Mihir
Established Member
Journey Part 1:
Was away on a family trip to Lampeter in Wales from Milton Keynes last weekend. A total of 215 miles journey with the car showing 182 miles for eco mode on 100% charge. We took a small detour at Birmingham for a bit. Since it was a cold day on Saturday, we had the heater and front demistifier on for most of the journey to Birmingham set to level 1 instead of auto. The journey to Birmingham was 77 miles. I drove on eco mode all the time with Kers level 3. When we arrived at Birmingham, it showed 82 miles left. So instead of 77 miles, it took 100 miles to get there. This is due to the use of heater and front demistifier.
Points noted/learnt:
1. Heating and demistifier does take away atleast 20 miles. Even if you stop start in between, generally give yourself 20 miles down for using heater and demisitifier.
2. I was constantly looking at the available range and distance to destination. I am assuming this will be the general mindset of EV drivers. Though I knew I was ok, psycologically I was doing as much as possbile to save the battery(like stop start heater if it felt little warm)
3. Wear thick socks/winter socks as feet can get really cold even with the heating on.
4. Heated seats help but you will still need to use demistifier.
Journey Part 2:
We started from Birmingham and my destination in Wales was about 140 miles. I surely needed to charge. I had planned the journey with ZAP Map and had decided a stop in Telford which was about 35 miles. Again due to the cold weather and use of heater, I knew the remainiung 82 miles would effectively be around 65 miles. I was lucky that there was a traffic jam on M54 on the way to Telford and KERS kicked in! There was bit of range anxiety by the time we were about to reach but KERS calmed it down a bit. I decided not to stop at the services but instead stopped at a Tesco Extra just off the junction as there was a chance I would not get a charging point available at the services and that idea helped! Tesco Extra had free 7kW charging points and a couple of CCS 50kW paid ones. Most shoppers opted for free ones while the CCS was free to use. I used the podpoint app to charge but realised I had to top up to use the charging on the app. 28%-100% took a little over an hour. I charged it to 100%. I forgot to turn the heating and demistifier off before I started the charging. This was the first time ever I used public charging! After 100% charge it showed me 158 miles on normal mode and 166 miles in eco mode!
Points learnt/noted:
1. Plan the journey in advance on ZAP Map. Spend time understanding the chargepoints, availablity etc.
2. KERS really helps and comes handy to reduce a bit of range anxiety.
3. If there are charging points like I found one just off the junction at Tesco Extra, check for those. Its more likely to have charge points available over services. Especially if they also have 7kW free chargers.
4. Turn off the heating/demistifiers etc before starting to charge. Also set reset trip to 0. All of these help in getting a better range.
5. Keep the type 2 charger accessible on long journeys, especially if you have luggage in the boot. Its a lot of effort to remove the entire luggage to get to the charger and put it all back.
6. Check the chargepoint in ZAP Map in advance. Install the app, top it up with money if needed to avoid doing all this at the chargepoint. Do practice how to use the public charge points before going on the long journey.
Journey Part 3:
With 166 miles on eco mode and the destination around 105 miles, I was lot more comfortable on this stretch. Once again, used the heater and demistifier at most times. My focus when driving was constantly calculating the range difference(Available - destination). I was on a difference of 40 miles at most times. The journey was through hills where I had constant breaking and accelerating. KERS did help a lot. There were times when the range difference was down to 28-29 miles and I started driving to generate more KERS. It was quite pleasing to feel that you drove 2-3 miles but the available mileage would not go down at all! In the end when we reached our destination in Wales, the available mileage was 50 miles! Thanks to KERS. I was going to be staying there without a drive for over 40 hours and hence used the granny charger. But I needed a long extension lead to connect it from the plug point. The host was kind enough to wrap the extension lead where the charger was plugged onto with a hard plastic bag as it was raining very heavily.
Points learnt/noted:
1. Car performs really well in stretches where KERS can really work well.
2. Always carry a long extension lead to use a granny charger. Also think of wrapping it in some way if its going to be rainy.
3. Its almost not possible to be ignorant on miles available to miles to destination even if you are say driving a LR. May be its just me or because it was my first long journey.
The return journey was a different route with more or less similar observations. Not including it here.
Concluding remarks:
1. It is definitely possible to go on long journeys on SR. Just need to plan it well and keep in mind the additional journey times.
2. Car ride is really really smooth and very comfortable. Car handles quite well on motorways and in hilly routes too. Motorways eats away the range more than non motorway routes. Sometimes you would feel having travelled just 1 mile but the range goes down by 2-3. Plan a non motorway route if its not a lot of hassle.
3. KERS is a blessing! Atleast pysologically. That feeling when you drive a certain distance and the mileage does not go down or even starts to add up is a very nice one! Especially when you are low on mileage. You will surely appreaciate the technology!
4. Always reduce 20-25 miles for using heater etc in the car irrespective of the distance. Everything we use in the car - heating, music, charging phones etc will use some amount of the battery. Either the 12v or the main battery. Plan the usage wisely. Weather does have its say! Wear warm clothing if possible on cold, rainy days.
5. Turn off all things in the car before charging. Reset trip counter to 0 if its convenient.
6. iSmart app really comes handy to check charging levels etc especially when you are away from the car in services etc. Practice using public chargers before venturing out on a long journey.
Overall, despite everything mentioned above, the overall experience of driving the car, smoothness of the car in long distances, the costs involved(I spent a total of about £22 in public charging against around £125 the other petrol/diesel car owners from the family for the entire trip) and not even using a normal mode(since this was my first long journey, I drove rather conservatively) was a very pleasing experience. No complaints whatsoever. LR would give a better range in comparison, perhaps a real world range of an additional 50-60 miles. But all the points mentioned above will still be relevant.
With products such as ZipCharge expected to come into the market later this year, giving us a 'powerbank' of 40-50 miles, the bridge between LR and SR I think would not be a lot. ZipCharge are planning to keep the costs down similar to a home charger(£600-£800 I assume). That would help SR be almost similar to LR. I have intentionally not gone down the route of pence per mile calculation etc here as I feel what matters at the end of the day is the convenience even over the cost calculations on the long journeys. There are so many factors that affect such calcuations like driving style, weather, things used in the car, mindset, charging costs etc.
I hope this makes it a good read and everyone can get some tips/ideas based on my personal experience.
Was away on a family trip to Lampeter in Wales from Milton Keynes last weekend. A total of 215 miles journey with the car showing 182 miles for eco mode on 100% charge. We took a small detour at Birmingham for a bit. Since it was a cold day on Saturday, we had the heater and front demistifier on for most of the journey to Birmingham set to level 1 instead of auto. The journey to Birmingham was 77 miles. I drove on eco mode all the time with Kers level 3. When we arrived at Birmingham, it showed 82 miles left. So instead of 77 miles, it took 100 miles to get there. This is due to the use of heater and front demistifier.
Points noted/learnt:
1. Heating and demistifier does take away atleast 20 miles. Even if you stop start in between, generally give yourself 20 miles down for using heater and demisitifier.
2. I was constantly looking at the available range and distance to destination. I am assuming this will be the general mindset of EV drivers. Though I knew I was ok, psycologically I was doing as much as possbile to save the battery(like stop start heater if it felt little warm)
3. Wear thick socks/winter socks as feet can get really cold even with the heating on.
4. Heated seats help but you will still need to use demistifier.
Journey Part 2:
We started from Birmingham and my destination in Wales was about 140 miles. I surely needed to charge. I had planned the journey with ZAP Map and had decided a stop in Telford which was about 35 miles. Again due to the cold weather and use of heater, I knew the remainiung 82 miles would effectively be around 65 miles. I was lucky that there was a traffic jam on M54 on the way to Telford and KERS kicked in! There was bit of range anxiety by the time we were about to reach but KERS calmed it down a bit. I decided not to stop at the services but instead stopped at a Tesco Extra just off the junction as there was a chance I would not get a charging point available at the services and that idea helped! Tesco Extra had free 7kW charging points and a couple of CCS 50kW paid ones. Most shoppers opted for free ones while the CCS was free to use. I used the podpoint app to charge but realised I had to top up to use the charging on the app. 28%-100% took a little over an hour. I charged it to 100%. I forgot to turn the heating and demistifier off before I started the charging. This was the first time ever I used public charging! After 100% charge it showed me 158 miles on normal mode and 166 miles in eco mode!
Points learnt/noted:
1. Plan the journey in advance on ZAP Map. Spend time understanding the chargepoints, availablity etc.
2. KERS really helps and comes handy to reduce a bit of range anxiety.
3. If there are charging points like I found one just off the junction at Tesco Extra, check for those. Its more likely to have charge points available over services. Especially if they also have 7kW free chargers.
4. Turn off the heating/demistifiers etc before starting to charge. Also set reset trip to 0. All of these help in getting a better range.
5. Keep the type 2 charger accessible on long journeys, especially if you have luggage in the boot. Its a lot of effort to remove the entire luggage to get to the charger and put it all back.
6. Check the chargepoint in ZAP Map in advance. Install the app, top it up with money if needed to avoid doing all this at the chargepoint. Do practice how to use the public charge points before going on the long journey.
Journey Part 3:
With 166 miles on eco mode and the destination around 105 miles, I was lot more comfortable on this stretch. Once again, used the heater and demistifier at most times. My focus when driving was constantly calculating the range difference(Available - destination). I was on a difference of 40 miles at most times. The journey was through hills where I had constant breaking and accelerating. KERS did help a lot. There were times when the range difference was down to 28-29 miles and I started driving to generate more KERS. It was quite pleasing to feel that you drove 2-3 miles but the available mileage would not go down at all! In the end when we reached our destination in Wales, the available mileage was 50 miles! Thanks to KERS. I was going to be staying there without a drive for over 40 hours and hence used the granny charger. But I needed a long extension lead to connect it from the plug point. The host was kind enough to wrap the extension lead where the charger was plugged onto with a hard plastic bag as it was raining very heavily.
Points learnt/noted:
1. Car performs really well in stretches where KERS can really work well.
2. Always carry a long extension lead to use a granny charger. Also think of wrapping it in some way if its going to be rainy.
3. Its almost not possible to be ignorant on miles available to miles to destination even if you are say driving a LR. May be its just me or because it was my first long journey.
The return journey was a different route with more or less similar observations. Not including it here.
Concluding remarks:
1. It is definitely possible to go on long journeys on SR. Just need to plan it well and keep in mind the additional journey times.
2. Car ride is really really smooth and very comfortable. Car handles quite well on motorways and in hilly routes too. Motorways eats away the range more than non motorway routes. Sometimes you would feel having travelled just 1 mile but the range goes down by 2-3. Plan a non motorway route if its not a lot of hassle.
3. KERS is a blessing! Atleast pysologically. That feeling when you drive a certain distance and the mileage does not go down or even starts to add up is a very nice one! Especially when you are low on mileage. You will surely appreaciate the technology!
4. Always reduce 20-25 miles for using heater etc in the car irrespective of the distance. Everything we use in the car - heating, music, charging phones etc will use some amount of the battery. Either the 12v or the main battery. Plan the usage wisely. Weather does have its say! Wear warm clothing if possible on cold, rainy days.
5. Turn off all things in the car before charging. Reset trip counter to 0 if its convenient.
6. iSmart app really comes handy to check charging levels etc especially when you are away from the car in services etc. Practice using public chargers before venturing out on a long journey.
Overall, despite everything mentioned above, the overall experience of driving the car, smoothness of the car in long distances, the costs involved(I spent a total of about £22 in public charging against around £125 the other petrol/diesel car owners from the family for the entire trip) and not even using a normal mode(since this was my first long journey, I drove rather conservatively) was a very pleasing experience. No complaints whatsoever. LR would give a better range in comparison, perhaps a real world range of an additional 50-60 miles. But all the points mentioned above will still be relevant.
With products such as ZipCharge expected to come into the market later this year, giving us a 'powerbank' of 40-50 miles, the bridge between LR and SR I think would not be a lot. ZipCharge are planning to keep the costs down similar to a home charger(£600-£800 I assume). That would help SR be almost similar to LR. I have intentionally not gone down the route of pence per mile calculation etc here as I feel what matters at the end of the day is the convenience even over the cost calculations on the long journeys. There are so many factors that affect such calcuations like driving style, weather, things used in the car, mindset, charging costs etc.
I hope this makes it a good read and everyone can get some tips/ideas based on my personal experience.
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