What would make public charging better for you..?

[JonnyG]

……
The other is, sipping is fine. If you left home on 50%, reach the supermarket on 48%, leave the supermarket on 54% having charged while shopping, and get home with 52%, you're up overall. If you sip wherever you go, sometimes you'll be up, sometimes down, but you could be fluctuating between 30% and 80% for months without ever running out…….

Is that good for battery health to do frequent small top ups ?

 

[ukslim]

Is that good for battery health to do frequent small top ups ?

Well, I'm afraid it's all gut-feel from me. But my gut feel says frequent small 7kW top-ups is better for battery health than rapid charging. It's fairly widely acknowledged that rapid charging is the worst thing for battery health -- but increasingly recognised that even that isn't the end of the world, since Tesla owners who use nothing but Superchargers are doing fine after 8+ years.

MG's claims about balancing seem to suggest it only does balancing while plugged into an AC charger and it's reached target SOC. I guess you need to arrange for that to happen every few weeks. But I hope future batteries are cleverer than that.

 

[Rolfe]

It needs to go all the way to 100% to balance properly, even if it's an NMC.

 

[GaryMG4]

I'm not the only person who uses this car in this household and I like to get back with the same state of charge in case my other half would like to take it out.

Give it a rest mate.

I too used to do an 16 mile round trip to the supermarket, shop for 15 minutes grab some (then) free electrons. often the trips weren't strictly needed but I enjoyed the drive and novelty of 'free' fuel.

 

[ozzz]

I do the same, shopping coffee free charging @6.5kW for free but really appreciate the car parking spot,was awesome Xmas time I have no problems with fast charging slower charging or granny charging as I am sure the battery will survive like Tesla ect.
what guarantees on 2nd hand vehicles re charging.

 

[Tweed98]

2 hours in the gym? Crikey.

They have a coffee shop!

If you can charge at home, why would you charge at your local supermarket at all? You just wouldn't.

So rapid chargers at supermarkets might be for visitors from further away - and those people are fewer, so you need a couple of 100kW+ posts for them, and lots of cheaper 7kW posts for locals who don't have home charging. Again, it's enough to replace the energy you used to get there, and will use to get home.

That's why I use the Genie Point 50kw when I'm in Bridlington. Morrisons have the only rapid charger in town.

 

[ukslim]

I do the same, shopping coffee free charging @6.5kW for free but really appreciate the car parking spot,was awesome Xmas time I have no problems with fast charging slower charging or granny charging as I am sure the battery will survive like Tesla ect.
what guarantees on 2nd hand vehicles re charging.

For an MG, the 7 year warranty stays with the car when it's sold on.

After the 7 years though, buyer beware - although I don't believe the risk of the battery wearing out are as high as many doom-mongers like to say.

I think there's a glaring opportunity for insurance companies to come up with a battery warranty product for second-hand EVs. The battery becoming unusable is very rare, but it's an expensive problem for the very few people it happens to. That's a perfect scenario for insurers.

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

For an MG, the 7 year warranty stays with the car when it's sold on.

After the 7 years though, buyer beware - although I don't believe the risk of the battery wearing out are as high as many doom-mongers like to say.

I think there's a glaring opportunity for insurance companies to come up with a battery warranty product for second-hand EVs. The battery becoming unusable is very rare, but it's an expensive problem for the very few people it happens to. That's a perfect scenario for insurers.

I was reading this morning about an Australian Tesla that had the battery replaced under warranty, as it had fallen below 80% of its "as new" capacity. Tesla couldn't supply the same size battery as the original, so they fitted a bigger one. That was after the car had done 666,666km!

 

[Baldini84]

LOWER PRICES!!

Amen! Pretty much 75-80p/kWh now!!

 

[Archev]

They have a coffee shop!



That's why I use the Genie Point 50kw when I'm in Bridlington. Morrisons have the only rapid charger in town.

Looking for coffee and cake today and noticed Dobbies garden centre Dunfermline so that’ll do - then found they’re installing a bunch of Gridserve chargers ? charges with my compost and chrysanthemums in future ?

Looking for coffee and cake today and noticed Dobbies garden centre Dunfermline so that’ll do - then found they’re installing a bunch of Gridserve chargers ? charges with my compost and chrysanthemums in future ?

 

[Grriff]

7kW street chargers where houses and flats can't have charging facilities, with penalties for ICE drivers blocking the charger. Option of charging between 10 pm and 8 am with no overstay penalty.

 

[Rolfe]

Absolutely!

 

[PeteC]

7kW street chargers where houses and flats can't have charging facilities, with penalties for ICE drivers blocking the charger. Option of charging between 10 pm and 8 am with no overstay penalty.

Where I sometimes stay in East Lothian there are a few 7kW street chargers operated by Connected Kerb. They are just trialling an off peak rate between midnight and 7am where they drop the price per kWh from 45p to 35p with no overstay penalty. In fact, I don't think there's any overstay penalty during the day, either. Just a £2 minimum charge. Not the cheapest, but local CPS destination chargers are now 35p or 45p depending on time of day so no worse than those. I'll give them a go next time I'm up.

 

[JonnyG]

As mentioned in a previous post elswhere .... Supermarkets getting into the act (here in the UK anyway) and providing fast chargers at all their big stores and a price war being created amongst the supermarkets ?. Well done Sainsburys for getting the ball rolling !

Sainsbury’s launches Smart Charge to build confidence in public EV charging: charging technology is provided by Kempower - Kempower

Sainsbury’s has today launched Smart Charge, a brand-new, dedicated EV charging business that will give drivers access to ultra-rapid EV charging points across its stores in the UK.

kempower.com

 

[Kithmo]

As mentioned in a previous post elswhere .... Supermarkets getting into the act (here in the UK anyway) and providing fast chargers at all their big stores and a price war being created amongst the supermarkets ?. Well done Sainsburys for getting the ball rolling !

Sainsbury’s launches Smart Charge to build confidence in public EV charging: charging technology is provided by Kempower - Kempower

Sainsbury’s has today launched Smart Charge, a brand-new, dedicated EV charging business that will give drivers access to ultra-rapid EV charging points across its stores in the UK.

kempower.com

A rapid charger price war would be great.

 

[YaR]

Had to use a BP Pulse slow charger today (there's one at the end of my street) to avoid some range anxiety on a drive tomorrow - I usually charge at work* but couldn't all week. It took three attempts at different sockets for it to work. I do not know why. All sockets were supposedly functional yet only the third one connected with the car.

Why is plug and pay so difficult?

*There are similar issues with chargers at work randomly not working, but at a 1/4 of the price of BP it feels like you shouldn't complain too much.

 

[unbornidentity]

A queuing system. Petrol stations have a way in and a way out that forces a natural queue.

EV chargers are often placed in a way that makes them a free for all and although that’s fine most of the time it’s horrible when it isn’t.

Exeter Services on a bank holiday is extremely stressful. No way in, no way out. Cars waiting in all directions… horrible!!

 

[securespark]

LOWER PRICES!!

Have to agree. We get by by doing nearly all our charging at home and making sure we don't exceed 200 miles. If we do, then we use a rapid charger, but at more than 10 times our domestic tariff, it makes the eyes water....

 

[AndyL61]

A queuing system. Petrol stations have a way in and a way out that forces a natural queue.

EV chargers are often placed in a way that makes them a free for all and although that’s fine most of the time it’s horrible when it isn’t.

Exeter Services on a bank holiday is extremely stressful. No way in, no way out. Cars waiting in all directions… horrible!!

There should be enough to not need a queue. Unlike a petrol pump which is clear in a few minutes, rapid chargers are more likely going to be 30 mins plus. So queuing is not practical.

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

I've also used these chargers, and the set up is excellent. It's how a charging location should be (except for a cover over the chargers)

Yes no covers and they would nice (especially with solar), but to be honest it takes a moment only to plug in with Osprey, no need to interact with the charger otherwise and then on the app, just start the charge. Went there at the weekend and it was wet but we were inside the cafe within 1 minute.

One point is arriving there in an absolute deluge - you'll get drenched in less than a minute.
Another is people who are driving dressed to go to an event or a meeting where they want to be presentable, not damp and windswept with muddy shoes.
Another which probably isn't relevant to this location but is to many others, is heavy snow.

Osprey have previously said they're putting in a separate planning application to add a canopy & lighting to the site.