven into a 12 pointer red stag on the A9 about 6 months later.
Are you sure? Which chargers do you have in mind? I don't think I have found a rapid that needed an app or didn't take contactless.
The Tesla public chargers at Weeton's on Leeds Road in Harrogate – payment via the Tesla App only.
Aren't you plugging in every night?
Clearly not. Did you fill up your car every night before you got an electric car?
You didn't plug into the slow charger that some rapids have on the side, did you? Did you use the cable that came with your car or the one attached to it.
🙄 I used the CCS2 cable attached to the charger.