Charging Advice - New EV Owner

[hmadsen]

Yes

My octopus go is currently 5p per kWh between 12.30 & 4.30 (and I run the dishwasher, washing machine, tumble drier, breadmaking machine and all and sundry as well). this gives me 28 kWh for approx £1.40 (about 100 miles for my 30kw leaf, (waiting for my MG). This is due to go up a bit I think once my deal ends (7.5p approx). So should cover your journey.
Better still if you have a Tesco near your work, in which case it will cost you even less... Every little helps .

5p per kilowatt

Are these state subsidised prices, i find them very low, compared to here.

Tonight that the same time as you mention here, the price of a kilowatt here will be 46p, and even though half of that is tax and VAT, the raw price of a kilowatt·hour is going to be 23p.

How are they making the electricity for that price in the UK ?

 

[N2STY]

How are they making the electricty for that price in the UK ?

The power stations are still working when people are asleep so less is used so its cheaper ie off peak tariff the strange thing is I get 5p/kWh anytime but its only for charging I can't run my appliances at that price but I could run them off the car

 

[hmadsen]

The power stations are still working when people are asleep so less is used so its cheaper ie off peak tariff the strange thing is I get 5p kW anytime but its only for charging I can't run my appliances at that price but I could run them off the car

Yeah, must be because here, we run off of a shared grid with other countries, so in the night they can turn down the water plants in Norway for example to adjust for demand.

The only time electricity is "cheap" here, is when the sun is shining and it is windy, when this happens we get lots of solar and wind energy.

At that point electricity cost 0p, but the "transport fee" plus tax and VAT is still 17 pence, so we never go below that price no matter what.

 

[NickHeynes]

Thanks for the advice . I must admit I was a little naive before ordering I've just got so fed up with fuel prices so dived straight in! Plus the price of a new Arona of the exact spec of my current one has gone through the roof.
I do have Tesco nr me and our local lidl has chargers too .I may also occasionally be able to use chargers at work as we have a coupIe of Ev's here. Unfortunately my boss is not always accomodating in matters like this . Ironically I work for a large local authority which is encouraging residents to go EV. No news on employees who are non resident at the moment!

I doubt I'll go down the solar route and I'm restricted in my charger choice as I'm getting a freebie from Vanarama.

 

[Harry]

Let’s not kid ourselves folks !.
There is no such thing as a cheap “Off Peak” rate really, that does not mean you will be paying a big increased price on your day rate tariff now !.
The days of cheap energy have now long gone forever.
Tesco’s can offer a bit of free juice in exchange for your dedication to shop in their stores, and in all fairness, not many are offering this FOC service.
Our local ( almost brand new Aldi store ) recently opened with two ( free to use ) 7 kw posts.
Why is nobody using them at the moment ?.
Because the store has switched them OFF !.
One because of the cost to the store and secondly, it appears that Aldi do not directly own the car park, itself !.
It is overseen by one of these private companies who are likely to automatically issue tickets for customers who overstay there welcome, regardless if they are doing their shopping in store or not !.
Some customers of the store, have received fines for over staying their welcome, while waiting for a slot, to charge up their EV’s !.
The store has been taking a lot of flack from EV store customers, who have been shaking a fine demand for £100 ( but if you are a good boy and pay in two weeks, they reduce the fine to £60) at the store manager.
So, as a result the brand new chargers have been disabled and hooded !.
What a complete waste of time and money installing these units.
You have got to love progress !.

The same over-stay on chargers applies at our Tesco - the fine is smaller £60 to £30 if paid quickly, and the car park is likewise manged by a separate company. (That company sends inspectors at intervals as well and they will fine ICE drivers or anyone not charging who park in EV charging bays.)

 

[NickHeynes]

The other thing that I meant to say is that I am able to "negogtiate" to a degree . So the latest review of my bills suggested that i needed to pay over double for my electricity than I have been . From £90 per month to £182.00 . I went online and agreed to pay £120.00 I worry that a new supplier wouldn't be as flexible so I could end up paying more per month even tho the tariff is less!

 

[N2STY]

Do don't have to pay more than what you use so it's down to how much a kWh more than the set monthly payment

 

[NickHeynes]

Do don't have to pay more than what you use so it's down to how much a kW more than the set monthly payment

Agreed, but if I've negotiated a reduced rate with one supplier and another won't agree to that same payment then I may be better off staying where I am even though the kWh rate is less .
I'm confused and I'm months away from getting the car!

 

[N2STY]

But normally you will find the can reduce the direct debit the kWh is still the same so your are not saving anything unless they say your tariff is 30p/kWh but we will charge you 27p/kWh
The bottom line is if kWh is less your bill is less OK there is standing charge as well

 

[NickHeynes]

ok N2sty I get that lol. However I am a bear of very little brain so "bear" with me . (sorry)
my current tariff with British gas is 29 p/hWh. standing charge is 37.9 per day.
Octopus are quoting 7.5p/kWh between 00.30 and 04.30 with peak being 35.00 p/kWh. with a standing charge of 37.6 p per day. If it takes 10hrs to charge then I'm paying peak money for 6 hours. And I'm not going to charge every night . If my kids were still at home and the washing machine was going 24/7 I'd feel different. And British Gas are saying the equivalent of saying we will charge you less than we should .(which is nice )
I suppose at the end of the day I will be paying overall less for my lease than I would be on an ICE.
I'm happy with that .

 

[Jomarkh]

What is your daily milage? My commute is 70 miles and easily add that daily in the 4 hour slot using my Zappi EVSE. Would you be using the granny?

 

[NickHeynes]

My round trip is 54 miles .I'm getting an indra tethered charger from vanarama.
But I don't necessarily want to charge daily which is one of the reasons I chose the LR version

 

[Maciej]

When EVs had a range of less that 100 miles, ABC was advised. With the new ZS EV having over 250 miles of range this is no longer something to be adhered to - IMHO.

Of course, free charging is always a bonus worth having while you can still find it

I have been recording all my charging so far and I had done 1/3 of all my charging for free. It's not a huge saving but it adds up and it comes at no extra time commitment on my part so why would I say no? I will not queue for free charger but if its there of course I will use it.

 

[Coulomb]

(That company sends inspectors at intervals as well and they will fine ICE drivers or anyone not charging who park in EV charging bays.)

Well, that's something good, I guess.

 

[Lovemyev]

Ironically I work for a large local authority which is encouraging residents to go EV. No news on employees who are non resident at the moment!

A few members of our family work for the local authority, I don’t think they will be offering any charging facilities or free electric to their employees, when you bare to mind that they charge the employees to park their cars on the car park they own, outside the building.
They charge a flat discounted rate per year, even if you are on holiday or even part time, if you want to park your car, you have to pay !.

 

[Thebiglad]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a new EV owner with my Trophy long range I picked up last week. I'm just getting into the 30% charge left range from 100% in the week I've had it.

I was just wondering what the general consensus is do I:

Let I run down to 10% then back to 80% at home.

Or

Just top it up regularly to 80% using free public charging opportunities where available?

Just thinking it terms of battery maintenance vs free charging and just wanted to see how EV veterans go about it.

Apologies if this has been discussed before.

Thanks,

Theonlydavo

Hi TOD, Since I've had my ZSEV (approx 9 months and 10,000 kms) I've always charged up at home, about twice a week.

I have a very good quality waterproof exterior socket in an outside cupboard, fed by 2.5 mm cabling and a separate earth.

It charges overnight from midnight to 8am (cheap rate leccy), so whilst not FULLY charging very time it is largely sufficient for my needs.

Because it is charging slowly (approx 3kW) I don't feel any need to limit charging below 100% and have never had any 'balance battery' messages.

Just been out this morning and did a trip of approx and took a pic of the dashboard at the halfway point. I switched it over to UK figures to make issues easier for you guys to relate to.

Eco mode, Regen on 3, no hvac, all windows closed, sunroof tipped open. 1 person aboard. Weather calm, approx 18° and dry.

Cheers
Dave

 

[NickHeynes]

A few members of our family work for the local authority, I don’t think they will be offering any charging facilities or free electric to their employees, when you bare to mind that they charge the employees to park their cars on the car park they own, outside the building.
They charge a flat discounted rate per year, but if you are on holiday or even part time, if you want to park your car, you have to pay !.

Well in that case I can just be grateful that I don't have to pay to park!!

 

[Theonlydavo]

Thanks for all the advice, from everyone in the thread. Today I'm doing my first charge on my wallbox but will be looking at picking up some free charges where I can. In terms of fast chargers, any Must have apps I need to put on the phone. I have shell recharge and pod point at the moment.

Thanks.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Thanks for all the advice, from everyone in the thread. Today I'm doing my first charge on my wallbox but will be looking at picking up some free charges where I can. In terms of fast chargers, any Must have apps I need to put on the phone. I have shell recharge and pod point at the moment.

Thanks.

It depends how often you do road trips in my opinion.

I have the Pod-Point app for free charging and I have a Pod-Point wall box. Otherwise, I select "contactless payment" in Zap-Map and use my debit card.

 

[Theonlydavo]

It depends how often you do road trips in my opinion.

I have the Pod-Point app for free charging and I have a Pod-Point wall box. Otherwise, I select "contactless payment" in Zap-Map and use my debit card.

I don't road trip often it's just having them there as a just in case really not to get caught out. Thanks for the advice.