MG ZS EV Owner shame on you

[BarryH]

Only to find another mg ZS EV identical to mine parked with the 50kw ccs plugged in with nobody in it.
It’s bad when we get iced but I thought MG owners would know better.

I'm really puzzled here? What was the problem, was the car actually charging or just plugged in? there is no requirement as others have commented in plugging in, starting a charge and going off. One of the mitigating benefits of EV-refuelling is that you don't have to stand with your car as you do with an ICE car while it refuels and can do something useful even if it is stretching your legs. I can't understand from your post why you seem to have a greater right to be plugged in at that charger than the other MG ZS owner unless you're not telling us something? However, if the other vehicle had completed its charge, I can see it could have been frustrating but might I have expected you to as an MG owner to have been a little more understanding to another MG EV owner - it cuts both ways. I don't suppose you could have parked close enough in the adjacent bay to reach the CCS or Type 2 to have reached? And if the charge had finished then wouldn't the CCS have been released for you to begin a charge?

 

[Dave53]

Had a great away day at football today. Planned charging from East Lothian to Aberdeen.
Stopped at Forfar 50kwDC charge free and parked in Bon Accord shopping centre and got free charge in Aberdeen(£6) parking.
On way back stopped at Forfar for a top up.
High winds affected my range and Edinburgh city bypass closed at Hillend. Pulled off at Hermiston with 18 miles remaining.
Only to find another mg ZS EV identical to mine parked with the 50kw ccs plugged in with nobody in it.
It’s bad when we get iced but I thought MG owners would know better.
Shame on you!
Took me an extra 1 1/2 hours to get home
Has anyone else had this problem?
Do we post pics of the culprits ?
Maybe this will embarrass them to stop being so selfish!

A lot of the charge place Scotland power points that charge you for the power you draw have a 45 min with a 15 min grace period with no return for 30 min, then it £1 a minute added to your charge cost to a maximum of £60, never had a problem getting a charge at one of these ?

 

[Kithmo]

May I throw another option out there, increase the price per kWh once the car reports to the charger that it has reached 80% full.

Actually thinking about it (I don't use them much), rapids don't allow you to choose to only charge it to a certain SOC% do they / or only supply X amount of kWh, maybe they should?

Personally I don't think you should only be allowed to charge to 80%, it maybe necessary for people to get a higher charge SOC.
Also, to put arbitrary limit of 80% is not right as different cars allow different rated charges, think new ZS BMS vs old BMS.

The actual issue is people tying up the charger when they're only accepting a low charge rate, how can this be overcome via pricing.
The actual power consumed must be charged for as that is a directly related cost.
The only other option is to charge for time too or, somehow make the cost per kWh proportional to the rate at which the car is accepting a charge - this would be difficult to "explain" to the customer.

Here's a crazy but fair idea, charge per kWh (but a low marked up price based on AC kWh wholesale cost), then add on a per minute cost to effectively cover the fixed costs of the physical charger.
Make the pricing equal to what it would be currently if you charged at a rate of 50kW.
Let's work out a fair split:
So currently 45p per kWh, if you did 30kWh charge = (30*45)=1350p.
New price: 15p per kWh (30kWh*15p)=450p & (60/50*30=36mins@50kW) 25p per minute.

The ideal solution is for DC rapid chargers, to have more than 1 CCS connection that can be used concurrently & just charge per kWh. The first car has priority but the second/subsequent car gets whatever DC power is left over e.g. if the charger is capable of outputting 80kW and the first car is only accepting 20kW, then allow the 2nd car the remaining 60kW.
(Plus allowing cars to be unplugged if they've finished charging)

I thought the general idea was to keep things simple for EV charging ?

 

[JodyS21]

I thought the general idea was to keep things simple for EV charging ?

15p per kWh and 25p per minute, simple enough.

Reminds me when I was talking to the father in law about electric cars and how they almost all come with an app to control charging etc, he said but I don’t have or want a smart phone, my response was well if you’re not smart enough to use a smart phone then you shouldn’t have an electric car ?

 

[JimB]

there is actually a service via an app for this to avoid leaving your number but can't for the life of me remember the name of it.

You register your car, reg, and mobile number and if someone rocks up and needs a charge they log on to the app, put your reg in and you get a notification that someone is waiting to charge.

The app is called NeedtoCharge.

 

[Stuart74]

That’s a great idea.

 

[Sark21]

Thanks for that.A really good idea

 

[Kithmo]

15p per kWh and 25p per minute, simple enough.

Reminds me when I was talking to the father in law about electric cars and how they almost all come with an app to control charging etc, he said but I don’t have or want a smart phone, my response was well if you’re not smart enough to use a smart phone then you shouldn’t have an electric car ?

That would be, although I don't agree with paying for time, but changing rates at 80% etc.
To quote:
"Here's a crazy but fair idea, charge per kWh (but a low marked up price based on AC kWh wholesale cost), then add on a per minute cost to effectively cover the fixed costs of the physical charger. Make the pricing equal to what it would be currently if you charged at a rate of 50kW.
Let's work out a fair split:
So currently 45p per kWh, if you did 30kWh charge = (30*45)=1350p.
New price: 15p per kWh (30kWh*15p)=450p & (60/50*30=36mins@50kW) 25p per minute."

doesn't sound simple to me.

 

[JodyS21]

That would be, although I don't agree with paying for time, but changing rates at 80% etc.
To quote:
"Here's a crazy but fair idea, charge per kWh (but a low marked up price based on AC kWh wholesale cost), then add on a per minute cost to effectively cover the fixed costs of the physical charger. Make the pricing equal to what it would be currently if you charged at a rate of 50kW.
Let's work out a fair split:
So currently 45p per kWh, if you did 30kWh charge = (30*45)=1350p.
New price: 15p per kWh (30kWh*15p)=450p & (60/50*30=36mins@50kW) 25p per minute."

doesn't sound simple to me.

The calculation wasn't simple! took me 10mins to figure out! The resulting charge policy of 15p per kwh & 25p per min is simple.

But billing at that amount per kWh and per minute, would work out pretty much the same as it is currently billed per kWh - UNTIL your car starts to slow down the charge rate it accepts (at circa 80%), then is gets more and more expensive as you "waste" the chargers (and others) time by keep on charging at a low rate.
That solves the problem perfectly I would say (would be simple to implement too on existing units)

 

[Les burrows]

15p per kWh and 25p per minute, simple enough.

Reminds me when I was talking to the father in law about electric cars and how they almost all come with an app to control charging etc, he said but I don’t have or want a smart phone, my response was well if you’re not smart enough to use a smart phone then you shouldn’t have an electric car ?

JodyS21, this here is one of the problems that discourages people for turning to an EV, apps for this that and the other, no they are not required for charging in most places and thank god more and more chargers are becoming contactless so pay as you charge buy just using the debit/credit card at the charger plug in, touch the screen and away you go simple.
This is right way in IMHO quick and simple keeping it that way my help more people to look at owning an electric vehicle and help us all, our children and our children’s children in the future, ill tell you something else as well if I was your father in law and you spoke to me like that you would have got a piece of my mind and that’s for sure your response to him was terrible IMHO, also where ever you get the idea that electric cars almost always come with an app to charge them is rubbish jodyS21
Les.

 

[n0de]

Personally I think the issue is with your attitude, it's a real shame that you assume everything in this situation and it seems like you insist that the charging station is only for you to use. Personally I use the chargenet app, this lets me people contact me if they 'want' the space while I go for a walk etc. (I return when the car is full or where I 'set' the app for other users to see) - As others have mentioned the app also lets you see if the station is in use before you attempted to use it.

Never assume.

 

[Coulomb]

I think you meant p or cents per kWh.

Yes.

"Energy produced in one hour of operation"? It's just energy produced, period. It might be over 5 minutes or 10 hours.

One kWh could be 1 kW for one hour, but it could also be 2 kW for half an hour, or varying power averaging 4 kW for a quarter of an hour, and so on.

 

[weedavemac]

I'm really puzzled here? What was the problem, was the car actually charging or just plugged in? there is no requirement as others have commented in plugging in, starting a charge and going off. One of the mitigating benefits of EV-refuelling is that you don't have to stand with your car as you do with an ICE car while it refuels and can do something useful even if it is stretching your legs. I can't understand from your post why you seem to have a greater right to be plugged in at that charger than the other MG ZS owner unless you're not telling us something? However, if the other vehicle had completed its charge, I can see it could have been frustrating but might I have expected you to as an MG owner to have been a little more understanding to another MG EV owner - it cuts both ways. I don't suppose you could have parked close enough in the adjacent bay to reach the CCS or Type 2 to have reached? And if the charge had finished then wouldn't the CCS have been released for you to begin a charge?

Agreed

 

[weedavemac]

The app is called NeedtoCharge.

The app is called NeedtoCharge.

The app is called NeedtoCharge.

Does the app work both ways? Say you have not long plugged in 5, went to do some casual dogging, 10 minutes into it you get an off-putting ping telling you that someone wants to use the charger.... Can you message back that you will be another 20 minutes dogging? Simply ignore it? Or are you and your dog meant to return to the car thus spoiling your dog's walk?

 

[biffo]

Does the app work both ways? Say you have not long plugged in 5, went to do some casual dogging, 10 minutes into it you get an off-putting ping telling you that someone wants to use the charger.... Can you message back that you will be another 20 minutes dogging? Simply ignore it? Or are you and your dog meant to return to the car thus spoiling your dog's walk?

Yep - you can reply back to the sender, even to just manage their expectations (although I only tested this in an earlier version of the iOS app when you could message yourself).

 

[Gomev]

15p per kWh and 25p per minute, simple enough.

Reminds me when I was talking to the father in law about electric cars and how they almost all come with an app to control charging etc, he said but I don’t have or want a smart phone, my response was well if you’re not smart enough to use a smart phone then you shouldn’t have an electric car ?

This penalises cars that charge slower like the MGs, however if you can afford to buy a Taycan or an Ioniq you will pay less.
KISS applies here, set price per kWh with an overstay fee set at say 60 mins.

 

[Gomev]

Does the app work both ways? Say you have not long plugged in 5, went to do some casual dogging, 10 minutes into it you get an off-putting ping telling you that someone wants to use the charger.... Can you message back that you will be another 20 minutes dogging? Simply ignore it? Or are you and your dog meant to return to the car thus spoiling your dog's walk?

20 mins dogging eh....them were the days ...

 

[Flatcoat]

15p per kWh and 25p per minute, simple enough.

Reminds me when I was talking to the father in law about electric cars and how they almost all come with an app to control charging etc, he said but I don’t have or want a smart phone, my response was well if you’re not smart enough to use a smart phone then you shouldn’t have an electric car ?

Is that supposed to be clever? More like downright rude and insulting. Perhaps you should be smart enough to show a bit more respect.

 

[Dotnetter]

Yep - you can reply back to the sender, even to just manage their expectations (although I only tested this in an earlier version of the iOS app when you could message yourself).

I was thinking of the exact same idea until I read that this app had already been developed lol.

I'll certainly be using this... Once I finally get an EV ?

 

[Flatcoat]

I'm really puzzled here? What was the problem, was the car actually charging or just plugged in? there is no requirement as others have commented in plugging in, starting a charge and going off. One of the mitigating benefits of EV-refuelling is that you don't have to stand with your car as you do with an ICE car while it refuels and can do something useful even if it is stretching your legs. I can't understand from your post why you seem to have a greater right to be plugged in at that charger than the other MG ZS owner unless you're not telling us something? However, if the other vehicle had completed its charge, I can see it could have been frustrating but might I have expected you to as an MG owner to have been a little more understanding to another MG EV owner - it cuts both ways. I don't suppose you could have parked close enough in the adjacent bay to reach the CCS or Type 2 to have reached? And if the charge had finished then wouldn't the CCS have been released for you to begin a charge?

Agree, simply don’t get what the issue is here. Do you sit in your car all the time while being charged? Where in the T’s & C’s does it require you to do so? However just goes to show how unfit for purpose EV charging infrastructure is. Ridiculously crude.