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[generic] So my next car will be an EV, any advice?

Dom

Dom

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks to changes with the work scheme for cars, and very much because of the Chancellor's tax breaks on EVs, my next car will be an electric vehicle.

I know what I'm getting so don't need any advice on that (Toyota bZ4x) but I'm interested how those of you that have adopted the technology cope with it.
Is there any advice that you'd give a noob? What do you wish you knew before you got yours?

I've already had helpful tales from Keary and Malcolm at Furnace last year when they tried to convince me on the tech but then regaled me with tales of the car being bricked by a firmware update and the technicians not having a clue how to maintain or troubleshoot the car at their local dealers!
 
Make sure you have a home charger if possible. We're lucky, we have a drive, so it's not a problem for us.

I haven't had the pleasure of a service yet, so fingers crossed when I do! The dealer is in Ipswich, unless I take it to Corby which is a different chain. The local garage is really second hand vehicles, the new vehicles is Ipswich.
 
Our electricity is with Octopus and they do a home charger, so that’s my plan. More than enough space on the drive.
 
Dom said:
Our electricity is with Octopus and they do a home charger, so that’s my plan. More than enough space on the drive.
Click to expand...

I follow with interest.
 
We're with Eon, and they installed an Ohme charger for us last year. That's OK; the mild niggle is that if you have a tethered cable they didn't supply a cover. We went for untethered rather than leaving a cable en plein air. I won't say we're in a rough area, but we're close enough to the centre of town that we were warned to be careful of what was left outside when the fairs were in town.

One thing; get a cable spool to store the charging lead in the boot. I found with mine it wouldn't coil cleanly so you ended up stuffing it into the bag.
 
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I've been driving electric for 4.5 years now - here are some generic notes:
  • Charging infrastructure is massively improved over that short period - e.g. lots of the drive-thru McDonaldses have charging now (Iand there's often a petrol station nearby if you can't stand McD); almost every motorway service has charging
  • BUT! still be careful when you head into less populated areas, like Cumbria, the Highlands, etc
  • Use ZapMap or a similar app to locate charging options along your route - plan contingencies in case one location is out of order
  • Drive a little slower on motorways - you will need disproportionally more power to go from 60 to 70 mph than you will going from 50 to 60 mph.
  • On long journeys, aim to keep within 20 and 80 % charged, and calculate your range accordingly - batteries charge fast and efficient between these percentages: that last 80 - 100 % will take almost as long as the 20 -80 % did, so don't bother with it.

Hope that's useful :)
 
Dom said:
Our electricity is with Octopus and they do a home charger, so that’s my plan. More than enough space on the drive.
Click to expand...
Everything @Altair-the-Vexed
said, especially the 20-80% rules.

Then you are sorted, go on Octopus Intelligent Go. Always charge your car to no more than 80% unless you off on long travels. Charge your car at the slowest rate for your battery health but also to get as much leccy for cheap from Intelligent GO.


Since we don't live in Scotland you'll need to sign up for a few charging providers - they often charge less for the leccy using an app.

Gridserve
Lidl Plus (yes, usually cheapest)
Ionity
BP Pulse

Zapmap is good, but actually your car and maps apps know where the chargers are.

Understand regenerative braking.
 
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I understand the last point as I’ve a hybrid at the moment ;-)
 
So in a weird gap between cars as the old Corolla has gone back and the BZ4x is late. For an 'in stock' car, it's taken over 4 weeks so far. I'm wondering if they decided I wanted a 75 plate?
 
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