New EV - advice please

[Wilse]

Hi all, hope life's treating you well.
I've taken the plunge on my first EV and have gone for the MGS5 EV Trophy. I hope it lives up to my first impression as I was blown away with how good it looks, how comfortable it feels and the price for such a great car (heavily discounted). I now have to organise a charger and switch over to an EV tariff, more than likely the Octopus Intelligent Go, but I was wondering what other things an EV newbie should buy/install/arrange and perhaps general advice on running/maintaining an MG EV. Any advice greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

 

[nphe9974]

Hi, I've had a couple of EV's now and have been running one for 6 years and so happy to share my thoughts.

- Intelligent Octopus or Octopus Go are both good tariffs - just be aware that Intelligent Go won't be able to control the MG directly and so you would need a Intelligent compaitable charger to access the smart charging features. The octopus website has a full list. Others recommend Eon next which I think is also good value.

- For charging away from home, I'd recommend the Octopus Electroverse card. It works at most public charge points in the UK and Europe. Charging away from home is much more expensive so best avoided unless you are on a long journey.

- For longer journeys, planning is key so you know where to stop and which are the fastest public chargers. I always plan in advance where to stop and use Zapmap which has reviews so you can see which are reliable and have starbucks or similar close by.

That's about it - enjoy!

 

[5teep]

Have a look at octopus site for compatible chargers if you decide to go with them. I'm with Eon and have the Evec, the cheapest charger I could find (UK company).

No idea what your driving habits are, whether you do lots of daily miles or long trips/short trips but it's always good practice to get to know the locations of chargers on routes you use regularly in case you need to pop in and top up.
Having the wall box at home is by far the best investment though when tied in with cheap overnight rates.

 

[Wilse]

Hi, I've had a couple of EV's now and have been running one for 6 years and so happy to share my thoughts.

- Intelligent Octopus or Octopus Go are both good tariffs - just be aware that Intelligent Go won't be able to control the MG directly and so you would need a Intelligent compaitable charger to access the smart charging features. The octopus website has a full list. Others recommend Eon next which I think is also good value.

- For charging away from home, I'd recommend the Octopus Electroverse card. It works at most public charge points in the UK and Europe. Charging away from home is much more expensive so best avoided unless you are on a long journey.

- For longer journeys, planning is key so you know where to stop and which are the fastest public chargers. I always plan in advance where to stop and use Zapmap which has reviews so you can see which are reliable and have starbucks or similar close by.

That's about it - enjoy!

That's really helpful, thank you.

Have a look at octopus site for compatible chargers if you decide to go with them. I'm with Eon and have the Evec, the cheapest charger I could find (UK company).

No idea what your driving habits are, whether you do lots of daily miles or long trips/short trips but it's always good practice to get to know the locations of chargers on routes you use regularly in case you need to pop in and top up.
Having the wall box at home is by far the best investment though when tied in with cheap overnight rates.

Thanks for your comments. Realistically we might only be doing 300 miles a month, on average, so for us it makes perfect sense to plan for one 6h overnight charge per fortnight just to keep it topped up to 80-90%, using just 7p/kwh. If my calculations are correct, if I'm topping up 50% a fortnight, around 30kw, it might only cost £4-5 per month. A tank of petrol would cost ten times that. I'll only fully charge it if I know we're going on a long journey. I'm already an Octopus customer so I can imagine the switch over to one of their EV tariffs being reasonably painless, even more so if I get them to fit one of 'their' wall chargers (circa £1000 purchase/install). Interestingly, an electrician friend of mine said although Octopus recommend upgrading my meter to a smart meter, he said that due to my expected low miles and charging frequency I probably wouldn't need to. Does that sound right or does the EV tariff stipulate that the meter feeding the charger must be 'smart'?

 

[salty]

To the forum. And congratulations on your first EV... Enjoy...

 

[TimothyN]

Have you thought of saving the money on the 7kW charger and charging more often on a 3kW charger costing £90?

(Warning: This discussion arises on many threads!)

 

[Wilse]

Have you thought of saving the money on the 7kW charger and charging more often on a 3kW charger costing £90?

(Warning: This discussion arises on many threads!)

It's definitely something to consider but I guess my initial idea was to use a 7kW charger for 6h during the 7p/kWh time slot which would be cheaper than charging for twice as long at the lower 3kwh speed which would inevitably be at a higher charging rate. The flip side however to the EV tariff is that the unit rate outside of those cheap 7p/kwh rates is actually higher than what I'm on now so anything running during the 'peak' 18 hours would actually be using more expensive energy. There is an argument given the infrequency of my charging expectations that it might not be worth installing a 7kwh charger outside and just buy a 'granny' charger but on the rare occasion my wife gets involved in charging it I know for a fact she wouldn't want to be faffing around with a charger that's hidden in the garage. She'd want to just plug the thing in outside and let it do it's thing......

 

[TimothyN]

I don't understand the logic at all, why not just plug it in once a week instead of once a fortnight? The unit rate is going to be the same whatever the rate of charge.

The £1000+ you spend on a charger would buy 14,000+ kWh of leccy.

But you've clearly thought it through, so you do you!

 

[dx4100]

Think it through before you jump over to an "EV tariff". You will pay more outside the the night time hours and if you're not shifting your load to that period its going to cost you more. Its not a no brainer. Do the maths to make the right decision.

I locked into 17.55p a while back and it's good for a few more years when it might be worth me switching. But right now with a wife and two teenage girls, I am much better off staying on my current tariff than switching.

 

[5teep]

Thanks for your comments. Realistically we might only be doing 300 miles a month, on average, so for us it makes perfect sense to plan for one 6h overnight charge per fortnight just to keep it topped up to 80-90%, using just 7p/kwh. If my calculations are correct, if I'm topping up 50% a fortnight, around 30kw, it might only cost £4-5 per month. A tank of petrol would cost ten times that. I'll only fully charge it if I know we're going on a long journey. I'm already an Octopus customer so I can imagine the switch over to one of their EV tariffs being reasonably painless, even more so if I get them to fit one of 'their' wall chargers (circa £1000 purchase/install). Interestingly, an electrician friend of mine said although Octopus recommend upgrading my meter to a smart meter, he said that due to my expected low miles and charging frequency I probably wouldn't need to. Does that sound right or does the EV tariff stipulate that the meter feeding the charger must be 'smart'?

My guess is your supplier is going to want to upgrade your meter sometime soon anyway. Your existing meter is probably nearing end of life if it's been in the house for a few decades.
The good news is that it should not cost you anything.
Check with Octopus on their requirements, if they say get a new meter just let them do it.

Since I went on to an EV tariff my usage pattern has changed a lot, i.e. I set the washing machine/dish washer etc. to run overnight to get the maximum benefit of the cheap rate.
Some EV tariffs don't allow you to run other appliances so again, check that.

 

[Bam Bam]

Hi all, hope life's treating you well.
I've taken the plunge on my first EV and have gone for the MGS5 EV Trophy. I hope it lives up to my first impression as I was blown away with how good it looks, how comfortable it feels and the price for such a great car (heavily discounted).

Welcome to the future! (and this helpful forum)

I now have to organise a charger and switch over to an EV tariff, more than likely the Octopus Intelligent Go, but I was wondering what other things an EV newbie should buy/install/arrange and perhaps general advice on running/maintaining an MG EV. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Some good advice already.

We got the 7kW EV charger (though wish we had got a Hypervolt one to qualify for Intelligent Oct Go) because it will be something that all houses need in the future. Plus it means you've got the option to do a full charge overnight if needed (for a long journey or if you have a visitor coming to stay who needs a charge).

You could save money by just having a simple outside plug fitted, but if you go down that route ask the electrician if the cabling can be rated to take a full power charger in the future and see how much extra that would cost.

Future-proofing?

One thing to think about is whether you plan to get a home battery (these generally come with solar installs as well).

Forum legend Rolfe set up a thread about how you get the car, which gives you access to a cheap overnight tariff, which makes a battery a good investment to run your house off cheap 'leccy. Then you may as well fill up the battery with free energy from your roof so get solar...

Now we've added a heat pump as well so you end up with the full electric ecosystem and don't have to buy any gas or petrol which works out much much cheaper.

[edit - adding on to say that this is relevant because you will want a smart charger that can respond to solar generation as well as integrate to work flexibly with energy companies like Octopus]

 

[Ruislip Resident]

Regarding a granny charger v a dedicated 7kW tethered. I find the 7kW more convenient. That convenience utility makes the cost of installation worthwhile to me.

Regarding the Electroverse card. I've also got the zap map card as it works with a lot of 7kW public chargers. This would be for when you are on holiday etc.

A granny charger is also useful for on holiday. I've stayed in a few holiday rentals where I've asked if they have a outside plug socket I could use (I'll pay for what I use). They have and it's saved the need to find somewhere to charge. Doesn't matter if it's slow. If you are there for a few days or a week. It's gonna be fully charged over a couple of nights plugged in.

 

[TimothyN]

Some EV tariffs don't allow you to run other appliances so again, check that.

How is that enforced?

As I have reported widely already, I use the V2L function to store nighttime leccy and use it during the day, such that very little of my usage is on the daytime rate; so even if they magically turned off my ring main at night and they really policed my tumble drier usage to daytime only, it would be easily circumvented by using the car as a battery.

 

[decrep]

My brief thought, is that you are still in the ICE mindset, we fill up the tank when it gets low.
With an EV slow charge rate, it often makes sense to top up when the power is available.
I think there is a slight advantage to the battery, to keep it around mid to 3/4 charge.
Only do full charge to low charge on trips, or when a balance or calibration charge is needed.

 

[TimothyN]

I have long advocated (and put my own money where my mouth was) also keeping ICE cars topped up, on the grounds that there are regular huge surges in demand (whether because of supply problems, tanker driver strikes, whatever) resulting in ridiculous queues at the petrol stations, which wouldn't/couldn't happen if everyone had a minimum of ¾ full tanks all the time.

It creates a massive strategic reserve of fuel.

 

[Ian Key]

If you decide that an EV tariff is for you then you will have to have a smart meter but do your calculations first.

I'm with E.on and get the cheap rate from midnight to 6am but that applies to the whole house not just the charger, some tariffs it's only for charging the car, so I use the washing machine and bread maker etc. during that period. I'm also a low mileage driver probably only charging 40% to 80% every 8 or 9 days but by load shifting I'm just ahead on an EV tariff vs a normal tariff.

Another thing to consider when choosing a charger is are you going to have solar panels and or a home battery at a later date as not all of them are compatible with those.

 

[stevedee]

So a few things to know about charging...

The advice, if you want to take good care of your EV battery, is to keep topping it up to 80% for day-to-day (local) use. Don't let it 'sit around' at 100% or leave it less than 20%. The sweet range is 20 - 80%. If you are going on a long journey, then charge to 100% just before you leave home.

If you have the option for a proper home charger (e.g. you are a home owner) get one installed. It will pay for itself, possibly in year 1.

Take a look at my rant in post #37 of the thread "New S5 Owner Checking In". If you wanted to safely use a 'granny' lead you would need the services of a professional electrician, a new EV rated 13A socket, a safety trip, & a new radial circuit connected directly back to your consumer (fuse box) unit. The labour cost for this work will probably be more than the labour cost to fit a proper charger, because ev charger installers are 'tuned up' to install ev chargers, quickly, competitively, & economically.

Don't forget to subtract these costs from the cost of installing a proper 7kW charger, if doing a cost comparison. And a granny lead is typically £100 - £150 depending upon cable length & manufacturer (but you will probably want to get one of these anyway).

Although our electric supplier is Octopus, we didn't use them for installation because they could not supply the Hypervolt Charger we wanted with a 7.5m cable.

You will need a smart meter if you want an intelligent tariff like Intelligent Octopus Go. (We selected their little pink box to go with it, rather than a free-standing display).

This IOG tariff, not only gives you 7p/kWh from 11:30 - 5:30, but also at other times of the day. For example: I plug the car in a 5pm and tell the system I want the car ready by 8am the following morning. I set the car charging limit to 80%.
But during the evening, I find the car has already started charging. That's because Octopus have decided there is a cheap rate slot (on that particular day) between 8 - 8:30pm, and maybe another between 10:30 - 11pm.
Its a brilliant system.

Yes, we pay 3p/kWh more than we did on previous tariff for daytime electricity. But we run our washing machine & dish washer between the guaranteed cheap period from 11:30 - 5:30. This more than offsets the higher daytime rate because the only other 'juicy' appliances are; oven, kettle & microwave (there's just the two of us). The cost of running led lighting is very low.

I hope this helps!

 

[stevedee]

This illustrates how IOG can give you cheaper electricity outside the guaranteed cheap period...

During the evening of the 19th, it gave us 4 half-hour slots at the cheap rate.

 

[TimothyN]

So, even on an "EV only" tariff, you can still charge the car, then discharge it during the day to run your appliances?

 

[poldark]

Rather than a fixed 7kW wallbox I bought a "portable" 7kW with 32a Commando plug (round industrial standard), then paid £250 for an electrician to install the corresponding socket in the front part of my garage to a spare consumer unit RCB.

It easily reaches under the locked garage door to my ZS LR, saved £500 over the fixed option and allows me to carry the charger to a second home in France.