Reply With QuotePMSL - so true!Originally Posted by UMBROSUS
Pretty much everyone whose wife has just nipped into the shops for a 5 minute look at something…..lol
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PMSL - so true!
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Not often I agree with FFF but he’s 100% right on this occasion
All modern cars will control stat opening/closing and even variable water pump flow to balance cabin and engine temperature
Most cars will also change the engine load if needed
It won’t drop the engine temperature or the cabin temperature within an hour of idling in non extreme temperatures that we get here
An engine puts out a huge amount of heat even at idle
I was actually referring to the issue the police have; sitting on tickover for a long time followed by rapid acceleration was causing the engines to explode.
BMW then specified oil changes st 5,000 miles but the police chose to ignore their recommendations leading to the death of at least one traffic cop.
Its bound to happen every now and again!
Sorry for delayed reply and I see there have been other answers.
Yes it includes all electricity used between 11:30pm and 5:30am so we put the dishwasher and occasionally the washer on.
I’ve nof had a bill yet but as mentioned I can see it calls out last 12hrs car charging in the app. It starts an immediate charge until it creates a smart charging period. Longest I’ve had is 9:30pm-6:00am but that’s for the car not other stuff
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Sorry for delayed reply and I see there have been other answers.
Yes it includes all electricity used between 11:30pm and 5:30am so we put the dishwasher and occasionally the washer on.
I’ve nof had a bill yet but as mentioned I can see it calls out last 12hrs car charging in the app. It starts an immediate charge until it creates a smart charging period. Longest I’ve had is 9:30pm-6:00am but that’s for the car not other stuff
Ah, my bad. Sad that an officer lost their life but reading the background I am not sure that this is anything but an isolated incident?
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
And I’m telling you from personal experience over three different cars, the last Skoda being a 2017 plate so hardly old tech that the temperature gauge would drop from 90°C when idling for a long time in cold 0° to - temperatures, resulting in the warm air coming out of the fans dropping too. I just wish I still had a Superb, I’d happily record it and show it on here, but I’ve ditched ICE vehicles.
This is not opinion, this is personal experience. I was a night shift taxi driver for many many years and this is what happened when I would be Idling for a long time.
Then you've been unlucky enough to have 3 cars that have suffered with 3 identical issues. For your info thermostats open at anywhere between 80-90 degrees, that would allow flow around the engine. If your scenario is correct the coolant would have to drop enough to have piss warm water passing through the matrix. Your stat would have closed again which brings the temp up.
Nothing makes sense.
^^^^ This...
I’ve just taken the plunge on a VW ID Buzz on a fantastic lease deal. Can anyone in here point me in the right direction for home EV charger recommendations. I’m already with octopus and so the plan is to move on to their ev tariff with 7.5p charging overnight. Any advice for an EV newbie would be most appreciated.
One of these, so it all integrates properly.
https://octopus.energy/get-an-ev-charger/
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
We use an Ohme charger with Intelligent Octopus.
Works great, keeps the setup simple as it’s all managed by the charger, not the car. We have it setup so it only turns on when the rate is 7.5p per kWh.
I went with an Ohme Home Pro after significant research.
2 weeks in, I’m not that impressed. Constant ‘error’ and poor support (still waiting for a reply from something Monday).
When it works, it works well - but 4 issues in 2 weeks is not a good start
I’m not in a position to re-enact my scenarios as I no longer own an ICE vehicle, so I’ll lay down the challenge to you. Next time the temperatures hit 0 or minus, run your car for an hour on tickover and let me know the results. See if the blowers will blow warm air out of the vents after an hour.
Maybe it’s something in the design of a VW group car, I had an 09 bought brand new, a 2013 bought brand new and a 2017 bought brand new. The chance of all three have an identical “fault” is slim to none.
I’m not going to go back and forth with this. It’s not conjecture or opinion on my side, it’s fact. I froze my arse off many a night in the early hours as the car couldn’t keep me warm.
Last edited by jaytip; 13th December 2023 at 22:38.
Ive been in the motor-trade long enough to know that what you're suggesting doesn't just happen. It’s either an anomaly with VW where they intentionally let their vehicles get cold when idling after they’ve got to operation temperature (why they would do this would be odd) or all 3 of your cars were goosed.
As i said on a previous reply zero degrees is a walk in the park for most cars and they would have been tested well below that.
Every year our little rural village in Wiltshire drops well below zero and all of our courtesy cars require defrosting in the morning. 2004 FL1 a 2008 Ford Focus and a 58 plate VW Passat. Whoever gets there first grabs the keys and starts them up, they all warm up to operating temperature and defrost the car at idle.
Last edited by Franky Four Fingers; 14th December 2023 at 00:09.
This is what I’ve been recommended by a local “expert”.
Apparently is has a SIM card in it which is free for 3 years and then costs thereafter. Was amazed that it didn’t run on Wi-Fi.
My head is fried looking at all the options. I didn’t realise that only certain chargers work with the octopus tariff (so I’ve been told).
It doesn't happen with our Octavia. My wife has to sit in it for several hours every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, often at night and with below freezing external temperatures. On occasion I've had to cover for her. If the cabin was getting chilly when idling we'd have swapped cars long ago.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
You need a compatible car OR charger. Our Volvo isn't compatible but the Zappi now is. Compatible car should work with any charger.
Zappi uses wifi BTW.
As said above, it’s car or charger that needs to be compatible.
If you pick a suitable charger then theoretically you could use the bonus hours with more than one car, if needed (standard hours 23.30-05.30 would apply to all electric).
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Apologies if this has already been answered in the 80 pages I've not read but...
Has anyone on this thread moved to an electric car without the ability to home charge? How's it going?
I'm tempted by a lease deal that looks good but I only have street parking. I can charge at work (subsidised) and can charge at Tesco when shopping.
I have a Model 3 and for the first year only used public chargers due to no driveway. Looking back I can’t believe I put up with public chargers for so long. Turning off the TV around 11pm about to go to bed and then you remember the car is plugged charging down the road and you need to go get it. Could have cried a few times. Subsidised at work is very different though. Would be tempting.
I have tried this as have a 2 port Garo. The simultaneous charge rate for 2 cars was pitiful with next to no charge added.
Makes sense as 7KWh /2 is 3.5 so about the same as a "granny charger" but if it only runs for 5 hours you can only add very little range - especially in winter!
I street park and run a cable through a cable protector to prevent a trip hazard across the public pavement as best as I can. I get a space outside,or close enough to be able to charge the car fairly frequently.
I use a granny charger and have 7 hours overnight low rate, so a fill up of 260 miles (200 miles in winter) is less than £7.
A 7 hour overnight granny charge gets me about 50-60 miles per day, but I drive a lot less than that. Hence, I am good as long as I can park outside the house 2-3 nights per week, which I typically can.
Can’t be doing with the faff of public chargers.
The granny chargers are 2kw, so charging at 3.5kw is almost double that of a granny charger.
I have a Tesla and no home charging. The Tesla network coupled with a very local (200m) public charger means it’s not a problem not having a home charger, for me at least. It needs a little planning, but it’s very doable and not that inconvenient. The major difference is the price due to the inability to access off peak energy.
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UK granny chargers are limited to pulling 10 Amps given a 13 Amp fuse
Power = Volts x Amps
Power = 240 x 10 = 2400 W = 2.4 kW
At home my 7 hours granny chargers get me around 23% of a 69 kWh battery, so 15.9 kW/7h or 2.3 kWh.
So, I almost match the expected rate.
It depends on how easy it is to get a charge at work. I have very cheap charging at the office and used to plug in almost solely there, but as EVs have become more widespread it can be a bit of a bunfight now, so I don't bother much since getting onto the Octopus cheap overnight rate at home.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
Agreed, the 3.5kw chargers are 16amp though so 60% faster than a granny but half as fast as a 32kw 7kw charger.
And it is easy to visualise if you pseudo-consider current (amps) as quantity of flowing water, and potential difference (volts) as the head or height of water.
In this way you can imagine power as flow of water multiplied by height of water, or volts multiplied by amps.
Looking out of the office window over the last few years I'd say it used to be easy then it became a bunfight (people turning up earlier and earlier just to get a charging spot (although it wasn't just subsidised at that point, it was free)) then more chargers were added and it seems easy again now.
However... I've had a bit of a think about it today and it's a 3 year lease I'm looking at but if I was offered early retirement on Monday I'd take it. It's not likely to happen on Monday (sadly) but there is a realistic chance it will happen in < 12months. That would leave me the remainder of the lease deal relying solely on public infrastructure and there isn't a lot of that near where I live.
I’ve had an electric car for precisely a week - and I can already say that without a home charger I wouldn’t bother yet. The 3 days I had before the charger was installed I had a bit of range anxiety (not helped admittedly by the car being new so it was still calibrating its range to me use/driving style) but the whole charge network thing and multiple apps looks like a bit of a ballache imho. I can see myself using a public charger once in a blue moon.
How you getting on with it?
Most public rapid chargers have a Pay As You Go facility whereby you only need to tap your credit/debit card.
You can get apps and sign up to providers for cheaper charging but it’s not really necessary if you’re not planning to use rapid chargers regularly.
It’s early days but I’m impressed by how smooth and quiet the car is as a whole, and just how easy it use to use a wall charger at home - it’s kind of like charging your phone, you’ve got to remember but it quickly becomes a routine. Cold temperatures clearly affect the range although the more I drive it the longer the range and the more accurate the guessometer on the app and dash seem to become! For my car use and access to a drive and charger the range is fine but for a lot of people I can imagine it being a bit of a pain. I have the 58kw battery Cupra Born eboost with 230 bhp so it feels quite nippy but you can’t disguise the fact it weighs nearly 2 tonnes. It’s incredibly easy to drive but compared to my Fiesta ST it’s relatively lifeless handling and linear drivetrain are soooo boring - although both share a 0-60 time of 6.5 seconds, the fiesta feels fast and just goes round corners so fluidly where the Cupra feels like it’s begging you to slow down and be sensible, and the lack of any sound or a manual gear change leaves me completely cold. As I say it’s early days - but right now I think it’s a car for people who don’t really like cars, just want an appliance to get from a to b whereas my other car puts a smile on my face. I think there’s room for each in my personal garage but if I had to choose 1 car right now it would be my little feisty Ford. But who knows, in a couple of months I might feel differently?
Last edited by RobDad; 16th December 2023 at 22:07.
Looking at the thread about the 20mph limit in Wales - it’s certainly much, much easier to drive that slowly in an EV than in any ICE car I’ve owned, no worry about being in the wrong gear or somehow leaving you caught between gears constantly adjusting to stay at 20. You just trundle along happily.
Personally, I find the whole obsession with cars in general a little bit dull, and not sure how a spirited ICE car would ever improve my quality of life. Same with watches these days.
If you want a car to take you from A to B in comfort, with all the gadgets you could ever want, then EVs are great. So is a Honda Jazz.
My wife absolutely loves EV cars, and that probably tells you all you need to know.
Tbh I’m not obsessed with cars at all - and actually agree re watches too. However I do live in an area with great, empty country roads which make my daily commute far less dull than the 25 years I spent on the tube. I never said they improve your life, but cars are pretty expensive so at least merit an opinion imho. When it boils down to it they’re just appliances, but some are less boring than others.
Give me a country road commute and a fun car over the tube or a heavy EV any day of the week! He had a Volvo estate for 15+yrs before the EV so just isn’t a car person regardless.
Your view on the EV so far is exactly where I would see my views. An appliance for people who don’t enjoy driving or cars. I’ve been in a fair few and driven a couple but there is just no soul with them. Give me noises, gears and things that make me feel alive with it.
The way I drive and my general attitude to sharing the roads with others has changed massively in the near decade I’ve been running an EV of some sort.
Back in the early days, I drove much slower in an attempt to stretch out the range, but even now in an EV where range just isn’t an issue I drive much slower than I used to in my last petrol powered cars. I’m often sitting at an indicated 73mph (so around 70mph real world) on a motorway and wondering why I feel like I’m going backwards sometimes, but a fringe benefit is I never need to worry about safety camera vans on bridges…
Whilst I’m not a car obsessive, I do spend around 12 hours a week driving so I take an interest and pride in driving as well as I can. Making smooth progress is my priority, along with keeping efficiency up, I find EVs have turned me into a much more patient, courteous and relaxed driver. Just my take, but I accept I’ve got older over that time as well.
Both EVs I have access to are very quick machines, but rarely will I use that performance and it’s more than adequate for keeping up with traffic flows etc. My wife’s Tesla disguises its weight quite well, and with the firmer damping feels the ‘sportier’ of the two, and bonkers quick if you want it to be. I wouldn’t say it feels any less interesting to drive, just different.
My last set of rear tyres lasted 42k miles on the ID.4, the fronts are still only circa 60% worn and I doubt I’ll need to change the brake pads ever.
It’s certainly different to my last petrol cars, an S3 and a Golf GTE, and whilst I still drive ‘normal’ cars it does feel very strange to be stirring a stick to change gear or having the pause in even a good auto box, and even a good one feels a bit agricultural to me really.
I quite like a fruity engine note in the cabin, in-line 5s being my personal favourite and perhaps one thing I slightly miss, but I do find loud exhausts on cars generally quite irritating to listen to unless they’re exotics. I certainly don’t enjoy the ‘Barry Boy’ exhausts lots of ‘enthusiasts’ seem to think we should all listen to.
Anyway, I might be sounding like an old fart right now, but I’m not an ‘old guy’ and just find there’s more to a car these days than what powers it or what people might think of it.
I think the majority of cars on the road are appliances really, and the skill levels and interest taken in driving them varies massively. When I listen to my neighbour fire up her 3 cylinder Fiat, I’m wondering if she’s feeling more ‘alive’ or whether it’s stirring her soul?!
I often read comments about ‘country road blasts’ and as somebody who lives in a small Lincs village it always grinds my gears a bit, if you’ll excuse the pun. Barely a week goes by without some bell end of a driver passing too close and at speed as my wife walks the dog, or me and my daughter cycling on the lanes around here. A few years back the local paperboy was hit and killed by a driver on his work commute early one morning, and one of the farmers in the village broke his neck when a car slammed into his tractor on a bend. My wife has stopped riding horses as it’s just become too risky, and she’s never happy about my cycling either.
I know that cars are a necessity for the majority of people, and as somebody who lives in a rural area with no public transport I understand that more than most. Maybe I’m more sensitive to it than most having lost a younger brother to a traffic ‘accident’ when he was just 18, but I really do wish that drivers of all sorts gave other more vulnerable road users a bit more consideration.
Add to that, people 'making progress' or 'pushing on'.
Turning a bit 'Jeremy Vine'........................
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
I don’t see what’s ‘Jeremy Vine’ about discussing some peoples attitudes to driving, whatever it is you drive or ride?
Seeing as EVs became viable years ago, I guess it’s all the thread has got…
As opposed to Jeremy Clarkson!
As I say it’s early days for me with an EV - I’m in my early 50’s and have been driving for over 30 years so I’m certainly not driving to work like a lunatic with a loud exhaust blaring, I’m well aware of road safety and speed limits, never had a single point on my licence in all those years. I just find the initial driving experience in the EV somewhat detached, like it’s driving me not the other way around, which actually makes me feel like it’s less safe than my other car which lets you know exactly how much grip you have etc. I’ve always preferred the engine braking and control a manual box gives, the Cupra apparently has a sportier set up than the ID3 so I can’t imagine how that must drive - whilst very smooth and limo like in comparison to our other car, i have no sense of the road beneath the wheels at all which I’m sure is fine for the motorway or A roads but doesn’t feel at all reassuring on a twisty lane - which is what makes up 60% of my driving. I’m certainly driving more slowly than in the fiesta, but only because I’m worried about soundlessly sliding into the scenery when I hit a patch of mud left by a tractor or a poorly cambered bend. Off out today and my wife is going to drive the car for the first time, I’m curious how she’ll feel as she loves driving - also zero points and has been driving longer than me, she’s never driven an EV at all so it’ll be interesting to see!
In regard to road safety particularly in rural areas I totally agree - I’m always pottering through villages and well aware of cyclists and other road users, and whilst most roads have a 60 limit you’d be mad to drive that fast. But you can have fun through a series of bends with perfect visibility well within the speed limit in the right car - and for me that’s not my new EV. You also can’t hear it coming which worries me but that’s a whole other topic!
Last edited by RobDad; 17th December 2023 at 11:19.
There's nothing natural or 'alive' about combustion engine noise or manual gearboxes, a liking for such is just conditioning. However I appreciate that I am in a minority in not having much love for the ICE, the noise only highlights how inefficient they are. I vividly recall how the constant drone of traffic really detracted from the natural sounds whilst living in Singapore, you couldn't even escape it even in the otherwise beautiful nature reserves. It's improved over the years, but exhaust emissions are obviously not good for health and there's the blindingly obvious unsustainability of fossil fuels.
At least EVs have a chance of being powered by renewables and reducing both noise and air pollutants. People will get used to them the more they drive them, in the same way as they have at every stage of motor vehicle development.
Last edited by Mr Curta; 17th December 2023 at 11:24.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
And there's me thinking that if we dig a little deeper, the "carbon footprint" for an EV far outweighs an ICE vehicle ??
Please don’t think I was pointing the finger specifically at you here either, I’m a similar age to you, but unlike you did get 3 points on my licence in 1987 when an L plate fell off my motorbike!
The ID.3 and the Born drive very similarly, albeit your Born has another 26PS in boost mode. I always felt my old ID.3 1st had plenty of power even at 204PS.
Refinement can come across as detachment I think, but there’s no getting away from the weight dulling the dartiness/fleet footed feel you get in your other car. Actual ultimate grip levels are probably higher in your Born though, whilst it’s heavier than your Fiesta most of the weight is low down in the skateboard chassis, and the tyres are probably wider too. You should find you won’t be getting anywhere near its grip limits at road speeds.
I think the more you drive it the more you will get a feel for how it behaves, it will be giving you feedback, but just in a different way to what you’re used to.
My wife loves driving as well, she found the initial EV experience very strange, but now says she can’t imagine driving anything else, and indeed doesn’t.
Yes, it’s much worse than sliding off on the same corner in a noisy vehicle! 😉😂I’m certainly driving more slowly than in the fiesta, but only because I’m worried about soundlessly sliding into the scenery when I hit a patch of mud left by a tractor or a poorly cambered bend.
The carbon footprint of any EV is much smaller over its lifetime compared to a like for like ICE vehicle even in a country with a carbon heavy electricity grid. It’s been much discussed and even Volvo agree after a study in their factory where they build electric and ICE C40s on the same line showed that parity was achieved early in the EVs life.
The ‘use phase’ of ICE vehicles is where the carbon footprint gets serious, your average ICE emitting 2 to 3 times more CO2 per mile than an EV.
The point being made was that as a country’s electricity grid gets lower carbon, by default so do all the EVs using it, not something we can really do with the ICE fleet unfortunately, not unless we find a low carbon replacement for petrol and diesel that old cars can use.
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