Poll: Do you charge at home?

[slmorgan42]

Interesting thread, thanks for flagging it up. I'm keen to find out what options there are for people who can't home charge, because it's the sort of thing that comes up quite frequently in conversation, and as I think I said I have a friend in a terraced house (in a charger desert) who would like an EV but can't see how to make it work.

I had mine since December 22. I have no home charger and have had no issues.

Obviously the cost of public charging is higher than gone charger. You need to check you are using the cheapest payment method for the charger.

That said I do not so very many miles so even if I could change at home using an overnight cheap rate I would not save anything. This is because the rise in day rate would counter the saving in charging.

 

[bowfer]

I so rarely charge away from home I’m not sure I’d remember how.
I’d be one of those bewildered people you see at chargers, even though I’m a 7 year EV veteran.

 

[Harry 17]

Interesting thread, thanks for flagging it up. I'm keen to find out what options there are for people who can't home charge, because it's the sort of thing that comes up quite frequently in conversation, and as I think I said I have a friend in a terraced house (in a charger desert) who would like an EV but can't see how to make it work.

saw this a few months back, think it is still crowd funding and not ready for market yet (could be wrong), but the cost was a bit high, I think it could be a winner for some people

Portable Charger

admittedly, it will only get you around 20 - 25 miles, but for city driving etc…..

I so rarely charge away from home I’m not sure I’d remember how.
I’d be one of those bewildered people you see at chargers, even though I’m a 7 year EV veteran.

I have charged away from home three times since I bought the car (10 months ago). Each and every time I get a bout of anxiety, rummage around my brain box for a bit, then enjoy a wave of euphoria when the damn thing actually starts charging my car ! LOL. I think my next time will be mid August….I can already feel my anxiety levels rising

 

[Kithmo]

I so rarely charge away from home I’m not sure I’d remember how.
I’d be one of those bewildered people you see at chargers, even though I’m a 7 year EV veteran.

Ditto.

 

[Harry 17]

Ditto.

Wouldn’t be an issue if you could just rock-up..plug the lead in and flash your debit card…but no, being us, we need to have a plethora of cards / apps / payment methods etc…just makes it a small chore. I have Bonnet, and have only ever used the Bonnet app…should they ever disappear, then I will truly Shit my pants. However, sure I will get over it (after laundry).

 

[Kithmo]

Wouldn’t be an issue if you could just rock-up..plug the lead in and flash your debit card…but no, being us, we need to have a plethora of cards / apps / payment methods etc…just makes it a small chore. I have Bonnet, and have only ever used the Bonnet app…should they ever disappear, then I will truly sh*t my pants. However, sure I will get over it (after laundry).

I downloaded as many apps as I could when I got my first EV, the ZS, 3 years ago and actually activated some of them. Now, because I have hardly (or never) used many of them, I get emails saying, "we see you haven't charged with us for some time" etc. with offers on pay subscriptions. I mean, c'mon, if I haven't used PAYG why would I want a subscription ?

 

[Harry 17]

I downloaded as many apps as I could when I got my first EV, the ZS, 3 years ago and actually activated some of them. Now, because I have hardly (or never) used many of them, I get emails saying, "we see you haven't charged with us for some time" etc. with offers on pay subscriptions. I mean, c'mon, if I haven't used PAYG why would I want a subscription ?

Agree! I did exactly the same. I am due to set aside some time to stop deleting these emails at the time of receiving them, for a time that I can set aside to go through them all and Unsubscribe. That word sounds easy, and it should be, but I always seem to use the simplest route and just delete. No More ‘Gods and Masters’ should you be listening, I am going to doi the most hated thing! ….UNSUBSCRIBE!!! wont catch me with my trousers !

 

[Gadget Geek]

The only app I ever used was Pod-Point because I have a Pod-Point Charger. Always use PAYG on long journeys and refuse to jump through hoops that I never had to when I drove an ICE car.

 

[Rolfe]

saw this a few months back, think it is still crowd funding and not ready for market yet (could be wrong), but the cost was a bit high, I think it could be a winner for some people

Portable Charger

admittedly, it will only get you around 20 - 25 miles, but for city driving etc…..

I saw that before. It's interesting, but I wonder how necessary it is. Given that EVs seem to be set up to crawl an extra 10-15 miles after they're theoretically showing zero, that there are more chargers around the landscape than there are petrol stations, and that people don't tend to play "go till it's running on fumes" the way they do with ICE cars, I question how often the legendary "EV bricked because it's HV battery is out of charge" scenario really happens.

 

[Cafeg]

We have a Mg phev and use the 3 pin charger supplied with it everyday. Normally once I get back after going out plug it in depending on the solar available. But we also have free power from 9pm to midnight 7 days, so the bulk of our charging is done then and also a tesla2 powerwall battery which gets used if its full leaving just enough to get to 9pm. Some of the shopping centres have free chargers as well, A mix of type 2 and type 1 charging, but most of the time all type2 chargers are full with type1 bays empty ?

 

[Gadget Geek]

I saw that before. It's interesting, but I wonder how necessary it is. Given that EVs seem to be set up to crawl an extra 10-15 miles after they're theoretically showing zero, that there are more chargers around the landscape than there are petrol stations, and that people don't tend to play "go till it's running on fumes" the way they do with ICE cars, I question how often the legendary "EV bricked because it's HV battery is out of charge" scenario really happens.

In 2018, the Highways Agency recorded around 1,500 ICE cars running out of fossil fuel on the motorway network (which is an offence you will be fined for). After an extensive trawl of the internet, I could find no reports by the AA, RAC etc, of any EV's running out of charge. I'm sure there may have been a couple, but non were reported.

 

[Rolfe]

I heard an interview where the AA (I think) said it was very rare, but I don't know how rare that might be. I could imagine if you had one of these early cars with a very low range (my neighbour has a Zoë that only does 70-90 miles) then maybe. But even then, don't they have a turtle mode?

I'm honestly trying to envisage a realistic scenario where someone actually bricks their EV due to a completely dead battery, other than the guys who have done it on purpose to find out what happens. How many non-functional chargers would you have had to visit in succession? Could you really not get to a house with a wall box and beg? It all seems very unlikely to me. The habit of topping up when you can that EV driving cultivates also militates against this happening.

When a friend asked me for advice about using public chargers on a long journey one of the things I said was, if you find yourself at a charger that isn't working, and there isn't another charger within the range you have on the car, don't leave! Phone the number on the charger. They might be able to re-boot it remotely. Even if they can't, it's better to sit at the charger and wait for a repairman, than brick your car on the road. Surely anyone would see that.

 

[Gomev]

Wouldn’t be an issue if you could just rock-up..plug the lead in and flash your debit card…but no, being us, we need to have a plethora of cards / apps / payment methods etc…just makes it a small chore. I have Bonnet, and have only ever used the Bonnet app…should they ever disappear, then I will truly sh*t my pants. However, sure I will get over it (after laundry).

There are many many that you can just rock up to and flash your debit/credit card, in fact I do nothing but that.

 

[tsedge]

There are many many that you can just rock up to and flash your debit/credit card, in fact I do nothing but that.

And many which you should be able to rock up to and flash your card but it becomes....

Do I plug in first or tap first on the charger?
Why won't it wake up?
Is it working?
I tapped but nothing is happening, what is going on?
It went back to the start screen and didn't start, what is going on?
Do I need to unplug and plug in again?
Maybe if I shutdown the car it will work?
It is trying to charge but not charging, why?
It stopped charging after a few minutes, why?

 

[slmorgan42]

The only catch with this is you can quite easily end up paying more for the charge than using a different payment method.

E.g. using Eletrcoverse card or an app.

One of my local chargers is 65pwh with tap and go but it is 45pkwh with Electroverse card.

Not saying this right its just a fact.

I did a recent market research survey for BP on electric charging and this was one of my big complaints.

 

[Gomev]

And many which you should be able to rock up to and flash your card but it becomes....

Do I plug in first or tap first on the charger?
Why won't it wake up?
Is it working?
I tapped but nothing is happening, what is going on?
It went back to the start screen and didn't start, what is going on?
Do I need to unplug and plug in again?
Maybe if I shutdown the car it will work?
It is trying to charge but not charging, why?
It stopped charging after a few minutes, why?

Oh dear I hope not all those things happen to you, I guess I have been lucky with my charging, but I do usually try and only use the most reliable chargers Instavolt, Osprey and Gridserve when out and about.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Oh dear I hope not all those things happen to you, I guess I have been lucky with my charging, but I do usually try and only use the most reliable chargers Instavolt, Osprey and Gridserve when out and about.

And I know it's not very "manly", but if it's a network I haven't used before, I read the instructions.

 

[tsedge]

Oh dear I hope not all those things happen to you, I guess I have been lucky with my charging, but I do usually try and only use the most reliable chargers Instavolt, Osprey and Gridserve when out and about.

All of those things have happened to me and I've had bad and good experiences with Instavolt and Gridserve. I only charge publicly for long distance and don't typically go to the same places, so I haven't seen the consistency that some people report with specific charger makers, which might be because they keep going back to the same specific chargers which "just work" for them.

And I know it's not very "manly", but if it's a network I haven't used before, I read the instructions.

Of course, but I have found it doesn't always work the way the instructions say it should.

 

[Gomev]

All of those things have happened to me and I've had bad and good experiences with Instavolt and Gridserve. I only charge publicly for long distance and don't typically go to the same places, so I haven't seen the consistency that some people report with specific charger makers, which might be because they keep going back to the same specific chargers which "just work" for them.


Of course, but I have found it doesn't always work the way the instructions say it should.

Feel for you if you've suffered all that. Likewise probably for 85% of us according to the poll on this thread, we only charge away from home when on long journeys.
I haven't been to any repeat destinations in the last few years and have used Osprey at 3 locations, Instavolt also 3, and Gridserve also 3 ( I see a trend developing here) all with no problems (plus a few odds and sods not worth mentioning).
I also take the slapdash approach to charging in as much as I plug in and then wave a bit of plastic regardless of charger. I have seen no difference in plugging in before or after waving plastic as it's the waving bit that initiates the handshake that it can't do until plugged in, so by plugging in first the machine just thinks I'm very very very quick.
Only problems I've had is with some old Charge your Car (CYC) chargers and of course everybodies favourite Geniepoint (50% success rate). The only thing I do make sure I do is turn off before getting out of the car.

 

[tsedge]

Sounds like I've been unlucky. Will see how it goes, maybe my luck will change.

I am not saying it always like that, have had some great experiences too.