Cobham M25 services for EV charging

[fnegroni]

I'm not going down the A24. Used to live on it, but it's not the best way to Brighton. I can't get as far as Gatwick or Pease Pottage, I don't think. According to ABRP I'll be rolling into Cobham on 11%. I'll just wait for a space.

11%. Just enough to get to Gatwick GRIDSERVE and push the car into a bay

 

[dsimpkins]

I have a feeling my right foot will be somewhat light tomorrow!!!
However, I'm determined to keep to motorway speed on the A303/M3/M25 which isn't the best fit kwh/mile so I'm told!

The longer journeys I've been taking have been mostly A roads, with some dual carrageways, so 60 mph most of the time, with some faster dual carrageways sections. 60/65 mph is much better for miles/kWh than 70 mph and doesn't seem to make much of a difference to journey time over a long distance. I could do the same journey on almost all motorway or dual carriageways, but it adds another 40 miles to the journey, but no quicker in overall time, so why would I do that?

 

[PeteC]

I'm planning on going to the Cobham Ionitys as my third charge on my way to Brighton. If all goes according to plan I'll be there around six o'clock. This is a Bad Time, isn't it.

I used Chieveley services on the M4 a week last Saturday and rolled in at about 6pm expecting it to be busy. I had a choice of 10 shiny new Gridserve ultra rapids as there were only 2 other cars charging. So you might be ok.

 

[Loveclose]

4.47am......
Charging status.....!!
Woke up, and did a quick check on the app, as many new EV users will do!!!

My car was down to 20% charge, so I programmed the Ohme app to give me an 80% charge to get me to 100% by 6.00am.

My MG app tells me I'm at 100% already, so there appears to be quite a difference between Ohme and MG as to the state of charge percentage wise. The MG app tells me that the car is not charging, so I'm assuming no juice is being pumped out of the box of the box.

Of slightly more concern, the MG app tells me my range is 226 miles at 100% charge. 11⁰C is the outside temperature.

With the long range battery, I thought I'd get a bit more than that, even though it's still a bit on the cool side. Is this par for the course??

Cheers!!

 

[fnegroni]

4.47am......
Charging status.....!!
Woke up, and did a quick check on the app, as many new EV users will do!!!

My car was down to 20% charge, so I programmed the Ohme app to give me an 80% charge to get me to 100% by 6.00am.

My MG app tells me I'm at 100% already, so there appears to be quite a difference between Ohme and MG as to the state of charge percentage wise. The MG app tells me that the car is not charging, so I'm assuming no juice is being pumped out of the box of the box.

Of slightly more concern, the MG app tells me my range is 226 miles at 100% charge. 11⁰C is the outside temperature.

With the long range battery, I thought I'd get a bit more than that, even though it's still a bit on the cool side. Is this par for the course??

Cheers!!

Reset the Accumulated total

 

[Loveclose]

Reset the Accumulated total

Hi there, and thanks for your reply.
Dealer, on collection of the vehicle, said that resetting the accumulated total was akin to kidding yourself, creating a false sense of security regarding range.
My accumulated average is 2.3m/kwhr which is worse than I get most journeys now that I'm used to the car. My average since the last charge before this big one last night was 3.0kw/hr
So I'm wondering if the reset is reasonable to try after all.
Shouldn't it be done before a charge, or doesn't it matter?

 

[fnegroni]

I was addressing your concern that the GoM is saying your range will be 226 miles.
You want the GoM to update as you drive on your new long motorway journey, but surely you want to start from a known baseline rather than your average in a completely different driving environment.

 

[Loveclose]

I was addressing your concern that the GoM is saying your range will be 226 miles.
You want the GoM to update as you drive on your new long motorway journey, but surely you want to start from a known baseline rather than your average in a completely different driving environment.

That is a very valid point indeed.

I certainly wasn't questioning your point previously..... more so, I was hoping that someone would say that the dealer was incorrect or talking nonsense!!

The screen I reset is effectively the one with the mileometer, not the "average since last charge" screen...?
I'll get in the car after coffee and click through them.....
Cheers!!

 

[siteguru]

That's the screen ... press the right-middle button so the icon above that screen turns blue then toggle up/down on the right joystick until it shows Accumulated Total. Then press in and hold the right joystick for a second or so until that total resets. Then press the right-middle button again to come out of controlling the driver screen.

And your dealer sounds refreshingly honest.

 

[PeteC]

That is a very valid point indeed.

I certainly wasn't questioning your point previously..... more so, I was hoping that someone would say that the dealer was incorrect or talking nonsense!!

The screen I reset is effectively the one with the mileometer, not the "average since last charge" screen...?
I'll get in the car after coffee and click through them.....
Cheers!!

I don't think the dealer was talking nonsense! A reset will give you a reading that you are unlikely to meet. So your choice is a reset that gives you an optimistic range or leave it alone and you may well have a pessimistic range as you are now `getting better m/kWh than you used to. Whichever you choose it will steadily adjust to your driving style.

Just for info, I did a 345 mile journey a few weeks ago, mostly on motorway or dual carriageway with ACC set at 70mph and I got 3.3m/kWh. It took a while to build up to that from the start of the journey but then settled. I generally tend to think in terms of 2 miles per percentage at motorway speeds and keep an eye of actual distance driven against percentage to see that I'm about on course. The GOM tends to be a little optimistic for me to begin with but then seems to fall more quickly in the lower percentages.

 

[Loveclose]

To be fair, the dealer gave me a lot of decent advice when purchasing; before and after.
Far more than with the last ICE
I purchased....
We did laugh a little over the reset option; the perceived newly acquired range over reality!

 

[Fireman frog]

I'm pretty sure the ionity app doesn't work any more. I've had to use my contactless card the last few times. On their website it says app coming soon

 

[Loveclose]

From what you say and at least one other comment I've read, contactless credit card should work....
I did download an Ionity app yesterday, but have no way of knowing if it's an up to date one or the app you say doesn't work!!

Uodate: I opened the app, and the welcome screen shows the Ionity charge stations in a map. Clicking on Cobham, it lists the 18 chargers, with two 'in use', so I'm hoping that indicates that it may be working.... we shah see!!

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

My first shot with Ionity was a disaster as I couldn't get the app to work, possibly because my phone was trying to die. Also my Shell Recharge card didn't work because I didn't know I had to get it activated after receiving it. However the helpline girl started the charge for me and in the end I was not billed for it.

Later I used the Shell Recharge card with no trouble, and I also have an Electroverse one that should work. It should have been possible on my phone though, but then when it wasn't they were not going to leave me stranded.

The Electroverse card will also need to be activated before it will work.
You can do that yourself in the app, though.

 

[Loveclose]

Please tell me a normal credit card works if the Ionity app doesn't!!!!!

 

[Rolfe]

Nope. They don't take normal credit cards.

The Electroverse card will also need to be activated before it will work.
You can do that yourself in the app, though.

I'm pretty sure when that came it said it was all ready to go and didn't need activation. The only time I was at an Ionity since then I used the Shell Recharge card though, so I don't actually know if it works.

 

[siteguru]

I know I had to activate my Shell Recharge card ... I can't remember if I had to activate my Electroverse card.

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

I mentioned it because I had a beta card for Electroverse.
They sent me a replacement when the beta ended, because it wouldn't work on one or two of the newly-joined networks.
I had to de-activate the beta card & activate my current card in the app, under "Profile/My Electrocards".

 

[Rolfe]

Maybe they changed it?

 

[NickHeynes]

A very good afternoon to everyone.
Just after a bit of general advice - but if anyone has specific experience of the Cobham M25 services just past the A3 intersection towards Gatwick, do let me know!!!

Having had my MG4 (first EV) for over a month now, I'm flexing the muscles and doing a longer journey of 215 odd miles to Basildon from Andover. I have not doubt that I will get there in one go without a charge (108 miles), but given my winter range, I might just need a top up on the way back. I've not yet had anything greater than a 215 miles range at around 90% , so am bumping the charge up overnight, and we'll see how it goes.
Now, Zapmap is my friend, and it tells me that there are two sets of EV chargers. One set of three that provides 50kw charging. There is a second set of 18 chargers by Ionity that provide 350kw fast charging.
Now the 50kw chargers (it says) have contactless capability - by that I'm hoping that it means payment by credit card.
The Ionity ones state that payment is by Allstar RFID.
Now I've checked out the Allstar card - I won't get one by tomorrow if I want one, but it does seem to suit regular driving businesses as a payment card rather than one for Joe Public.
So my questions are:
1) Am I correct in assuming the 50kw chargers can be paid for by credit card?
2) Is there any way of paying for the fast 350 chargers without an Allstar card?
3) I read in the comments that there is a paystation for the Ionity Chargers - is this the case?

Any help greatly appreciated.....
Especially as my next long trip is to Harrogate.......where there may be some non-Telsar charging stations by Tesla.....

I charged at Cobham with no prob s at all using my debit card .If you can get as far as lakeside on your way back you could do a quick top up at the Tesla's chargers there .
As it's getting warmer your range should improve no end .