C-Class 350e - Your charging experiences

[Stu-350e]

Cheers 350e. Guilty of reading so many posts pre delivery and have now nit got back.

Great tip for Poloar and charge master. Thank you

Olney - 1 pod (CMaster) in the square. If stood in the square looking at beans cafe then it is on your right along the street parking. (Don't know Olney very well)

Have you had any issues setting up controls from your phone to the car for status and pre heat etc?

Cheers

 

[350e]

Cheers 350e. Guilty of reading so many posts pre delivery and have now nit got back.

Great tip for Poloar and charge master. Thank you

Olney - 1 pod (CMaster) in the square. If stood in the square looking at beans cafe then it is on your right along the street parking. (Don't know Olney very well)

Have you had any issues setting up controls from your phone to the car for status and pre heat etc?

Cheers

Thanks for the directions to the charger, it will be useful to me because my wife loves the dress shops in Olney and that means a full charge whilst I read the paper

I have not tried the pre-entry heater because I need to charge until full and then recover the cable from the street, see my above earlier post.

I do however have the facility to activate it on my iPad as seen in this screen capture below.

 

[boxbrownie]

One thing I have noticed at our local supermarket is that regular cars are usually parked in the EV bays because they are close to the entrance. I guess this is an irritation you have to live with in the same vain as those parking in parent and child bays when they have no kids.

This must drive the owners of pure ev's mad if they are running low.

Pi55es me off at our local supermarket, it has 6 EV bays which are ALWAYS filled with ICE vehicles, I have complained to the Manager and the assigned car parking company both of them refuse to take any action whatsoever emails to the head offices resulted in no replies either.........absolutely useless

Maybe plug-in cars should be supplied with "EV ONLY" wheel clamps along with the chargers in the trunk

 

[Scarcrow]

350e remote features

Hi Tom did you get your car and did it have the remote features. i have orderd 350e via NHS fleet and was just wondering? cheers Gary

 

[350eWaiting]

I was told that my car would not come with Connect Me on the fleet, but after contacting them and explaining about batteries needing to be warmed up in the cold and vice versa, they are going to give me access to the facility.

 

[hybridlover]

Hi Tom did you get your car and did it have the remote features. i have orderd 350e via NHS fleet and was just wondering? cheers Gary

Scarcrow

Car due to be delivered to dealer on 4/12/15 with me anytime middle of month I was told by dealer.

Remote features I can pay for myself as not included in lease costs was the message from NHS Fleet who had checked with Automotive. I have not been told they will be disabled and not accessible.

I will be confirming nearer the delivery date that this is the case. No direct contact with Automotive myself yet all via helpful NHS fleet. Don't know dealer locale either but North East I believe.

 

[famousgrouse]

Scarcrow

Remote features I can pay for myself as not included in lease costs was the message from NHS Fleet who had checked with Automotive. I have not been told they will be disabled and not accessible.

There's no costs for the Remote Online features on the C350e, it's part of the deal with the car (to make most efficient use of the hybrid features).
There might be costs after 3 years if I remember correctly, but few people keep a leased car for more than three years anyway.

 

[350e]

Received my Source London card today

Should now be able to charge in many posts throughout a wide area in London Herts Eastern region and the Midlands, most for free.

 

[hybridlover]

There's no costs for the Remote Online features on the C350e, it's part of the deal with the car (to make most efficient use of the hybrid features).
There might be costs after 3 years if I remember correctly, but few people keep a leased car for more than three years anyway.

Exciting I will have to check this out.
Cheers.

 

[350e]

Back on topic


Is there a reason why the charger for home use has two levels, fast and slow ?

I wonder if there is a benefit gained by using the slower charge. Today I saw the 100% figure at 16 miles, generally it is 14

 

[famousgrouse]

Good question. I was thinking it's to limit the draw on the supply if, say, you were getting your supply from solar panels for example and you don't want to draw from the grid. Or you've bad cabling you don't want to over heat
I can't imagine it has any impact on the charging otherwise, optimal charging I'd have thought would be controlled anyway.


On a separate note, I had a quick go on a charger on the CYC network. Used my phone and the app (free). Worked straight away, very easy. Looked cool in the dark with all the sparkly lights on the he machinery

 

[350e]

Good question. I was thinking it's to limit the draw on the supply if, say, you were getting your supply from solar panels for example and you don't want to draw from the grid. Or you've bad cabling you don't want to over heat
I can't imagine it has any impact on the charging otherwise, optimal charging I'd have thought would be controlled anyway.


On a separate note, I had a quick go on a charger on the CYC network. Used my phone and the app (free). Worked straight away, very easy. Looked cool in the dark with all the sparkly lights on the he machinery

For my benefit and perhaps some others, CYC network ?

 

[350e]

Good question. I was thinking it's to limit the draw on the supply if, say, you were getting your supply from solar panels for example and you don't want to draw from the grid. Or you've bad cabling you don't want to over heat
I can't imagine it has any impact on the charging otherwise, optimal charging I'd have thought would be controlled anyway.


On a separate note, I had a quick go on a charger on the CYC network. Used my phone and the app (free). Worked straight away, very easy. Looked cool in the dark with all the sparkly lights on the he machinery

I have noted that with the EV posts like Teslas' that with a fast charge some 80% is delivered in a very short period. It begs the question why wait for an extended period for the other 20% ?

 

[famousgrouse]

I have noted that with the EV posts like Teslas' that with a fast charge some 80% is delivered in a very short period. It begs the question why wait for an extended period for the other 20% ?

Not sure it really has any relevance for us PHEV drivers, but from what I've read- you wouldn't bother unless you happen to be leaving it overnight or unattended for a longer period of time. If you're doing a "slap and dash" then you'd go to 80% and be on your way.

Certainly, the 350e sucks the electric pretty darn quickly... But my commute appears largely covered by the electric so I'm happy!

CYC is Charge Your Car. Just another charging point network. Worth signing up to as it's free with the app. You can get a card for it but that's £20 a year which isn't really worth it for an occasional slow charge, that I'd do, anyway.

 

[Saxon6]

Back on topic


Is there a reason why the charger for home use has two levels, fast and slow ?

I wonder if there is a benefit gained by using the slower charge. Today I saw the 100% figure at 16 miles, generally it is 14

The button changes between 8amps and 13amps.
13a charges quicker, 8a is slower but less prone to heat up your plugs / wiring as much, which might be relevant if your domestic wiring is ageing.

 

[350e]

Thanks for that, I will keep it in mind if and when the Rolec charger "trips". It has happened once but I didn't think much more about it. I don't know if I was using the faster charge at the time.

 

[350e]

No more "free" charges via Polar Instant !

It's all over, the days of free charging
Step forward the "Administrative Charge" now being imposed by Chargemaster.
From Ist December a charge of £1.20 per session is applied. It can be avoided by upgrading to Polar Plus at £7.85 month(first six months free) but you will need to work out the economics. For myself I think I will just carry on with Ecotricity.

 

[TREVOR BOWLER]

Have had my c350e for less than 2 wks but to date have realised may be change from my deisel C 220 blue tech sports estate was not a wise move!
1. Was getting +50 mpg with lively driving with the blue tech. Struggling to maintain 47 mpg with the c350e ( hybide / eco modes) even though utilising daily charge & very reserved eco mode driving.
2. Max full charge shows 14/16 miles electric availability at start but soon drops within 1st mile. Hardly seems worthwhile. Didn't really expect the 130 mpg quoted but expected mire than 47 mpg ! Be lucky to do 10 mile journey in electric only mode!. Changing to Charge mode drastically increases petrol consumption too. Charge time using public 16 amp facility or 13 amp home charge seems about the same @ +- 2 hrs.
3. Using 13 amp charge facility supplied at home but notice plug pins get hot. No instructions with charger but appears to have 2 modes - 2 or 4 green lights. Do I assume I should only use the lower charge rate on 13 amp socket?
4. Looked into Charge Master unit at home. Quoted grant + £350 & was expecting stand alone post charge unit as shown on their website.- told when engineer visited it would be a 16 amp wall mounted socket only or tethered unit.
5. Installation of 5 abive also required expensive mods to house wiring.
so decided against Charge Master & decided to install a good quality external weatherproof 13 amp socket instead but now concerned regarding actual loading on a 13 amp plugged connection ??
MB don't seem able to advise. Would welcome advice from MB or other c350e users please.

 

[wivenhoe]

When I first got mine, last September I phoned the dealer to complain that I was only getting up to 10 miles on the EV. He said the battery needs to 'settle down' and it is also susceptible to lower temperatures. He was right, after a few weeks the range improved and now the temp has improved I am getting 15+ miles and recently achieved 90mpg over 30 miles in lanes and around town.

I went with a tethered Rolec and very pleased with it

 

[Goldngin]

Death letter from Ecotricity today.... Commencement of charge for charging, in coming within next month or so, £5 for 20 minutes means mild hybrids like C350e will be out of the equation on the Motorway network. Only option will be their mild charge points at the likes of IKEA in future.