Popped my cherry - First charge

[Kithmo]

Thought I'd pop down to Meadowhall Shopping centre, 2 miles away for a short shop, seeing as they have 57 EV car spaces and 38 charge points that are free to use.
I found, in the Orange car park, quite near to where I wanted to shop a dedicated EV smaller car park with loads of free chargers. So I thought I would give this "charging on the go" malarkey a try.
The car park was empty so I pulled in, got out my type 2 cable, plugged it in and locked the car. At first it said connected but not charging on the dash and it took a while to start charging after a some wiggling of the plugs and a couple of lock/unlocks, off it went reporting I had 108 miles in already.
After about 40 minutes of shopping, I returned to find I had 123 miles in, 15 miles in 40 minutes, not much I know, but I travelled 4 miles (return) and got 15 back for free, does that sound about right on a fast (not rapid) charger ?
A couple of things I noticed. When I came to release the cable, the charger wouldn't release until I had released the car end and when I first plugged in the cable the "connected but not charging" message kept disappearing off the dash before it had started charging and I had to keep pressing the lock button to reveal it.
The other thing I was wondering is does it matter if the cable is coiled up a bit, ISTR reading something about it somewhere and I forgot to unwind it, could this be why it was taking a while to start charging ?

 

[Mark Holmes]

Hmmm,
All I would say in plug the unit end in first and then the car to charge, then lock the car. It will tell you in the middle screen if it’s charging and the time required to complete a full charge.
To disconnect unlock the car, disconnect the car end first and then the end from the supplier unit.
When connecting just make sure the cables are fully inserted.

 

[Exdro]

Thought I'd pop down to Meadowhall Shopping centre, 2 miles away for a short shop, seeing as they have 57 EV car spaces and 38 charge points that are free to use.
I found, in the Orange car park, quite near to where I wanted to shop a dedicated EV smaller car park with loads of free chargers. So I thought I would give this "charging on the go" malarkey a try.
The car park was empty so I pulled in, got out my type 2 cable, plugged it in and locked the car. At first it said connected but not charging on the dash and it took a while to start charging after a some wiggling of the plugs and a couple of lock/unlocks, off it went reporting I had 108 miles in already.
After about 40 minutes of shopping, I returned to find I had 123 miles in, 15 miles in 40 minutes, not much I know, but I travelled 4 miles (return) and got 15 back for free, does that sound about right on a fast (not rapid) charger ?
A couple of things I noticed. When I came to release the cable, the charger wouldn't release until I had released the car end and when I first plugged in the cable the "connected but not charging" message kept disappearing off the dash before it had started charging and I had to keep pressing the lock button to reveal it.
The other thing I was wondering is does it matter if the cable is coiled up a bit, ISTR reading something about it somewhere and I forgot to unwind it, could this be why it was taking a while to start charging ?

Handbook recommends removing car end of charger before charge port. At the rate you reported that is about 20 miles per hour or 140 miles in 7 hours. Seems ok as public chargers don’t give more than an 80% charge. Would always recommend uncoiling cable otherwise you will get heat building up in it.

 

[KasEV]

@Kithmo,
Well done.
@Exdro is right all the issues you had could have been avoided and/or anticipated and resolved by reading the ZS EV owners
handbook and the Zap Map sponsored EV owner charging guidance and I will recommend you have a quick glance.

 

[DangerousDoug]

Yes, as pointed out, always connect the charger end of the cable first, then the car; removal is reverse (remove car end first). AC "FAST" chargers (7kw) will charge the car at 22mph, right up to full. RAPID (CCS DC) chargers will charge at a much faster rate (up to 150mph on a very good day) but only up to 80% full, after which the charging rate will drop significantly (to preserve the battery). These "FAST" (7kw) chargers are very handy in shopping centres, hotels etc. as you can add useful range as you shop (or sleep ) at often FOC costs .

 

[Kithmo]

What rate does a rapid drop to after 80% is reached ?
In other words roughly how long would it take to get to 100%
Not that I would do this as I think it would be a bit selfish to hog the charger, just interested to know.

 

[Mark Holmes]

About 23 kWh from what I’ve experienced and then it drops away more as charging continues.

 

[Kithmo]

Got my free tethered PodPoint installed today, no problem. Plugged it into the car, looked through the window at the car info screen, says connected, locked the car and two seconds later it says charging. Looks like it's charging at 7.2kWh, costing 90p an hour according to my old SMETS1 smart meter, installed many years ago by BGAS, which communicates with the smart meter display unit but not with service providers. The kWh is fairy accurate but I don't think the price is as I don't think the dumb smart meter has an idea what rate I'm on, it's probably nearer to £1 an hour at 14p per kWh. Another first for me, charging at home.

 

[Mark Holmes]

I’m free charging at a National Park in Cambridge, happy days

 

[ging353]

Get on Octopus Go.......14p KW hour......or 5p KW hour ...between 12.30am and 04.30am

 

[Frank]

What rate does a rapid drop to after 80% is reached ?
In other words roughly how long would it take to get to 100%
Not that I would do this as I think it would be a bit selfish to hog the charger, just interested to know.

Hi Kithmo,

I have often used a rapid charger to charge to a 100% and as long as you are not stopping anyone using the charger stay as long as you NEED. Of course if the mileage you need to go before you get home or to another charger does not require a FOC then only charge as much as you need especially as the going rate for public chargers is pretty high in most cases. As for time to reach 100%, for me is usually about 1hr to 1hr 15.

Regards

Frank

PS I live in Scotland and mainly use Chargeplace Scotland chargers when on a long trip to recharge and in most cases there is NO cost to charge so makes financial sense to take a full charge (bearing in mind other persons requiring charging) and you access them by buying a RFID card for a £20 fee. Open to anyone by the way if you are driving in Scotland, but as stated not ALL of them are free.

PPS FYI A brand new (fairly new) charging station is available at Falkirk Stadium where the chargers are ALL powered by solar panels. There is a plethora of Rapid and Fast Chargers on site, all free and best of all under cover.

 

[Kithmo]

So we're not hogging the charger for too long if we let it go to 100% then, that's good to know.