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Electric Vehicles

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The Don said:
I've just downloaded the Tesla app and my nearest ones (as the crow flies) open to non-Tesla vehicles are:

- Banbury
- Birmingham St. Andrews
- Cardiff
- Flint
- Trafford Centre

@zooterkin

60p per kwh - Yi-hikes :jaw-dropp
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Zap map shows 34p for the supercharger near me, so 60p may be the worst case.
 
zooterkin said:
The Tesla app shows 61p, and 47p with membership, so Zap Map must be wrong.
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I've been looking at the cost of charging at various locations and I don't think I appreciated the premium you pay for fast charging. It seems that commercial 7k or even 22k chargers cost 30-40p/kwh whilst fast chargers are double that.

It doesn't matter too much to us, our EV mileage is low and we'll continue to use our ICE vehicle for longer journeys - for example our trip to the borders in early July for a half-marathon - so we'll most be charging from home or on free slow chargers.
 
The Don said:
I've been looking at the cost of charging at various locations and I don't think I appreciated the premium you pay for fast charging. It seems that commercial 7k or even 22k chargers cost 30-40p/kwh whilst fast chargers are double that.

It doesn't matter too much to us, our EV mileage is low and we'll continue to use our ICE vehicle for longer journeys - for example our trip to the borders in early July for a half-marathon - so we'll most be charging from home or on free slow chargers.
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We're still learning, but think we'll be fine mostly topping up for free at Tesco or Waitrose, and charging up on the granny charger at home. There are a couple of fast chargers not far from us if that was necessary. We're contemplating moving house in the next year or two, so not sure about putting in a charger now.
 
zooterkin said:
We're still learning, but think we'll be fine mostly topping up for free at Tesco or Waitrose, and charging up on the granny charger at home. There are a couple of fast chargers not far from us if that was necessary. We're contemplating moving house in the next year or two, so not sure about putting in a charger now.
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Going into more detail about what I mentioned a little upthread, our garage is about 50m from the house and has a 20 year-old 32A supply to it. As a consequence, unless we're willing to dig up our garden (which we completely re-did last summer at considerable cost), then we can only have a 3.6kw charger up there. We're going to stick with a "Granny Charger" at least until we install some solar on our garage roof.

I was wondering about why people are warned against "Granny Charging" and it seems that the problem is in poorly-fitting sockets for the plug and consequent overheating. Neither seems to be an issue for us so we'll stick with it for now.
 
The Don said:
I was wondering about why people are warned against "Granny Charging" and it seems that the problem is in poorly-fitting sockets for the plug and consequent overheating. Neither seems to be an issue for us so we'll stick with it for now.
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I used Level 1 charging for months until I got around to installing a 50 amp outlet. I didn't have any issues, but it wasn't quite as convenient as using Level 2. The longer charging time wasn't much of an issue because I always had a full charge in the morning. But, the Level 1 EVSE I have isn't designed to be left outside, so I rolled it up and put it inside when I left in the morning or when it rained.

In addition to loose connections being a possible issue, people are tempted to use an extension cable with a Level 1 EVSE which can be a fire hazard - especially if the extension cable can't handle the current and/or is rolled up.

When I did use an extension cord with mine, I used a very heavy one and I used a setting in the car that told it to draw less current.
 
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jadebox said:
I used Level 1 charging for months until I got around to installing a 50 amp outlet. I didn't have any issues, but it wasn't quite as convenient as using Level 2. The longer charging time wasn't much of an issue because I always had a full charge in the morning. But, the Level 1 EVSE I have isn't designed to be left outside, so I rolled it up and put it inside when I left in the morning or when it rained.

In addition to loose connections being a possible issue, people are tempted to use an extension cable with a Level 1 EVSE which can be a fire hazard - especially if the extension cable can't handle the current and/or is rolled up.

When I did use an extension cord with mine, I used a very heavy one and I used a setting in the car that told it to draw less current.
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Yes, I understand that using extension cables is a bad idea and we're lucky enough not to need one. Our 6m IP65 rated "Granny Charger" is plenty long enough to reach from the garage and is fine to live outside if necessary.

The "Granny Charger" is rated at 2.3kw which means that it's only drawing 10A.
 
The Don said:
Yes, I understand that using extension cables is a bad idea and we're lucky enough not to need one. Our 6m IP65 rated "Granny Charger" is plenty long enough to reach from the garage and is fine to live outside if necessary.

The "Granny Charger" is rated at 2.3kw which means that it's only drawing 10A.
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You and your fancy 220 volt electricity!
 
Speaking here not as an EV owner but as a user of all sorts of extensions, electrical devices, emergency generators, and so forth, I would suggest that anyone who does use a "granny charger" be at a minimum vigilant about the condition of connections, and if you must use extensions, consider replacing the connectors with the kind of twist-lock connectors used for emergency generators and the like, which both make more positive contact, and won't pull apart by accident.

Here in the US, twist locks are pretty common in 240 volt applications, with differing versions for 20 and 30 amp applications.

In any case, most connectors for ordinary sorts of use are not well designed for repeated plugging in and out, especially under power, so if you can roll things up without unplugging, it's best.
 
I installed the same kind of connector that RVs use. It just plugs in, firmly, and RVers plug and unplug them often.

There is no power going through the cable when it isn't plugged into the car (or the car isn't charging). But, I just leave my EVSE plugged in except for the rare times we plug our RV in it to run the A/C.
 
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jadebox said:
I installed the same kind of connector that RVs use. It just plugs in, firmly, and RVers plug and unplug them often.

There is no power going through the cable when it isn't plugged into the car (or the car isn't charging). But, I just leave my EVSE plugged in except for the rare times we plug our RV in it to run the A/C.
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Yes, I was going to mention RV cables. They tend to be very hefty, and use connections similar to those on range and welder outlets. They're also usually snug enough that, even though not twist-off, they aren't likely to pull loose.

No current flows through the cable when it's not plugged in, but I think it would still be a good idea to have a switch somewhere in the circuit so there is no sparking when plugs are inserted. That can be bad for the contacting surfaces.
 
ponderingturtle said:
You and your fancy 220 volt electricity!
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Until my brother sprung for a 220VAC line out to the garage for his Tesla, he settled for parking the car near the house (rural area) and running a 220 volt extension cord from the dryer outlet in the basement to the car.

I would like to buy an electric car, but the Yaris is paid for and I'm going to wait until it bursts into flames before replacing it. :)
 
Ranb said:
Until my brother sprung for a 220VAC line out to the garage for his Tesla, he settled for parking the car near the house (rural area) and running a 220 volt extension cord from the dryer outlet in the basement to the car.

I would like to buy an electric car, but the Yaris is paid for and I'm going to wait until it bursts into flames before replacing it. :)
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Ah but in europe some places you can have the two phases of 220 and get 440 in a home environment. Then you could do some serious charging.
 
ponderingturtle said:
Ah but in europe some places you can have the two phases of 220 and get 440 in a home environment. Then you could do some serious charging.
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Three phase isn't uncommon (as a residential supply is usually one of 3 phases distributed from the local substation, each 120 degrees out of phase with each other). 2 phases 180 degrees out of phase isn't something I've heard of in Europe.
If you get a 3 phase supply we still tend to call that 415V in the UK (as that's the potential between any two phases on a 240V system even though we long ago harmonised on a nominal pan-European 230V so 3-ph ought to be about 400V).
 
The Don said:
Going into more detail about what I mentioned a little upthread, our garage is about 50m from the house and has a 20 year-old 32A supply to it. As a consequence, unless we're willing to dig up our garden (which we completely re-did last summer at considerable cost), then we can only have a 3.6kw charger up there. We're going to stick with a "Granny Charger" at least until we install some solar on our garage roof.

I was wondering about why people are warned against "Granny Charging" and it seems that the problem is in poorly-fitting sockets for the plug and consequent overheating. Neither seems to be an issue for us so we'll stick with it for now.
Click to expand...

We can park on the drive in front of the garage (which has never, since we moved in, been empty enough to hold a car! :) ), and there is power in there so it's easy to plug in the car (we already do this to charge the leisure battery on the motorhome).

Loving the car so far; averaging over 5 miles per kWh, despite that being mainly motorway driving.
 
Most of the charging of my TM3 has been done from a domestic socket in my garage. It gives me a steady 18km of extra range per hour, and overnight and weekends my electricity is cheaper. I use superchargers on roadtrips and destination chargers as and when I see them, but my routine is based around home charging.

I'm still vaguely thinking about installing a faster charger at home but potentially selling this house has been on the horizon for a couple of years and I don't want to go to the effort and expense if it's not for long-term gain.
 
Split phase power is the standard here - It's really single phase 240 volt current center tapped to ground, to provide single phase 240 between the two hot lines, or a pair of 120 volt single phase circuits between one hot side and the neutral/ground, 180 degrees apart. But I was not aware of this being found in Europe. All the references I've seen for 460 volt single phase power are about getting it off a three phase line. If there is split-phase 460/230 anywhere in Europe it's apparently news to the folks on the internet.

Over here, in most rural locations at least, there is no three phase power at the incoming lines.
 
zooterkin said:
We can park on the drive in front of the garage (which has never, since we moved in, been empty enough to hold a car! :) ), and there is power in there so it's easy to plug in the car (we already do this to charge the leisure battery on the motorhome).

Loving the car so far; averaging over 5 miles per kWh, despite that being mainly motorway driving.
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Wow ! That's impressive.

What vehicle ?
 
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