Streets ahead? What I’ve learned from my year with an electric car

JustTheGent

Well-known member
A good article to read for anyone interested or considering buying an EV. Obviously everybody has their own opinion, but it's sometimes hard to pin facts down on this subject. This provides a verified account of EV ownership.

 
Sounds awful. Especially around London. It’s going to be a long time until I consider EV. Only when the charging network is as common and available as the fuel network.
 
I've said it previously but 95% of the time is fantastic but charge anxiety is real when you're in a place you're not familiar with. Had a nightmare in the Cotswalds at New Year.

The infrastructure needs to rise rapidly, which to be fair I understand some companies are doing so. Certainly two of the best, InstaVolt and Osprey
 
Sounds awful. Especially around London. It’s going to be a long time until I consider EV. Only when the charging network is as common and available as the fuel network.
It’s not awful, and especially not around London where it’s 100% the right thing to own. Chargers everywhere.


Interesting the gent troll seems obsessed with a verified account of EV ownership but fails to read the verified EV owners on here. Shows he’s just flat trolling now
 
So I’m not allowed my opinion on here without you berating me then? 4 sentences and I’m obsessed and a troll?
There’s this thing called difference of opinion. If you can’t accept that, I’d hate to be you Smalltown.
 
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So I’m not allowed my opinion on here without you berating me then? 4 sentences and I’m obsessed and a troll?
There’s this thing called difference of opinion. If you can’t accept that, I’d hate to be you Smalltown.
No. Unless you are Gent as well, and responding to yourself, I didn’t accuse you of trolling at all.

Merely sharing my experience that, especially in London, EV car is exactly the way to go.
 
So I’m not allowed my opinion on here without you berating me then? 4 sentences and I’m obsessed and a troll?
There’s this thing called difference of opinion. If you can’t accept that, I’d hate to be you Smalltown.
I don't think he was meaning you Sammy
 
So I’m not allowed my opinion on here without you berating me then? 4 sentences and I’m obsessed and a troll?
There’s this thing called difference of opinion. If you can’t accept that, I’d hate to be you Smalltown.

ST was referring to the OP Just The Gent aka The Right Hon Member aka Footy Expo, who isn't a troll at all, but IMO a very entertaining contributor (when he wants to be)
 
ST was referring to the OP Just The Gent aka The Right Hon Member aka Footy Expo, who isn't a troll at all, but IMO a very entertaining contributor (when he wants to be)
I would disagree strongly: he pretends to be reasonable on this topic but he’s for from it. Under the surface he just repeated already disproven lies about EV or claims to want to “hear a verified view” yet ignores the views of verified EV owners on here. Classic troll behaviour.
As I said, in London at least EV is by far the way to go. No congestion chargers, no ULEZ. Chargers everywhere. More and cheaper parking in the centre due to charging bays
 
In that case it's just a difference in opinion on exactly how you define a troll.

For me it's just someone who posts rubbish deliberately to annoy people or wind them up in a manner that's not really entertaining at all - expo might be annoying to a lot of people on here but I find him more entertaining than annoying, a bit like the local drunk down the pub
 
Well SmallTown, I don't agree with you on some subjects, but I have to say I have found you very helpful in making my mind up re EV.
My next car will be EV, not hybrid and certainly not ICE.
I will wait until the precise model I want is on the market, then see some initial reviews and jump in then, likely 2 years from now.
 
I've had mine a year and a half, best car I've owned, and I've got twice the car for what I would have paid for electric, factoring in total cost of ownership, then couple that with putting it through my business, it makes it even better. Anyone who has a company, or a decent boss and a company car/ car scheme should be all over an EV, in most instances.

I'm so impressed I'm even going further up the spec/ performance scale.

240 mile range in summer and 200 in winter is more than enough for 99% of my journeys, and the ones it isn't it just needs an adjustment, rather than an inconvenience.

I felt a bit strange sat with it on charge for 20-40 mins, when I've already been to the toilet or had my food etc, but I just think about all the visits to petrol stations which I've not done. I certainly spend less time sat waiting for charge, than I did driving to a pump, and waiting for it to fill, and then pay etc.

The only time it annoys me slightly is visiting the missus parents 300 miles away (maybe twice a year), as when I arrive I often have little charge, and as they don't have a charger nearby it means charging via 3 pin plug which takes ages for a big car. We often drive out for lunch or whatever though, so tend to charge there which is fine.

I'd say a 7-11kW charger at home is a must though, unless you often go somewhere where there's a 50kW charger for smaller cars, or 100kW for larger cars, we need more of these in supermarkets/ gyms/ restaurants etc.

There's loads of chargers around London, which could easily make up for not having a charger at home, or on the street, but that infrastructure does need adding, and it will come soon.
 
I got an ev on New Year’s Eve.

I have had some mild range anxiety. Perhaps that is because it is new and I am still getting used to it. Perhaps it is because the range promised on the car appears to be different - considerably less - to the amount of miles left shown on the car. Mostly I think it is because I haven’t had my home charge point fitted yet.

The first two days I had the car were New Years Eve and New Years Day and the mileage and charge were reducing as expected. These were warm (relatively) days. After that it has come in much colder and the battery gauge on the car has shown, at least it feels, like only a small drop in charge, but the mileage remaining has dropped off a cliff.

The mileage is supposed to be 201. Real world the reviews were saying 170-180. Might drop to 150 on motorways and might drop when it is cold. Actually, for the first couple of warm days - warm for January not necessarily compared to the rest of the year - I was pleased that the range was if anything better than expected.

The first really cold night I woke up to find that overnight the remaining range had dropped by 30 miles. 30 miles is a lot! What’s more once I set off the mileage remaining was dropping way more than the mileage I was travelling.

I do about 50 miles a day, so I’d worked on probably charging up every three days. The way the mileage appears to drop and if it was going to drop 30 miles overnight just sat there, then I have been charging sometimes every day, sometimes every other. Of course, if I had my home charger this all disappears but when you are scared to go anywhere near your limit because you have to travel to a charger, which could in theory be in use or broken, it doesn’t.

What I haven’t had is charger anxiety. Well, I did because I’d heard of it and knew that the nearest one to me is sometimes out. However I haven’t actually had any difficulties and have only once found the fast charger I wanted to use already in use. It is a 30 minute charge but so far it’s something I’ve anticipated and spent the time either doing things in my car, shopping or grabbing a bite to eat. Once I have the home charger I doubt I will ever use them except on long journeys or an emergency. There is quite a price difference mind you, but they are all a lot less than petrol.

The charging is easy, but the way the battery and mileage increase during charging is still taking me a bit of getting used to.

When the battery is low and remaining miles low and you start charging the battery charge increases rapidly, but the mileage far less so. As the charge approaches 80%, the increase in charge slows per minute but the mileage shoots up. I don’t know if this will settle, I’m told over time the software adapts as it gets to know you and driving patterns. The dealer said to focus on the charge remaining rather than the miles, but that is not intuitively easy.

So, not perfect for me anxiety wise, but not bad.

I’m not a car person, so it surprises me how much I really like driving this car. Wouldn’t want to go back.

Right now I don’t think I would recommend someone get one if they couldn’t get a home charger unless the range of the car was over 300 miles real world. Maybe hang on two more years for the battery range and affordability equation to shift even more and the charging network develops even more, but the change is coming, you won’t regret it, won’t go back.

As an aside, I see the new Merc revealed this week, developed with the F1 team, has a real world mileage range of 620 miles, so range anxiety will soon never be an issue for anyone as the technology trickles down.
 
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Balanced OP to be fair, and a balanced one from Lefty.

We're looking. to change soon, maybe a hybrid for now until the country, backwards in so many aspects, is geared up for the future.
 
I got an ev on New Year’s Eve.

I have had some mild range anxiety. Perhaps that is because it is new and I am still getting used to it. Perhaps it is because the range promised on the car appears to be different - considerably less - to the amount of miles left shown on the car. Mostly I think it is because I haven’t had my home charge point fitted yet.

The first two days I had the car were New Years Eve and New Years Day and the mileage and charge were reducing as expected. These were warm (relatively) days. After that it has come in much colder and the battery gauge on the car has shown, at least it feels, like only a small drop in charge, but the mileage remaining has dropped off a cliff.

The mileage is supposed to be 201. Real world the reviews were saying 170-180. Might drop to 150 on motorways and might drop when it is cold. Actually, for the first couple of warm days - warm for January not necessarily compared to the rest of the year - I was pleased that the range was if anything better than expected.

The first really cold night I woke up to find that overnight the remaining range had dropped by 30 miles. 30 miles is a lot! What’s more once I set off the mileage remaining was dropping way more than the mileage I was travelling.

I do about 50 miles a day, so I’d worked on probably charging up every three days. The way the mileage appears to drop and if it was going to drop 30 miles overnight just sat there, then I have been charging sometimes every day, sometimes every other. Of course, if I had my home charger this all disappears but when you are scared to go anywhere near your limit because you have to travel to a charger, which could in theory be in use or broken, it doesn’t.

What I haven’t had is charger anxiety. Well, I did because I’d heard of it and knew that the nearest one to me is sometimes out. However I haven’t actually had any difficulties and have only once found the fast charger I wanted to use already in use. It is a 30 minute charge but so far it’s something I’ve anticipated and spent the time either doing things in my car, shopping or grabbing a bite to eat. Once I have the home charger I doubt I will ever use them except on long journeys or an emergency. There is quite a price difference mind you, but they are all a lot less than petrol.

The charging is easy, but the way the battery and mileage increase during charging is still taking me a bit of getting used to.

When the battery is low and remaining miles low and you start charging the battery charge increases rapidly, but the mileage far less so. As the charge approaches 80%, the increase in charge slows per minute but the mileage shoots up. I don’t know if this will settle, I’m told over time the software adapts as it gets to know you and driving patterns. The dealer said to focus on the charge remaining rather than the miles, but that is not intuitively easy.

So, not perfect for me anxiety wise, but not bad.

I’m not a car person, so it surprises me how much I really like driving this car. Wouldn’t want to go back.

Right now I don’t think I would recommend someone get one if they couldn’t get a home charger unless the range of the car was over 300 miles real world. Maybe hang on two more years for the battery range and affordability equation shifts even more and the charging network develops even more, but the change is coming, you won’t regret it, won’t go back.

As an aside, I see the new Merc revealed this week, developed with the F1 team, has a real world mileage range of 620 miles, so range anxiety will soon never be an issue for anyone as the technology trickles down.
Good post.

I think your "range anxiety" is a hangover from everyone telling you you should have it and EV being new to you. I was the same when I first got mine but I seen realised its not a thing.

With respect to range: yeah, it'll take pretty much perfect conditions to get the quoted range. In the winter you'll have less range as the battery needs to keep itself warm. And of course you'll be using more heater and lights etc. When you get your home charger a tip would be schedule the charge to complete before you take it out. That'll heat the battery a little. Also if you can preheat the cabin in your car do that before setting off. It'll increase the range. Another tip is use the heated seats to warm up, not the heater. It's much more efficient.

As far charging: that's pretty much how cars charge. It takes some getting used to but from about 10-50% they charge super quick, then taper off to preserve the battery. After 80% charging slows right down and after 90% it should only crawl. Although some cars like the audi e tron have a "buffer" which allows them to charge quicker. The buffer is essentially just a larger battery capacity than they tell you, so they can quick charge and get to "100%" quicker.

Once you start doing long journeys you'll get used to running down to Below 10% and not charging beyond 80.

Try using a better route planner (ABRP) To play long journeys. It's really useful and you can change loads of variables about your car such as extr weight, battery degradation etc. And if you have the pro version it even gets the weather forecast and uses that to calculate range
 
What I don't like about EV is nobody seems to care the destruction caused because of batteries. That is a developing environmental disaster in itself. There's little doubt EV is the future, but it has a dirty element to it as well.
 
Good post.

I think your "range anxiety" is a hangover from everyone telling you you should have it and EV being new to you. I was the same when I first got mine but I seen realised its not a thing.

With respect to range: yeah, it'll take pretty much perfect conditions to get the quoted range. In the winter you'll have less range as the battery needs to keep itself warm. And of course you'll be using more heater and lights etc. When you get your home charger a tip would be schedule the charge to complete before you take it out. That'll heat the battery a little. Also if you can preheat the cabin in your car do that before setting off. It'll increase the range. Another tip is use the heated seats to warm up, not the heater. It's much more efficient.

As far charging: that's pretty much how cars charge. It takes some getting used to but from about 10-50% they charge super quick, then taper off to preserve the battery. After 80% charging slows right down and after 90% it should only crawl. Although some cars like the audi e tron have a "buffer" which allows them to charge quicker. The buffer is essentially just a larger battery capacity than they tell you, so they can quick charge and get to "100%" quicker.

Once you start doing long journeys you'll get used to running down to Below 10% and not charging beyond 80.

Try using a better route planner (ABRP) To play long journeys. It's really useful and you can change loads of variables about your car such as extr weight, battery degradation etc. And if you have the pro version it even gets the weather forecast and uses that to calculate range

Yeah, the podpoint app and zap-map are really good, as is the sat nav in the car, so they really quickly, once I saw how accurately and quickly they responded in the real world, have removed most of the anxiety really quickly. Once the home charger is installed I don't think I'll have any. I've already worked out charge points when I travel to Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester for gigs so I'm actually looking forward to it.

I've been using the heated seats and steering wheel anyway and found I didn't need the heater on (after the fast clear for the windscreen). I didn't realise it uses less battery so (y)

Mine does have a facility to heat the cabin up, you can do it from the app say 20 minutes before setting off, and if it is still connected to the home charger it won't use any of the car battery. I've got to say, although the EV version is a lot more to buy than the Petrol version of my car, the stuff it comes with as pretty much standard, is really impressive.

I'm only 10 days in and despite still having to get used to some stuff, giving it back, which I could do, has not even remotely entered my head. I love it.
 
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