Glam
Mad Cat Woman
What happens if you change the car at the end of the lease period? Do they come and take the charging point away?
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Electric cars.
- Thread starter Gramaisc
- Start date
Cue
Well-Known Forumite
Been browsing the leases again… the wife is keeping the Leaf as a runaround so I get my more convenient charger at the front of the drive, now I just need to order the car.
The charging point is a government grant thing, they’re paying it out of pocket and I imagine it’d be yours. Nissan did it for us too (albeit we were doing a PCP)
What you getting this time @proactive ?
The charging point is a government grant thing, they’re paying it out of pocket and I imagine it’d be yours. Nissan did it for us too (albeit we were doing a PCP)
What you getting this time @proactive ?
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staffordjas
Well-Known Forumite
With a bit of luck I'll be dead and gone before I have to get one then, as I'm dreading the day we will be forced to buy an electric one and been up all night worrying about not having a car in future 
As well as the cost and faff of having to get a proper charging point at home.. ( How's that going to work with people without driveways?)..
Can't see how we are going to go on holiday and rely on finding a charging point at the accommodation ??
When we go away we only stop off at services stations for a few minutes for a quick wee and petrol stations for a couple of minutes to fill up and get off on our way again. Don't want to be hanging around places for hours waiting for the bloody thing to charge up, assuming we are going to find an empty charging machine in the first place.
As well as the cost and faff of having to get a proper charging point at home.. ( How's that going to work with people without driveways?)..
Can't see how we are going to go on holiday and rely on finding a charging point at the accommodation ??
When we go away we only stop off at services stations for a few minutes for a quick wee and petrol stations for a couple of minutes to fill up and get off on our way again. Don't want to be hanging around places for hours waiting for the bloody thing to charge up, assuming we are going to find an empty charging machine in the first place.
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c0tt0nt0p
Well-Known Forumite
This is a great video going through the process for having a home car charger installed. Informative, without being too pushy..
tek-monkey
wanna see my snake?
We once rode our 125s to Wales, expecting to fill up near Dolgellau. Not even 8pm on a Friday and it was closed, one made it on fumes but another ran out. Mine was the only one that had enough fuel, so I returned the next morning and had to buy a can.
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
Also on a 125, which did about 100mpg, I ran out as I crested a hill in the middle of nowhere around Brecon, and the last bit of petrol went off to the front of the tank. i put my hand down to turn onto reserve, only to realise that I had done that about an hour/fifty miles ago.
I had not passed anything at all in that time, so I resolved to coast down the hill - at least I was likely to be nearer to the nearest source then.
There was* a petrol station at the bottom of the hill - and it was open!
*and still is.
proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
I've owned electric cars since 2014 and can't say I've ever really suffered from range anxiety. 75% of my charging is either at home or work. For charging out and about any decent car will have a sat nav with charger locations that once you have programmed your journey into it will tell you when and where you need to charge. Google maps does the same I believe.
Even on what used to be our regular runs down to Provence charging was not an issue and fitted in with necessary bladder stops rather than running out of range.
staffordjas
Well-Known Forumite
Thanks for that . Explains it well . Now I know I won't be getting one installed as....
Says need at least 100A cut out fuse. Bonding to Gas & water pipes. And a consumer unit with spare capacity.
Fuse boxes in outside meter cupboard say 60A on the box where the main supply cable comes in , but another box says 30A with another on/off box with 40A on it.
Can't see any bonding on gas and water meters. ( Water pipes from internal stop tap are behind the fitted cupcoards though, so god knows what's behind there.....)
No consumer unit in the house , and nothing like it in the meter box (son has got one in his fairly new build though , so I know what it looks like. Just ain't got one ). Last time the fuses blew in the house we used fuse wire and would still be the method nowadays..
So...... no car in the future it will be then if we can't get a petrol car !
One good thing I've learnt from the video though is it doesn't look like we are on a loop with the neighbours..
proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
Having an electric car is still a possibility, even if you don't want to do an extensive modernisation of your electrical system.Thanks for that . Explains it well . Now I know I won't be getting one installed as....
Says need at least 100A cut out fuse. Bonding to Gas & water pipes. And a consumer unit with spare capacity.
Fuse boxes in outside meter cupboard say 60A on the box where the main supply cable comes in , but another box says 30A with another on/off box with 40A on it.
Can't see any bonding on gas and water meters. ( Water pipes from internal stop tap are behind the fitted cupcoards though, so god knows what's behind there.....)
No consumer unit in the house , and nothing like it in the meter box (son has got one in his fairly new build though , so I know what it looks like. Just ain't got one ). Last time the fuses blew in the house we used fuse wire and would still be the method nowadays..
So...... no car in the future it will be then if we can't get a petrol car !
One good thing I've learnt from the video though is it doesn't look like we are on a loop with the neighbours..
At home you can still use a Granny Charger (a charger that plugs into one of your normal 3 pin sockets). Ok it will take a long time to charge (say 24 hours or a bit more from empty to full) but for topping up it would be ok. For charging a large amount in a sensible amount of time you can simply park the car and charge at the Instavolt chargers on The Hough. By the time you've walked into town and done your shopping you'll be full. If you go out Penkridge way you can do the same at the Instavolts there.
If you're driving to Worcester you just use the ones on your route or get your son to install a charger at his place. He'll have to get one sooner or later anyway.
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tek-monkey
wanna see my snake?
My fuse box still has wire in, so a 100a is a 1/16 nail I believe?Thanks for that . Explains it well . Now I know I won't be getting one installed as....
Says need at least 100A cut out fuse. Bonding to Gas & water pipes. And a consumer unit with spare capacity.
Fuse boxes in outside meter cupboard say 60A on the box where the main supply cable comes in , but another box says 30A with another on/off box with 40A on it.
Can't see any bonding on gas and water meters. ( Water pipes from internal stop tap are behind the fitted cupcoards though, so god knows what's behind there.....)
No consumer unit in the house , and nothing like it in the meter box (son has got one in his fairly new build though , so I know what it looks like. Just ain't got one ). Last time the fuses blew in the house we used fuse wire and would still be the method nowadays..
So...... no car in the future it will be then if we can't get a petrol car !
One good thing I've learnt from the video though is it doesn't look like we are on a loop with the neighbours..
The Notorious A.N.T.
Well-Known Forumite
Not as far as I am aware. Volvo are offering the free charge point installation for any hybrid or fully electric car ordered before the end of September. It applies for cars either bought outright or leased for a minimum of three years (the company I work for leases them for 4 years or 150,000 miles whichever comes first).
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
It's worth considering your requirements along with the cars capabilities.
250 miles seems to be a plausible range these days.
I have only exceeded that once in a 24 hour period in the eleven years that I've had this car.
Even the trips to Ireland are only about 200 road miles and charging on the boat is available now.
A Granny Charger would probably be well adequate for my purposes.
250 miles seems to be a plausible range these days.
I have only exceeded that once in a 24 hour period in the eleven years that I've had this car.
Even the trips to Ireland are only about 200 road miles and charging on the boat is available now.
A Granny Charger would probably be well adequate for my purposes.
staffordjas
Well-Known Forumite
Yes I was thinking we'd have to drive to sons to get him to charge it for us.
How many miles does a full charge normally last? Aaaah just seen your post answered that @Gramaisc
proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
You wouldn't have to drive to your son's specifically to charge you car. You could charge it whilst it was there, obviously but as I explained above there are numerous options for you to charge in Stafford.
There's a massive difference in claimed range and actual range. Range goes down when it's cold and you have the heating on our when it's hot and you have the air con on our the window open. The higher the speed you drive at and the harder you accelerate will also affect range. A car with a claimed range of 250 miles may only actually give your 180 in the real world. It's the same with petrol cars though to a great extent.
Don't worry about the cost of charging. Even at something like Ionity chargers, the cost is roughly equivalent to half the price of petrol. Servicing costs are much less also.
c0tt0nt0p
Well-Known Forumite
It's all food for thought. Our last house in Stoke was on a loop but as we're in a 13 year old new build we don't have to worry about that.Thanks for that . Explains it well . Now I know I won't be getting one installed as....
Says need at least 100A cut out fuse. Bonding to Gas & water pipes. And a consumer unit with spare capacity.
Fuse boxes in outside meter cupboard say 60A on the box where the main supply cable comes in , but another box says 30A with another on/off box with 40A on it.
Can't see any bonding on gas and water meters. ( Water pipes from internal stop tap are behind the fitted cupcoards though, so god knows what's behind there.....)
No consumer unit in the house , and nothing like it in the meter box (son has got one in his fairly new build though , so I know what it looks like. Just ain't got one ). Last time the fuses blew in the house we used fuse wire and would still be the method nowadays..
So...... no car in the future it will be then if we can't get a petrol car !
One good thing I've learnt from the video though is it doesn't look like we are on a loop with the neighbours..
Behind our property is a courtyard with 6 garages where we all park our cars. Luckily as our garage borders the garden we already have power and lighting in there however 4 of the garages don't.
I'm already thinking about ev charger potential even if we won't be getting an ev for some time!!
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Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
A problem with Granny charging may come when the car is parked all day in a non-chargeable location.
Style of driving and, particularly the traffic arrangements that you encounter, can have a large effect on consumption in any vehicle.
My mpg in Ireland is always well up on what I can achieve in the Stafford area, simply down to being able to just coast along to suit myself.
Style of driving and, particularly the traffic arrangements that you encounter, can have a large effect on consumption in any vehicle.
My mpg in Ireland is always well up on what I can achieve in the Stafford area, simply down to being able to just coast along to suit myself.
staffordjas
Well-Known Forumite
I was wondering what happens if you run out of power on a long journey , like on motorways and out in the sticks and can't make it to a charger in time. Then found this....
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/electric-vehicles-breakdown
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/electric-vehicles-breakdown
Trumpet
Well-Known Forumite
Aaah, the old 100a nail ploy.My fuse box still has wire in, so a 100a is a 1/16 nail I believe?
It's been a while.
Cue
Well-Known Forumite
I sometimes get a little range anxiety, forgot to charge while in Digbeth last week so was a little squeaky on the way home, but my car is quite old-gen so only does 90 to a charge, and a 5 minute stop at IKEA fixed it up anyway as it pumped 20% of the battery back in. I didn’t buy it with distance in mind, just wanted to get an EV… the next one will fit the bill on miles for sure
You should probably be more worried about your fuse box being very not up to modern spec before whether or not you can charge an EV off it if I’m honest. First thing that got torn out of our house was the 80s fuse box for a nice shiny CU before we even moved in… not about to see how many amps it takes to stop my heart (not many).
But maybe I’m just overly cautious!
That being said they wouldn’t actually need you to have an existing CU to put a charger in, they’re meant to add a new small one specifically for it straight off the meter (at least that’s how ours was installed), 60A would be fine (strictly speaking) for a 3.3kw charger but most wouldn’t want to do the install, it’s basically a 13A plug at that point, just more waterproof. Should be free to upgrade to at least 80A from what I’ve seen too, 100A may cost
You should probably be more worried about your fuse box being very not up to modern spec before whether or not you can charge an EV off it if I’m honest. First thing that got torn out of our house was the 80s fuse box for a nice shiny CU before we even moved in… not about to see how many amps it takes to stop my heart (not many).
But maybe I’m just overly cautious!
That being said they wouldn’t actually need you to have an existing CU to put a charger in, they’re meant to add a new small one specifically for it straight off the meter (at least that’s how ours was installed), 60A would be fine (strictly speaking) for a 3.3kw charger but most wouldn’t want to do the install, it’s basically a 13A plug at that point, just more waterproof. Should be free to upgrade to at least 80A from what I’ve seen too, 100A may cost
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