FAO electric car owners - an observation

BOWFER

Grumpy_chap said:

BOWFER said:

is it just pandering to pathetic ICE owners who crave familiarity??

Nothing clever at all about describing the majority of the population as "pathetic", though I understand the OP drives an Evoke so is also in that despised group.

The comment was aimed at those who crave the familiarity of a side port, not at every ICE driver.
And how will I recover from your jibe at our other car.....oh dear oh dear...the wound hurts!
Now that's pathetic.... a fully charged 100% on that one.
I'm not even sure if you meant the wrong spelling TBH.

peter3hg

Front charging ports encourage poor parking practices. Charging ports should either be on the back or preferably somewhere on the side of the rear quarter/wing which is much more adaptable to different parking situations.

BOWFER

peter3hg said:

Front charging ports encourage poor parking practices. Charging ports should either be on the back or preferably somewhere on the side of the rear quarter/wing which is much more adaptable to different parking situations.

Genuinely curious about this.
I've actually seen a pedestrian walk between 2 x electric cars in a car park, not noticing the side charge point in a BMW i3 and giving it a hefty whack.
Now, on that occasion, no damage was done.
But if it had, who would you (if you were the owner of the i3) hold liable for a potentially very expensive repair (not to mention you might not get home because the charging has stopped).
The likelihood of this happening is far less with a front or rear charge point, you just wouldn't get many/any people walking between the charger and the front/rear of the car.

Grumpy_chap

peter3hg said:

Front charging ports encourage poor parking practices. Charging ports should either be on the back or preferably somewhere on the side of the rear quarter/wing which is much more adaptable to different parking situations.

I assume you refer to driving in forwards and then needing to reverse out.  Best practice as per Highway Code is to reverse in and drive out forwards.

neilmcl

There seems to be mixed reasons from the manufacturer's but there is a consensus that there are more Kerbside charging points in Europe so European manufacturer's prefer the ports to be on the side as well as most home garages are not that long and so would struggle to accommodate a charger and access to the front of the car if that was where it was situated, obviously there are exceptions to this if you're driving a small car. Tesla says it's purely down to aesthetics, no surprise there, and Ford seem to suggest their location on the driver's side would prevent drivers from accidentally driving off with the cable still attached (that's Americans for you).

Grumpy_chap

neilmcl said:

Ford seem to suggest their location on the driver's side would prevent drivers from accidentally driving off with the cable still attached (that's Americans for you).

So, do Ford "hand" the charging ports dependent upon market?

confused.com2

My wife has a Zoe so not an issue. I have noticed and emailed my local council who for some reason use very small spaces for the EV charge points. 2 cars with side charges couldn't charge next to each other. EV owners know the cables do stick out and a little extra space is needed. Council replied saying they were standard and acceptable!

BOWFER

confused.com2 said:

My wife has a Zoe so not an issue.

Nice, which one?
Zoe was the first EV I drove, loaned one by a dealer when our (then) Captur was in for a service.
Loved EVs since.

confused.com2

BOWFER said:

confused.com2 said:

My wife has a Zoe so not an issue.

Nice, which one?
Zoe was the first EV I drove, loaned one by a dealer when our (then) Captur was in for a service.
Loved EVs since.

We are actually on our second now, first was a 40kwh 19 plate. We've just upgraded to a new E Tech model this year, that's got a 52Kwh battery. It's my wife's car but I love driving it! We've got a very big Renault garage on our doorstep, managed to get 2 good deals. Sold our first Zoe for a very good price. We can use the rapid charger at Renault for nothing!

BOWFER

confused.com2 said:

BOWFER said:

confused.com2 said:

My wife has a Zoe so not an issue.

Nice, which one?
Zoe was the first EV I drove, loaned one by a dealer when our (then) Captur was in for a service.
Loved EVs since.

We are actually on our second now, first was a 40kwh 19 plate. We've just upgraded to a new E Tech model this year, that's got a 52Kwh battery. It's my wife's car but I love driving it! We've got a very big Renault garage on our doorstep, managed to get 2 good deals. Sold our first Zoe for a very good price. We can use the rapid charger at Renault for nothing!

I've kinda lost track with the Zoe's, but are Renault doing rapid ports on them all now?
IIRC it used to be you had to pay extra for a Chademo port?
I also think they've dropped the battery rental thing?