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EV Charge Tariffs - Your opinion/experience of best company/rate to use
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[Deleted User] said:jumeriah64 said:niktheguru said:Despite the vorsprung add on being about 20k in itself with all the bells and whistles, I don’t believe it actually includes the 2nd on board charger to include 22kw ac charging. Do definitively double check. I suspect you’ll have to fork out another 1300!
you’ll generally find the dealers have less of a clue than the customers about electric cars, as most electric customers have significantly read up on it beforehand and know what they want!
And totally agree your comment. Both the Hyundai and Audi boys have explained zero of what I have learned in 24 hours in this thread.
This option has never been mentioned or discussed as an option. Very frustrating. Selling cars these days seems be less about specification and content and more about PCP's and all that malarkey.
Just received this. Guess as a result of discussion within the thread ..... maybe interesting for folks ....
https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4036144/ovo-rolls-ai-enabled-flat-rate-ev-charging-tariff-nationwide0 -
niktheguru said:[Deleted User] said:jumeriah64 said:
I'd say the issues with long range driving are becoming less of an issue, particularly as the OP is buying a very high spec'ed car with a very healthy range. There are increasing numbers of chargers now with increasing numbers in one place. Of course there will be times when your charger may be occupied or out of service, but make sure you have the zap map app on your phone. Invaluable when looking for chargers. The majority of peoples drives tend not to be long distance, unless you are driving for business.
I currently have an egolf and the range on that is pitiful (120miles per charge) so it means long distance driving requires plenty of planning and a couple of stops for charging. I didn't do a massive amount of long distance until recently so wasnt previously an issue, but if you do do long distances its best to get an EV with 250miles +, and these cars are much more common compared to 2 yrs ago when i got mine. I leased mine to see if i enjoyed EVs before investing in one, and i must say I wouldn't go back to an ICE car now.
A specific issue for the Audi GT is that the cables on the Ionity chargers are simply too short. You cannot connect without clipping the kerb, scuffing the passenger side wing or taking two charging positions to charge one car without impacting it. Not ideal. Are some examples on Youtube etc.
I think I reconciled the need to journey plan before buying. As I say, I'm far from totally convinced about this proposition if totally truthful but am determined to do what I can to make an impact environmentally. We have shook up a huge amount of our lifestyle issues .... the travel and steak still needs work but pretty much any other cost free or investment based action, we have either done or actively drying to do.
I prefer the concept of Hydrogen if truthful (and things like the Mira) but unless you are a taxi driver round M25 area then it just does not work yet which is a shame. I have yet to be won over by a meaningful solution to battery recycling after car life. Lot of words, a lot less firm scalable solutions.
I'm also of the opinion that consumer pressure is usually the only thing that ever changes things. So buying and learning now 'may' make a difference going forward.0 -
The biggest problem will be getting a 3 phase smart meter, they are very rare with people waiting months to get one, so do check with Octopus on just when they can actually fit one…0
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MWT said:The biggest problem will be getting a 3 phase smart meter, they are very rare with people waiting months to get one, so do check with Octopus on just when they can actually fit one…
I had intended call Octopus yesterday but got distracted. In fairness we do have months as it goes. Car is a factory build and earliest delivery is slated March/April.
But 100%, the sooner we start the process the better it will be ... less frustrating.
And I think you are right. What starts to permeate out is that whilst there is enthusiasm and cogs start to turn in the supply and infrastructure side, it's very far from an off the shelf, one stop shop solution.
For me personally, I enjoy the learning and the development of a solution, ideally the best solution (be it EV supplies, irrigations systems, GSHP's, solar whatever). ..... for most, I can imagine this to be like root canal.0 -
jumeriah64 said:MWT said:The biggest problem will be getting a 3 phase smart meter, they are very rare with people waiting months to get one, so do check with Octopus on just when they can actually fit one…
I had intended call Octopus yesterday but got distracted. In fairness we do have months as it goes. Car is a factory build and earliest delivery is slated March/April.
But 100%, the sooner we start the process the better it will be ... less frustrating.
And I think you are right. What starts to permeate out is that whilst there is enthusiasm and cogs start to turn in the supply and infrastructure side, it's very far from an off the shelf, one stop shop solution.
For me personally, I enjoy the learning and the development of a solution, ideally the best solution (be it EV supplies, irrigations systems, GSHP's, solar whatever). ..... for most, I can imagine this to be like root canal.0 -
[Deleted User] said:jumeriah64 said:MWT said:The biggest problem will be getting a 3 phase smart meter, they are very rare with people waiting months to get one, so do check with Octopus on just when they can actually fit one…
I had intended call Octopus yesterday but got distracted. In fairness we do have months as it goes. Car is a factory build and earliest delivery is slated March/April.
But 100%, the sooner we start the process the better it will be ... less frustrating.
And I think you are right. What starts to permeate out is that whilst there is enthusiasm and cogs start to turn in the supply and infrastructure side, it's very far from an off the shelf, one stop shop solution.
For me personally, I enjoy the learning and the development of a solution, ideally the best solution (be it EV supplies, irrigations systems, GSHP's, solar whatever). ..... for most, I can imagine this to be like root canal.
Will do exactly as you say. Indeed I should do now as I keep putting this off.
Thanks again for the super support. Still waiting on Audi to confirm if I have the 22kw ac adaptor.0 -
jumeriah64 said:Thanks again for the super support. Still waiting on Audi to confirm if I have the 22kw ac adaptor.
it should be written on your invoice as one of your extras. It doesn’t come as part of your vorsprung add on pack. Do your car configuration on the Audi website to check.0 -
If I was asked to pay £1300 for 350kW charging then the first question that I would be asking myself is ‘how often am I going to use it’? I now own an EV with a range of 290 miles. I suspect that over 98% of my charging is done at home. On the occasions that I have needed a rapid (50kW) charging in the past, a 40 minute break in the journey hasn’t been a concern and it has added c.100 miles to my car’s range.
In sum, unless I was a travelling salesman I wouldn’t pay such a high premium for what is just an expensive convenience.0 -
niktheguru said:jumeriah64 said:Thanks again for the super support. Still waiting on Audi to confirm if I have the 22kw ac adaptor.
it should be written on your invoice as one of your extras. It doesn’t come as part of your vorsprung add on pack. Do your car configuration on the Audi website to check.
It is rather amazingly on one of the home landing pages of the GT product on Audi UK web site .... but still no one seems aware of it. Or rather they are now cancellation is an option.
https://www.audi.co.uk/uk/web/en/models/etrongt/audi-e-tron-gt.html
Turns out the 22kw ac option (factory fit only) comes with a mandatory charge plus pack at £3k. They still don't actually know what this is!!! I've been promised an answer within the next day.
What is clear and agreed is that I will be getting it .... and at zero extra charge!
I should be smiling but I'm not. Fact is that no-one even knew about it until I raised the point. Turns out I'm not the first. A read of other forums shows one or two 3-phase people have experienced the same issue.1 -
[Deleted User] said:If I was asked to pay £1300 for 350kW charging then the first question that I would be asking myself is ‘how often am I going to use it’? I now own an EV with a range of 290 miles. I suspect that over 98% of my charging is done at home. On the occasions that I have needed a rapid (50kW) charging in the past, a 40 minute break in the journey hasn’t been a concern and it has added c.100 miles to my car’s range.
In sum, unless I was a travelling salesman I wouldn’t pay such a high premium for what is just an expensive convenience.
I spent a lot of years living under the logic cloud of rational cost analysis and fortunately now (after many years of selling my soul) I'm not needing to be so diligent in that area. But I 100% agree that should that be needed, it is very questionable as an option. But then so is a lot of the nonsense fitted to that car. On logic, the Ioniq 5 wins every times.
Contradicting my earlier comment a little, I have learned (and proved to myself with high percentages) that buying once, buying high end, specifying right/high end and then using and repairing until the wheels metaphorically fall off (be it TV's, surround sound hifi, furniture, dish washers, cars etc) to have worked exceptionally well for me.
That said again, I'd 100% agree that stepping into a new unknown area like EV's that this M.O may very well not fit and not prove to work so well. I suspect that will in fact be the case.
Time will be less of a factor (for me) in future years and yes, those charge breaks will be engineered in. But at the moment, I do need be able to do regular Heathrow (and similar) blasts with time pressures and certainty. Range will become less of an issue next gen. As the CEO of Polestar said recently .... once you got to the 3 hour drive range, then most folks need to stop anyway. So those mad range ambitions will within the next 3 years become less relevant ... as will the insane competition to do fastest launch control 0-60 times. Think I read the new top spec TBA Tesla can do 0.60 in under 2 seconds!!! There comes a point when it's very much 'so what'.1
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