Real experience of driving SR Trophy on a long journey

[Mihir]

Journey Part 1:
Was away on a family trip to Lampeter in Wales from Milton Keynes last weekend. A total of 215 miles journey with the car showing 182 miles for eco mode on 100% charge. We took a small detour at Birmingham for a bit. Since it was a cold day on Saturday, we had the heater and front demistifier on for most of the journey to Birmingham set to level 1 instead of auto. The journey to Birmingham was 77 miles. I drove on eco mode all the time with Kers level 3. When we arrived at Birmingham, it showed 82 miles left. So instead of 77 miles, it took 100 miles to get there. This is due to the use of heater and front demistifier.

Points noted/learnt:
1. Heating and demistifier does take away atleast 20 miles. Even if you stop start in between, generally give yourself 20 miles down for using heater and demisitifier.
2. I was constantly looking at the available range and distance to destination. I am assuming this will be the general mindset of EV drivers. Though I knew I was ok, psycologically I was doing as much as possbile to save the battery(like stop start heater if it felt little warm)
3. Wear thick socks/winter socks as feet can get really cold even with the heating on.
4. Heated seats help but you will still need to use demistifier.

Journey Part 2:
We started from Birmingham and my destination in Wales was about 140 miles. I surely needed to charge. I had planned the journey with ZAP Map and had decided a stop in Telford which was about 35 miles. Again due to the cold weather and use of heater, I knew the remainiung 82 miles would effectively be around 65 miles. I was lucky that there was a traffic jam on M54 on the way to Telford and KERS kicked in! There was bit of range anxiety by the time we were about to reach but KERS calmed it down a bit. I decided not to stop at the services but instead stopped at a Tesco Extra just off the junction as there was a chance I would not get a charging point available at the services and that idea helped! Tesco Extra had free 7kW charging points and a couple of CCS 50kW paid ones. Most shoppers opted for free ones while the CCS was free to use. I used the podpoint app to charge but realised I had to top up to use the charging on the app. 28%-100% took a little over an hour. I charged it to 100%. I forgot to turn the heating and demistifier off before I started the charging. This was the first time ever I used public charging! After 100% charge it showed me 158 miles on normal mode and 166 miles in eco mode!

Points learnt/noted:
1. Plan the journey in advance on ZAP Map. Spend time understanding the chargepoints, availablity etc.
2. KERS really helps and comes handy to reduce a bit of range anxiety.
3. If there are charging points like I found one just off the junction at Tesco Extra, check for those. Its more likely to have charge points available over services. Especially if they also have 7kW free chargers.
4. Turn off the heating/demistifiers etc before starting to charge. Also set reset trip to 0. All of these help in getting a better range.
5. Keep the type 2 charger accessible on long journeys, especially if you have luggage in the boot. Its a lot of effort to remove the entire luggage to get to the charger and put it all back.
6. Check the chargepoint in ZAP Map in advance. Install the app, top it up with money if needed to avoid doing all this at the chargepoint. Do practice how to use the public charge points before going on the long journey.

Journey Part 3:
With 166 miles on eco mode and the destination around 105 miles, I was lot more comfortable on this stretch. Once again, used the heater and demistifier at most times. My focus when driving was constantly calculating the range difference(Available - destination). I was on a difference of 40 miles at most times. The journey was through hills where I had constant breaking and accelerating. KERS did help a lot. There were times when the range difference was down to 28-29 miles and I started driving to generate more KERS. It was quite pleasing to feel that you drove 2-3 miles but the available mileage would not go down at all! In the end when we reached our destination in Wales, the available mileage was 50 miles! Thanks to KERS. I was going to be staying there without a drive for over 40 hours and hence used the granny charger. But I needed a long extension lead to connect it from the plug point. The host was kind enough to wrap the extension lead where the charger was plugged onto with a hard plastic bag as it was raining very heavily.

Points learnt/noted:
1. Car performs really well in stretches where KERS can really work well.
2. Always carry a long extension lead to use a granny charger. Also think of wrapping it in some way if its going to be rainy.
3. Its almost not possible to be ignorant on miles available to miles to destination even if you are say driving a LR. May be its just me or because it was my first long journey.

The return journey was a different route with more or less similar observations. Not including it here.

Concluding remarks:
1. It is definitely possible to go on long journeys on SR. Just need to plan it well and keep in mind the additional journey times.
2. Car ride is really really smooth and very comfortable. Car handles quite well on motorways and in hilly routes too. Motorways eats away the range more than non motorway routes. Sometimes you would feel having travelled just 1 mile but the range goes down by 2-3. Plan a non motorway route if its not a lot of hassle.
3. KERS is a blessing! Atleast pysologically. That feeling when you drive a certain distance and the mileage does not go down or even starts to add up is a very nice one! Especially when you are low on mileage. You will surely appreaciate the technology!
4. Always reduce 20-25 miles for using heater etc in the car irrespective of the distance. Everything we use in the car - heating, music, charging phones etc will use some amount of the battery. Either the 12v or the main battery. Plan the usage wisely. Weather does have its say! Wear warm clothing if possible on cold, rainy days.
5. Turn off all things in the car before charging. Reset trip counter to 0 if its convenient.
6. iSmart app really comes handy to check charging levels etc especially when you are away from the car in services etc. Practice using public chargers before venturing out on a long journey.

Overall, despite everything mentioned above, the overall experience of driving the car, smoothness of the car in long distances, the costs involved(I spent a total of about £22 in public charging against around £125 the other petrol/diesel car owners from the family for the entire trip) and not even using a normal mode(since this was my first long journey, I drove rather conservatively) was a very pleasing experience. No complaints whatsoever. LR would give a better range in comparison, perhaps a real world range of an additional 50-60 miles. But all the points mentioned above will still be relevant.

With products such as ZipCharge expected to come into the market later this year, giving us a 'powerbank' of 40-50 miles, the bridge between LR and SR I think would not be a lot. ZipCharge are planning to keep the costs down similar to a home charger(£600-£800 I assume). That would help SR be almost similar to LR. I have intentionally not gone down the route of pence per mile calculation etc here as I feel what matters at the end of the day is the convenience even over the cost calculations on the long journeys. There are so many factors that affect such calcuations like driving style, weather, things used in the car, mindset, charging costs etc.

I hope this makes it a good read and everyone can get some tips/ideas based on my personal experience.

 

[Gadget Geek]

As you get more mileage under your belt, your range anxiety turns to range awareness. You learn where the good chargers are and how to get to them without needing to rely on Zap-Map as much.

A couple of years ago, I took my 28kWh Ioniq with similar range, from Weston super Mare to Bury Port in south Wales. Similar experience to yours. Used contactless Shell and BP chargers and even did an extra charge stop on the way back because the BP charger at Newport was on free vend.

 

[awbugritt]

A most comprehensive and very informative posting which will help the uninitiated immensely. Thank you so much.

 

[BarryH]

Journey Part 1:
Was away on a family trip to Lampeter in Wales from Milton Keynes last weekend. A total of 215 miles journey with the car showing 182 miles for eco mode on 100% charge. We took a small detour at Birmingham for a bit. Since it was a cold day on Saturday, we had the heater and front demistifier on for most of the journey to Birmingham set to level 1 instead of auto. The journey to Birmingham was 77 miles. I drove on eco mode all the time with Kers level 3. When we arrived at Birmingham, it showed 82 miles left. So instead of 77 miles, it took 100 miles to get there. This is due to the use of heater and front demistifier.

Points noted/learnt:
1. Heating and demistifier does take away atleast 20 miles. Even if you stop start in between, generally give yourself 20 miles down for using heater and demisitifier.
2. I was constantly looking at the available range and distance to destination. I am assuming this will be the general mindset of EV drivers. Though I knew I was ok, psycologically I was doing as much as possbile to save the battery(like stop start heater if it felt little warm)
3. Wear thick socks/winter socks as feet can get really cold even with the heating on.
4. Heated seats help but you will still need to use demistifier.

Journey Part 2:
We started from Birmingham and my destination in Wales was about 140 miles. I surely needed to charge. I had planned the journey with ZAP Map and had decided a stop in Telford which was about 35 miles. Again due to the cold weather and use of heater, I knew the remainiung 82 miles would effectively be around 65 miles. I was lucky that there was a traffic jam on M54 on the way to Telford and KERS kicked in! There was bit of range anxiety by the time we were about to reach but KERS calmed it down a bit. I decided not to stop at the services but instead stopped at a Tesco Extra just off the junction as there was a chance I would not get a charging point available at the services and that idea helped! Tesco Extra had free 7kW charging points and a couple of CCS 50kW paid ones. Most shoppers opted for free ones while the CCS was free to use. I used the podpoint app to charge but realised I had to top up to use the charging on the app. 28%-100% took a little over an hour. I charged it to 100%. I forgot to turn the heating and demistifier off before I started the charging. This was the first time ever I used public charging! After 100% charge it showed me 158 miles on normal mode and 166 miles in eco mode!

Points learnt/noted:
1. Plan the journey in advance on ZAP Map. Spend time understanding the chargepoints, availablity etc.
2. KERS really helps and comes handy to reduce a bit of range anxiety.
3. If there are charging points like I found one just off the junction at Tesco Extra, check for those. Its more likely to have charge points available over services. Especially if they also have 7kW free chargers.
4. Turn off the heating/demistifiers etc before starting to charge. Also set reset trip to 0. All of these help in getting a better range.
5. Keep the type 2 charger accessible on long journeys, especially if you have luggage in the boot. Its a lot of effort to remove the entire luggage to get to the charger and put it all back.
6. Check the chargepoint in ZAP Map in advance. Install the app, top it up with money if needed to avoid doing all this at the chargepoint. Do practice how to use the public charge points before going on the long journey.

Journey Part 3:
With 166 miles on eco mode and the destination around 105 miles, I was lot more comfortable on this stretch. Once again, used the heater and demistifier at most times. My focus when driving was constantly calculating the range difference(Available - destination). I was on a difference of 40 miles at most times. The journey was through hills where I had constant breaking and accelerating. KERS did help a lot. There were times when the range difference was down to 28-29 miles and I started driving to generate more KERS. It was quite pleasing to feel that you drove 2-3 miles but the available mileage would not go down at all! In the end when we reached our destination in Wales, the available mileage was 50 miles! Thanks to KERS. I was going to be staying there without a drive for over 40 hours and hence used the granny charger. But I needed a long extension lead to connect it from the plug point. The host was kind enough to wrap the extension lead where the charger was plugged onto with a hard plastic bag as it was raining very heavily.

Points learnt/noted:
1. Car performs really well in stretches where KERS can really work well.
2. Always carry a long extension lead to use a granny charger. Also think of wrapping it in some way if its going to be rainy.
3. Its almost not possible to be ignorant on miles available to miles to destination even if you are say driving a LR. May be its just me or because it was my first long journey.

The return journey was a different route with more or less similar observations. Not including it here.

Concluding remarks:
1. It is definitely possible to go on long journeys on SR. Just need to plan it well and keep in mind the additional journey times.
2. Car ride is really really smooth and very comfortable. Car handles quite well on motorways and in hilly routes too. Motorways eats away the range more than non motorway routes. Sometimes you would feel having travelled just 1 mile but the range goes down by 2-3. Plan a non motorway route if its not a lot of hassle.
3. KERS is a blessing! Atleast pysologically. That feeling when you drive a certain distance and the mileage does not go down or even starts to add up is a very nice one! Especially when you are low on mileage. You will surely appreaciate the technology!
4. Always reduce 20-25 miles for using heater etc in the car irrespective of the distance. Everything we use in the car - heating, music, charging phones etc will use some amount of the battery. Either the 12v or the main battery. Plan the usage wisely. Weather does have its say! Wear warm clothing if possible on cold, rainy days.
5. Turn off all things in the car before charging. Reset trip counter to 0 if its convenient.
6. iSmart app really comes handy to check charging levels etc especially when you are away from the car in services etc. Practice using public chargers before venturing out on a long journey.

Overall, despite everything mentioned above, the overall experience of driving the car, smoothness of the car in long distances, the costs involved(I spent a total of about £22 in public charging against around £125 the other petrol/diesel car owners from the family for the entire trip) and not even using a normal mode(since this was my first long journey, I drove rather conservatively) was a very pleasing experience. No complaints whatsoever. LR would give a better range in comparison, perhaps a real world range of an additional 50-60 miles. But all the points mentioned above will still be relevant.

With products such as ZipCharge expected to come into the market later this year, giving us a 'powerbank' of 40-50 miles, the bridge between LR and SR I think would not be a lot. ZipCharge are planning to keep the costs down similar to a home charger(£600-£800 I assume). That would help SR be almost similar to LR. I have intentionally not gone down the route of pence per mile calculation etc here as I feel what matters at the end of the day is the convenience even over the cost calculations on the long journeys. There are so many factors that affect such calcuations like driving style, weather, things used in the car, mindset, charging costs etc.

I hope this makes it a good read and everyone can get some tips/ideas based on my personal experience.

Thanks for your observations. One thing I'd like to add to what you said about the extension lead:

"2. Always carry a long extension lead to use a granny charger. Also think of wrapping it in some way if it's going to be rainy."

I have a better solution to "Wrapping it in some way". I bought a 10m bright yellow extension lead with a single "WATERPROOF" socket from BnQ (I've also seen them in Wicks) which are sold for plugging in garden Christmas lights etc safely. The 13A socket has a clamshell arrangement that encloses the 3 pin plug on the Granny Charger lead and seals around the cable with a double rubber split grommet. Not bad for about £20.

If ZipCharge thing is as good as you suggest I'll have to check it out providing it doesn't add too much weight.

 

[Kithmo]

Thanks for your observations. One thing I'd like to add to what you said about the extension lead:

"2. Always carry a long extension lead to use a granny charger. Also think of wrapping it in some way if it's going to be rainy."

I have a better solution to "Wrapping it in some way". I bought a 10m bright yellow extension lead with a single "WATERPROOF" socket from BnQ (I've also seen them in Wicks) which are sold for plugging in garden Christmas lights etc safely. The 13A socket has a clamshell arrangement that encloses the 3 pin plug on the Granny Charger lead and seals around the cable with a double rubber split grommet. Not bad for about £20.

If ZipCharge thing is as good as you suggest I'll have to check it out providing it doesn't add too much weight.

Have you tried it on the granny, the plug tail is a bit fat apparently ?

 

[Mihir]

Thanks for your observations. One thing I'd like to add to what you said about the extension lead:

"2. Always carry a long extension lead to use a granny charger. Also think of wrapping it in some way if it's going to be rainy."

I have a better solution to "Wrapping it in some way". I bought a 10m bright yellow extension lead with a single "WATERPROOF" socket from BnQ (I've also seen them in Wicks) which are sold for plugging in garden Christmas lights etc safely. The 13A socket has a clamshell arrangement that encloses the 3 pin plug on the Granny Charger lead and seals around the cable with a double rubber split grommet. Not bad for about £20.

If ZipCharge thing is as good as you suggest I'll have to check it out providing it doesn't add too much weight.

ZipCharge does look good. Its the size of a small suitcase from the videos on their website and the press. Will only know once they start selling them.

 

[pjmuk]

I have the Wickes extension lead, and use it on my MG5. The Granny lead is very thick, but I found it easy to trim the rubber seal on the extension lead using some sharp nail scissors (pointed with narrow blades). The lead now fits really well with a good seal.

 

[BarryH]

Have you tried it on the granny, the plug tail is a bit fat apparently ?

Yes, it works absolutely fine. I bought it after holidaying where the Airbnb host was fine with me plugging it into their extension lead but not overnight in case it rained or heavy dew (it was September) made their power trip. Fair point but left me struggling for sufficient charge the next day. I'd booked with them because I would be able to hook up overnight. As a result, we had to change our plans going out of our way in a remote area with few charging places, to include places to charge during the day.

 

[Kayged]

Journey Part 1:
Was away on a family trip to Lampeter in Wales from Milton Keynes last weekend. A total of 215 miles journey with the car showing 182 miles for eco mode on 100% charge. We took a small detour at Birmingham for a bit. Since it was a cold day on Saturday, we had the heater and front demistifier on for most of the journey to Birmingham set to level 1 instead of auto. The journey to Birmingham was 77 miles. I drove on eco mode all the time with Kers level 3. When we arrived at Birmingham, it showed 82 miles left. So instead of 77 miles, it took 100 miles to get there. This is due to the use of heater and front demistifier.

Points noted/learnt:
1. Heating and demistifier does take away atleast 20 miles. Even if you stop start in between, generally give yourself 20 miles down for using heater and demisitifier.
2. I was constantly looking at the available range and distance to destination. I am assuming this will be the general mindset of EV drivers. Though I knew I was ok, psycologically I was doing as much as possbile to save the battery(like stop start heater if it felt little warm)
3. Wear thick socks/winter socks as feet can get really cold even with the heating on.
4. Heated seats help but you will still need to use demistifier.

Journey Part 2:
We started from Birmingham and my destination in Wales was about 140 miles. I surely needed to charge. I had planned the journey with ZAP Map and had decided a stop in Telford which was about 35 miles. Again due to the cold weather and use of heater, I knew the remainiung 82 miles would effectively be around 65 miles. I was lucky that there was a traffic jam on M54 on the way to Telford and KERS kicked in! There was bit of range anxiety by the time we were about to reach but KERS calmed it down a bit. I decided not to stop at the services but instead stopped at a Tesco Extra just off the junction as there was a chance I would not get a charging point available at the services and that idea helped! Tesco Extra had free 7kW charging points and a couple of CCS 50kW paid ones. Most shoppers opted for free ones while the CCS was free to use. I used the podpoint app to charge but realised I had to top up to use the charging on the app. 28%-100% took a little over an hour. I charged it to 100%. I forgot to turn the heating and demistifier off before I started the charging. This was the first time ever I used public charging! After 100% charge it showed me 158 miles on normal mode and 166 miles in eco mode!

Points learnt/noted:
1. Plan the journey in advance on ZAP Map. Spend time understanding the chargepoints, availablity etc.
2. KERS really helps and comes handy to reduce a bit of range anxiety.
3. If there are charging points like I found one just off the junction at Tesco Extra, check for those. Its more likely to have charge points available over services. Especially if they also have 7kW free chargers.
4. Turn off the heating/demistifiers etc before starting to charge. Also set reset trip to 0. All of these help in getting a better range.
5. Keep the type 2 charger accessible on long journeys, especially if you have luggage in the boot. Its a lot of effort to remove the entire luggage to get to the charger and put it all back.
6. Check the chargepoint in ZAP Map in advance. Install the app, top it up with money if needed to avoid doing all this at the chargepoint. Do practice how to use the public charge points before going on the long journey.

Journey Part 3:
With 166 miles on eco mode and the destination around 105 miles, I was lot more comfortable on this stretch. Once again, used the heater and demistifier at most times. My focus when driving was constantly calculating the range difference(Available - destination). I was on a difference of 40 miles at most times. The journey was through hills where I had constant breaking and accelerating. KERS did help a lot. There were times when the range difference was down to 28-29 miles and I started driving to generate more KERS. It was quite pleasing to feel that you drove 2-3 miles but the available mileage would not go down at all! In the end when we reached our destination in Wales, the available mileage was 50 miles! Thanks to KERS. I was going to be staying there without a drive for over 40 hours and hence used the granny charger. But I needed a long extension lead to connect it from the plug point. The host was kind enough to wrap the extension lead where the charger was plugged onto with a hard plastic bag as it was raining very heavily.

Points learnt/noted:
1. Car performs really well in stretches where KERS can really work well.
2. Always carry a long extension lead to use a granny charger. Also think of wrapping it in some way if its going to be rainy.
3. Its almost not possible to be ignorant on miles available to miles to destination even if you are say driving a LR. May be its just me or because it was my first long journey.

The return journey was a different route with more or less similar observations. Not including it here.

Concluding remarks:
1. It is definitely possible to go on long journeys on SR. Just need to plan it well and keep in mind the additional journey times.
2. Car ride is really really smooth and very comfortable. Car handles quite well on motorways and in hilly routes too. Motorways eats away the range more than non motorway routes. Sometimes you would feel having travelled just 1 mile but the range goes down by 2-3. Plan a non motorway route if its not a lot of hassle.
3. KERS is a blessing! Atleast pysologically. That feeling when you drive a certain distance and the mileage does not go down or even starts to add up is a very nice one! Especially when you are low on mileage. You will surely appreaciate the technology!
4. Always reduce 20-25 miles for using heater etc in the car irrespective of the distance. Everything we use in the car - heating, music, charging phones etc will use some amount of the battery. Either the 12v or the main battery. Plan the usage wisely. Weather does have its say! Wear warm clothing if possible on cold, rainy days.
5. Turn off all things in the car before charging. Reset trip counter to 0 if its convenient.
6. iSmart app really comes handy to check charging levels etc especially when you are away from the car in services etc. Practice using public chargers before venturing out on a long journey.

Overall, despite everything mentioned above, the overall experience of driving the car, smoothness of the car in long distances, the costs involved(I spent a total of about £22 in public charging against around £125 the other petrol/diesel car owners from the family for the entire trip) and not even using a normal mode(since this was my first long journey, I drove rather conservatively) was a very pleasing experience. No complaints whatsoever. LR would give a better range in comparison, perhaps a real world range of an additional 50-60 miles. But all the points mentioned above will still be relevant.

With products such as ZipCharge expected to come into the market later this year, giving us a 'powerbank' of 40-50 miles, the bridge between LR and SR I think would not be a lot. ZipCharge are planning to keep the costs down similar to a home charger(£600-£800 I assume). That would help SR be almost similar to LR. I have intentionally not gone down the route of pence per mile calculation etc here as I feel what matters at the end of the day is the convenience even over the cost calculations on the long journeys. There are so many factors that affect such calcuations like driving style, weather, things used in the car, mindset, charging costs etc.

I hope this makes it a good read and everyone can get some tips/ideas based on my personal experience.

I have used Rainex and Rainex Defogg on my front and rear windows also on the front side windows and this has turned out pretty good at improving the range during wet/damp weather in my Mk1 ZS EV. We got almost an extra mile per KW in a recent trip.

 

[Ozzie1989]

If you want a proper solution to extend your granny charger, check out these guys:

EV granny charger 13A weatherproof extension lead

High quality 13A weatherproof outdoor waterproof extension leads heavy duty 1.5mm H07RN-F rubber cable. RCD option. IP66. Designed specifically to overcome the issue created by chunkier plugs on electric vehicles (EVs). 2m, 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m and 25m lengths.

toughleads.co.uk

The cable is much more durable than your B&Q stuff, you can specify in line RCD (recommend if you don't know the state of what you're plugging into) and you can even have the letterbox connector fitted (handy as you don't have to leave windows open).

 

[BarryH]

If you want a proper solution to extend your granny charger, check out these guys:

EV granny charger 13A weatherproof extension lead

High quality 13A weatherproof outdoor waterproof extension leads heavy duty 1.5mm H07RN-F rubber cable. RCD option. IP66. Designed specifically to overcome the issue created by chunkier plugs on electric vehicles (EVs). 2m, 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m and 25m lengths.

toughleads.co.uk

The cable is much more durable than your B&Q stuff, you can specify in line RCD (recommend if you don't know the state of what you're plugging into) and you can even have the letterbox connector fitted (handy as you don't have to leave windows open).

The BnQ 15m Waterproof looks like a proper solution to me. I bought the 10m version for less bulk in the boot when travelling on holiday and it works really well without modification. I see also that on Amazon for £25 and you can get it as 15m or 5m without the black cable tidy for £16. I haven't put an RCD plug on it since the Granny Charger has enough safety protection of its own although you certainly could change the plug or use an RCD adapter block

 

[Ozzie1989]

The BnQ 15m Waterproof looks like a proper solution to me. I bought the 10m version for less bulk in the boot when travelling on holiday and it works really well without modification. I see also that on Amazon for £25 and you can get it as 15m or 5m without the black cable tidy for £16. I haven't put an RCD plug on it since the Granny Charger has enough safety protection of its own although you certainly could change the plug or use an RCD adapter block
View attachment 7172

You're right it will probably do the job for occasional use. My worry is that it mentions "Splashproof Socket Cover" which doesn't mean waterproof. Also worried it says "Don't leave unattended when risk of exposure to moisture".

Do you know what size the cable is by any chance?

How liable would you be if you set fire to your Air BandB I wonder?

 

[Nutnut]

If you want a proper solution to extend your granny charger, check out these guys:

EV granny charger 13A weatherproof extension lead

High quality 13A weatherproof outdoor waterproof extension leads heavy duty 1.5mm H07RN-F rubber cable. RCD option. IP66. Designed specifically to overcome the issue created by chunkier plugs on electric vehicles (EVs). 2m, 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m and 25m lengths.

toughleads.co.uk

The cable is much more durable than your B&Q stuff, you can specify in line RCD (recommend if you don't know the state of what you're plugging into) and you can even have the letterbox connector fitted (handy as you don't have to leave windows open).

Thanks for the link - I like the letterbox option.

I think it's this one here (or at least similar) for anyone wanting a better look:

 

[billybonfire3]

I ordered the tough leads one last week as I felt more comfortable with it, but not the letterbox bit, mines going through the cat flap

 

[Nutnut]

I ordered the tough leads one last week as I felt more comfortable with it, but not the letterbox bit, mines going through the cat flap

Would you mind letting us know if it works well, and what you think of the general quality? I didn't come across too many reviews - I could be looking in the wrong places though.

 

[Mihir]

I have used Rainex and Rainex Defogg on my front and rear windows also on the front side windows and this has turned out pretty good at improving the range during wet/damp weather in my Mk1 ZS EV. We got almost an extra mile per KW in a recent trip.

Based on the idea suggested by @Kayged , I ordered Rainx anti fog and it worked really well! Here is a picture that shows the difference with and without Rainx applied. I applied it only on the driver side and left the passenger side as it is to see the difference. This pic was taken last evening in damp weather conditions on M1, a few seconds few I started the demisitifier to clear the rest of the windscreen. Thanks to @Kayged for suggesting this. Really helped!

 

[Kayged]

Glad to be able to offer useful advice with regard to the Rainex.

 

[Mihir]

Did another 80 mile journey today(40 miles each way) and here are the observations.

1. Range - Started at a surprisingly 211 miles on eco mode! My journey was 40 miles. By the time I reached my destination, I was at 149 miles left! So it accounted for 62 miles instead of 40. No heating, non motorway route at around 60mph. Was quite windy and drizzling slightly. Not sure why the range dropped so significantly. Does it drop more when the battery is at 100% even if we drove conservatively?
Return journey was better. Reached with 100 miles left. Return took 49 miles.
Moral of the story - Somethings cant be explained and factors are too many!

2. KERS - as expected KERS did not engage initially due to 100% battery. I was hoping it would start working at about 97%, but it did not engage until 88% battery and the available range showed 175 miles. Was a bit surprised with that.Not sure what are the factors that drive this. Any ideas? Also noticed ACC rarely engaged KERS.

3. Silly moment - Since KERS did not engage lot earlier, I thought stopping the car and restarting it may possibly reset and help. Approached a traffic light at a roundabout where I had to take the first exit and which had seemingly a long wait at the light. Turned off the car and started after about 5 secs. Meanwhile left lane to take the first exit showed green. And car wasnt ready yet. Luckily wasn't a big pile up behind me. Remembered @Lovemyev 's post on another thread - Urgent help guys and that helped me stay calm and not panic. With hazard light on, let the car restart everything completely and within 30 secs was on the move.
Moral of the story(more for me!) - 1. Dont try silly things if something isn't working as expected esp taking chances at traffic lights. Pull up where its safe. And dont panic. Staying calm works! Each day is a new learning!
2.Spend time reading posts on this forum. There is a lot of learning with the experiences of such a wonderful and helpful community.

4. Navigation mess up - Created a separate thread to discuss this - Sat Nav issues when phone is connected via bluetooth and google maps is on at the sametime
I noticed that if my sat nav in the car is on and my phone is connected to the car via bluetooth and If my navigation on phone(google maps to get live traffic) is parallely on too, its messing up the sat nav in the car(I did not have the cable for Android auto in the car today) All of a sudden it loses the route, shows the car pointer on the screen in a different place. Comes back on track for a moment and again goes everywhere. I tried restarting the infotainment too and it did not help. I've noticed this weird satnav issue on a couple of occasions previously too but had ignored it then.In the return journey, I disconnected the phone from the car and satnav worked perfectly fine.
Moral of the story - Never forget Android Auto/Apple carplay cable or have a wireless adapter for non connect models. Or do not connect your phone via bluetooth to the car with the car satnav on if you intend to use google maps.

 

[Lovemyev]

Hi @Mihir - thanks for posting your findings.
1.Range - You do not state what driving mode you where using at the time ?.
I am going to guess and say NORMAL ( default mode ) and therefore re-gen level 3 also ?.
If in ECO mode, the re-gen is weaker if I remember correctly.
Your consumption of the range, is affected by many different factors as you already know.
The predicted range before starting the trip was 211 miles I think you stated.
Question :- Did you reset BOTH trips prior to starting your long trip, as this figure feels a little optimistic to me ?.
You may well have seen a different prediction in range had you reset BOTH trips first.
If I have a longer trip to make ( like on Monday ) and intend to fully charge the pack the night before, then I ALWAYS reset the trips prior to charging to full.
The "Accumulative" trip stores your historic data, so if you have been conducting some lower speed town driving etc over the previous days and your efficiency is GOOD - It assumes that your following trip will be the same.
Therefore the reported prediction of your range, is based on the historical data stored, unless you reset the values.
We all want to believe that mileage we are seeing ( 211 ) is actually achievable in distance, but that is rarely that case.
So, you fully charge and your historical prediction is 211 miles, but this next trip is now all motorway driving, you may get a shock to see your range tumbling more quickly than you expected.
The car is now quickly trying to recalculate it's previous prediction of your remaining range, while now on the move.
This is why I believe your mileage dropped faster on the out going part of the longer trip, as it was re-evaluating it's first prediction.
It had a better handle on the situation on he return leg !.
Resetting the trips prior to making a longer should help avoid this situation.
I would say after two yeas of ownership, that the GOM does a fairly good job of predicting the range when the trips reset.
Not sure if the new face lift model SR is set up in the same way as the previous Gen1 version on the latest BMS software, but I would think so ?.
2. KERS - On the Gen1 ZS EV with the latest BMS update, the re-gen becomes available much earlier than the original BMS software, but again this is dependant on different factors, like ambient temperature / drive mode selected etc.
Re-gen is much weaker when the ambient temperature is low.
3. Silly moment - Yes closing the car down at a set of traffic lights, is not a great idea to be honest.
Had you rushed the "Boot Up" it could been a "Not Recommended" moment .
Never mind - it happens !.

 

[drmcw]

Ignore the "range" and KERS (unless you're going down a steep hill), use the climate control and then all you need keep an eye on is the state of charge %. Once you get used to what sort of miles per kWh you get then, assuming you have the SE and it has about 50 kWh battery, it'll be pretty easy to work out how you should adapt your driving to get somewhere. Each % should be about 0.5 kWh so if you can manage 3 miles per kWh then 100% battery will give you 150 miles minus 30 miles if you don't want to go below 20% state of charge, so 1.5 miles per %. You just then need to learn what factors affect your driving efficiency, so in Winter then it would be harder to hit 3 miles per kWh but in Summer it'll be easy. Motorway harder, steady sub 70 mph easier etc. With practice range anxiety can be eliminated...until you get to having to charge en route maybe