Octopus Electroverse Charge Card

[ajw1100]

Octopus has sent me n Electroverse charge card, with access to 420,000+ public chargers. At home I have a tethered Zappi and use the Octopus Go cheap tariff 21.30~01.30. I have never had the supplied charger out of its bag.
To use a public charger I will need to buy a type 2 charge cable, say around £120. To that I would need to add the cost of the public charger and that's where I have no idea of what they currently charge, pricing seem to be made up as they go along. As it takes around 4 hours to charge the battery I cannot see us waiting 4 hours while out shopping! Local car parks mostly only allow 2~3 free hours so not much use either, so only a half charge. Reckon I'd be better off using fuel/hybrid.

 

[rpannell]

The Electroverse card can also be used for rapid chargers, so no type 2 cable needed and fully charged (20-80%) in around 30 mins.

 

[Cocijo]

Not on an HS PHEV it can’t.

 

[ajw1100]

The HS PHEV does not come with a type 2 to type 2 cable, only a 3pin mains slow charger as the car cannot be fast charged.
I really wish it could!!!

 

[jem111111]

yes got a card through the post from octopus ( without actually asking for one) myself and trying to work out if its really usable for my PHEV as the cost on 7kw chargers are quite high at the moment.
I work it out in a simple way ( not saying this is right or wrong) , and i use the figure of 35 miles range on EV mode
Petrol is £1.41 a litre = £6.34 a gallon.
I can get between 35-40 miles per gallon ( depending on speed etc).
But in a simple way if i say 35 miles on petrol it makes it eay.
So in theory we have the use of approx 13KW of battery and an equivalent charge per kw ( to be the same range as petrol ) would be a gallon ( £6.34) divided by 13 (kw)
= 48p
So if you get a charge for 48p per KW , then thats about the same EV charging cost / range as using petrol.
Any charge more than 48p , then its not worth it ( from a cost point of view , not an enviroment friendly point of view)
Any charge less than 48 p would be cheaper charging the battery than using petrol for the same range
If you activate the card you get £10 of credit on it , so thats £10 free range ( 55 odd miles depending on price per KW) .
I hope this all makes sense and i have not made a big mistake in my simple reasoning

 

[Jomarkh]

The HS PHEV does not come with a type 2 to type 2 cable, only a 3pin mains slow charger as the car cannot be fast charged.
I really wish it could!!!

Type2 is fast.
DC CCS is rapid charging

 

[ajw1100]

The cable may fast charge a car but the car (MG PHEV) does not accept a fast charge.
See reply #3 above.

 

[Cocijo]

yes got a card through the post from octopus ( without actually asking for one) myself and trying to work out if its really usable for my PHEV as the cost on 7kw chargers are quite high at the moment.
I work it out in a simple way ( not saying this is right or wrong) , and i use the figure of 35 miles range on EV mode
Petrol is £1.41 a litre = £6.34 a gallon.
I can get between 35-40 miles per gallon ( depending on speed etc).
But in a simple way if i say 35 miles on petrol it makes it eay.
So in theory we have the use of approx 13KW of battery and an equivalent charge per kw ( to be the same range as petrol ) would be a gallon ( £6.34) divided by 13 (kw)
= 48p
So if you get a charge for 48p per KW , then thats about the same EV charging cost / range as using petrol.
Any charge more than 48p , then its not worth it ( from a cost point of view , not an enviroment friendly point of view)
Any charge less than 48 p would be cheaper charging the battery than using petrol for the same range
If you activate the card you get £10 of credit on it , so thats £10 free range ( 55 odd miles depending on price per KW) .
I hope this all makes sense and i have not made a big mistake in my simple reasoning

The bottom line is no different when comparing EV to ICE. If you have to public charge all the time there’s hardly any difference with current public charging prices. If you can mostly charge at home on a cheap rate then there is a big saving over ICE.

 

[jem111111]

Hi cocijo yes I fully agree

 

[NEILO]

yes got a card through the post from octopus ( without actually asking for one) myself and trying to work out if its really usable for my PHEV as the cost on 7kw chargers are quite high at the moment.
I work it out in a simple way ( not saying this is right or wrong) , and i use the figure of 35 miles range on EV mode
Petrol is £1.41 a litre = £6.34 a gallon.
I can get between 35-40 miles per gallon ( depending on speed etc).
But in a simple way if i say 35 miles on petrol it makes it eay.
So in theory we have the use of approx 13KW of battery and an equivalent charge per kw ( to be the same range as petrol ) would be a gallon ( £6.34) divided by 13 (kw)
= 48p
So if you get a charge for 48p per KW , then thats about the same EV charging cost / range as using petrol.
Any charge more than 48p , then its not worth it ( from a cost point of view , not an enviroment friendly point of view)
Any charge less than 48 p would be cheaper charging the battery than using petrol for the same range
If you activate the card you get £10 of credit on it , so thats £10 free range ( 55 odd miles depending on price per KW) .
I hope this all makes sense and i have not made a big mistake in my simple reasoning

I hope you will not mind if I comment.

A kw is a unit of Power. Energy is measured in kwhrs. The MG HS PHEV battery has an energy capacity of about 16 kwhrs giving a range on electric of about 32 miles, which is about the range from a gallon of petrol costing about £6. Therefore, provided the cost of electricity is less than about £6/16 = 37.5 pence per kwhr, electric running is cheaper.

Haven't heard of the Octopus deal even though they supply my electric/gas.

 

[DrAndyPerry]

I've got an electroverse card. I've used it a few times on Ionity where it wouldn't take my contactless card and I had no phone signal.

It doesn't cost anything so may as well get one. It may get you out of a bind one day.... Although unlikely if you've got a hybrid.

If you want a cheap type 2 to type 2 cable. Have a look on ebay. There are loads going for £50 or so. I got myself one a month or so ago as I made mine into a discharge cable.

 

[DBedford]

Truth is Hybrids are a stop gap where a stop gap is not needed ( worst of both worlds, ICE and BEV). Unless that is you get free charging at work which is within 25 miles of where you live. ?

 

[jem111111]

Truth is Hybrids are a stop gap where a stop gap is not needed ( worst of both worlds, ICE and BEV). Unless that is you get free charging at work which is within 25 miles of where you live. ?

Well that's one person's view, mine is different, I love my phev. It suits the way I use it, lots on EV only ,and the few times I drive a long way , fill up and go. I am prepared for the "hit" of having to lug around the engine you are not using at the time but it's worth it for me ( not for everyone I know).
Phevs are not for everyone but for me it's the best of both worlds, EV most the time at home ( range dependant), charge at home cheaply. On occasional long journeys no charger anxiety, as there are petrol stations everywhere and they all work lol.
So just recently went to the lake District , motorway all the way, in ICE 40 mpg, not bad for a car with a aerodynamics of a brick lol .
Used EV in lake District , I get between 35 - 40 miles range depending on temperature and driving style. For me , no thought of where am I going to charge when I get there , will it work etc. Then for journey home, visit petrol station, 5 mins later filled up and plenty of range for getting home .
I see it the same as heating ( heat pumps/gas boiler and even hybrid , that have both a combi gas boiler and heat pump) one solution does not suit everyone/ all.
It's up to the individual person to do their own homework to find out what works for them with what's available.

 

[DBedford]

True, everyone to their own.
I drove a company BMW 2 series for 2 years 31 mpg at best. Most of the time I didn’t make use of the hybrid by charging it via the granny lead, so I was carrying around a battery and an electric motor with a compromised petrol engine. Manufacturers claimed mileage of around 101-110 miles per gallon, all down to the strange tearing standards.

Oh well they won’t be round for long.

 

[FAA Jock]

Hi all,
I thought I would way in this discussion with my experience. I bought my HS PHEV new back in February this year. As I live in the Algarve and at the time of buying the car, the only MG dealership was in Porto (650 Klms) from my home. On collecting the car, the journey was predominantly on motorways (620 Klms approx) and the remaining 30 Klms on A roads. That journey combined petrol/EV returned an average of 45 mile/gallon (not bad I think for that type of journey)
Now I have been using my car over 3 months with over 3500 Klms done on my local A roads and faster by-passes, the average combined mileage is 3.3 ltrs/100 Klms (thats how they state fuel consumpsion in Europe). That actually converts to approx. 84 miles/gallon. (really pleased with that, me being a Jock and all that !!) As time has gone on I have learned to switch from ICE to EV mode at different periods of my journeys to maximise the use of EV. For instance, when going down a long hill in EV mode, with a bit of gentle throttle use, and you "feather" the throttle, ie have the throttle in such a position that the charge indicator screen shows 0 to maybe 3%, then the car will not switch to ICE due to the battery being charged too rapidly and getting warm. The battery will infact charge up slowly no problem, without switching to ICE. I am sure that with practice I could get the car to return a figure of 100 miles/gallon. You may be thinking "stroll on" this guy must bimble around at a snails pace all the time !!! On the contrary, as an owner of big bikes of many years, I love a turn of speed and at times (when safe and appropriate), I give the engine a bit of "excercise". It gave my old heart a jolt of pleasure recently when a pimply faced yob in a "supped up" Mini Cooper was last seen receeding rapidly in my mirrors as he hammered his steering wheel in frustration, ( so much for slow old gits in big fat SUV´`s). Yes, I know,CHILDISH, but it put a smile on my face anyway !!! The fact is that the HS PHEV will deliver whatever you require of it (practicality, comfort, economy and performance ) when you need it, it just needs a particular way of driving in different circumstances. The joy is learning. I am fortunate in where I live and the electrical supply I have at home, I charge it up approx. every second day using cheap rate electric. I must say, that having no problems so far with the car and the pleasure in driving it, I would not swap it for a pure EV.