The electric car *charging* thread

Agree on the Niro, anything over 70 killed the range and it did over read the speed (Polestar speed is bang on GPS speed).

And all of the above is why my better half still drives her dirty diesel even though for 90% of trips she’s going less than 10 miles.

Having had my 60kw Megane since Dec ’22, I appreciate that there’s a certain amount of geeky planning that goes into driving an EV, even one with a (potential) 250 mile range  never mind a 40kw Leaf.  I charge mostly at home so last charged on Sunday.  I’ve been to work and back yesterday and today, 40 mile round trip each time.  My Dad’s in hospital at the moment so we’re going to see him tonight – another 60mi trip but mostly on the A1.  There’s no charging infrastructure at the hospital so I had to have a think whether that’ll be OK to go in my car.  Clearly it will be fine – but I did still need to have a mental ‘check’.  None of that’s an issue in a petrol or diesel, bigger range and ‘instant’ refuelling all over the place.

Luckily I’m a massive geek so really enjoy planning but not everyone does.

@stumpy01 DNO = Distribution Network Operator. So whoever owns the cable running to your house.

Have a check of your house fuse, general rule seems to be you need 100amp as a charger will draw 32 and the smaller 60ish amp fuses are therefore more likely to blow. Only the DNO can change your house fuse and I would think that if you’re already on 100amps then the cable running to the house should be equally rated.

That said, I’d defer to the spark as it’s their area of expertise but you can always contact the DNO if you’re not sure.

@madhouse – thanks. No idea what the house fuse is rated at. Something I can look into, or at least ask the electrician before he starts working on it.

You can request for the house fuse to be upgraded to 100 amps yourself – it’s free. e.g. for the South East the DNO is UK Power Networks.
https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/i-already-have-electricity-domestic/adding-more-power/fuse-upgrade

Luckily I’m a massive geek so really enjoy planning but not everyone does.

Ditto!

But you’re right – it’s people like our OHs that probably write into the Daily Mail saying “EVs are rubbish and not fit for purpose” when REALLY it’s user error….!!

I’m going to check over the LEAF today to ensure it’s not leaked 20kWh of electricity into the driveway or something… i’ll clunk about for a bit and never mention it again!

DrP

I’m going to check over the LEAF today to ensure it’s not leaked 20kWh of electricity into the driveway

Careful; those electrons can be a bit prickly if you stand on them in the wet.

Have a check of your house fuse, general rule seems to be you need 100amp as a charger will draw 32 and the smaller 60ish amp fuses are therefore more likely to blow.

Most chargers can be set up to monitor and limit their load, so with the right charger, and an installer who knows what they are doing, a 60 amp fuse can be fine. Mine was set up in this way for a couple of weeks until the DNO had upgraded my fuse, then the charger installer came back and recalibrated it for a 100 amp fuse.

So who do people rate as the best charger install and smart tariff provider.

We are on Octopus,  so am looking at getting a smart meter installed and EV charger from them.
Smart meter is a doddle, can get a next day appointment. But getting a charger it seems impossible to speak to a human to discuss options etc. They just want to bill me £1k without a survey of the property or anything else. Frustrating.

Should i persevere with Octopus or should i get a different provider like Cord in to install their charger. They say they are compatible w Octopus smart tariffs.

TIA

Octopus were quoting a lead time of something like 9 weeks when I was looking for an install, so I contacted a few independents and then chose one based on both price but also how intelligent they seemed when going through the quotation process. For most of them they wanted a load of images of the consumer unit, main fuse, proposed charger location and route between them to give a quote.

I went with these lot in the end and they were brilliant. Bit more than the Octopus price but did a great job, and within a week of first contacting them. https://cawoods.net/

Well we went on our first longer journey in the Zoe yesterday, Cardiff to the Botanical Gardens (near Carmarthen) and back.  Home charger is still to be installed, though we now have a date next week, so we topped up to 80% at Cardiff Gate, from about 40%, took about the time to have a leisurely coffee.  Was down to 18% when we got home.  All very uneventful really.

@susepic – I bought an Ohme Home Pro charger from Electricpoint and got a local installer to fit it. An hour to view the property and agree a cable route followed by a few hours to install the following week.

Then changed our Octopus tariff to Intelligent Octopus Go and it’s been fine.

EV driving is uneventful. But wait until your 18% remaining is 0% and you have a few miles to get home with warning lights and turtles appearing on the dash! Winky eye.

I appreciate that there’s a certain amount of geeky planning that goes into driving an EV,

Barely. You just need to know what to expect.

@susepic

Ohme seems to still be the go to, I’ve previously had an ohme smart cable (for a dumb untethered charger) and it worked well with octopus tariffs. If I got a smart charger I’d probably go with ohme again. And, I think it’s one of the cheaper ones.

Also I’d stick with octopus, get a smart meter installed asap and get on a smart tariff. Octopus intelligent go tariff if you want it straightforward, agile octopus if you’re prepared to make a few little sacrifices and get a bit nerdy (you don’t have to, but the more nerdy you get the more you’ll save)

You can use apps such as Octopus Compare to monitor your savings and usage, you just enter your octopus API in the app. I also use Octopus Tariff app to monitor the agile prices.

Also worth getting an electroverse card whilst your at it and have it linked to your general octopus account.

Thanks Dove and BAnana – have booked the smart meter swap w Octopus, trying to talk to a human re charger so may find a local installer which might be quicker (in Sussex). The Ohme looks good, but reliant on good 3/4G it seems, so thinking Zappi as that is WiFi driven.

I had my Ohme charger installed via Octopus last month, turnaround was about 2 weeks (though I am in Greater London) and the guys that did it were fantastic.

Ohme are official charging partner for a lot of manufacturers so you would a quality product.

Quick one whilst the leccy brigade are reading…..

Considering getting our holiday let a charge point before the  tax changes next April. Going on the self catering owners fb pages (they exist and make this place look like the sunny uplands. For people who have set themselves up to make people happy holiday experiences, a more dower and glass half empty bunch **** knuckles could not be found) are split into 4.

1. (the biggest) – we don’t supply petrol, why would we possibly do this?

2. have a domestic grade charger and just let people use it FOC as part of the experience.

3. have a domestic charger and monitor their use and ask guests to transfer the money at the end of the week.

4. Install something like the Go Zero (https://gozerocharge.com/articles/optimus-ev-features/custom-made-ev-charger-for-airbnb-holiday-homes/) charger unit and charge guests a bit of a premium (50-60p kwh seems common) to pay for the facility/ make a bit of money from it.

I’m torn – number 2 feels like you’d be paying for a lot of miles for a few, subsidised by the many. Number 3 feels like a faff and an unwanted reason to fall out with guests. Number 4 has a whiff of mini bar about it.

If you were on holiday in a (relatively remote) cottage with an EV I’m assuming it would be a big plus but what cost would be your tipping point from it being a lovely touch to feeling like it’s taking advantage of you?

We’ve only had 2 EVs stay so far but it’s bound to increase. And the local airport has a fleet of them being hired out by one of the firms.

The fact I live next door and could plug into it to recharge my own (not yet purchased) EV when not being used by the guests and use the business’ leccy is obviously not something I would do…and in no way part of my thinking.

I use holiday cottages a lot and don’t expect to be able to charge my car for free. More so now as the cost of a full charge could be considerable if the cottage owner is not on an EV-friendly tariff and it’s a car with a big battery.

Option 4 at cost would seem reasonable to me. You’re making your profit margin on the rent of the cottage itself. Having a managed service also makes it clear to the user what they’re paying for and you’ve no worries about managing payments.

We got free charge at 3kW/h in France this summer at an air BnB which was great. We also happily paid an agreed fee for 22kw/h charger at an air BnB in Yorkshire.

Generally if the price was reasonable, I’d be happy to pay. Charging is now a key consideration in our accommodation selection.

I’d expect 1/ be pleasantly surprised by 2/ might take up the offer of 3/ and would be unlikely to use 4/ at 50-60p unless you’re very remote.

Option 4 looks like the best balance, but I would suggest setting the charge rate to be the actual electricity cost or a very small (5-10p max) uplift.

Given that EV owners are generally very aware of prevailing rates and probably used to ver low overnight rates at home if you set this at 50-60p it could come across as profiteering. Given that the the customer has generally paid you quite a lot of money already for the stay this would leave more of a bitter taste than it’s worth for the few pounds difference. Better to make it an “at cost” provision, advertise as such and make your extra money from the higher rate you can charge for the rental itself.

whatgoesup has it IMO

destination charing is on our list of whats if its semi remote but Id bork at high rates that are just taking the pish.
would not expect it to be free but its would be a plus if it was.

realistically you are looking at big charge when they first arrive and tops ups over the week.

I use holiday cottages a lot and don’t expect to be able to charge my car for free.

Me neither, but it’s handy sometimes. Especially if a remote location. It makes things that bit easier.

They could charge me 50-60p, I wouldn’t care – it’s still cheaper than a rapid, and more convenient, so who cares? You’re already paying loads of money for the house, from which they make a profit, how is this different? You’re saving money and gaining convenience, but it’s not enough because you think someone else is making a profit from offering you an optional service (how very dare they). Talk about glass half empty :)

probably used to ver low overnight rates at home

You’re a private individual, the holiday let is a business and business rates are MUCH higher than domestic ones. Plus the charger probably cost a grand or more to install.

I’m looking for a new car to replace my Hyundai Tuscon hybrid in December and have been considering going electric. Yesterday I drove from Kent to Barnsley and noticed two things which have put me off. I get the concept of charging the car while you’re having a mid-journey break but the services I stopped at had 4 charging points, all in use by the same cars while I was in the services, so that wouldn’t work. I also noticed a lot of EVs doing 60mph on the motorway, which doesn’t appeal to me. I think my next car will still have some form of ICE.

I think 2 depends on how much use someone is likely to get from the charger. Worst case scenario they’re going to be doing a full charge (~£6) when the arrive then maybe a couple of quid a day after that. An easy option might be a flat fee (£5/night?) if they want access to the charger – they can use it as much as they want, but keeps the cost lower for non-ev-ers

Option 4 is good. We rented a place on North Uist in the summer, and it had a Vend Electric 7kw charger. As per molgrips, was a fantastic addition and made for a faff free break in quite a remote place. I think it was about 45p/kw, quite happy with that as very convenient.

I think my next car will still have some form of ICE.

Don’t be put off by superficial observations.

If you were driving an EV the car (or an app) would tell you were the available chargers were and you’d stop accordingly. It’s not that hard when you are in the swing.

I’ve not had mine that long, but doing about 1000miles/week you get in the groove pretty quickly. I had extended tests of  few cars and all were usable, some easier than others.

And having an EV has increased my home electric usage by 40%, but my monthly bill has actually gone down.

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You have no chance. The DNO sent a geezer out to replace the backboard in my meter cupboard before smart meters could be installed. I spoke to him about getting a car charger and he upgraded the fuse to 100A. He did not have any concern about the condition or dimensions of the supply cabling so what chance has an average sparky got?

If you are in the NW Hart Electric did a great job on my tricky install. Plus I could talk him through what I wanted.

The Octopus installers have no idea what your property is like despite a survey – it’s an ambush for them and they try to make the best of it.

I also noticed a lot of EVs doing 60mph on the motorway, which doesn’t appeal to me.

You only notice them because they are EVs. There are lots of ICEs doing 60mph on the motorway as well.

Honestly, it’s not a thing. Don’t worry about it. Range is fine.

the services I stopped at had 4 charging points, all in use by the same cars

Most cars will route you to where the free chargers are at any given time. So even if you know the way, put the destination in and mute the guidance, and it’ll tell you want to do. Or just head for the ones with lots of chargers. Some services have 2 or 4 chargers, others have 30+. But this is changing all the time – my local services had 2, now they have 10. They are popping up absolutely everywhere, there’s strip of 8 or 10 by the look of it going in at the retail park near J33 of the M4 or example.

As a driver of one EV and one diesel, I can’t wait to get rid of the diesel. Look at it this way – imagine if there were a way that you could fill your car up for £5 instead of £50? Well, there is.

Dumb question possibly…

But if you have a holiday let what is to stop a punter running a three pin charger lead out to their car through a door / window etc?

I think my next car will still have some form of ICE.

I thought that until I dug a bit deeper and came to the conclusion that hybrid was the worst of both worlds. I’m not saying that route isn’t best for you, but I am saying that you should look into it properly – people drive like Miss Daisy in all types of car, you’re assuming it was the car that was the catalyst for the slower speed, rather than the driver.

As for holiday let charging, I think you’re right in thinking it’ll become more of a thing, although at present anyone could turn up to a let with a 3pin charger and draw 3kWh all day long. I’d say guests would be happy to pay a fee for a 7kWh supply as long as it’s at a rate that’s comparable with the rest of the market.

the services I stopped at had 4 charging points

Charging at motorway services is improving at an incredible pace; whilst at the moment it’s prudent to check that the services you stop at will have enough chargers (the last one I used had 24 plus 20 Tesla superchargers) I expect in a couple of years you won’t have to worry. I drive at “motorway” speeds. Teslas still go flying past me.

But if you have a holiday let what is to stop a punter running a three pin charger lead out to their car through a door / window etc?

Your own conscience, that’s all.

And the fact it’ll take 37 hours to charge a reasonable EV from 1 – 100%

But if you have a holiday let what is to stop a punter running a three pin charger lead out to their car through a door / window etc?

A shitty earth. Do you tell the owner their house earth doesn’t comply with the regs because they’ll obviously ask how you know and then you’ll reply “my car charger tells me and won’t work”.

But if you have a holiday let what is to stop a punter running a three pin charger lead out to their car through a door / window etc?

In this specific situation….me! I live next door. Like, the guests have to drive through my drive to get to and from and I can see their parking area from my side of the fence. It’s a requirement of the letting agent that guests don’t charge from a domestic 3 pins they get reminded about it by them in an email and our welcome notes. Our insurance won’t cover fire or damage because of it and I’m not aware of another provider who would. If they did they did they’d be knowingly going against clear requests. And generally the guests we have are nice people who would not do that. Plenty of forum traffic of other holiday let operators who are not on site either finding people doing it or suspecting/worrying people are.

Think we’re going for option 4 with Go Zero Charge. They add a 6p per KW for running the network and processing the transaction so the at cost price would be around 34p/kwh.

I charged our car out of the window of a static caravan for about 10hrs. I set the charger to like 5A though. Was I the arsehole?

@convert

We only rent accomm where we can charge. Last place in kentallan Scotland was 3 pin out of window. I have no problem paying as long as it’s reasonable (up to 30p/kWh). Any reasonable person would understand that you don’t buy the petrol for ice guests. You just need to be able to meter it. Not sure how you could stop sneaking off without paying, maybe ask for a  deposit on arrival with settlement on last day. I think I can lock the cover for the on/off trip switch on mine, for some control over usage.

My dad added a 7kW charger at his farm (he has an AirBnb in a glamping pod). The number of people who turn up in EVs and expect a free charge is astonishing. He set the price at 26p/kWh and still has issues with people filling up and legging it if he doesn’t get the cash out of them in advance.

Obviously AirBnB refund it out of the deposit but you can’t imagine someone filling up at the petrol station next to a hotel and thinking that the tank of fuel is included in the stay.