Cheery's path to fulfilment - finishing the DIY, looking after myself, appreciating the garden 🌻

Cheery_Daff

@EssexHebridean yes I can see it's not suitable for you, and I was assuming we'd definitely be doing longer journeys in the diesel although actually it looks like that isn't necessarily the case for some people. Probably makes more sense for us than you - we definitely have big/small cars rather than his/hers so could easily tailor usage to journey rather than person. And we can also theoretically charge at home, being completely off road - I don't think I'd want to do it without doing that.

@themadvix thank you, that's all useful to know. Do you top up every time you stop then, rather than waiting til near empty like I'd do with a diesel? Makes sense!

Going to investigate chargers near Mr C Snr's house - there's a big supermarket very close where we often take him for a cuppa. If we could easily charge there while we were having a cuppa anyway, that would make that journey doable too (it's about 100 miles each way). Definitely nowhere on the way to and from work but there'll be somewhere in town for an emergency charge if needed I imagine.

Might get into the habit of checking the available charger map when we're out and about to get a feel for it.

greenbee

I have a self-charging hybrid, not through choice. I was moving when I had to replace my car and couldn't get a plug in due to not knowing where i'd be living (I was homeless for several months), and there weren't many options out there. It does at least have better mpg than petrol-only, but that's about all it has going for it. I hate buying cars, so I'm putting off the evil moment of changing, but am definitely looking forward to not having to fill up with petrol … and using more of the solar :)

EssexHebridean

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994333#Comment_81994333

Problem is that would mean a cable across our front garden, across the pavement, and up a grass bank, and even that would only work on the very rare occasion we could actually get the car outside the door - mostly it's off up the turning somewhere! This is the issue - they are far more suitable for those with a driveway/off-road parking - for those of us without, it's nowhere near as suitable!

Interesting to read TMV's comments too - especially the bit about the self charging hybrids/greenwashing which really does make sense! Also how fast charging is when topping up on a journey - although not sure if that is specific to T3slas - I'm afraid my dislike of Musk is sufficiently strong to ensure that I wouldn't tough any of their products with a barge pole!

themadvix

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994537#Comment_81994537

No, that's generally how fast it would be depending on the speed of the charger (they're all rapid/superfast at services and in a lot of public place where you're expected to be moving on again quicky; slower at supermarkets and shopping places generally, where they expect you'll charge whilst doing something else), assuming it's a full EV - some PHEVs will only charge more slowly, but it's expected that they will use the petrol engine for longer journeys.

Totally get your objections to Musk and that was definitely a factor for us in buying secondhand - I hate that he is still associated with the company, because we really love the car and the design is second-to-none (and until I test drove it, I really thought I would hate it, so I am not a fangirl - that's genuine impressed-ness (where are my words today?)) - and all the company's poor workers and designers get tarred with the same brush as him. I definitely see that it's a good reason not to have one.

Home charging without a driveway is tricky, but the new laws on guttering for cables will help (possibly not in your circumstances). Councils can install chargers in lampposts too. That being said, while charging at a public charging point is more expensive (depending on the speed of charge), I think it's probably still cheaper than diesel, definitely currently (at the moment we get a full charge at home for less than the cost of a litre of diesel at the fuel stations in town), and likely in general (at the weekend we charged on a public charger from about 14% to 65% for £9.12, so gaining approx 127 miles).

themadvix

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994449#Comment_81994449

Sorry Cheery, hadn't see your response before. We generally only charge at home unless we're going on a long journey (as it's somewhere between 3.5 and 8.5p/kWh at home overnight and most rapid chargers in the UK are about 50-70p/kWh (Superchargers are usually cheaper - it was 44p/kWh at the weekend. Rates vary depending on demand with s/chargers; I'm not sure if that's the case for others, I suspect less so). If we're going a long way, we'll put the destination in the car and it works out where to stop - which we can of course adjust if we want to. It depends on availability of chargers (we tend to stick to superchargers if possible as they are cheaper), but sometimes the car will stop you twice for shorter charges rather than one long one - but still usually at least 100 miles apart, so you're not stopping that often. (Once battery is 80% full it takes a longer to full charge, so it's usual to not top right up.) And we can adjust the level of charge we want to arrive with too, and it will take that into consideration, so we might stop again, but not need to (obviously we don't do this on the way back home!). Obviously, this is all based on the software in a T3sla - I don't know about other brands in terms of how they manage charging but I can't imagine you're left to work out charging stops manually/with Zapmap these days (my friend had a very early Leaf and that was a whole different ball - manual calculations, virtually no chargers and you couldn't be sure they'd work when you got there - but things have definitely changed today!).

Cheery_Daff

Gosh, it hadn't even occurred to me that the car itself would tell us where to stop and fuel up! 😱😱 this is very space age!!

Mr C has a friend with one - I remember he had a ride in it years ago and was very impressed. Doesn't see him often but I'll encourage him to meet up for a chat. I also spotted someone leaving band practice with one the other day so I'll collar him the next time we're there.

beanielou

My physio who drives a lot of miles for work has a Leaf and loves it.

themadvix

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994704#Comment_81994704

I’m sure they are vastly improved now! Hers had a range of 100 miles max and it was their only car. We had a couple of great adventures in it - including picking it up from the dealership when she bought it and not making it all the way home! 😂 (We ended up stopping in a town nearly home and she asked a church friend if she could charge for a bit at her house!) Sadly the early ones didn’t have good battery management and it wasn’t long before the battery had degraded to 60 miles range… not terribly useful! They are so much better today.

cheesymouse

Going to investigate chargers near Mr C Snr's house - there's a big supermarket very close where we often take him for a cuppa…

You could take a look at a couple of websites. Eg Zap Map and Electroverse, and that will show you pretty much most of the chargers.

There is a bit of a change in mindset needed. If you are on a longer trip then definitely charge while doing something else rather than having to stop, even if that means little and often. Absolutely no need to wait until you are running low. Charge when you stop, don’t stop to charge.

Greying_Pilgrim

Can I ask a stupid question - and remember, I know nothing of EV battery technology. If you are able to 'top up' little and often (if the case arises), with an EV - as opposed to 'running on vapours' until you reach the cheapest petrol station, as some folk might do - does the battery cope with this OK in the longer term?

I'm thinking of things like phone batteries, or battery powered drills or things like that - the reasoning was that you ran the item until the battery was all but out, and then recharged fully. I assume technology has moved on? I remember someone on the allotment (inadvertently) dissing the drills I had, as they had to be fully discharged before recharging, otherwise they only recharged to say for example 97%, and then subsequently reduced the 'full' charge that they took on at each recharge. I had my drills because that was the battery technology available at the time - I'm not sure those type of battery packs exist now - so is EV battery technology the same, and the top-up takes it back to 100% everytime, whether 2hrs, or 20 minutes (depending on your depletion starting point, obvs)

Greying X