Tips for electric car ownership

[LokiCokey]

I've just taken the plunge and ordered an electric car after debating it for several months.

Are there any top tips/ advice current owners can give me?

Also need to get a charger so any recommendations appreciated!

Which car did you order? The dealer might be able to recommend you a charger. I know with Audi they provide one via a third party for free.

Have you looked into Octopus Go or Octopus Intelligent so that you can charge on a really cheap rate?

If your chargers not free look at the reviews for the app and mobile coverage because mines got a sim.

I run all my appliances overnight on octopus go.

Do you really need a charger? I'm planning on just going with a standard power point.

It's an MG and they didn't have a recommended installer.

I'm not sure about Octopus go as the day rate p/kWh is 10p more than our current tariff and we have solar panels which will help... need to do the calculations I think...

@Loopyloopy - It depends on your car - but if say a full electric - it would take forever to charge

@Loopyloopy the garage advised we only use a three pin in an emergency not as our regular charge...

Id go proper charger if you can.

Much faster. Main thing for me is the current involved - yiu need really robust wiring to charge a car, ive seen plenty melt or catch fire when used heavily.. Plus don't need to worry about rain etc.

Wouldn't worry about brand, EO, podpoint, zappi, Anderson all good, zappi is probably best if you're likely to use solar.

Download zapmap and abrp to do your route planning and charging.

Enjoy!

You'll need a special cable/socket I think. Will you use it for short journeys only? How long can it be driven on a full charge?

Could you stretch to solar panels & also get an evening tariff to charge it? There are a lot of free spaces to charge around me at I'm so check them out & see if there's any near you that you could use. We've been considering it but we're a one car house atm & go 1-2 times a year to on laws which is 5 hours drive so wouldn't be ideal

|I have a nissan leaf and charge it with a 3 pin plug. Faster charging degrades the battery. We have done about 40k miles in it and the battery is still 100%

You need to work out your normal usage and timings to see if you can charge it back up in time.

We've only charged it at home, charging in the street etc is complicated, the equivalent of having to join Texico and one of three types of membership and then not being able to use another garage etc. Maybe it's got easier.

You'll find you drive economically, it's amazing the difference between flooring it or driving slowly.

I'm getting a Tesla, and most people with those just go with a standard 3 pin. It doesn't matter if it takes hours to charge if you are plugging it in overnight every night, unless you are doing long distances. No one in the fb groups seems to have trouble with the wiring, but where I am has different wiring legislation to the UK.

Yep, we have a zappi from myenergi.
Definitely download zapmap, lots of chargers on the roads aren't always working.
Enjoy zooming past petrol stations!

@fruitbrewhaha interesting about driving more economically. I'm often a bit George Costanza on wanting to beat the satnav time
Not a speedy Gonzales but have just completed a speed awareness course (again) & been trying to stick rigidly to 30 in a 30 etc. It seems so slow compared to a few miles more but I feel
Suddenly Old people pace & I like it.

@FixTheBone thanks I'll look into them. Zapmap and the route planner thing look really useful!

We have octopus go and an electric car. We charge it overnight on a cheap rate, we also run our dishwasher and washigf machine then to take advantage of this. Over half our usage is on the cheap rate, so for us it’s worth paying the extra during the day to get it significantly cheaper overnight. (We pay 30p and 7.5p, but we fixed back in April, I appreciate tariffs may now be more than this.) I guess having solar panels will make a difference too.

we almost entirely charge at home; probably once a month out and about, which I’ll be honest can be a pain in the ass with various apps, chargers not necessarily working or being used when you arrive and so on. On the whole it’s brilliant but it’s not great on long journeys.

@buckeejit it's about 250 miles on full charge and will be short journeys and a commute. We have a big family car (diesel) that will take care of the longer family miles!

Already have solar panels but can only charge off them at weekends when I'm off work and light evenings in the summer. Still better than nothing though!

My experience is very different from @Loopyloopy and @fruitbrewhaha, I much prefer charging with my home charge point rather than a 3 pin plug, with the occasional top up from fast public charging, this is the norm with my friends and colleagues but each to their own. I'm on my second EV and really would never go back.

Check out the Fully Charged series with Robert Llewelyn on YouTube for lots of tips.

We have a tesla. Just got a hypervolt charger fitted as our 7 year old one packed in.
If you have solar panels (planning to get these soon mid way through process!) It allows you to choose a setting where the car draws spare solar power and minimises grid use. Or you can schedule charging times to take advantage of cheaper rates. Once we have our smart meter installed we will move to Octopus go as most of our usage is the car. Once we have solar we will use less grid electric in the day anyway when its more expensive.
Driving slower (say 60 instead if 70) makes a massive difference to mileage. And you never get the range the car says it will do!!!

We have had an electric car for 2 years and can't charge at home easily. We manage on free charging at our local Tesco, and other charging points. We could definitely save money if we had home charging, but even with our set up
I love it.

Our battery is 50kwh. And its our main car and we do 4 large runs a week as well as school runs etc. So Solar panels won't really touch that. We think our best option is Octopus Go (currently 12p between 00.30 and 4.30) using the Hypervolt to schedule that charging daily (if required) and then using the solar to offset the higher unit day cost for everything else. We will also have a solar charged battery for evening lights, TV background usage etc.

Best tip, learn patience, because if it’s anything like the mini e I ordered in June the delivery date keeps getting pushed further back 😂

I have an Audi Q4 which came last month after an 11 month wait! I got a free podpoint. They also give you £150 charge credit. My employer has some charge spaces so I have used that and the free credit at Lidl whilst I shop. All quite easy I just am mindful about it.

We have an MG too, bought a couple of years ago, and we love it! We have a Pod Point, also admittedly a second diesel estate for long journeys so we've never charged the electric anywhere other than home. Make sure you have good breakdown cover. The only time we ever needed it was when we were literally halfway down the track to our house and it died (one of us thought the other had charged it and you can't push it or you can damage it). Had to call the AA, which was rather embarrassing! We looked into Octopus Go but disappointingly the higher daily charge negated the night savings so we were no better off than with BG. I get the feeling that cheap night rate is getting to be a thing of the past.

We’ve had an electric car for 3 years, we charge overnight using a 3 pin plug so if you can’t get a charging point I wouldn’t worry.