Average miles per year

[Darrell]

A 2kW charge from a 13A socket isn't going to do much (particularly when you're losing 15% or more) but ... care home car park - nope. Hospital car park - you're lucky to find a space at all. Crematorium - nope. My parents' old house - nope, unless you hung a cable out of a window and ran it across the pavement. Ditto both of my sisters' houses. ExCel centre in London - nope (there's no EV charging there at all). Anywhere we go in the Vito (big grass fields at agricultural showgrounds etc.) - nope. Etc.

Standing in the doorway looking at my van. No chargers nearby and no way of charging it.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Beware of stereotypes.

Like most luxury (six figure) 4x4's are sold into the area South and East of Oxford ?

Or like only 25,000 brand new EV's were sold in Scotland in 2023,

which was only an eighth of the 200,000 EV's sold South of Oxford ?

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

My BIL has a leccy Lexus and my sister has a diesel E Class Cabrio. My 80 year old mum and her 93 year old husband are over from France where they live and are staying at their flat in Frinton on Sea. My sister lives near Caterham.

My sister charged up the Lexus last Sunday night and set off to collect them on Monday morning. It appears that when it’s cold the mileage decreases and also when it’s cold you’ll need the heater on. This further decreases the mileage.

My sister had to charge up the battery on the return journey and she wasn’t happy because the charging facility was busy and a lot of the chargers weren’t working.
My brother has a diesel Tiguan so he took them back on the 27th and he had no issues.

It turns out that the Lexus is used for short journeys and driving anywhere that involves driving into the Congestion Zone. The Merc is used for all other journeys apart from collecting old people!!

Ps, the Lexus is a company vehicle.

So did she top up on the way to Frinton, where the chargers would have been quiet on the outward journey? The Gridserve at Braintree has 25 chargers, with the fastest running at 350kwh

or did she try to top up on the M25, on the way back, during the "rush hour" period ?

 

[Skd884]

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Standing in the doorway looking at my van. No chargers nearby and no way of charging it.

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[Darrell]

So did she top up on the way to Frinton, where the chargers would have been quiet on the outward journey?

or did she try to top up on the M25, on the way back, during the "rush hour" period ?

Yes she topped up on the way there.

They wouldn’t have got the car if it wasn’t a company car.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Yes she topped up on the way there.
They wouldn’t have got the car if it wasn’t a company car.

At Braintree, where there are 25 chargers, including the 350kwh machines that top up in a handful of minutes?

 

[Darrell]

At Braintree, where there are 25 chargers, including the 350kwh machines that top up in a handful of minutes?

Is Braintree between Caterham and Frinton? Because if it isn’t it means that drivers have to go out of their way to charge up up vehicles which plays into the hands of the EV haters.

Ps. Just looked on Google maps. It can add 20-30 mins onto the journey. This is perhaps the issue with EV’s.

 

[ALFAitalia]

A 2kW charge from a 13A socket isn't going to do much (particularly when you're losing 15% or more) but ... care home car park - nope. Hospital car park - you're lucky to find a space at all. Crematorium - nope. My parents' old house - nope, unless you hung a cable out of a window and ran it across the pavement. Ditto both of my sisters' houses. ExCel centre in London - nope (there's no EV charging there at all). Anywhere we go in the Vito (big grass fields at agricultural showgrounds etc.) - nope. Etc

Lol.....and a 13 amp socket is more like 3kw. Some people never use anything other than the granny charger..... and of course well over 80 percent of all EV charging is done at home.
With posts like that it makes you wonder why anyone buys an EV....... lol. Or it could be that most of the anti EV stuff on here is nonsense and everyone I know with one... not that many admittedly....have no problem with them at all.
Be honest....if all cars were EV tomorrow you would manage.... just like 99 percent of all EV owners manage now.
How come yet another, non EV thread has been turned into another EV battering by the same few folks that have no direct experience of one and have no intention of buying one....its just bizarre! I'm out!....well unless this thread gets back onto mileage!

 

[BTB 500]

Lol.....and a 13 amp socket is more like 3kw.

AFAIK EV charging via a granny cable is generally restricted to 10A, or 2.3 kW. You need a wall box for more than that.

Some people never use anything other than the granny charger..... and of course well over 80 percent of all EV charging is done at home.

Sure but we were talking about a top up charge before setting off on a return leg, which is rather different. An hour at 2.3 kW isn't going to make a huge difference, even if it's possible.

 

[clk320x]

Is Braintree between Caterham and Frinton? Because if it isn’t it means that drivers have to go out of their way to charge up up vehicles which plays into the hands of the EV haters.

Ps. Just looked on Google maps. It can add 20-30 mins onto the journey. This is perhaps the issue with EV’s.

Not sure what model they have, but it’s defo not an ‘EV issue’ - maybe an issue with their specific model having insufficient range for the use type?

Mine will easily do that journey.

It may be that they bought a city car with lower range that requires a top up.

 

[Darrell]

Not sure what model they have, but it’s defo not an ‘EV issue’ - maybe an issue with their specific model having insufficient range for the use type?

Mine will easily do that journey.

It may be that they bought a city car with lower range that requires a top up.

No idea but I’ll find out.

 

[Darrell]

Not sure what model they have, but it’s defo not an ‘EV issue’ - maybe an issue with their specific model having insufficient range for the use type?

Mine will easily do that journey.

It may be that they bought a city car with lower range that requires a top up.

Just had a quick nose about and Warlingham (where they actually live) to Frinton and back is around 190 miles.

The range of the car depending on which model is 252-297 miles.

A bit of farting about in Frinton, a dose of cold weather with the heating, lights etc being used could surely bring in a bout of range anxiety. Can bad traffic etc bring the range down even further??

When I called her in the afternoon she told me that she was looking for a charging point but didn’t say where she was.

Re EV’s I think they’d work for my family although charging at home is out of the question and the cost is the real turn off.
Obviously one day we’ll all have one but we’re happy enough here to get one when we’re forced to rather than before.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Is Braintree between Caterham and Frinton? Because if it isn’t it means that drivers have to go out of their way to charge up up vehicles which plays into the hands of the EV haters.

Ps. Just looked on Google maps. It can add 20-30 mins onto the journey. This is perhaps the issue with EV’s.

You’re right, I was using my memory of driving to Frinton. I would have thought Braintree’s an extra 15 minutes, driving up from Chelmsford.

But my broad point remains. Someone who knows how to use an EV doesn’t “fill it” when empty, they “top up” only what they need, at any point in the journey, not when they “have to.”

Not that she’d need to “top up” more than a few times a year, because normally she’d be doing all the mileage from the 2 pence a mile cable outside your house, the free cable at work. Unless you’re using the charger on the street, at the Supermarket, or wherever.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Just had a quick nose about and Warlingham (where they actually live) to Frinton and back is around 190 miles.

The range of the car depending on which model is 252-297 miles.

A bit of farting about in Frinton, a dose of cold weather with the heating, lights etc being used could surely bring in a bout of range anxiety. Can bad traffic etc bring the range down even further??

When I called her in the afternoon she told me that she was looking for a charging point but didn’t say where she was.

Re EV’s I think they’d work for my family although charging at home is out of the question and the cost is the real turn off.
Obviously one day we’ll all have one but we’re happy enough here to get one when we’re forced to rather than before.

You need to be wary of nominal range on a long, high speed journeyin cold weather, It’s more like 80% of nominal, and obviously no one runs it down to zero.

She would need to take 15 minutes on that 4-5 hour journey to top up at a high speed charger.. When picking someone up, the obvious time to charge is before the pick up.

So she could only hope to do 200 miles at best at 2p / mile, and then it’s commercial charging to top up.

She’d be using something like A Better Route Planner on her Satnav to show her where all the chargers are on her route, which also has all the real time availability data and charger speeds.

 

[Skd884]

Using the Tesla charging network is wise as it's better value.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Using the Tesla charging network is wise as it's better value.

I use Tesla Superchargers when I can too, to charge my non-Tesla EV.

Great value, amongst the fastest charging times, very good availability, well placed on major routes and destinations, and I can’t ever remember seeing a Tesla charger out of order.

To be fair I can’t remember seeing a charger from another brand out of order in the last year either. The closest has been additional chargers being installed which hadn’t yet been commissioned.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Using the Tesla charging network is wise as it's better value.

Agreed, and ABRP would show that but we need to point out that not all Tesla chargers are open to other manufacturers as yet.

Last I heard it was only a third of uk sites and chargers, so something like 500 chargers at 50 sites out of 1500 chargers at 150 sites in the UK.

But Tesla’s supercharger ability to add 75 miles of range in five minutes always impresses. Even at an “expensive” 13p / mile.

 

[Londonscottish]

On the flip side,

My lefty tree hugging mate in Skiathos has his entire house on solar. He’s got a little leccy car.

His longest journey is into Skiathos Town from his house in the sticks which is about 8kms.

Based on this he thinks EV’s are brilliant and everyone in the world should buy one!!

That makes sense. I'm currently mulling over in which order to upgrade my mini-fleet. My wife's Fiat 500 is approaching 10 years olds and both of us fancy replacing it with a 500e at some point. They're now dropping in price to something approaching sensible so I could get a really nice one if I stuck in £10k or so.

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It would actually be a better car; faster, quieter, fewer things to go wrong etc. Plus, it would be more versatile; it could do longer trips if needed. The 1.2 in the current one makes it a bit wheezy on the motorway.

BUT I couldn't insure my teenagers on a 500e so maybe that will have to wait for now.

Whatever replaces my E500 will most definitely be petrol though. I go to Leeds and back several times a year and that's 200 miles each way. I couldn't be ****d looking for a charging point when I got there just to be able to get home again.

 

[Darrell]

That makes sense. I'm currently mulling over in which order to upgrade my mini-fleet. My wife's Fiat 500 is approaching 10 years olds and both of us fancy replacing it with a 500e at some point. They're now dropping in price to something approaching sensible so I could get a really nice one if I stuck in £10k or so.

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It would actually be a better car; faster, quieter, fewer things to go wrong etc. Plus, it would be more versatile; it could do longer trips if needed. The 1.2 in the current one makes it a bit wheezy on the motorway.

BUT I couldn't insure my teenagers on a 500e so maybe that will have to wait for now.

Whatever replaces my E500 will most definitely be petrol though. I go to Leeds and back several times a year and that's 200 miles each way. I couldn't be ****d looking for a charging point when I got there just to be able to get home again.

In the right circumstances an EV is a great idea but then again in the right circumstances a small diesel van is a great idea.

My buddy basically lives off grid and even makes a little bit of dough by selling electricity back. Not sure how it works but it sounds good to me.

Why couldn’t you insure your teenagers on a 500e?? Is it expensive?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

BUT I couldn't insure my teenagers on a 500e so maybe that will have to wait for now.

If I remember right it only cost £160 (annual equivalent) to add my 20 year old daughter to our Fiat 500e on the day she passed her test. With that in mind it might be worth running a quote in one with your children added, to see how it works out. I was surprised how little effect it had when insured in my name.

She took out her own first policy later that day and that would be just over £1200 had she added me and her Mom as named drivers from the start (rebates received when added later), and not taken out all of the bolt ons like breakdown cover, legal cover, courtesy cars, etc - that even includes business use too. I didn't think that was too bad.