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[Technology] The In no way official Electric Car thread







Garage_Doors

Originally the Swankers
Jun 28, 2008
11,790
Brighton
The prices are eye watering at the mo but hopefully by the end of the decade, they will have come down, capacities and ranges will have increased and there will be a grater number of charge points/options. £30K for an eVW up is too much - despite it being the ideal urban get about.

I am more interested in emotorbikes. 50mph with 60 miles range would do it and is in range financially.

I looked at the Zero ones and they start at 24k, i want one just for pleasure riding so will wait until they come down a bit.
 


Marlton and Hove Albion

Active member
Oct 11, 2018
182
Sarasota FL
2.5 years into my Model 3, which Junior is now using for High School. 37K miles and the best car (iPhone with wheels) we ever had. We have a garage and plugs into a 240V outlet - 23 miles per hour charging. It is the short lived Mid Range version and 250 miles of range. Car keeps getting better with software updates regularly. Federal Govt kicked in $7,500 incentive, now gone but NJ now has $5,000 for new EVs.

Liked it so much so, I bought a pre-owned 2017 Model X for the Mrs with 26K miles. Comes with 100K warranty and free supercharging and full self driving, so it was a no brainer. Range isn't great - 210 miles - but we make it work on longer trips. No Fed or State incentive on used BUT no sales tax which save us 7%.

WARNING - The cold is a bugger on the batteries and winter range and zombie drain is quite something. Our Canadian neighbors manage to get by, so not a massive complaint.

Over here we are beginning to see VW coming into the market and Chevy has a much better Bolt for 2022. Tesla owns the market here and you see them everywhere. S, 3, X, Y.

I have an order in for the CyberTruck......looking forward to that. I AM AN EV convert.
 


dolphins

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2012
5,668
BN1, in GOSBTS
2.5 years into my Model 3, which Junior is now using for High School. 37K miles and the best car (iPhone with wheels) we ever had. We have a garage and plugs into a 240V outlet - 23 miles per hour charging. It is the short lived Mid Range version and 250 miles of range. Car keeps getting better with software updates regularly. Federal Govt kicked in $7,500 incentive, now gone but NJ now has $5,000 for new EVs.

Liked it so much so, I bought a pre-owned 2017 Model X for the Mrs with 26K miles. Comes with 100K warranty and free supercharging and full self driving, so it was a no brainer. Range isn't great - 210 miles - but we make it work on longer trips. No Fed or State incentive on used BUT no sales tax which save us 7%.

WARNING - The cold is a bugger on the batteries and winter range and zombie drain is quite something. Our Canadian neighbors manage to get by, so not a massive complaint.

Over here we are beginning to see VW coming into the market and Chevy has a much better Bolt for 2022. Tesla owns the market here and you see them everywhere. S, 3, X, Y.

I have an order in for the CyberTruck......looking forward to that. I AM AN EV convert.
Good to hear, with my order for the Model 3 having just been approved! Was interested to hear that even in a 240v outlet (normal socket?) it gives 23 miles for each hour of charging.

As for the CyberTruck, the only disappointment from my kids when I said I was ordering a Tesla, was that it wasn't the truck!! Don't think it would have been the most practical around the streets of Brighton and Hove... (and the wife's company scheme didn't offer this model either).
 


zefarelly

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 7, 2003
22,800
Sussex, by the sea
Can the batteries be stolen from under the car? I had my catalytic converter stolen when my car was parked in a busy car park in daylight. Had to pay excess and lost my NCD.

If ever there was an advert for a classic with a straight through pipe . . . . actually. I had the Webers nicked from my Cortina whilst parked in a secure pound at a dealerships 20 years ago!
 








nwgull

Well-known member
Jul 25, 2003
14,533
Manchester
Good to hear, with my order for the Model 3 having just been approved! Was interested to hear that even in a 240v outlet (normal socket?) it gives 23 miles for each hour of charging.

As for the CyberTruck, the only disappointment from my kids when I said I was ordering a Tesla, was that it wasn't the truck!! Don't think it would have been the most practical around the streets of Brighton and Hove... (and the wife's company scheme didn't offer this model either).

It doesn’t. You get just over 20 miles worth of charge per hour charging on a home charge point (7 kW), which is about 3x what you get from a standard 3 pin socket. You’ll definitely want to get the charger installed for both the convenience and practical charge times. There’s a £500 subsidy for this so it shouldn’t cost much if anything.
 




zefarelly

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 7, 2003
22,800
Sussex, by the sea
[MENTION=263]zefarelly[/MENTION] & [MENTION=12090]Garage_Doors[/MENTION]

https://www.sparkmotos.co.uk/

£3k is a competitive price, no doubt these are disposable/recyclable v bits of kit, and TBH if I worked 5 or so miles away in Btn or Worthing, it would be a serious consideration.

by comparisson, I rode a 60 year old Lambretta 25 miles to work this morning, 35 minutes. 55mpg. Sure there are more economical options, but the carbon footprint must be wafer thin by now.
 


Driver8

On the road...
NSC Patron
Jul 31, 2005
16,219
North Wales
It doesn’t. You get just over 20 miles worth of charge per hour charging on a home charge point (7 kW), which is about 3x what you get from a standard 3 pin socket. You’ll definitely want to get the charger installed for both the convenience and practical charge times. There’s a £500 subsidy for this so it shouldn’t cost much if anything.

I get 28 miles charging per hour on my Tesla home charger. I bought the one from the Tesla shop and installed it myself.
 








JJ McClure

Go Jags
Jul 7, 2003
11,111
Hassocks
Would happily move to full EV for next car. Have just checked what available on my company car list (through Zenith) and there's currently no EV on offer at all, only a few Toyota hybrids (Prius, C-HR and Corolla). Hopefully by the time my renewal comes round next January that will have changed.

It not often I say this about a Vauxhall, but I really like the look of the new Mokka which has a full electric model. I know it basically a Peugeot underneath but still think it looks pretty smart.
 


mikeyjh

Well-known member
Dec 17, 2008
4,607
Llanymawddwy
Our beloved S3 is going to need replacing soon and we have discussed EV but I think we're reaching a conclusion that the infrastructure here makes it unwise for the moment. We live very remotely in a mountainous area, we're 30 mins drive for a small town and I'm not aware of any charging stations there or anywhere else nearby. The impact of the hills and mountains is a bit of an unknown, there are plenty of opinions out there. Shrewsbury is our nearest 'big' town where I'm sure we could get a charge but that's 90 mins away. Secondly, and my electrician tried to explain this to me, our house has a dedicated supply, it doesn't share a sub station or anything so has a limited total supply (as far as I understand what he was saying). In practicality, when you put the kettle on, the lights dim so I wonder what would need to happen to allow a fast charger to be installed??
 




schmunk

Why oh why oh why?
Jan 19, 2018
10,369
Mid mid mid Sussex
I wonder what would need to happen to allow a fast charger to be installed??

Oh, nothing much...

EclxK9.gif
 


GOM

living vicariously
Aug 8, 2005
3,261
Leeds - but not the dirty bit
Our beloved S3 is going to need replacing soon and we have discussed EV but I think we're reaching a conclusion that the infrastructure here makes it unwise for the moment. We live very remotely in a mountainous area, we're 30 mins drive for a small town and I'm not aware of any charging stations there or anywhere else nearby. The impact of the hills and mountains is a bit of an unknown, there are plenty of opinions out there. Shrewsbury is our nearest 'big' town where I'm sure we could get a charge but that's 90 mins away. Secondly, and my electrician tried to explain this to me, our house has a dedicated supply, it doesn't share a sub station or anything so has a limited total supply (as far as I understand what he was saying). In practicality, when you put the kettle on, the lights dim so I wonder what would need to happen to allow a fast charger to be installed??

Contact your Distribution Network Operator (DNO) and find out would be a good start. What size fuse do you have on your main input feed. ?

Check out Zap Map for local chargers, see if it practicable. https://www.zap-map.com/live/
 
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beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
36,029
Our beloved S3 is going to need replacing soon and we have discussed EV but I think we're reaching a conclusion that the infrastructure here makes it unwise for the moment. We live very remotely in a mountainous area, we're 30 mins drive for a small town and I'm not aware of any charging stations there or anywhere else nearby. The impact of the hills and mountains is a bit of an unknown, there are plenty of opinions out there. Shrewsbury is our nearest 'big' town where I'm sure we could get a charge but that's 90 mins away. Secondly, and my electrician tried to explain this to me, our house has a dedicated supply, it doesn't share a sub station or anything so has a limited total supply (as far as I understand what he was saying). In practicality, when you put the kettle on, the lights dim so I wonder what would need to happen to allow a fast charger to be installed??

this will be a common problem across the countryside, and some spots in towns and cities. similar to broadband, the electric infrastructure isnt rolled out the same everywhere, the service obligations only needed basic provision. so there's a lot of work to be done to make switch to EV work, or millions will be left as second class transport citizens.
 


nwgull

Well-known member
Jul 25, 2003
14,533
Manchester
I get 28 miles charging per hour on my Tesla home charger. I bought the one from the Tesla shop and installed it myself.

Do you need to be a qualified spark to do this?

I may have underestimated the normal charge rate as that 20 mph I noted before was during the freezing temps a couple of weeks ago. I'd expect this would be a bit higher now it's milder - I'll pay more attention to what I get next time I plug it in.
 




mikeyjh

Well-known member
Dec 17, 2008
4,607
Llanymawddwy
Oh, nothing much...

EclxK9.gif
Yeah, you can't put up a hedge round here without Snowdonia NPA having an interest!!

Contact your Distribution Network Operator (DNO) and find out would be a good start. What size fuse do you have on your main input feed. ?

Check out Zap Map for local chargers, see if it practicable. https://www.zap-map.com/live/
100 amp... There's 1 rapid charger (1 connection) within an hour of us, a handful of semi-fast ones, mostly at peoples houses! I think we'll have to wait a while.

this will be a common problem across the countryside, and some spots in towns and cities. similar to broadband, the electric infrastructure isnt rolled out the same everywhere, the service obligations only needed basic provision. so there's a lot of work to be done to make switch to EV work, or millions will be left as second class transport citizens.

Agreed - Oddly, we now have a gigabit broadband, which is nice. Massive effort to get it in but it's good to have.
 


Audax

Boing boing boing...
Aug 3, 2015
3,273
Uckfield
Our beloved S3 is going to need replacing soon and we have discussed EV but I think we're reaching a conclusion that the infrastructure here makes it unwise for the moment. We live very remotely in a mountainous area, we're 30 mins drive for a small town and I'm not aware of any charging stations there or anywhere else nearby. The impact of the hills and mountains is a bit of an unknown, there are plenty of opinions out there. Shrewsbury is our nearest 'big' town where I'm sure we could get a charge but that's 90 mins away. Secondly, and my electrician tried to explain this to me, our house has a dedicated supply, it doesn't share a sub station or anything so has a limited total supply (as far as I understand what he was saying). In practicality, when you put the kettle on, the lights dim so I wonder what would need to happen to allow a fast charger to be installed??

Sounds like you're marginal on electric supply and could easily suffer from "brownouts", especially if you had an EV charger installed. You might just be able to get away with it if you got a smart charger that allows you to set the charge rate and then run the charger over night when you aren't using any other electric. The charger will set you back more, though. FWIW, your kettle will be one of the highest drawing items in your house when it's being used. The app that comes with my Zappi (see below) tracks our total energy usage within the house as well as charging output to the car, and when the kettle is run it shows a massive spike in power draw. Quite a bit more (for a short period) than the Zappi itself is pulling when charging in "Eco" mode.

I got a myenergi Zappi, which is a pretty clever piece of kit. For me, it was the ideal choice given I have solar panels and it can be set up to only charge the car from the solar generation and has various other smart options. But even without solar, it'd be worth it's money potentially for someone like you as you can throttle the charge rate, schedule when and for how long to charge, etc. Also if/when you have access to smart tariffs from providers like Octopus, it's ready to go for them as well.

In Eco mode, the Zappi will draw a continuous 1.3 kW from the grid (and will pull from my solar panels instead if there's enough generation). When I ran the kettle this morning, that spiked up the draw by nearly the same amount.
 
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