Electric Charging

[Stevenlola]

I have a GLE400E 2024 and fuel
Consumption is poor. I have just charged the vehicle at an Osprey charging unit which cost £19.00 to allegedly give me 42 miles. I drove home which is less than 3 miles and on a B road and the car had apparently used up 3 miles of the electric and 2 miles of the petrol. I had the car in hybrid mode and never exceeded 30mph. What is the whole point of the single electric, i may as well keep using petrol even though the consumption is poor. For note it also cost me £8.50 in Costa coffee!!

 

[Steveml63]

Some might say that hybrids are a tax avoidance scam - aimed at company car drivers.
My brother had a BMW330e plug in hybrid as a company car for two years and never once plugged it in.
He still benefited from a much reduced company car tax.
When that went back to the lease company - he replaced it with a Tesla Model Y.
Hybrids are heavier and have more to go wrong than a conventional ICE car and are unlikely to be much more economical to run than a standard ICE car.

 

[Stevenlola]

Some might say that hybrids are a tax avoidance scam - aimed at company car drivers.
My brother had a BMW330e plug in hybrid as a company car for two years and never once plugged it in.
He still benefited from a much reduced company car tax.
When that went back to the lease company - he replaced it with a Tesla Model Y.
Hybrids are heavier and have more to go wrong than a conventional ICE car and are unlikely to be much more economical to run than a standard ICE car.

Thank you for this, mine will never visit a charger again, complete waste of time and money

 

[Stevenlola]

Thank you for this, mine will never visit a charger again, complete waste of time and money

I hope i never have to have a discussion with an electric car supporter as they must be brain washed

 

[markjay]

Try to have a read at how the car's computer calculates the remaining range - it is not a precise science as owner often mistakenly think.

Regarding the cost of electricity, you've hit the nail on the head. Depending on where you charge the car, the cost of electricity can be very little (or even nil), or horrendously expensive. An electric vehicle will only be more economic to run than ICE cars if the owner has access to cheap (or free) charging.

The big saving on a full-electric car (setting aside the cost of electricity) is due to reduced taxation (grab a deal if you can, while the tax breakes last), and to some extent also the near-zero cost of maintenance (servicing plus potentially brakes etc at an MB dealer amounts to an eye-watering sum....).

 

[Stevenlola]

Try to have a read at how the car's computer calculates the remaining range - it is not a precise science as owner of think.

Regarding the cost of electricity, you've hit the nail on the head. Depending on where you charge the car, the cost of electricity can be very little (or even nil), or horrendously expensive. An electric vehicle will only be more economic to run than ICE cars if the owner has access to cheap (or free) charging.

Hi, i do appreciate the range calculation is not a science. I drove the car on the motorway earlier and on the whole managed 60 mph. The car managed to cover nearly 34 miles before the electric ran out so £19.00 basically got me 37 miles. Absolute joke

 

[markjay]

Hi, i do appreciate the range calculation is not a science. I drove the car on the motorway earlier and on the whole managed 60 mph. The car managed to cover nearly 34 miles before the electric ran out so £19.00 basically got me 37 miles. Absolute joke

That's 56p per mile. You certainly need to find cheaper electricity, or just avoid charging the car. Download the ZapMap app, it shows the location of chargers in your area and the cost of electricity.

Also, some retail parks offer free charging (my local Aldi does), have a look at that as well.

 

[Stevenlola]

That's 56p per mile. You certainly need to find cheaper electricity, or just avoid charging the car. Download the ZapMap app, it shows the location of chargers in your area and the cost of electricity.

Also, some retail parks offer free charging (my local Aldi does), have a look at that as well.

Thank you very much for your assistance here, very much appreciated. I will investigate further

 

[Will]

Two problems - you don’t have an EV, it’s a hybrid.

And charging should be done at home or somewhere less expensive if possible - otherwise it won’t make financial sense.

 

[DSM10000]

Hi, i do appreciate the range calculation is not a science. I drove the car on the motorway earlier and on the whole managed 60 mph. The car managed to cover nearly 34 miles before the electric ran out so £19.00 basically got me 37 miles. Absolute joke

Using a particularly expensive charging station is hardly representative of charging costs overall though.

How much would it cost to charge at home?

 

[markjay]

Using a particularly expensive charging station is hardly representative of charging costs overall though.

How much would it cost to charge at home?

And also, electricity from public chargers is subject to 20% VAT, while VAT on home electricity is only 5%.

 

[Will]

Using a particularly expensive charging station is hardly representative of charging costs overall though.

How much would it cost to charge at home?

I think around 24/25p per kWh is typical for domestic electricity units - but an EV can be charged when not in use (overnight) via a more economical tariff often at around 7/8p per kWh. A GLE400E only has a 31.2 kWh battery pack so a full charge from totally empty would only be about £2 or so.

Most EVs would achieve lower figures at this time of year (miles per kWh) but even at 1-2 miles per kWh that is 3-4p per mile.

At 4 miles per kWh you’re looking at 2p a mile in the milder weather.

Nothing brainwashed about that as OP was saying - you just need to understand how to use one and of course a heavy hybrid car charged at an expensive public charger is never going to make sense - especially with £8.50 for coffee?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I hope i never have to have a discussion with an electric car supporter as they must be brain washed

Don’t you know anyone at all with an EV?

 

[DSM10000]

Don’t you know anyone at all with an EV?

Clearly not!

 

[chic0821]

I have a Range Rover Fifty P400e plug in hybrid which gives (they say 30miles full charge) really around 25ish. I use a granny charger as I don't need a fast charge & a dedicated fast charger is around £1000 installed so you get a lot of charges for £1000 using a granny cable, so it aint worth it
Full charge from 0 miles to 30 miles is around £1.80ish on low energy tariff between midnight to 5 am
For my usage a full charge of 50 miles would be the sweet spot, but 25 is ok, just means its plugged in a bit more.
Still on the fence regarding plug in hybrid or full petrol. Car is really quiet & never sure when petrol kicks in as its seamless. Still would never buy full leccy car though
£19 for 42 miles, I'd be leaving the keys in it with a steal me sign on the screen

 

[DSM10000]

I have a Range Rover Fifty P400e plug in hybrid which gives (they say 30miles full charge) really around 25ish. I use a granny charger as I don't need a fast charge & a dedicated fast charger is around £1000 installed so you get a lot of charges for £1000 using a granny cable, so it aint worth it
Full charge from 0 miles to 30 miles is around £1.80ish on low energy tariff between midnight to 5 am
For my usage a full charge of 50 miles would be the sweet spot, but 25 is ok, just means its plugged in a bit more.
Still on the fence regarding plug in hybrid or full petrol. Car is really quiet & never sure when petrol kicks in as its seamless. Still would never buy full leccy car though
£19 for 42 miles, I'd be leaving the keys in it with a steal me sign on the screen

You may explain it to some, you cannot understand it for them!

 

[Smiley]

I have a GLE400E 2024 and fuel
Consumption is poor. I have just charged the vehicle at an Osprey charging unit which cost £19.00 to allegedly give me 42 miles. I drove home which is less than 3 miles and on a B road and the car had apparently used up 3 miles of the electric and 2 miles of the petrol. I had the car in hybrid mode and never exceeded 30mph. What is the whole point of the single electric, i may as well keep using petrol even though the consumption is poor. For note it also cost me £8.50 in Costa coffee!!

Correct. And if you start buying the cakes in Costa you'll get fat as well. To be fair to the car, you presumably did not buy a GLE for its economy.
(imho) the only reason that the hybrid format exists is because the official test cycle produces low emissions and enables car manufacturers to sell large, expensive, high margin, environmentally unfriendly cars without being fined for not meeting emissions targets. In the real world not only is it a heavy slab of a car to start with, it is made heavier by having two power plants to lug around all of the time.
No point comparing a PHEV with a BEV as the BEV does not lug around a heavy petrol engine. Most BEV owners charge on a cheap overnight tariff at home and achieve the equivalent of 200mpg+

 

[BTB 500]

Best use case for a hybrid is slow charging at home and using that power for cheap local electric driving, particularly stop/start (rush hour commuting, perhaps) where regen braking will give the most range. But the same vehicle still has the ability to make long runs on ICE power, if that's important to you. On the negative side you have a more complex vehicle containing both BEV and ICE powertrains.

 

[BTB 500]

In the real world not only is it a heavy slab of a car to start with, it is made heavier by having two power plants to lug around all of the time.
No point comparing a PHEV with a BEV as the BEV does not lug around a heavy petrol engine.

I've not compared kerbweights for models that are available as both PHEV and BEV, but I wouldn't necessarily expect the PHEV to be heavier. They have a much smaller drive battery, which could well offset the weight of the ICE powerplant. As mentioned they are certainly more complex though ... probably less of an issue if you lease a new one and and only ever run it under warranty.

 

[markjay]

Best use case for a hybrid is slow charging at home and using that power for cheap local electric driving, particularly stop/start (rush hour commuting, perhaps) where regen braking will give the most range. But the same vehicle still has the ability to make long runs on ICE power, if that's important to you. On the negative side you have a more complex vehicle containing both BEV and ICE powertrains.

It's a good case scenario... but I'd argue that it's not best case.

For best case, you need to add a daily commute range that is within the battery range.

If you leave home in the morning with a full battery, drive (say) 15 miles to work then 15 miles back, you'll be commuting to work and back for less than the cost of a bus ticket.

But do take the car for a long run on weekends, you don't want the petrol engine to become rusty..........