Electric, Hybrid and Alternative fuelled vehicles - News and Discussion

[idd15]

MG are doing the very first public test drives of the new MG Cyberster sports car at the Everything Electric South show being held at Farnborough on the 11th to 13th October. In addition Hyundai will have their new Inster city car on show there as well.

 

If you get to the show early in the morning it is possible to book quite a number of half hour (ish) test drives over the day. The nice thing about the test drives is that they are often unaccompanied, but if you are accompanied then there is absolutely no "high pressure selling" going on. The person is there to make sure you don't get lost!

 

We did Farnborough a couple of years ago and Harrogate earlier this year. Both are really good but Farnborough was a lot bigger and busier than Harrogate. Both give you the opportunity to try something a bit different as well as the mainstream.

 

[Ian Morgan]

 

If you want to do a test drive of anything there, remember to get the DVLA licence verification code from the DVLA a few days before the show.

 

(test driving the Ioniq N around Farnborough could get a bit hairy 😮 )

[Ian J.]

5 hours ago, Ian Morgan said:

 

If you want to do a test drive of anything there, remember to get the DVLA licence verification code from the DVLA a few days before the show.

 

(test driving the Ioniq N around Farnborough could get a bit hairy 😮 )

 

I'm not likely to be going, but a friend of mine might. I wasn't aware of a licence verification being needed. Can you provide more details?

[Ian Morgan]

19 minutes ago, Ian J. said:

 

I'm not likely to be going, but a friend of mine might. I wasn't aware of a licence verification being needed. Can you provide more details?

 

It's the same as when you try to hire a car or use a courtesy car at a garage nowadays:

 

https://www.viewdrivingrecord.service.gov.uk/driving-record/licence-number

 

From the Everything Electric website FAQ:

 

Quote

Important information – If you would like to participate in a test drive at Everything Electric you will need to register with the manufacturer on the day.

Please obtain a DVLA Licence Check Code online, in advance of the event. This is a free service provided by the DVLA – codes are valid for 21 days from issue. Please visit: DVLA Website

Please note – additional license checks may be required by manufacturers in addition to this - please ensure you have your driving license with you on the day.

 

Edited September 24 by Ian Morgan

[Ian J.]

Thank you 🙂

[Ron Ron Ron]

Sales figures for new car registrations in September 2024 have been released by the SMMT.

 

There is still sluggish overall market growth (all power trains).

Total registrations only 1% up on September last year (2023).

 

Pure EV (BEV) sales up 24.4% on Sept 2023, representing 20.5% of the total market for Sept this year.

 

Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) sales up 32.1% on Sept 2023, representing 8.9% of the total market.

 

September saw 56,387 new EV’s being registered on UK roads; making a total of 269,931 new EV’s in the first 9 months of 2024.

 

 

The faltering economy in Germany saw total new car sales continue to fall month on month, compared with 2023, as they have done all through this year.

September saw German total new car registrations fall 7% compared with Sept 2023.

BEV sales however, were up 8.7% on Sept 2023, after several months of falls, following the sudden removal of government purchase and tax incentives, at the end of 2023.

 

 

.

 

[Hobby]

Hoping someone can help. I have just been given a plug in hybrid Jeep as a courtesy car. Do I have to have some sort of "account" to use public chargers or are there some around which I can pay as I use it like petrol and diesel?

[trevora]

yes pay with CC

[idd15]

6 hours ago, Hobby said:

Hoping someone can help. I have just been given a plug in hybrid Jeep as a courtesy car. Do I have to have some sort of "account" to use public chargers or are there some around which I can pay as I use it like petrol and diesel?

Hi

Hi sorry, but this is going to be one of those "it depends" responses!

 

What model of hybrid Jeep have they loaned you? Have they loaned you any charging cables?

 

The reason I ask is that it looks as if not all the hybrids have the ability to take a Rapid DC charge. If this is the case with your loaned model then you'll be limited to  22Kw and below AC chargers. In my experience very few of these lower powered  AC chargers have contactless credit card readers and you'll probably have to use an app.

 

If the Jeep does take a rapid DC charge then as trevora's post above your good to go with just your CC.

 

HTH

idd

[Hobby]

It's a Jeep Compass 4xe PHEV. Comes with a granny charger which I'm trying out at home. The plug is a basic Type 2 but without the bottom couple of sockets (if that makes sense!).

 

I'm googling it to try and find out more!

[idd15]

3 hours ago, Hobby said:

It's a Jeep Compass 4xe PHEV. Comes with a granny charger which I'm trying out at home. The plug is a basic Type 2 but without the bottom couple of sockets (if that makes sense!).

 

I'm googling it to try and find out more!

Thx for the info. I’ve Googled it as well.
 

This particular Jeep only supports AC charging. As they’ve not lent you a type 2 cable if you want to charge away from home you are going to have to find a 22Kw AC charger with a tethered type 2 charge lead. These are pretty rare and to find one that has contactless is probably rarer still!

 

Some DC Rapid chargers such as those operated by Pod Point , Osprey and Genie Point also support AC charging and may have tethered charge cables for AC. All Rapid chargers should support contactless.

 

It is a shame they’ve not lent you a type 2 charge cable otherwise you’d have access to many other post type AC chargers.

 

hth

idd

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hobby]

It's only got a 11.4kwh(?) battery so wouldn't take long, 22 will probably be fine! I notice on ZapMap that some areas have people who rent their home chargers out, that may be worth a look! I have to phone Enterprise tomorrow so will speak to them about a cable.

[Neil]

On 05/10/2024 at 13:53, Hobby said:

Hoping someone can help. I have just been given a plug in hybrid Jeep as a courtesy car. Do I have to have some sort of "account" to use public chargers or are there some around which I can pay as I use it like petrol and diesel?

 

You've just highlighted the thing I find most irksome about EV ownership, a lack of a common, easy, payment method. I know that Evolt chargers accept contactless payment. I used one here in Tywyn until the home charger was installed. There was a useful instructional video which I can no longer find as it was a bit of a faff the first time; however there are some notes here on Evolt's website.

[black and decker boy]

On 06/10/2024 at 15:48, Hobby said:

It's only got a 11.4kwh(?) battery so wouldn't take long, 22 will probably be fine! I notice on ZapMap that some areas have people who rent their home chargers out, that may be worth a look! I have to phone Enterprise tomorrow so will speak to them about a cable.

PHEVs typically do not do fast charging in the way BEVs do.

 

looking at Jeep specs, your max charge rate is 7.2kwh so 1.6hours to charge. That is what the car will draw - if you plug into an 11kwh or 22kwh charging station, it won’t matter, it’ll only draw down 7.2kwh.

 

a 3pin plug charger will take around 3hours.

 

you cannot plug into any true fast chargers (over 50kwh) as they are going to be CCS sockets.

 

your best bet will be to obtain a type 2 cable and use pod point (a lot of Tesco stores have them). BP Pulse often have 7ke chargers around town centres too in public car parks. You need the app for both.

 

in greater Manchester you have Be.EV network which will also offer 7kwh connections. 
 

by comparison, many BEVs can charge at up to 250kwh (with 350kwh being the next iteration) though this is peak flow and not continuous 

Edited October 7 by black and decker boy
Clarity

[johnofwessex]

I had a Kia Niro Plug In Hybrid as a Courtesy can and charged it via my outdoor 3 pin plug

[Hobby]

Yes, 3 hours was about right for granny charging. It's a rental (coursety) car so no way am I buying a cable!

[idd15]

In addition to the EV car sales figures reported by @Ron Ron Ron above the number of UK chargers has increased again last month to the point that we have broken the 70,000 barrier! The charging situation is much improved from the less than 8000 devices when we got our first Leaf in 2017!

 

ZapMap Charger News

 

One of the biggest positive changes has been the rise in the number of  charging hubs, and some of the first are already being dramatically expanded. Rugby services now has 12 Gridserve chargers with dual 360kW charging capability of 24 connectors, and there are also 28 Tesla Superchargers as well. Zap map have done a bit more analysis on hubs at motorway service areas.

 

ZapMap Motorway Charging Hubs

 

There are still a small number of service stations where things have not improved (and no doubt will be focused upon by the anti EV media both large and small) but hopefully these will be addressed soon.

 

Cheers

idd

 

 

[Ian Morgan]

There are currently fewer than 8,500 petrol stations in the UK, and declining. So, being generous and assuming an average of 12 pumps each, that is 102,000 outlets.

 

So, not much longer to wait before the number of public chargers overtakes this. Also, these figures do not include home or workplace chargers. How many people can safely take on petrol or diesel at home or at work?

 

 

[Hobby]

It's not really a straight comparison, though. If I go to a petrol station I'm at the pump for a maximum of 5 minutes and very rarely have to wait for one, but if I charge an electric car it's at least 30 minutes, if not longer if there's a queue. So for a fair comparison you would need at least 6 times the number of chargers vs pumps to allow people to get easy access to chargers and that's not even taking into account waiting time.

[Ian Morgan]

16 minutes ago, Hobby said:

It's not really a straight comparison, though. If I go to a petrol station I'm at the pump for a maximum of 5 minutes and very rarely have to wait for one, but if I charge an electric car it's at least 30 minutes, if not longer if there's a queue. So for a fair comparison you would need at least 6 times the number of chargers vs pumps to allow people to get easy access to chargers and that's not even taking into account waiting time.

 

Plus, another consideration is the effect of home/workplace chargers. I probably only use a public charger once every 2 or 3 months when I might make longer journeys to an exhibition. My normal daily commute used to mean a visit to a petrol station at least once per week before I went electric, but now is taken care of at work or at home.

 

 

[Hobby]

Yes, fair point, but it's also worth bearing in mind that people are more likely to go EV if they can charge at home. When the number of EV owners without home charging increases then pressure on public chargers will increase. Then there's the number of public chargers on that list that aren't working, something I noticed since I got that PHEV, I very rarely see a broken petrol pump but ZapMap is covered with broken public chargers!

 

Proof, if it were needed, that statistics can make very good lies! ;)

[idd15]

Personally I'd like to see more focus on the number of chargers for those who wont be able to charge at home.  We've an awful lot of terrace homes oop here in t'north and there are solutions around but a lot more needs to be done IMHO. Some councils I think are  "on it", typically round London, but there's a lot of them who are not judging by what is written in some ev forums.

 

cheers

idd

 

 

[Hobby]

I'd insert the word "affordable" before the word chargers at the beginning of that, idd. You can have as many as you want but if they aren't affordable they won't be used!

[idd15]

2 hours ago, Hobby said:

I'd insert the word "affordable" before the word chargers at the beginning of that, idd. You can have as many as you want but if they aren't affordable they won't be used!

True, I was thinking post type 7kW chargers. The more forward thinking of the companies that operate these have overnight cheap(er) rates as well. So typically around 40p per Kwhr and I think some drop to around 30p overnight.

 

Cheers

Idd

[Pete the Elaner]

2 hours ago, idd15 said:

Personally I'd like to see more focus on the number of chargers for those who wont be able to charge at home.  We've an awful lot of terrace homes oop here in t'north and there are solutions around but a lot more needs to be done IMHO. Some councils I think are "on it", typically round London, but there's a lot of them who are not judging by what is written in some ev forums.

 

cheers

idd

 

 

 

Don't be thinking anywhere is 'on it'. Definitely not London.

Tower blocks are a major issue. They are still being built with no thought for charging points.