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Any one have an electric car

94 replies

ShopTillYouDropp · 13/02/2021 19:23

Due to get a new car and having a look and most of them (brand new) are electric. I'm a bit Confused about getting an electric car, does any one have one and what are they like? How do you charge them at home (sorry if that's a daft question)
Thanks

OP posts:
JennyWreny · 06/03/2021 20:29

Actually, one more thing. Jack Massy Welsh channel on YouTube. He has a model 3 long range. If you can ignore the daft things he does you will be able to find videos on there which show the boot size and other interesting stuff.

torquewench · 06/03/2021 20:35

How long do you need to spend at the electric equivalent of a petrol station to get the same range? Im not talking getting home and plugging in, Im talking setting off from the north west of England to, say, Fort William, so circa 350 miles and doing the NC500. How long am i going to spend charging en route?

modgepodge · 06/03/2021 20:38

@torquewench

How long do you need to spend at the electric equivalent of a petrol station to get the same range? Im not talking getting home and plugging in, Im talking setting off from the north west of England to, say, Fort William, so circa 350 miles and doing the NC500. How long am i going to spend charging en route?
For most cars, probably 2 charges, some cars only one. If you can find the fastest chargers probably half an hour each stop. However on my journey the other day I couldn’t find any of the fastest ones, so probably an hour+ each stop. I don’t think EVs are great for long journeys yet.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

torquewench · 06/03/2021 20:38

How long does it take to get a full charge from a "normal" socket? How long does it take from a "supercharger" (which I understand requires the same wiring set up as an electric oven?).

torquewench · 06/03/2021 20:42

Ah crosspost. So theyre ok for around town but not so great for motoring holidays. Whats the average cost for an affordable EV?

MiddleClassProblem · 06/03/2021 20:42

Thanks again @JennyWreny.

I think it will improve quickly due to it only being 9 years away until you can’t buy a petrol car new. I think a lot of places will be investing in it but obviously it’s not happening immediately.

We have had our car 10 years we are looking long term but I do worry about the longevity of electric cars. Probably because iPhone batteries are so shit after a year 😂

SnoozyBoozy · 06/03/2021 20:49

We replaced out 2 diesel cars just before Christmas and got a nissan leaf (completely electric) as a run around and went for a self charging hybrid for the family car, as we weren't quite brave enough to go full in electric for both cars yet, mostly due to the infrastructure which isn't quite there yet I don't think.

The leaf is great for small journeys - I do 15 miles twice a day on the school run and charge it when I get home (they recommended you don't run it to empty before charging) and I reckon it costs £2-3 per charge, based on it being half empty. But then leaf only has about a 100 mile range, so obviously that would be different if you had a car with a bigger range.

If you were interested in hybrids, the self charging is fine, but I actually wish we'd gone for a phev instead.

We plan on having these cars for maybe 3-4 years, hopefully by which point they will have invested more significantly in the infrastructure, so we might end up getting 2 EVs.

Indecisivelurcher · 06/03/2021 20:52

My issue is boot space for ddog and back seats roomy enough for car seats. Any suggestions, anyone?

modgepodge · 06/03/2021 20:56

@torquewench

Ah crosspost. So theyre ok for around town but not so great for motoring holidays. Whats the average cost for an affordable EV?
No idea as ours is a company car, as I suspect a lot of the ones on the road are as the tax breaks are incredible and also it’s not our concern if the battery doesn’t last more than a few years. I love ours but I’m not sure I’d buy one myself just yet.
modgepodge · 06/03/2021 20:58

@Indecisivelurcher

My issue is boot space for ddog and back seats roomy enough for car seats. Any suggestions, anyone?
Our Audi etron is huge! Boot plenty big enough for a dog and we have a rear facing toddler seat in the back. Not sure you’d get 3 across the back if that’s what you need though.
8090sTv · 06/03/2021 20:59

I looked into but was put off by the higher insurance (because of the battery) and the higher initial outlay

The battery is vv expensive to replace which is the worry but I think you can lease the battery.

mynameisnotmichaelcaine · 06/03/2021 21:03

We have an MG5. I absolutely love it. It's so easy to drive and so quiet. We have solar panels and charge it using those as much as possible.

TheVolturi · 06/03/2021 21:04

I've got a Leaf.
Had two previously when they first came out and loved them, despite their very poor initial mileage range.
Current one is 150 miles on from charge and as I only use it for nipping around I only charge it once a fortnight.
We are family of five and can all squeeze in if needs be. However its just usually me and the 3dc.
Lovely to drive especially not in eco mode, very fast! With the epedal, a child could drive it.

Oblomov21 · 06/03/2021 21:08

We have hybrids. Petrol and electric. Fabulous. Only a tank of petrol every 6 weeks or so. We charge from our front shed. Easy. It's all so easy.

SquishySquirmy · 06/03/2021 21:18

We have a Kia Niro and have done some long journeys (400miles plus) in it.
Just takes planning. Full charge before we leave, and we pick a stop en route that has a fast charge point AND is somewhere nice to have a picnic/leg stretch (or a nice cafe when that's allowed).
With dc we like to have a proper stop and lunch anyway on a long journey. By the time we've all been to the loo, had lunch, spent 10 minutes in a playground/had a walk etc the car has reached between 80 to 90% charge. (The charge is very rapid at first, but slows down as you approach 100% so we don't aim for 100%).

That's normally enough, but if we stop again on the route we might charge it for another 10 minutes or so, just to top it up a bit.

There was one time when we had to wait around for much longer than normal, because the charging points were occupied when we arrived. But most of the time it's fine.

Some charging points are free, but even the pay ones are very cheap for a full
charge compared to a tank of petrol.
Be aware though that the Tesla points are NOT compatible with non Tesla cars, and don't think about trying to connect "just in case it works" because it won't, and your car might get stuck to the charger, unable to disconnect... 😳

We have a charge point fitted on the outside of the house, but you can also connect to normal mains electricity (takes aaaaages using normal mains though).

Sparrowfeeder · 06/03/2021 21:19

@MiddleClassProblem

This worries me, would need something with a longer range as it’s about 200 miles away so a 400 mile round trip a couple of times a year. Having to stop for an hour at least would be a pain with a 6 year old and a dog. Currently we just stop for quick wee breaks in our hybrid.
We regularly drive long distances 250 there and back and have no issues. We do one stop, charge whilst we walk the dog and grab some food about 30mins. A second stop is a ‘just in case’ top up for us and a pee for the dog at the same time.

The key thing to pay attention to is range but also crucially charging speed.

Sparrowfeeder · 06/03/2021 21:19

As in 500 round trip. Our second stop is a ten minute leg stretch and wee. We would do this even without charging.

H1978 · 06/03/2021 21:46

We have a Tesla model s. On a full charge we get around 280 miles. The car is spacious and the boot is a good size plus the frunk too. We get free charge for life at Tesla chargers because we bought ours 4 years ago or use the podpoint for free but it charges if you charge past 45 minutes. I have suffered from travel sickened as long as I can remember but with this car it’s so smooth I get no nausea at all.

Downside is that charging can take anywhere up to 40 minutes depending on how busy the chargers are.

JennyWreny · 06/03/2021 21:50

OK. Now I've typed and previewed this post I realised how very, very long it is Blush please just scroll on past if you aren't interested in chargers . . . .

Here's some info on chargers -

It's difficult to answer your question about how long it takes to get a full charge for a few different reasons. Firstly, unlike a petrol/diesel car you don't tend to wait for it to get empty before you fill it up. People have different views on this but generally it's good to keep the battery level between 20% and 80% - below 20 and it can start to affect the performance of the car (although I haven't really noticed this) and above 80 the battery is getting full - it isn't very good for the battery if you do this too often and it also affects regeneration. Regeneration is where the energy used to slow the car when breaking is transferred back into the battery and obviously if the battery is full already there's nowhere for it to go. I usually wait until I get to about 25% and then I'll top it up but only to 80% unless I'm going to do a long trip the following day and I'll then take it up to 90%.

Other things which affect the charging is the outside temperature, the battery takes longer to charge when it's cold (and you get much less range), the temperature of the battery (Teslas preheat the battery for Supercharging to make the charging process quicker - I'm not sure if other cars do this, they may do), the current state of charge of the battery also makes a difference - if the battery has a fairly small amount of charge it will charge much faster than if it's fuller. It really slows down at 80%. A good analogy that I've seen is filling up a football stadium - when you open the doors and everyone rushes in it's easy for people to find a seat, as it fills up and there are less seats free it gets harder for people to find the spare seats. Therefore you wouldn't really charge over 80/90% on a public charger as it would slow down too much.

Most cars (if not all) that you would buy in the UK now have a Type 2 charger. Some also have the possibility of charging using a CCS cable which is a socket which fits either a type 2 cable or a CCS cable. The CCS ones are the Rapid chargers (inc Superchargers). If you are doing long journeys this is what you really need so you avoid long stops for charging.

The slowest type of charger is one that you can plug into a normal 3 pin socket (but not via an extension lead) it will take a long while to fully charge - you are talking over 24 hours I think. Lots of people successfully use these to charge up if they only do a small number of miles and don't have a home charger. Also useful if you are staying away from home overnight but have a 3 pin socket that you can plug in.

Home chargers are generally 7kW (although some, particularly older ones, might be slower). To charge my car from 20% to 80% takes about 4.5 hours. You can sometimes get a grant for one of these.

The ones which are often free at supermarkets and attractions are usually (but not always) 7kW and therefore, although free, you don't really get a lot of mileage from them, unless you are staying a long time.

There are also Rapid chargers which provide anything up to 350kW which obviously will charge a lot faster. Superchargers are the Tesla branded Rapid chargers but these can only be used by Teslas. Rapid chargers have a cable tethered to the charger and are mostly CCS chargers. I used one of these today and it took 35 mins to charge from 28% to 90%. Initially charging at 111kW but slowing down to about 40kW by the end of the charge.

There are other chargers between the 7kW and the Rapids but I don't really know much about those as I don't tend to use them.

It's also important to note that your car will also have a charging speed limit. So I think mine is something like 120kW - so if I plugged into a 350kW charger it wouldn't ever charge at 350kW as I'd only get a maximum of 120.

Sometimes the actual supply of electricity to the charger means that it doesn't work as fast as it could - some chargers are in pairs so if someone plugs into the one next to you the charge is shared which slows it down.

There are a couple of websites which list chargers and you can filter them by type (so I tend to filter out all but the rapid ones). You can also see information about price and whether you need a membership card or if you can pay using contactless or an app. I use Zap-Map but there's also PlugShare which others rate.

As I mentioned before I highly recommend abetterrouteplanner.com which is a bit like google maps but with charger points on!

Sorry for the long post!

Milomonster · 06/03/2021 21:57

I’ve ordered the new Fiat 500 cabrio EV. It’s stunning!! And a range of 200 miles.

SnoozyBoozy · 06/03/2021 22:00

@H1978

We have a Tesla model s. On a full charge we get around 280 miles. The car is spacious and the boot is a good size plus the frunk too. We get free charge for life at Tesla chargers because we bought ours 4 years ago or use the podpoint for free but it charges if you charge past 45 minutes. I have suffered from travel sickened as long as I can remember but with this car it’s so smooth I get no nausea at all.

Downside is that charging can take anywhere up to 40 minutes depending on how busy the chargers are.

We'd love a Tesla, but unfortunately the cost is just prohibitive at the moment (for us anyway!). Even used models were £30,000+ I'm hoping that in the next 5 years, prices for all EVs will come down considerably though, as they become more popular.
Jackparlabane · 06/03/2021 22:17

Anyone know of a good electric 7-seater?

I had thought electric wouldn't work for us as we only have on-street parking, but I've been told a weekly charge or less would probably work (we drive 10-20 miles a week) - there's a couple lampposts on the street you can plug cars into, a couple spaces on the next street, and ones within a couple minutes' walk at supermarkets.

But we do need the minivan capability. Last I looked, that would be about 20k electric.

uggmum · 06/03/2021 22:22

I gage an electric car. A Peugeot.
A full home charge costs around £4 on my tariff.

It's a great car and the fuel saving is fab.

torquewench · 06/03/2021 22:27

What do you do if your battery overheats? What do you do if your battery degrades with age and doesnt hold a charge? (I keep my cars 10+ years on average) How much is a replacement battery? How heavy is a battery? How is a battery changed? How easy is it to put in a new battery?

VenusClapTrap · 06/03/2021 22:31

I bloody love my Tesla Model 3 Long Range. We have done a couple of long drives to France, Holland and Belgium and the Supercharger network makes it easy and quick to charge. I can totally recommend it for long journeys.

Covid situation permitting, we are planning to drive it to Norway this August.