Company car ready

[Fintious maximus]

Hi all, finally our fleet department has confirmed that my company car is ready to be delivered which is great news. Sadly, the charger hasn’t been installed at my house yet (this is arranged by my firm for BP to install and I’m struggling to get any reply from them regarding install dates). Fleet have said that I can take delivery of the car and claim charging fees back on expenses until the charger is installed. Questions are a. How long does it take to charge an MG5 long range and b. How much would a charge cost? Just trying to decide whether to wait until the charger has been installed (probably the best idea).

 

[kevin ellard]

Hi all, finally our fleet department has confirmed that my company car is ready to be delivered which is great news. Sadly, the charger hasn’t been installed at my house yet (this is arranged by my firm for BP to install and I’m struggling to get any reply from them regarding install dates). Fleet have said that I can take delivery of the car and claim charging fees back on expenses until the charger is installed. Questions are a. How long does it take to charge an MG5 long range and b. How much would a charge cost? Just trying to decide whether to wait until the charger has been installed (probably the best idea).

If you charge at at a rapid charger then it will cost about 80p per kWh If you are driving around town that will probably work out a little less that a petrol or diesel car. If you are driving at 70mph on the motorway then it will probably work out a little more. If it is a new MG5 and you have an open Tesla supercharger near you then you could pay considerably less (just over 50p kWh). It takes about 30 mins to charge from 20% to 80%. Depending on how many miles you are going to do it may be possible to charge from a normal plug socket for a few weeks.
If I had the possibility of a company car where I could expense the rapid charging fees I'd take it as soon as I could.

 

[5teep]

Hi all, finally our fleet department has confirmed that my company car is ready to be delivered which is great news. Sadly, the charger hasn’t been installed at my house yet (this is arranged by my firm for BP to install and I’m struggling to get any reply from them regarding install dates). Fleet have said that I can take delivery of the car and claim charging fees back on expenses until the charger is installed. Questions are a. How long does it take to charge an MG5 long range and b. How much would a charge cost? Just trying to decide whether to wait until the charger has been installed (probably the best idea).

Your car will probably come with a granny charger as well as a charging lead so you should hopefully be able to top up on that. The granny runs at about 2.5kW so it's slow and you DO NEED a good quality, good condition socket to plug it into. If you take this route check the socket to make sure it's not overheating for the first few days.

Cost to charge varies on who owns the charger but you can look that up online using one of the charging apps like plugshare/zapp map and checking for chargers near where you will be heading. you can work out the cost pretty easily.
The trick with public chargers is to only take what you need to get where you're going so if you take 20kWh (in summer about 75-80 miles worth) at 70p per kWh then it will cost you £14.
20kWh @ 50kW = 24 mins, @80kW = 15 mins.

I also drive for work, average 200 miles per day and public charge usually once per day on weekdays, I try to do it around lunch time so I can sit and eat while waiting, failing that there's always paperwork to do
I do have a house charger (set at 3.5kW) and plug in overnight every night so the car is full every morning.

 

[Jomarkh]

Hi all, finally our fleet department has confirmed that my company car is ready to be delivered which is great news. Sadly, the charger hasn’t been installed at my house yet (this is arranged by my firm for BP to install and I’m struggling to get any reply from them regarding install dates). Fleet have said that I can take delivery of the car and claim charging fees back on expenses until the charger is installed. Questions are a. How long does it take to charge an MG5 long range and b. How much would a charge cost? Just trying to decide whether to wait until the charger has been installed (probably the best idea).

Hi, what sort of milage will you be doing?
You could get away with using the granny EVSE that comes with the car until your 7kW EVSE arrives.
You could get discount app and RFID card that would reduce the rapid charging costs slightly.

 

[Fintious maximus]

Hi, what sort of milage will you be doing?
You could get away with using the granny EVSE that comes with the car until your 7kW EVSE arrives.
You could get discount app and RFID card that would reduce the rapid charging costs slightly.

Mileage depends on what appointments I have - between 50 and 200 miles a day. I wouldn’t use the granny charger as I’d need a receipt from a charger machine to claim back through expenses

 

[Fintious maximus]

Quick question - do most machines now take contactless bank cards or do I need to get an app to pay for charging and do they give receipts ?

 

[MickeySw]

Quick question - do most machines now take contactless bank cards or do I need to get an app to pay for charging and do they give receipts ?

It’s a bit hit and miss, best to test different providers while you still have plenty of charge left. In my experience you get the least amount of trouble if you use a RFID card.

There are various ways to start a rapid charge session, what seems to work best with a MG5 is the following:

1. Park, turn off the car and lock it
2. Go to the charging station and follow instructions to the point where it tells you to plug in the car
3. Unlock the car with the key fob
5. Plug in the charging cable
6. Follow instructions on the charging station
7. Be patient, it can take a while (LEDs go green, if successful)
8. Once charging session has started you can turn on the car again

 

[Gomev]

Quick question - do most machines now take contactless bank cards or do I need to get an app to pay for charging and do they give receipts ?

Most of the widely found rapid chargers are contactless and no receipt. Fast 7kW chargers are often app based.
Charging requires car to be off, no other pre-requisites should be required.
Regardless of charger I just plug in and then tap the contactless pad and off it goes.

 

[Lewis49]

If you need a receipt I suggest getting Octopus Electroverse App and also Ovo/ Bonnet. You can register your payment card with these and charge at many of the charge points. You'll also get a receipt you can download if you need it.

 

[kevin ellard]

Quick question - do most machines now take contactless bank cards or do I need to get an app to pay for charging and do they give receipts ?

You don't get receipts from the machine but so far everywhere I've charged has had a receipt available on-line. I carry a few RFID cards that are free to get (Electroverse, Shell, Chargemap) but lately I seem to be using these less. Lots of chargers can take credit cards but they don't always work. I think it is because there is no way to extra validation that cards sometimes ask for.
I've found that the most reliable method is the app for the network you are using. Of course, this means that you end up with loads of apps on your phone but I keep them all in an EV group so I can find them easily.
Its a bit of a pain at the beginning but you pretty soon have all of the apps you need.

 

[Fintious maximus]

Quick Q - I’ve downloaded the Electroverse app and order the electroverse card which arrived today and I’ve set payment method as Apple Pay. Does the card not need a pin to use at a charge point?

 

[maskull]

Quick Q - I’ve downloaded the Electroverse app and order the electroverse card which arrived today and I’ve set payment method as Apple Pay. Does the card not need a pin to use at a charge point?

No PIN required just wave the Electroverse card , though I don't use Apple Pay just my debit card details

 

[Fintious maximus]

No PIN required just wave the Electroverse card , though I don't use Apple Pay just my debit card details

What if it gets lost or nicked - anyone could us it?

 

[maskull]

What if it gets lost or nicked - anyone could us it?

The Electroverse app allows you to instantly deactivate & order new Electrocards.

Please do email us at [email protected] if you're having difficulty cancelling your card, or you've any other worries.

 

[Gomev]

What if it gets lost or nicked - anyone could us it?

Same as any contactless card.