The all things EV chat thread

[PJ87]

@Mudball How was last night?

Today is the day. Finally time to say goodbye to the corsa... to be fair its served its purpose well for 28500 miles. I will defo never go back to vauxhall again as the build quality was terrible However It never let me down getting too and from work. I was never stranded anywhere or anything like that.

Car is emptied, private plate removed and ive just given it an once over with the old waterless car wash method. Guy is on his way now to pick it up.

 

[ColchesterFC]

I will defo never go back to vauxhall again as the build quality was terrible

That's interesting to hear. I've got a mate that's a builder and at the end of last week he popped round to quote on some work I need doing. He's got a Vauxhall Vivaro van with 260k miles on it and said it's been absolutely bullet proof in all the time he's had it. He said underneath it's the same as the Renault (traffic???) van or the equivalent Peugeot. Is it just the build quality on Vauxhall EVs that is poor, did you get unlucky or has he been fortunate?

 

[PJ87]

That's interesting to hear. I've got a mate that's a builder and at the end of last week he popped round to quote on some work I need doing. He's got a Vauxhall Vivaro van with 260k miles on it and said it's been absolutely bullet proof in all the time he's had it. He said underneath it's the same as the Renault (traffic???) van or the equivalent Peugeot. Is it just the build quality on Vauxhall EVs that is poor, did you get unlucky or has he been fortunate?

It's not really to do with the EV side of the car as it's the same as a normal Corsa. Vans might be completely different as they make take more care

List of issues

Intermittent onboard charger issue (that was an EV issue) replaced under warranty

Abs wiring loom (failing on a lot of Corsas, because they wired them so they rub on the rear suspension, replaced and then rerouted the wire so no longe rubs)

Paint on the two tone roof is wafer thin, came off in patches .. (common issue)

Passenger window regulator failed outside of warranty (luckily I purchased my own warranty as I didn't trust the build quality) they had in stock as a lot were failing. It's a 3 year old car

Drivers seat split I got a guy to sew it up for me

Steering wheel , the bit you hold is worn from just my hands resting there

So in 3 years 1 EV issue and several build quality issues

I'd never buy from their group of cars again.

 

[Mudball]

@Mudball How was last night?

Today is the day. Finally time to say goodbye to the corsa... to be fair its served its purpose well for 28500 miles. I will defo never go back to vauxhall again as the build quality was terrible However It never let me down getting too and from work. I was never stranded anywhere or anything like that.

Car is emptied, private plate removed and ive just given it an once over with the old waterless car wash method. Guy is on his way now to pick it up.

well... not perfect but it worked.... i woke up this AM to see that it worked. It was like putting an IT batch job and waking up to see that it had worked.

charging experiment #7: Forcing a dumb home charger rather than intelligent car

Stats
plugged in 15% /32miles
Time 5 hours of cheap leccy
Finished with 61%/130miles

So overnight, i added about 36KwH of battery, 98miles of range and it cost me £2.52

I could have added more as I had set the charger's time limit within Octopus's limits. Last night i had 30 mins on either side that would have given me anther 7-10Kwh and say 20 miles.
Going forward, i think i have figured a way around the system. Yesterday the battery was quiet low, but if i only do top ups every day, i think it will work out to about £2 every night, so £60 quid a month to run. Not bad for a 2.5 ton car.

The only glitch in the system is that I had to override the car's charging setting. I dont know why the car thinks that my next trip is only on Saturday 13:45. i have cleared all car app settings, but it keeps reverting to that specific time. I am assuming there is a setting in the car somewhere that is getting triggered with that time.

 

[bobmac]

well... not perfect but it worked.... i woke up this AM to see that it worked. It was like putting an IT batch job and waking up to see that it had worked.

charging experiment #7: Forcing a dumb home charger rather than intelligent car

Stats
plugged in 15% /32miles
Time 5 hours of cheap leccy
Finished with 61%/130miles

So overnight, i added about 36KwH of battery, 98miles of range and it cost me £2.52

I could have added more as I had set the charger's time limit within Octopus's limits. Last night i had 30 mins on either side that would have given me anther 7-10Kwh and say 20 miles.
Going forward, i think i have figured a way around the system. Yesterday the battery was quiet low, but if i only do top ups every day, i think it will work out to about £2 every night, so £60 quid a month to run. Not bad for a 2.5 ton car.

The only glitch in the system is that I had to override the car's charging setting. I dont know why the car thinks that my next trip is only on Saturday 13:45. i have cleared all car app settings, but it keeps reverting to that specific time. I am assuming there is a setting in the car somewhere that is getting triggered with that time.

The problem is someone at BMW has been hired or tasked to make an app and hasn't done a very good job. It might even have been the same guy/girl who designed the Nissan app(s).
I've found the best was to charge my car is to use Alexa. I plug the car into an Alexa socket and tell it to turn on and off at a certain time.
Job's done

 

[Bunkermagnet]

That's interesting to hear. I've got a mate that's a builder and at the end of last week he popped round to quote on some work I need doing. He's got a Vauxhall Vivaro van with 260k miles on it and said it's been absolutely bullet proof in all the time he's had it. He said underneath it's the same as the Renault (traffic???) van or the equivalent Peugeot. Is it just the build quality on Vauxhall EVs that is poor, did you get unlucky or has he been fortunate?

Vauxhall Vivaro Peugeot/Toyota are the same van just with different badges. I had a Toyota version as a hire van for a time last year, and whilst it drove nice in general it did seems designed for those about 5ft tall and the door mirrors were pitiful and more like a handbag make up mirror.
The Renault and a Nissan Primastar are the same.

 

[Mudball]

The problem is someone at BMW has been hired or tasked to make an app and hasn't done a very good job. It might even have been the same guy/girl who designed the Nissan app(s).
I've found the best was to charge my car is to use Alexa. I plug the car into an Alexa socket and tell it to turn on and off at a certain time.
Job's done

so are u charging using a regular 3 pin charger rather than an EV charger?

 

[bobmac]

so are u charging using a regular 3 pin charger rather than an EV charger?

Yes, a beefed up 3 pin plug. (thicker wiring)
It's a slow process but I'm never in a hurry to go anywhere.

 

[PJ87]

well... not perfect but it worked.... i woke up this AM to see that it worked. It was like putting an IT batch job and waking up to see that it had worked.

charging experiment #7: Forcing a dumb home charger rather than intelligent car

Stats
plugged in 15% /32miles
Time 5 hours of cheap leccy
Finished with 61%/130miles

So overnight, i added about 36KwH of battery, 98miles of range and it cost me £2.52

I could have added more as I had set the charger's time limit within Octopus's limits. Last night i had 30 mins on either side that would have given me anther 7-10Kwh and say 20 miles.
Going forward, i think i have figured a way around the system. Yesterday the battery was quiet low, but if i only do top ups every day, i think it will work out to about £2 every night, so £60 quid a month to run. Not bad for a 2.5 ton car.

The only glitch in the system is that I had to override the car's charging setting. I dont know why the car thinks that my next trip is only on Saturday 13:45. i have cleared all car app settings, but it keeps reverting to that specific time. I am assuming there is a setting in the car somewhere that is getting triggered with that time.

one thing you shouldnt do is charge times via the car AND the charger together. it causes conflicts

for example my corsa you could hold the button and do delayed charge. so the car would wait until the time you set inside the car and then take power

however when i set up my podpoint to do 00:30-04:30 it said a warning if charging like this disable all times on the car as it can cause conflicts

 

[Slime]

Is it just me or does the whole charging process appear to be massively complicated.
It just appears to be utter madness.
At my age, life is just too short to have to go through these processes just to fill a car up.

 

[bobmac]

Is it just me or does the whole charging process appear to be massively complicated.
It just appears to be utter madness.
At my age, life is just too short to have to go through these processes just to fill a car up.

Teething problems.
You can drive to the garage, fill your car up and hand over all your money if you want.

 

[Slime]

Teething problems.
You can drive to the garage, fill your car up and hand over all your money if you want.

Yup, and then not worry for another 3 weeks or so but, should I suddenly need to make an unexpected journey, I still wouldn't have a problem.
I filled up yesterday, it cost me £60 ........................... not all my money, I still have some left.
I'm now good for a few weeks or 550+ miles, whichever comes first.
No range anxiety, no charge anxiety, no stress.
That'll do for me.

 

[PJ87]

Yup, and then not worry for another 3 weeks or so but, should I suddenly need to make an unexpected journey, I still wouldn't have a problem.
I filled up yesterday, it cost me £60 ........................... not all my money, I still have some left.
I'm now good for a few weeks or 550+ miles, whichever comes first.
No range anxiety, no charge anxiety, no stress.
That'll do for me.

the point thats been glossed over constantly is these teething issues are always linked to getting onto the smart prices.

if @Mudball or myself want the car to charge all the time at the standard rate then we can do that no issues and it would be set up dumb .. ready to go

its because we want to charge at the (in my case 9p and his case 7.5p) is the issue cause

now all my issues are done. (touch wood of course) mudballs issues have put me off changing tariffs to save that 1.5p extra per kw (which because I got the home battery would work out a fair bit a year)

 

[bobmac]

Yup, and then not worry for another 3 weeks or so but, should I suddenly need to make an unexpected journey, I still wouldn't have a problem.
I filled up yesterday, it cost me £60 ........................... not all my money, I still have some left.
I'm now good for a few weeks or 550+ miles, whichever comes first.
No range anxiety, no charge anxiety, no stress.
That'll do for me.

It's all right for you rich folk

 

[Pants]

Quite the opposite Bob.

 

[jim8flog]

The only glitch in the system is that I had to override the car's charging setting. I dont know why the car thinks that my next trip is only on Saturday 13:45. i have cleared all car app settings, but it keeps reverting to that specific time. I am assuming there is a setting in the car somewhere that is getting triggered with that time.

The OHME app is a little like that. For overnight charging it assumes I always want to add 146 miles (OHME works in added miles) so have to change it. I presume it is the 20% to 80% figure.

 

[jim8flog]

Yup, and then not worry for another 3 weeks or so but, should I suddenly need to make an unexpected journey, I still wouldn't have a problem.
I filled up yesterday, it cost me £60 ........................... not all my money, I still have some left.
I'm now good for a few weeks or 550+ miles, whichever comes first.
No range anxiety, no charge anxiety, no stress.
That'll do for me.

I had range issues with my petrol Peugeot once
Put in enough to get me to where I was going without filling up at a motorway filling station. Traffic was so bad I realised I had to come off the M25 and fill up and was concerned I was not going to make it to the next exit as well as finding a garage.

 

[Mudball]

Yes, a beefed up 3 pin plug. (thicker wiring)
It's a slow process but I'm never in a hurry to go anywhere.

What would you do if Tiger, Rory and Rose are playing 70 miles and they call you up to complete the four ball..... but ur car does not have enough charge...
.. ..

 

[PJ87]

What would you do if Tiger, Rory and Rose are playing 70 miles and they call you up to complete the four ball..... but ur car does not have enough charge...
.. ..

Get a taxi like anyone else

 

[Mudball]

Is it just me or does the whole charging process appear to be massively complicated.
It just appears to be utter madness.
At my age, life is just too short to have to go through these processes just to fill a car up.

...and this is the 'intelligent' stuff

What i have learnt is that that there are too many charging options and it is horses for courses. I dont fancy sitting in a public charger for 30-60 mins. Its ok if i am out shopping but no otherwise.

My latest adventures are to see if i can use the cheapest rates possible. However the three parties involved - Octopus, Charger and Car dont seem to be agree who is more intelligent. As my good friend would say..