EV Newbie

[Paulsd]

I am a complete novice and newbie to the EV world and probably the least ‘tech savvy’ member of this forum! So apologies in advice for the stupid questions.
Took delivery today of my Xpower. I’ve failed to get my backside into gear and have a home charger installed in time so my first drive was to a public charging point to see how it all worked.
Went to a local Blink. Had to pre authorise the cost of charging to the max which came to about £50 ish. Only actually used £3.70 before I had to leave the car park and get home. Is it normal to be charged the £50 and now be awaiting a refund for the best part of £47?
Could be normal, or it could be me being really dumb. Any advice/tips on this?

Secondly - to get my by over the next few weeks I’ve ordered Charger Cable Type 2 to 3 Pin Plug, 8M 3.3kW Electric Car Charger, 6/8/10/13A.
Someone tell me this will be fine - even if a very slow charge?

As I said - I’m a complete beginner and finding all this slightly overwhelming while I have no EV charger at home!

 

[salty]

I've got an X Power and only use my Granny Charger to charge it. As is suits my needs. So yes it should be fine. If your house electrics are up to it.
Did you not get a Granny Charger with the car?

 

[Paulsd]

View attachment 33274

I've got an X Power and only use my Granny Charger to charge it. As is suits my needs. So yes it should be fine. If your house electrics are up to it.
Did you not get a Granny Charger with the car?

Thank you
Only got a type 2 with the car

Another stupid question…..how will I know if the house electrics are up to it…other than plugging in and blowing the house up?

 

[5teep]

Yes the pre authorization amount is normal, not just on EV chargers but pretty much any remote site you can pay by debit card. e.g. Self service petrol stations have the same thing. You'll get it back if they have even blocked it on your account.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Yes.
Being charged up front is normal for some operators.
You will see the money back within 3 working days. (My experience)

And.....if you have items such as an Electric kettle? Electric oven?

Then plugging in your Granny charger will not result in your house blowing up!!

EV Novice and went straight to an X Power?

Well done you!

Have Fun.

(Asked mod to be moved to correct forum)

 

[5teep]

Thank you
Only got a type 2 with the car

Another stupid question…..how will I know if the house electrics are up to it…other than plugging in and blowing the house up?

If you can boil a kettle you can use a granny charger The only thing you need to look out for is to make sure the socket you plug it into is a good one, properly wired. The charger runs for a very long time and the socket will get hot, if it's old or the wires are loose inside it you can have problems with it burning out.

 

[salty]

Thank you
Only got a type 2 with the car

Another stupid question…..how will I know if the house electrics are up to it…other than plugging in and blowing the house up?

.
If your property is a New build or relatively new it'll almost certainly be ok. You could always get an electrician to check.

.
If your property is a New build or relatively new it'll almost certainly be ok. You could always get an electrician to check.

As has been said above, for the first night I regularly felt the socket, and it never even got warm. And never has in the 14 weeks I've been using it. And my house is quite old.

 

[Paulsd]

Yes.
Being charged up front is normal for some operators.
You will see the money back within 3 working days. (My experience)

And.....if you have items such as an Electric kettle? Electric oven?

Then plugging in your Granny charger will not result in your house blowing up!!

EV Novice and went straight to an X Power?

Well done you!

Have Fun.

Thank you
Restored a bit of confidence In the granny charger I’ve purchased!

As for straight to an Xpower…..May as well go ‘all out’ right in my first venture in the the EV world?

 

[Paulsd]

As has been said above, for the first night I regularly felt the socket, and it never even got warm. And never has in the 14 weeks I've been using it. And my house is quite old.

Sounds like I should be ok. I’ll keep and eye on it and see how warm it not it gets

 

[Jomarkh]

Thank you
Restored a bit of confidence In the granny charger I’ve purchased!

As for straight to an Xpower…..May as well go ‘all out’ right in my first venture in the the EV world?

If you can reduce the current on the granny EVSE then try it at 8A rather than 10A definitely don't use it at 13A if it has that setting. As others have said monitor the plug top and use it in a newish socket.
If you use an extension cable then make sure it is rated at 13A continuous use.
Unlike a kettle that is only on for a frw minutes or even an electric oven that turn on and off while cooking a granny is drawing current for hours on end.

 

[Paulsd]

If you can reduce the current on the granny EVSE then try it at 8A rather than 10A definitely don't use it at 13A if it has that setting. As others have said monitor the plug top and use it in a newish socket.
If you use an extension cable then make sure it is rated at 13A continuous use.
Unlike a kettle that is only on for a frw minutes or even an electric oven that turn on and off while cooking a granny is drawing current for hours on end.

I think it has 6/8/10/13A adjustable settings. The continuous use in comparison to an oven for example makes perfect sense. Thank you

 

[bedsev]

Welcome.

I don't have a home charger either. Grab zap map app (or website) and have a look what's about I your area. Prices vary hugely, my local Aldi (shell recharge) is only 25p per kWh and Dobbies (Gridserve) is 75p.

If you don't use the car much and have time to granny charge then just do that (don't use a domestic extension lead, get a fat one).

Tesla are brilliant, grab the Tesla app and any charge points shown are available you. I did pay the £90 annual subscription, but hit 137kW charge speed for 39p/kWh the other night (to your point, Tesla charge £10 pre authorisation on your account).

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Welcome.

I don't have a home charger either. Grab zap map app (or website) and have a look what's about I your area. Prices vary hugely, my local Aldi (shell recharge) is only 25p per kWh and Dobbies (Gridserve) is 75p.

If you don't use the car much and have time to granny charge then just do that (don't use a domestic extension lead, get a fat one).

Tesla are brilliant, grab the Tesla app and any charge points shown are available you. I did pay the £90 annual subscription, but hit 137kW charge speed for 39p/kWh the other night (to your point, Tesla charge £10 pre authorisation on your account).

It's £20 pre auth for Tesla and £45 for MFG.

These are the only two I know and use regularly. (99% Tesla)

 

[Paulsd]

It's £20 pre auth for Tesla and £45 for MFG.

These are the only two I know and use regularly. (99% Tesla)

So do you need to pay the £90 subscription for Tesla as mentioned above?

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

So do you need to pay the £90 subscription for Tesla as mentioned above?

No.
£8.99 per month at time of writing this.

Details of how to use the chargers here... (click on blue letters)

Post in thread 'XPower charging cable' XPower charging cable

 

[JonnyG]

Went to a local Blink. Had to pre authorise the cost of charging to the max which came to about £50 ish. Only actually used £3.70 before I had to leave the car park and get home. Is it normal to be charged the £50 and now be awaiting a refund for the best part of £47?
Could be normal, or it could be me being really dumb. Any advice/tips on this?...........

A warm welcome to the forum and your Xpower . Hope you enjoy !!

With regards to the pre-authorising charge I have found that getting an Electroverse Card and the Electroverse App has avoided this at many charging stations (all that Electroverse cover). Thus includes MFG which I use occasionally at Newcastle airport. Just open the app, click on the charging location and enter the charger number and press start charge. Instant receipt available on the app after the charge too. Anyone can get the Electroverse App and card (not just Octopus Energy customers)

Similarly for Gridserve which I use when going south down the M1 to London, I use their app the same way and again no pre authorisation charge, a small % discount recently, and instant receipt on my phone.

 

[Anon70]

I used the XPower as my first venture into the EV World as it was the first time I had seen a vehicle with the spec of the XPower, that I could afford.

As for finding out how stuff works, as well as using the search feature of this forum, I would recommend the Jerry Pan YouTube channel as he explains things pretty clearly and has a good set of MG4 video tutorials

Jerry Pan and CARS

For Car Reviews, POV Drives, Tutorials & Tips!!! ð¥Car Video(s) Every Week! ð«¶Welcome to the channel. My name is Jerry. I live and work in Auckland, New Zealand. This is my small channel created during the 2021 New Zealand Covid lockdown. I'm very grateful that this has become a "little...

www.youtube.com

 

[PeteC]

So do you need to pay the £90 subscription for Tesla as mentioned above?

No. If you subscribe you get lower prices but you can use them without subscribing. I only use Tesla chargers every now and then so it's not worth me subscribing as the lower prices wouldn't cover the monthly cost of the subscription.

 

[mGizmo]

I used the XPower as my first venture into the EV World as it was the first time I had seen a vehicle with the spec of the XPower, that I could afford.

I was thinking there must be quite a lot of us XPower-types in that category!

 

[bedsev]

I was thinking there must be quite a lot of us XPower-types in that category!