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

After todays experience there is also another issue that needs addressing. People using charge points as parking spots. Four EV stations near work: all full but only half charging. On plugged in but full, one car not even plugged in at all. This is such an issue and people need to be less selfish. Imagine if half the petrol pumps at a station were blocked with people simply parking?
 
I think I might take the plunge - I’m actually thinking of goin* for the Hyundai Ionic 5 - does anybody have any thoughts/experience of this car. Seems to get fairlypositive reviews.
 
Tbf I don't have any experience odds if but have had good things about the hyundai EV platform they have developed.
I would certainly swap my model 3 for it's sister car, the Kia ev6 if I could
 
I think I might take the plunge - I’m actually thinking of goin* for the Hyundai Ionic 5 - does anybody have any thoughts/experience of this car. Seems to get fairlypositive reviews.
Looks smart, and 800V too, which means fast charging, when you get on a fast charger.

Think it can do up to 220KW, which means charging the 73kW battery option in about 20 minutes.

You won't get a full charge in 20 minutes as it takes time to get going and slows down near the end, but the typical 10%-80% will likely take less than 20 mins, which is what matters most.

There isn't many chargers over 200kW up north mind (closest 350kw is Skelton Lakes Leeds), but if you live up North you don't really need them up here anyway, you want them about 200 miles away, and there is some. Of course a lot more are on their way, and there's plenty at 100kW and above. There's a 140kW one at Wynyard services too no I think, although I've not used it.
 
Looks smart, and 800V too, which means fast charging, when you get on a fast charger.

Think it can do up to 220KW, which means charging the 73kW battery option in about 20 minutes.

You won't get a full charge in 20 minutes as it takes time to get going and slows down near the end, but the typical 10%-80% will likely take less than 20 mins, which is what matters most.

There isn't many chargers over 200kW up north mind (closest 350kw is Skelton Lakes Leeds), but if you live up North you don't really need them up here anyway, you want them about 200 miles away, and there is some. Of course a lot more are on their way, and there's plenty at 100kW and above. There's a 140kW one at Wynyard services too no I think, although I've not used it.
I’m down south - my main concern would be making a few trips up north each year - I gues it would just need a bit more planning so I make sure I can get there and back.

I like the look of the car - it’s at the top end of what I’m comfortable paying for now. I currently have diesel bmw x3 but a like for like replacement would be about 60k which I can’t justify given how little I use my car.
 
Where about down South? Which battery option would you chose?

Is Leeds within range? The single motor 58kW says 220 range, but that will be more like 180 in winter on the motorway, but the best option looks like the 77kW single motor with 303 mile range, which would be about 250 on the motorway in winter. That car would cost a bit more, but it would probably hold all of that extra cost as it would be more in demand when you came to sell.

There's plenty of 100kW plus mind, which are more than good enough on a long trip, after 180-250 miles of driving you would probably need to stop for 30-40 mins to pretty mull fill your car from "empty" to max. After a **** and a bite to eat you probably won't need to be sat around.

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5 year unlimited mileage warranty on those, and 8 year for the battery, great stuff.
 
I’m down south - my main concern would be making a few trips up north each year - I gues it would just need a bit more planning so I make sure I can get there and back.

I like the look of the car - it’s at the top end of what I’m comfortable paying for now. I currently have diesel bmw x3 but a like for like replacement would be about 60k which I can’t justify given how little I use my car.
You'd be surprised with your trips up north. My last one, which had a detour to whitby on the way, necessitated a 17 min charge stop.

True my car has (now) 298 miles of range but yours won't be far off that. As Andy W says plenty of places to charge on the way. It's honestly got to the point where I just drive home and stop and charge when i need a wee.

It's not the most efficient way (ideally you should hit a charger when you have 10% state of charge to get the quickens charge speeds) but it does mean you don't change your driving routine.

It had to be said, this is when I take journeys with the OH in the car to minimise disruption.

When I'm in myself I got all geeky and use a better route planner to plan optimal route. I guess my point is, was it will require a bit more planning, especially if you can't charge at your destination but you'll be surprised how minimal it is and how quickly you get used to it
 
True my car has (now) 298 miles of range but yours won't be far off that. As Andy W says plenty of places to charge on the way. It's honestly got to the point where I just drive home and stop and charge when i need a wee.

It had to be said, this is when I take journeys with the OH in the car to minimise disruption.

When I'm in myself I got all geeky and use a better route planner to plan optimal route. I guess my point is, was it will require a bit more planning, especially if you can't charge at your destination but you'll be surprised how minimal it is and how quickly you get used to it
I'm more obsessive than that, but it's probably because I don't do it often.

I try and seek out the 100kW chargers and above only, which is probably a bit pointless with my max charge speed of 120kW at 400v, and when on a 150kW 800v I don't ever seem to get above 90kW anyway. I should probably just take anything above 50kW and stop further down the line, at larger service stations.

I think a lot of what I do is down to the awful route planner in Merc's mind, it just seems to want to ignore faster chargers at good service stations, and seems to like to chose slower chargers in places which are crap (like spa's and gyms, where there are no facilities).

@FatCat when where you're going doesn't have a destination charger, you might be able to use a 3 pin plug, but it will take 24-36 hours to charge to full, from empty, as they're slow as hell. You're better off having a quick stop before your get there, or charging at a pub or something when you go out for a meal, or at the supermarket. I learnt this the hard way, using the missus mums 3 pin socket, and hovering around 10-30% charge for days as I kept using it and not getting a long enough charge.
 
With regards to my OP, I posted the article because it seemed pretty balanced. The person giving their account is a professor, so you'd certainly presume her judgement with regards to cost and other things to be at least on par with the average person.

My take on it is she is actually overrating her EV purchase. I believe this for many reasons but one of the most obvious ones is if she keeps the vehicle for a lengthy period, it will likely develop problems. There's many reasons for this, but perhaps the most obvious one is we know these batteries are vulnerable by default. They degrade from the word go - in some circumstances this can be quite dramatic.

The emerging problem that is firmly on the horizon is the lack of materials used to make these batteries. Tesla are already starting to use cheaper batteries which have less energy density and less range due to material shortage. You'll often hear about technology, but in this case Tesla are actually going backwards. As detailed in the article underneath.


We also know there is a big supply problem in the EV industry, especially with Tesla. Some people have had to wait up to 6 months to get their cars repaired. This surely has got to push up insurance premiums, but I guess the nature of EVs makes insurance higher anyway. You've got to buy a new one for a stack of money or buy a used one without knowing how long the battery will have left and a potential humongous bill served up if a replacement is needed.

As far as this TCO goes, it's all spin. If it looks expensive - it is expensive, for me. Your pocket will tell you anyway. In fact, studies have shown that a petrol car that only averages 33mpg is still cheaper to run than an EV. In California data illustrated that it cost $12.95 to go 100 miles on electric and only $8.58 on petrol.


Those with common sense know about technology and cars and how it breaks. Just look at those Tesla owners who were locked out of their vehicles because the internet went down. They needed to use an app to get into their vehicles but couldn't access it 😆

Whatever happened to that good old technology called a key?
I think the price of petrol in the US means the figures would be significantly different in theUK.
 
I'm more obsessive than that, but it's probably because I don't do it often.

I try and seek out the 100kW chargers and above only, which is probably a bit pointless with my max charge speed of 120kW at 400v, and when on a 150kW 800v I don't ever seem to get above 90kW anyway. I should probably just take anything above 50kW and stop further down the line, at larger service stations.

I think a lot of what I do is down to the awful route planner in Merc's mind, it just seems to want to ignore faster chargers at good service stations, and seems to like to chose slower chargers in places which are crap (like spa's and gyms, where there are no facilities).

@FatCat when where you're going doesn't have a destination charger, you might be able to use a 3 pin plug, but it will take 24-36 hours to charge to full, from empty, as they're slow as hell. You're better off having a quick stop before your get there, or charging at a pub or something when you go out for a meal, or at the supermarket. I learnt this the hard way, using the missus mums 3 pin socket, and hovering around 10-30% charge for days as I kept using it and not getting a long enough charge.
I actually have a charger preference list which isn't based on cost. Maybe that the worrying thing and the one negative about current EV usage: Some chargers are nowhere near as reliable as they should be: Old Ecotricity chargers before the grid serve tie in (especially at Welcome break services, given WB won't let ecotricity on site to repair them) I also avoid Shell because Ive had a couple of problems with them.

Nothing AT ALL like BP Pulse though. They are the worst I've experienced by a significant margin. So much so that they are filtered out of my zap map searches and I will only use in an emergency.

Super expensive and super rare they may one but I really like ionity. They are (I believe) the quickest out there. and have only ever had one issue with them which was OK as they tend to be in big clusters so I just moved to another charger.
 
The reviews seem fantastic - I have a test drive tomorrow - will be interesting to see the waiting time if I decide to go ahead with it.
Unless they have one allocated already then I'd be prepared for quite a substantial wait unfortunately.
 
Unless they have one allocated already then I'd be prepared for quite a substantial wait unfortunately.
Yes I guess so - let’s see - if I like the car I think I’ll go for it and then wait whatever is necessary - strangely my current motor seems to be going up in value so I’m not really losing anything there!
 
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I actually have a charger preference list which isn't based on cost. Maybe that the worrying thing and the one negative about current EV usage: Some chargers are nowhere near as reliable as they should be: Old Ecotricity chargers before the grid serve tie in (especially at Welcome break services, given WB won't let ecotricity on site to repair them) I also avoid Shell because Ive had a couple of problems with them.

Nothing AT ALL like BP Pulse though. They are the worst I've experienced by a significant margin. So much so that they are filtered out of my zap map searches and I will only use in an emergency.

Super expensive and super rare they may one but I really like ionity. They are (I believe) the quickest out there. and have only ever had one issue with them which was OK as they tend to be in big clusters so I just moved to another charger.

I've not had the same problems as you but I don't use public chargers often really.

That's daft about Welcome break, but sounds like they're rolling out their own (which I bet will be expensive).

BP Pulse have worked every time for me, albeit one or tow have disconnected within a few minutes annoyingly.

I'm not fussed on cost of charging, as I use public charging that little, I don't even check the price. More interested in charging speed, so have used Ionity loads and they're worked every time, and always had availability.

That new services at Rugby is a good setup, hopefully they all become like that.
 
I've not had the same problems as you but I don't use public chargers often really.

That's daft about Welcome break, but sounds like they're rolling out their own (which I bet will be expensive).

BP Pulse have worked every time for me, albeit one or tow have disconnected within a few minutes annoyingly.

I'm not fussed on cost of charging, as I use public charging that little, I don't even check the price. More interested in charging speed, so have used Ionity loads and they're worked every time, and always had availability.

That new services at Rugby is a good setup, hopefully they all become like that.
Agreed I do like rugby. And being on the M6/M1 junction it covers tirips from south east to both North West and North East!

I think I've been particularly unlucky with BP pulse. I always seem to get to ones with known problems! I genuinely can't remember the last time I used one that didn't have issues!

I must admit, I'm obviously spoilt as I have the supercharger network too. I hope the open that up to everyone. That'll be a game changer as far as infrastructure goes. Such a wealth of new charges all of a sudden. Although I'll be miffed if you guys pay the same rate as me, given some of the extremely high cost of the car is to cover building the infrastructure. I would hope I still get a discount.
 
Agreed I do like rugby. And being on the M6/M1 junction it covers tirips from south east to both North West and North East!

I think I've been particularly unlucky with BP pulse. I always seem to get to ones with known problems! I genuinely can't remember the last time I used one that didn't have issues!

I must admit, I'm obviously spoilt as I have the supercharger network too. I hope the open that up to everyone. That'll be a game changer as far as infrastructure goes. Such a wealth of new charges all of a sudden. Although I'll be miffed if you guys pay the same rate as me, given some of the extremely high cost of the car is to cover building the infrastructure. I would hope I still get a discount.
Yeah, I wouldn't even be mentioning BP if I had access to the Tesla Network, lucky git.
 
Neighbour has an electric car. Dont know what its like to drive but he took great pleasure in informing me yesterday that it costs about 7 quid to fully charge at home, with range of over 300 miles. Meanwhile I'm paying 50+ for a tank of petrol ☹
 
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