Chargers

[Ermski]

Sorry for the question if its a bit stupid, im planning a fairly long journey, can i use all public chargers with my MG along my journey even Tesla?

 

[fnegroni]

Most public chargers but not necessarily all of them. Some might not communicate well with the MG4
Some but not all Tesla superchargers: the ones open to non-Tesla are on the app that you must download if you want to charge there.
And you definitely want to prioritise a Tesla supercharger over any other for a couple of reasons.
Tesla’a are cheaper than other public chargers
They are also usually faster and more likely to be working and less likely to be full and when so not for long.

 

[MuzGB1970]

Sorry for the question if its a bit stupid, im planning a fairly long journey, can i use all public chargers with my MG along my journey even Tesla?

You can use most public chargers and some Tesla superchargers. You'll need the Tesla app to see which ones you can use and to start charges on some of them.

 

[Grriff]

You will find slower (7kW) chargers are generally cheaper so it's worth using these if you can charge overnight.
Evidence suggests avoiding Genie Point and, possibly BP plus. Gridserve seem to be good. It's worth planning your route and downloading the apps of the likely suppliers. An Electroverse card from Octopus is useful.
If you would like to indicate your route, forum members may be able to provide specific advice.

 

[Ermski]

Thanks Guys, I've only used Instavolt at McDonalds so far so wasn't sure (Quite Shocked with the price) Ill have my home charger installed in 2 weeks so that will be a lot better. I'm driving up to Gourock and then further up and about over the xmas period from the midlands

 

[fnegroni]

Tesla off peak is around 50p per kWh.

 

[fnegroni]

Do you have a short, long or extended range battery?

I think the extended range is the one to get if you do lots of miles since it reduces the frequency of charging at public chargers and it can charge pretty fast too so not spending much time charging on the go.

If most of your charging is at home, 50p or 85p per kWh isn’t going to brake the bank on the odd occasion.
But just how InstaVolt and gridserve are able to justify their prices is beyond me. Especially now Tesla chargers are opening to non-Tesla.
I can understand other networks with many more charging points are prioritising coverage of the territory vs higher costs and therefore willing to take a hit when sited next to a Tesla supercharger, but Fastned has got only 3 charging points in this country. It makes no sense.

 

[siteguru]

Eurocentral is a bit of a detour though if you're heading to Gourock.

The Fastned chargers (Google Maps link) at Palace Grounds, Hamilton (just off J6 of the M74 northbound) would be a better bet (if you're needing a charge by this time).

 

[fnegroni]

Eurocentral is a bit of a detour though if you're heading to Gourock.

The Fastned chargers (Google Maps link) at Palace Grounds, Hamilton (just off J6 of the M74 northbound) would be a better bet (if you're needing a charge by this time).

but the price difference not worth the detour? I guess it depends how many kWh you are charging. At least fastned is ‘only’ 69p

 

[siteguru]

Yeah, but the detour is significant ... might not seem it as it's only about 6 miles from J5 of the M74, up the A725 and then onto the M8 to Maxim Business Park (the Tesla points are outside the Dakota hotel), but heading to Gourock you'd rather stay on the M74 to bypass Glasgow - going to those Tesla chargers puts you on the M8 and so you'd have to either contend with the M8 through Glasgow (which may be an issue depending on time of day), or route back to the M74 which increases your distance and time.

#LocalKnowledge

 

[Anon70]

If you are travelling around Scotland this site is good as some chargers are free but a lot of 11kW and 22kW which the XPower can't take advantage of as it is limited to 7kW for AC

Charge Place Scotland

chargeplacescotland.org

 

[Ian Key]

Plan to charge well before you think you need to in case the charger is defective or busy and in cold weather your range will be greatly decreased.

 

[dragon2611]

If you are travelling around Scotland this site is good as some chargers are free but a lot of 11kW and 22kW which the XPower can't take advantage of as it is limited to 7kW for AC

Charge Place Scotland

chargeplacescotland.org

I'd also order a Chargeplace Scotland RFID card if you don't already have one, it's a lot easier than faffing with the app.etc

 

[lsb777]

Word of warning, make sure you plan a buffer zone into where you plan to stop. I tested the low battery situation on the way home last night and (didn't have a chance to write down all the % and miles etc) but it really drops the power around 5%, even in Eco mode with energy saving mode on and no HVAC etc. Closer to home I was going up a slight incline on a 40 mph road and it topped out at 17 mph which could have been dodgy with 4 miles left showing of range. Got home with 1% and 2 miles showing and thankfully plugged in. Won't be letting it go below 10% again

 

[fnegroni]

Word of warning, make sure you plan a buffer zone into where you plan to stop. I tested the low battery situation on the way home last night and (didn't have a chance to write down all the % and miles etc) but it really drops the power around 5%, even in Eco mode with energy saving mode on and no HVAC etc. Closer to home I was going up a slight incline on a 40 mph road and it topped out at 17 mph which could have been dodgy with 4 miles left showing of range. Got home with 1% and 2 miles showing and thankfully plugged in. Won't be letting it go below 10% aga

What was the ambient temperature?

 

[lsb777]

What was the ambient temperature?

Approx 4-5°C. In fairness to the car it did warn me but I wanted to see how it compared to my previous lease Audi e-tron 50. The power also dropped on that by 25% decreases but not the same with the fairly drastic loss of power. Could have caused an accident or a bit of road rage by going under half the speed limit but luckily was raining hard so most people were going slower and nobody started flashing/beeping!

 

[MGFour]

Have you got Zapmap or ABRP? always do a route plan with that to give you a good idea and it will give you a couple of options of where to charge. I like WattsUp to use while on journey also and that's really good to identify if you going through a charger blackspot, which is rare, you almost always with 10-20miles from a charger at most. These planning apps have setting so will only show compatible chargers once you have them set.

Most people overthink long journeys when new to EV (me included) but just check before journey on Zapmap etc that you not passing through a charger free zone and when your range gets to around 30-40miles look what chargers you have coming up on your route (WattsUp is great for this) and choose best for you, don't arrive at charger with 1 mile range have enough to get to next charger or 2 on route incase busy or faulty unit. If you stop for a comfort break before it gets to that point then if charger at location give it a boost.

 

[Rolfe]

I ran my battery down to 4% once and didn't get any restricted power - but it was in summer.

I've tried the Tesla chargers at Eurocentral (they're in the car park of the Dakota Inn hotel), and they were fine with my MG4.

 

[Ayoull]

Have you got Zapmap or ABRP? always do a route plan with that to give you a good idea and it will give you a couple of options of where to charge. I like WattsUp to use while on journey also and that's really good to identify if you going through a charger blackspot, which is rare, you almost always with 10-20miles from a charger at most. These planning apps have setting so will only show compatible chargers once you have them set.

Most people overthink long journeys when new to EV (me included) but just check before journey on Zapmap etc that you not passing through a charger free zone and when your range gets to around 30-40miles look what chargers you have coming up on your route (WattsUp is great for this) and choose best for you, don't arrive at charger with 1 mile range have enough to get to next charger or 2 on route incase busy or faulty unit. If you stop for a comfort break before it gets to that point then if charger at location give it a boost.

I can't wait for someone to merge Waze / google maps routing which i find far better then ABRP and the ABRP OBD2 data for real world efficiency and usage.

 

[Rolfe]

And ZapMap for telling you all the details about the chargers, how many, whether they're in use, when they were last used and so on!