EV Discussion thread

cheesymouse

I generally check out the Tesla open to all locations before I go to see if any of those work for a particular journey. Generally these are cheaper early in the day or later evening if that works with your travel plans.

Otherwise just get an Electroverse code (with a referral code if you know someone with one) and you can see the prices for Electroverse compatible ones on the app.

Zap map is another useful app for checking locations and pricing. And as JKenH said, don’t worry too much about the cost if it’s only occasionally.

silverwhistle

I'd add that you can also get subscriptions which bring the cost down and can be purchased by the month, so worthwhile if you are going on a longer trip. Went to France and Italy a month ago and used a Tesla sub and the Electroverse card mainly, but Ionity is also worthwhile and has a fairly low mileage break even point too.

NedS

Thanks everyone.

It sounds like an Electroverse card and knowledge that we can use some of the Tesla superchargers should be sufficient. As this would only be for long pre-planned trips, we will likely have access to a huge number of charging sites due to the length of the trip, so should have no issue locating convenient places to stop on the journey.

Most of our journeys are either very short, or in the 25-50 miles category. Occasionally we do a 100 mile trip to the hospital for Mrs_S, and 1-2 longer trips to the airport for holidays which would require a small charge to make it there and back.

We are booked in for our first EV test drive tomorrow :-)

Netexporter

Exciting times!

Ectophile

When planning trips, I tend to prioritise size of charging station over price. If you head for a little 2-bay charger at the back of a car park somewhere, then it's probably broken. If you find somewhere with 4 or more chargers, then the chances are that most of them will be working.

And if your new car supports ultra-rapid charging, you may be disappointed if you arrive at a 50kW charger. But for those of us with older model cars, that's not really an issue.

michaels

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82109326#Comment_82109326

I think it is very different now to 4 years ago in my experience.

Zap-map prices can often differ (higher) from direct with the network prices.

As above sometimes buying a subscription for a month can pay for itself on a single charge.

Exiled_Tyke

Tesla sites are (generally) substantially cheaper than any of the other providers in the UK. If you don't have a Tesla the app is set to only show the sites open to you. There are however some additional issues to consider :

1. The older sites have short cables which only reach the back left (or I guess the front right) side of the car, as they were set up for Teslas. If your car (like mine) chargers on the other side you either need to take up two spaces or be at the end. (I have seen a row of cars like me all using the 'wrong' charger and not put anybody out). To avoid this I try for the newer sites but often you only learn from experience.
2. If you are doing more than one or two charges in a month then a subscription is well worth it. Once you've set it up you can cancel anytime in the month (before it automatically renews) and it will run for the month and then cancel out.
3. Some Tesla charging sites are privately owned and a lot more expensive so watch out for these. The pricing is on the app though.

I use electroverse as a back up but very rarely use it in the UK. It is however great in France for cheap charges at McDonalds, Aldi and Lidl.

Exiled_Tyke

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82109499#Comment_82109499

How was the test-drive?

I thought a few personal examples may be useful?? We are based in Yorkshire and have an EV range of 250-300 miles

1. A trip to the East of Scotland I can charge using Tesla on the A1 at Belford (other options are available but more expensive) and then again at Dundee
2. For the West Coast it's Gretna and then Glasgow.
3. London - there is a garden centre close to Toddington Services - I charge here on the way down and then again on the way back.
4. If I do London on the M40 then Rugby and Banbury work well for me.
5. for Dover I use Cambridge and then Blue-water or Lakeside or Folkestone.

There's now over 100 sites open to non-Teslas so there's usually one convenient to the route.

As mentioned before it's been a longtime since I've had to use a more expensive non-tesla site in the UK.

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82114107#Comment_82114107

Thanks for that. TBH I don't think range anxiety is really a concern for us as most of our journeys are within vehicle range, and we are more than capable of planning ahead for longer journeys.

The test drive went great. We drove a Skoda Enyaq Coupe and we both really liked the car, which was already top of our shortlist. Nothing we saw makes us think it's not a very strong contender, plus we've been Skoda owners for the best part of 20 years and very happy to continue being so. We both enjoyed the electric experience, so no issues there.

We plan to have a look in our local VW / Audi dealerships at the ID 4/5/7 and Q4 e-tron, but I'd be very surprised if any can pull us away from the Enyaq. More so I can satisfy myself that we have done our due diligence and not missed out on anything.

But at this point, I assume we will be shopping for a face-lift (25 plate onwards) Enyaq ideally with less than 10k miles on the clock. We are still undecided on SUV Estate versus the Coupe body style, but probably open to either depending what is available at the time (1st world problems).

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82114427#Comment_82114427

FWIW, when we purchased our car, we found that the Skoda options were actually far higher "quality" than the VW options which seemed to have been designed down to a price. If you recall the old advert, the Skoda's were "solid, like a Golf" whereas the VW's weren't.