Dave takes it on FREE OR CHEAP CHARGING

[Les burrows]

Free or cheap charging in possible according to Dave, May be true for some
Les

 

[siteguru]

Not true for me ... no such thing as free chargers anywhere near me. (A couple of years ago - yes. Many Charge Place Scotland points were free, but that changed once electricity pricing started to escalate).

 

[Rolfe]

I watched it, and he seems to be going to an awful lot of trouble. I've looked at the issue on behalf of a friend who lives in a mid-terrace house in Shieldhall (west Glasgow), and my conclusion is that she either gets one of these Kerbo things (which she's reluctant to do), or gives up the whole idea until something radical changes. The only thing on the other side of the balance there is that she only does about 3,000 miles a year, which is less than 60 miles a week, and most of that is crawling around the city (so desperately uneconomical in an ICE car but would be massively economical in an EV), so perhaps if she was prepared to spend some time every 2 or 3 weeks filling it up, she'd be OK. (Until she needed a balance charge...)

It is true though that if you're stuck with public charging prices, the economy of the EV starts to look a bit less shiny.

 

[Gadget Geek]

The Pod-Points at Tesco have stopped giving the 15 minutes free at the start of your session. If you don't confirm within 5 minutes, it stops.

 

[DBedford]

I couldn't spend my whole day looking for a free charge here and there. Sorry to say I think it's a bit of a day dream Dave, you just don't get something for nothing!

 

[GaryMG4]

There are three double pod points in Kings Lynn that are still free, two doubles at nature reserve that charge 25p kWh. The free ones are often occupied by cars from the nearby garages either demo cars or owned by employees. That said 50% of the time I'm able to grab enough free juice to cover my journey there.

 

[Rolfe]

The only two free ChargePlace Scotland chargers I found were on the same day, a day when I started at 100%!

I knew the ones at Dawyck Botanic Gardens were there, but ZapMap marked them as being at the entrance to the estate, quite a long walk from the entrance to the gardens and the restaurant. When I got there I found they were right beside the door. (I picked up what little juice I'd used, then moved the car to let someone else on. I could probably have half-filled the car in the time I was there.)

Then after lunch I drove on to the nearby hotel where I was staying for two nights, using about 3% of the battery to get there. THEN I discovered the hotel had chargers free to use for guests (I didn't see them in use while I was there). I should have left home on 20% that day!

But I'm not going to spend hours every other week walking round the botanic gardens and having lunch there, just to get free electricity.

 

[johnb80]

I couldn't spend my whole day looking for a free charge here and there.

I'm not sure he said he spent the whole day looking for a free charger, in fact from what I've seen he was quite efficient using ZAPMAP with a free chargers filter on.

Sorry to say I think it's a bit of a day dream Dave, you just don't get something for nothing!

Clearly he can and does! I always find it funny when the antoi EV brigade jump on their high horse saying it free charging wont last, it probably wont in any huge numbers, has anyone ever seen a free petrol or diesel pump?

I used to rent an office which I used as a classroom for my CAA drone courses. The council owned complex had 2 x 22 kW chargers on site, both free to use for anyone, not just residents. Now I just use mainly my solar PV or Octopus intelligent at a massive 7.5p

 

[Les burrows]

The issue in this video below is fast becoming far more important than charging cost IMHO
Les

 

[johnb80]

The issue in this video below is fast becoming far more important than charging cost IMHO
Les

It wasnt a problem for me a couple of weeks ago..... £289.35 for a brand new MG5 Trophy with me and the Mrs as drivers.

I also just went online to DL and got a quote for a Tesla Model Y AWD Performance, £835 per annum. So for me I really dont see what the issue is.

 

[Les burrows]

It wasnt a problem for me a couple of weeks ago..... £289.35 for a brand new MG5 Trophy with me and the Mrs as drivers.

View attachment 20527


I also just went online to DL and got a quote for a Tesla Model Y AWD Performance, £835 per annum. So for me I really dont see what the issue is.

Hi John you have done well with that price I paid more than twice that in January 2023 for my MG5 trophy edition,
I have written here before insurance has far to many variables so it is very difficult to compare the vehicle might be the same but almost everything else isn’t
Re,post codes, age,mileage, excess your may have to pay, driving experience the list goes on,
When I got my facelift trophy MG5 I had no end of trouble get insurance on it and I have 60years driving experience a clean license and my wife is the same I was hoping to drive it home from the dealers with the MG drive you home 5 day cover which I had on my first 5 but even that was not available on the car at the time but MG give me a quote for the year around £1150 I said no thanks.
Because of these variables it is almost impossible to compare but I have heard several people over the last few months say their insurance has gone through the roof and I believe what they are saying and can be anything from 20-60% of an increase for some. My son who lives in south east London has a model Y AWD performance and I think he paid over £1600 after a lot of shopping around his car before that which he had around 3years was a model X but that was much cheaper for him to insure.
Makes no sense really bigger more expensive car but cheaper to insure.
Les

 

[johnb80]

Hi John you have done well with that price I paid more than twice that in January 2023 for my MG5 trophy edition,
I have written here before insurance has far to many variables so it is very difficult to compare the vehicle might be the same but almost everything else isn’t

I agree, I was merely responding to the generalisation that EV insurance costs have risen across the board, Tesla's in particular

Re,post codes, age,mileage, excess your may have to pay, driving experience the list goes on,

Some of the parameters are bazaar

When I got my facelift trophy MG5 I had no end of trouble get insurance on it and I have 60years driving experience a clean license and my wife is the same I was hoping to drive it home from the dealers with the MG drive you home 5 day cover which I had on my first 5 but even that was not available on the car at the time but MG give me a quote for the year around £1150 I said no thanks.

15 years ago I bought a brand new VW Golf 2litre TDi. VW offered a similar drive home cover for 7 days free of charge. I went to collect the car and we filled out the online forms for the insurance. Occupation - DSA Approved Driving Instructor. They flatly refused to cover me, we contacted the company to confirm we were not using the car for instruction only SD&P but no way was the car going to be used for tuition. They still wouldn't budge, so I walked away from the deal. The dealer was furious and said I was contracted to buy the car, I referred him to the posters around the showroom that said they would give me 7 days of cover. In the end, the dealer paid for 7 days of cover from DirectLine .

Because of these variables it is almost impossible to compare but I have heard several people over the last few months say their insurance has gone through the roof and I believe what they are saying and can be anything from 20-60% of an increase for some. My son who lives in south east London has a model Y AWD performance and I think he paid over £1600 after a lot of shopping around his car before that which he had around 3years was a model X but that was much cheaper for him to insure.
Makes no sense really bigger more expensive car but cheaper to insure.
Les

My son when he was in his early 20's was a serious petrolhead. He had a highly tuned and modified Toyota Glanza (450 bhp from 1300cc Turbo), he was insured by a well known company dealing with modified cars. A couple of years on he bought a 1.8 diesel Fiesta and the insurance quote was more than the Glanza from the same company, it makes absolutely no sense.

 

[Les burrows]

To continue with the insurance vein if you like here is what EVM from the YouTube channel has to say on the subject, so have a watch and take note of some of the points within it, might just might help some of us when your renewal notice next drops on the door mat.
Les

 

[leafowner]

I can understand the tesla issue when you look at some of the design choices they are making - structural batteries and the gigapressings will make repairs interesting.

 

[Anon70]

Just starting my research into public charging for when the car arrives in hopefully a month or two. For anyone in Scotland there is ChargePlace Scotland which seems to have a few free chargers dotted around. They recommend purchasing a £12 RFID card (but you can just use the app) as some chargers are in remote (no phone service) locations. Free chargers seem to range from 3kW to 150kW depending on location

 

[Batmanbooyah]

There is a podpoint charger near me that seems to charge for free when charging overnight. It’s only 20p a kW at the moment but getting a free charge feels nice from time to time.