Rolfe
Moderator
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2023
- Messages
- 11,186
- Reaction score
- 12,818
- Points
- 3,825
- Location
- West Linton, Scotland
- Driving
- MG4
I should recount what happened, because the four-stop option, absolutely insisted upon by ABRP, really didn't work.
I set off on Wednesday morning shortly before ten. The temperature was 13°C and I actually had the car heater on for a bit while I was going over the Southern Uplands. It got a bit warmer though and the car was still over 30% when I passed Tebay as far as I recall. Things were getting low as I was coming up to my first scheduled stop, the Ionitys at Lancaster North (140 miles). I could have made it to Forton (147 miles) if I'd wanted to, just by slowing down a little - I was on 7% and 11 miles when I stopped. By this time it was warm and sunny, the aircon had been deployed and I took my sweatshirt off.
Plugged in to the Ionity but it still refused my cursed Electroverse card. Placated it with my debit card and walked to the adjacent MacDonald's for lunch. It wasn't busy and I got a light lunch quickly, ate it quickly, went to the loo, and then back to the car. I was supposed to go to 60% in 20 minutes. I hadn't been long, hadn't wasted any time, but I was on 78%.
Set off for the next stop, Sandbach, where I was supposed to go to 65%. They were installing new Gridserves there, and last time I stopped at a service station where they were doing that the existing chargers were really problematic. This time, though, although the first charger refused to talk to my car, the one next to it was fine. First real mistake I made was thinking I had time for a coffee, maybe going to 70% would still be reasonably on schedule. The result of that was my having to ask the Costa barista to pour half my coffee into a paper cup so I could take it with me, and even so the car was on 77% by the time I got back to it. It was becoming obvious that a three-stop schedule would have been better.
Next scheduled stop was the Longbridge Instavolts. Hideously tempted by this time to check if I could just go on to Cherwell Valley (or Baynard's Green) and make that a single stop, but the food there isn't great and I was still seduced by the thought of the Pizza Express at Beaconsfield. So I went into Longbridge, but this time there was no way I was buying any more food. I went into the loo at the MacDonald's and chatted (about Electroverse cards) to a guy with a Polestar on the next charger. Amazingly, the Instavolt did take my card. Success. So I was fairly back on track with the schedule - I was only supposed to go to 57% here. Hardly seemed worth the stop.
At Beaconsfield there were several EVs parked near the Ionitys and I thought, bugger there's a queue. But there was a free charger. I parked nearby and went over to look at it. It was showing an error message, but also "try again". So I pulled into the bay and managed to clear the error message quite easily. Car started charging. Whoopee, pizza!
Pizza Express needs to rename itself "Pizza really slow train stopping at all the stations". They weren't even busy so I don't know what the reason was. It was a nice pizza when it came, but by the time I had eaten it and got back to the car I'd been there over an hour and the car was on 95% as opposed to the specified 65%. There really was someone waiting by then, a smart red MG4. I apologised profusely for letting the car go as far as 95%, blaming the restaurant, and the driver said don't worry, no problem.
The M25 was having a normal one, and in the end I got to my friends' house in Portslade at about 8.25. The net result of all that was that when I got to the Glyndebourne PodPoints the next day I was on 41% when I had wanted to be on 10% or even lower, to take maximum advantage of that 45p.
Obligatory photo gallery.
I suppose I said earlier, but can anyone guess the opera? (The bloodstains on the PJs are a clue.)
Two separate people asked me, if you change your dress, do you have to buy a new car?
Verdict, it's all very well maximising the use of the fastest part of the charging curve if you're in a tearing hurry and don't care about little things like eating, but stops of 20-25 minutes aren't really long enough to do anything more than go to the loo and chat with other drivers. If you do want to eat you end up overstaying anyway.
So, what happened on the return journey? I was on 91% when I got back to Portslade on the Friday evening after the performance, having left Glyndebourne on 100% and balanced. I asked ABRP for a route home, starting on 91%. It absolutely insisted once again on four stops. It's as if the button that requests fewer but longer stops isn't working - I got exactly the same route whether I selected fastest time or fewer but longer stops.
I said sod that, give me a route for Baynard's Green (there are Instavolts and E-volts there which seem to take Electroverse, while the Gridserves at Cherwell Valley a mile away don't), Trentham Gardens and Tebay. ABRP conceded that that would be absolutely fine, and none of the stops were excessively long. My only reservation was the 48 minutes at Trentham Gardens, but it is a very nice tearoom.
I set off shortly before eleven. The M25 was having a worse than normal one thanks to someone who had driven at some speed into the end of a barrier intended to funnel the traffic into narrow lanes where they're upgrading the A3 interchange. Police, ambulance, the lot. I turned on TJA which was working well and read a book for while, letting the car negotiate the crawling speeds on its own. By the time I got to the M40 I was close to an hour behind time, but had used a fair bit less charge than anticipated. As I approached J10 (Cherwell Valley, Baynard's Green) I still had 40 miles in hand. Thought. If I can go further now, I can arrive at Trentham Gardens at a higher SoC, and so trim that 48 minutes a bit.
Quick recalculation, a minute on the hard shoulder to check it, and yes I could make it to Longbridge (30 miles beyond J10, 146 miles from Portslade and 162 miles from my last charge at Glyndebourne) on what I had. I was down to about 7% and 11 miles of range when I got there but it was fine. The charger I had used on Wednesday refused to talk to the car on Saturday, but the one next to it was fine, and again took my Electroverse card. Went into the McDonald's and ordered the same light lunch as I'd had on Wednesday at Lancaster, but this time ate it in the car as the restaurant was full of screaming kids and teenagers. This is probably the longest distance I have actually driven between charges - although a lot of it was fast motorway, it was facilitated by very warm temperatures and some slow progress on the M25.)
By the time I'd finished eating I was up to about 80%, so I unplugged and went on. Trentham Gardens was only 71 miles away and indeed I arrived there at a high enough SoC that I only needed a stop of around 35 min to get the range needed for Tebay (120 miles). Unfortunately I didn't get that coffee. I waited a while to order, but then no coffee came. They said they had no cake so I went back to the car to fetch the couple of choc chip cookies I had in my bag, liberated from a hotel stay a couple of weeks previously. Still no coffee. Ate a choc chip cookie. Still no coffee. Went to the loo. Still no coffee. Car was showing 135 miles range. Told the waitress to forget the coffee and left. I still had half my Coke left from Longbridge anyway, and the other choc chip cookie, so these were quickly scoffed before I unplugged with 140 miles. I had a nice half-hour in one of the Willow Tearooms comfy leather chairs and a visit to their posh loo for nothing anyway. (Aren't they used to Tesla drivers there, who definitely aren't hanging around for that sort of time?)
Reached Tebay about 6.30 on (this is getting to be a habit) 7%. Lasange and chips, and enough time to eat it. Also, Tebay takes Electroverse too, what could be better. In fact I charged more than I really needed because Caliban's GoM seemed to be having a bit of a sulk - I was sure I had enough, it's not exactly the first time I've driven home from Tebay, but the GoM was implying that it was still a bit tight. I wasn't hanging around twiddling my thumbs though, my total stop was under an hour.
I'm not sure what was going on. At first the GoM was telling me I had barely ten miles in hand, which can be a bit problematic for that route because of the thousand-foot climb to the Wells of Tweed from Moffat (although I can pretty much regenerate home from there). However after negotiating some roadworks where the speed limit reduced to 40 mph for a couple of miles, the GoM started talking sense and telling me I had 25 miles in hand. Got home on 17% with (nominally) 35 miles range left.
I got home at 9.25, meaning the journey had taken almost exactly the same time as the south-bound journey, but with three stops rather than four, the time at the stops being used more productively. Also, the delay on the M25 was much worse on the way home - though that had its upside as it gave me the chance to recalculate the lunch stop to minimise delay.
Moral of the story, at least for the SR's range. Only do what ABRP tells you to do if you really really need to get there ASAP. Otherwise work out your own stops to give you long enough to do what you want to do when you're stopped. Maybe there really is something wrong with the "fewer, longer stops" function, but until it's fixed I'm taking it with a pinch of salt.
It makes me wonder where this drive for faster and faster charging is going to get us. We'll be back to the quick five minutes to fill the tank and then crack on with no rest, as we did in petrol cars. Or if we want a rest/food, we'll have to go to the charger, stand over the car while it charges, then move it to the car park while we go into the restaurant. Sounds familiar?
Yes, I know this is tl;dr. Complain to the mods about it!
I set off on Wednesday morning shortly before ten. The temperature was 13°C and I actually had the car heater on for a bit while I was going over the Southern Uplands. It got a bit warmer though and the car was still over 30% when I passed Tebay as far as I recall. Things were getting low as I was coming up to my first scheduled stop, the Ionitys at Lancaster North (140 miles). I could have made it to Forton (147 miles) if I'd wanted to, just by slowing down a little - I was on 7% and 11 miles when I stopped. By this time it was warm and sunny, the aircon had been deployed and I took my sweatshirt off.
Plugged in to the Ionity but it still refused my cursed Electroverse card. Placated it with my debit card and walked to the adjacent MacDonald's for lunch. It wasn't busy and I got a light lunch quickly, ate it quickly, went to the loo, and then back to the car. I was supposed to go to 60% in 20 minutes. I hadn't been long, hadn't wasted any time, but I was on 78%.
Set off for the next stop, Sandbach, where I was supposed to go to 65%. They were installing new Gridserves there, and last time I stopped at a service station where they were doing that the existing chargers were really problematic. This time, though, although the first charger refused to talk to my car, the one next to it was fine. First real mistake I made was thinking I had time for a coffee, maybe going to 70% would still be reasonably on schedule. The result of that was my having to ask the Costa barista to pour half my coffee into a paper cup so I could take it with me, and even so the car was on 77% by the time I got back to it. It was becoming obvious that a three-stop schedule would have been better.
Next scheduled stop was the Longbridge Instavolts. Hideously tempted by this time to check if I could just go on to Cherwell Valley (or Baynard's Green) and make that a single stop, but the food there isn't great and I was still seduced by the thought of the Pizza Express at Beaconsfield. So I went into Longbridge, but this time there was no way I was buying any more food. I went into the loo at the MacDonald's and chatted (about Electroverse cards) to a guy with a Polestar on the next charger. Amazingly, the Instavolt did take my card. Success. So I was fairly back on track with the schedule - I was only supposed to go to 57% here. Hardly seemed worth the stop.
At Beaconsfield there were several EVs parked near the Ionitys and I thought, bugger there's a queue. But there was a free charger. I parked nearby and went over to look at it. It was showing an error message, but also "try again". So I pulled into the bay and managed to clear the error message quite easily. Car started charging. Whoopee, pizza!
Pizza Express needs to rename itself "Pizza really slow train stopping at all the stations". They weren't even busy so I don't know what the reason was. It was a nice pizza when it came, but by the time I had eaten it and got back to the car I'd been there over an hour and the car was on 95% as opposed to the specified 65%. There really was someone waiting by then, a smart red MG4. I apologised profusely for letting the car go as far as 95%, blaming the restaurant, and the driver said don't worry, no problem.
The M25 was having a normal one, and in the end I got to my friends' house in Portslade at about 8.25. The net result of all that was that when I got to the Glyndebourne PodPoints the next day I was on 41% when I had wanted to be on 10% or even lower, to take maximum advantage of that 45p.
Obligatory photo gallery.
I suppose I said earlier, but can anyone guess the opera? (The bloodstains on the PJs are a clue.)
Two separate people asked me, if you change your dress, do you have to buy a new car?
Verdict, it's all very well maximising the use of the fastest part of the charging curve if you're in a tearing hurry and don't care about little things like eating, but stops of 20-25 minutes aren't really long enough to do anything more than go to the loo and chat with other drivers. If you do want to eat you end up overstaying anyway.
So, what happened on the return journey? I was on 91% when I got back to Portslade on the Friday evening after the performance, having left Glyndebourne on 100% and balanced. I asked ABRP for a route home, starting on 91%. It absolutely insisted once again on four stops. It's as if the button that requests fewer but longer stops isn't working - I got exactly the same route whether I selected fastest time or fewer but longer stops.
I said sod that, give me a route for Baynard's Green (there are Instavolts and E-volts there which seem to take Electroverse, while the Gridserves at Cherwell Valley a mile away don't), Trentham Gardens and Tebay. ABRP conceded that that would be absolutely fine, and none of the stops were excessively long. My only reservation was the 48 minutes at Trentham Gardens, but it is a very nice tearoom.
I set off shortly before eleven. The M25 was having a worse than normal one thanks to someone who had driven at some speed into the end of a barrier intended to funnel the traffic into narrow lanes where they're upgrading the A3 interchange. Police, ambulance, the lot. I turned on TJA which was working well and read a book for while, letting the car negotiate the crawling speeds on its own. By the time I got to the M40 I was close to an hour behind time, but had used a fair bit less charge than anticipated. As I approached J10 (Cherwell Valley, Baynard's Green) I still had 40 miles in hand. Thought. If I can go further now, I can arrive at Trentham Gardens at a higher SoC, and so trim that 48 minutes a bit.
Quick recalculation, a minute on the hard shoulder to check it, and yes I could make it to Longbridge (30 miles beyond J10, 146 miles from Portslade and 162 miles from my last charge at Glyndebourne) on what I had. I was down to about 7% and 11 miles of range when I got there but it was fine. The charger I had used on Wednesday refused to talk to the car on Saturday, but the one next to it was fine, and again took my Electroverse card. Went into the McDonald's and ordered the same light lunch as I'd had on Wednesday at Lancaster, but this time ate it in the car as the restaurant was full of screaming kids and teenagers. This is probably the longest distance I have actually driven between charges - although a lot of it was fast motorway, it was facilitated by very warm temperatures and some slow progress on the M25.)
By the time I'd finished eating I was up to about 80%, so I unplugged and went on. Trentham Gardens was only 71 miles away and indeed I arrived there at a high enough SoC that I only needed a stop of around 35 min to get the range needed for Tebay (120 miles). Unfortunately I didn't get that coffee. I waited a while to order, but then no coffee came. They said they had no cake so I went back to the car to fetch the couple of choc chip cookies I had in my bag, liberated from a hotel stay a couple of weeks previously. Still no coffee. Ate a choc chip cookie. Still no coffee. Went to the loo. Still no coffee. Car was showing 135 miles range. Told the waitress to forget the coffee and left. I still had half my Coke left from Longbridge anyway, and the other choc chip cookie, so these were quickly scoffed before I unplugged with 140 miles. I had a nice half-hour in one of the Willow Tearooms comfy leather chairs and a visit to their posh loo for nothing anyway. (Aren't they used to Tesla drivers there, who definitely aren't hanging around for that sort of time?)
Reached Tebay about 6.30 on (this is getting to be a habit) 7%. Lasange and chips, and enough time to eat it. Also, Tebay takes Electroverse too, what could be better. In fact I charged more than I really needed because Caliban's GoM seemed to be having a bit of a sulk - I was sure I had enough, it's not exactly the first time I've driven home from Tebay, but the GoM was implying that it was still a bit tight. I wasn't hanging around twiddling my thumbs though, my total stop was under an hour.
I'm not sure what was going on. At first the GoM was telling me I had barely ten miles in hand, which can be a bit problematic for that route because of the thousand-foot climb to the Wells of Tweed from Moffat (although I can pretty much regenerate home from there). However after negotiating some roadworks where the speed limit reduced to 40 mph for a couple of miles, the GoM started talking sense and telling me I had 25 miles in hand. Got home on 17% with (nominally) 35 miles range left.
I got home at 9.25, meaning the journey had taken almost exactly the same time as the south-bound journey, but with three stops rather than four, the time at the stops being used more productively. Also, the delay on the M25 was much worse on the way home - though that had its upside as it gave me the chance to recalculate the lunch stop to minimise delay.
Moral of the story, at least for the SR's range. Only do what ABRP tells you to do if you really really need to get there ASAP. Otherwise work out your own stops to give you long enough to do what you want to do when you're stopped. Maybe there really is something wrong with the "fewer, longer stops" function, but until it's fixed I'm taking it with a pinch of salt.
It makes me wonder where this drive for faster and faster charging is going to get us. We'll be back to the quick five minutes to fill the tank and then crack on with no rest, as we did in petrol cars. Or if we want a rest/food, we'll have to go to the charger, stand over the car while it charges, then move it to the car park while we go into the restaurant. Sounds familiar?
Yes, I know this is tl;dr. Complain to the mods about it!
