First time charging experience…
Discussion
I thought it would be a good idea to try and charge my new Taycan on a public charger before I needed to, just to familiarise myself. So I went to Beaconsfield services and used the IONITY chargers of which there are 4. ZapApp showed all available, when in fact 1 out of use, 3 in use and a queue of 3 cars waiting. Cards weren’t working an only the app could be used.
So I waited for 45mins, spent 15mins trying to charge as it wouldn’t accept my Porsche card or my credit card. Called the helpline and they rebooted it remotely, also mentioned that there was an issue today with Porsche accounts. Charged for 10mins. At about 50kW which seems slow. By the time I was finished there had been 6 cars turn up to charge, 3 gave up and went elsewhere.
Used the time to talk to other EV drivers and the consensus was the same ….UK infrastructure is nowhere near ready. All said home charging was preferred and they used public points in emergencies or if doing long journeys. One chap was from the Netherlands in a Polestar and was driving from Netherlands to Wales to see family, he said European infrastructure is amazing and totally ready for EVs. He said he wouldn’t have an EV if he lived in UK as he’d made 3 stops in UK so far, some out of use, some very busy and others woefully slow.
Wife announced we won’t be doing long journeys in her. So what’s the point of such expensive and luxurious EVs? I think I’m better off with something cheap like an i3 for local travel and a Panamera 4S diesel for everything else!
That said I absolutely love the Taycan and feel a Panamera would be a backward step.
So I waited for 45mins, spent 15mins trying to charge as it wouldn’t accept my Porsche card or my credit card. Called the helpline and they rebooted it remotely, also mentioned that there was an issue today with Porsche accounts. Charged for 10mins. At about 50kW which seems slow. By the time I was finished there had been 6 cars turn up to charge, 3 gave up and went elsewhere.
Used the time to talk to other EV drivers and the consensus was the same ….UK infrastructure is nowhere near ready. All said home charging was preferred and they used public points in emergencies or if doing long journeys. One chap was from the Netherlands in a Polestar and was driving from Netherlands to Wales to see family, he said European infrastructure is amazing and totally ready for EVs. He said he wouldn’t have an EV if he lived in UK as he’d made 3 stops in UK so far, some out of use, some very busy and others woefully slow.
Wife announced we won’t be doing long journeys in her. So what’s the point of such expensive and luxurious EVs? I think I’m better off with something cheap like an i3 for local travel and a Panamera 4S diesel for everything else!
That said I absolutely love the Taycan and feel a Panamera would be a backward step.
Edited by TwoManyCars on Saturday 9th April 19:59
Edited by TwoManyCars on Saturday 9th April 20:18
My non-scientific observation from various service stations over the past year or so is that Taycans seem especially hopeless when it comes to public charging, in fact whenever I've seen a Taycan in the services its owner has been on the phone trying to sort out some issue or other, probably very much like the one(s) you describe
The U.K. is ready the problem is a large proportion of people driving EVs are doing so because of the company car tax benefit.
It’s a major topic at my employer, people opting to take an EV to save their tax bill then moaning about range, not being able to do 300+ miles 2 days in a row because the car doesn’t fully recharge overnight at home or they have no home charger.
It’s a major topic at my employer, people opting to take an EV to save their tax bill then moaning about range, not being able to do 300+ miles 2 days in a row because the car doesn’t fully recharge overnight at home or they have no home charger.
Could have been all sorts of reasons for the slow charge rate, it may have needed to warm the battery up before ramping the charge level up, the battery may already have been fairly full so wouldn't have got anywhere near the maximum rate.
It's important to understand how EV charging actually works to avoid confusion - every car has a charge curve which regulates how much energy the battery can take at a specific level of charge and temperature. Arguably it's something that an owner shouldn't even have to consider, but it is a factor.
Ionity chargers at key sites always seem busy, because there aren't enough of them. Motorway charging is generally a bad joke unless you have a Tesla.
It's important to understand how EV charging actually works to avoid confusion - every car has a charge curve which regulates how much energy the battery can take at a specific level of charge and temperature. Arguably it's something that an owner shouldn't even have to consider, but it is a factor.
Ionity chargers at key sites always seem busy, because there aren't enough of them. Motorway charging is generally a bad joke unless you have a Tesla.
Thank Dale Vince who single handedly screwed 6 years of progress after he got the rights to motorway service stations in England, got Renault/Nissan and EU grants to buy cheap kit and then forgot to maintain and invest.
Thank the Welsh assembly who decided they’d only install chargers when everyone had EVs. They’re still p1ssed off about the decline of coal.
Scotland however have been pretty good for years.
Thank the Welsh assembly who decided they’d only install chargers when everyone had EVs. They’re still p1ssed off about the decline of coal.
Scotland however have been pretty good for years.
Heres Johnny said:
Thank Dale Vince who single handedly screwed 6 years of progress after he got the rights to motorway service stations in England, got Renault/Nissan and EU grants to buy cheap kit and then forgot to maintain and invest.
Thank the Welsh assembly who decided they’d only install chargers when everyone had EVs. They’re still p1ssed off about the decline of coal.
Scotland however have been pretty good for years.
Why would the Welsh government install chargers to help people who pretty much only drive an EV for the tax saving? Thank the Welsh assembly who decided they’d only install chargers when everyone had EVs. They’re still p1ssed off about the decline of coal.
Scotland however have been pretty good for years.
It’s a private sector problem.
Dingu said:
Why would the Welsh government install chargers to help people who pretty much only drive an EV for the tax saving?
It’s a private sector problem.
Where have you been?It’s a private sector problem.
What do you think zero road tax, low BIK, at one point £5k contribution to the purchase price, no congestion charge etc etc are? Government initiatives to drive adoption.
Manchester had GMEV. Birmingham had charge points installed and free street parking in places. No idea about all the London initiatives but I know street parking on chargers in some areas is free and they’re trialling lamp posts charging.
The only people who have done bugger all is the Welsh.
Dingu said:
Why would the Welsh government install chargers to help people who pretty much only drive an EV for the tax saving?
It’s a private sector problem.
I assume because they are pushing the change? You are aware of the reason given for the move to EV I assume and the dates involved, and it's supposedly nothing to do with making money..It’s a private sector problem.
Dingu said:
Heres Johnny said:
Dingu said:
Why would the Welsh government install chargers to help people who pretty much only drive an EV for the tax saving?
It’s a private sector problem.
Where have you been?It’s a private sector problem.
What do you think zero road tax, low BIK, at one point £5k contribution to the purchase price, no congestion charge etc etc are? Government initiatives to drive adoption.
Manchester had GMEV. Birmingham had charge points installed and free street parking in places. No idea about all the London initiatives but I know street parking on chargers in some areas is free and they’re trialling lamp posts charging.
The only people who have done bugger all is the Welsh.
If your EV doesn’t work for your use case sell it and buy one that does.
Edited by Dingu on Saturday 9th April 22:30
And I don’t particularly care personally, but if you don’t understand the role of government in driving change then there is no point discussing it with you further. The only small thing here is your comprehension.
andburg said:
The U.K. is ready the problem is a large proportion of people driving EVs are doing so because of the company car tax benefit.
It’s a major topic at my employer, people opting to take an EV to save their tax bill then moaning about range, not being able to do 300+ miles 2 days in a row because the car doesn’t fully recharge overnight at home or they have no home charger.
That says to me that the U.K. is not ready based on the cars being used for whatever reason they are being used. More cars in use than acceptable chargers.It’s a major topic at my employer, people opting to take an EV to save their tax bill then moaning about range, not being able to do 300+ miles 2 days in a row because the car doesn’t fully recharge overnight at home or they have no home charger.
There needs to be many more fast charging stations to keep up with the number of cars being bought.
People don’t like waiting 10 mins to fill up with petrol if some Wally is doing an M & S shop after their fill up.
Caddyshack said:
That says to me that the U.K. is not ready based on the cars being used for whatever reason they are being used. More cars in use than acceptable chargers.
There needs to be many more fast charging stations to keep up with the number of cars being bought.
People don’t like waiting 10 mins to fill up with petrol if some Wally is doing an M & S shop after their fill up.
The issue is that increasing demand to cover peak periods will obviously leave a considerable excess during the rest of the time, and who wants to invest in that? You always see stories like this around school/bank holidays when large numbers of people are on the move and doing longer distance trips than are the norm.There needs to be many more fast charging stations to keep up with the number of cars being bought.
People don’t like waiting 10 mins to fill up with petrol if some Wally is doing an M & S shop after their fill up.
I'm not saying things shouldn't be improved, just that the problem can look rather worse than it perhaps is if only judged at specific times?
Heres Johnny said:
Thank Dale Vince who single handedly screwed 6 years of progress after he got the rights to motorway service stations in England, got Renault/Nissan and EU grants to buy cheap kit and then forgot to maintain and invest.
100% agree.Heres Johnny said:
Thank the Welsh assembly who decided they’d only install chargers when everyone had EVs. They’re still p1ssed off about the decline of coal.
Not true. Welsh government have been anti-coal for a decade.But for reasons only they know, they've thrown money at hydrogen, probably because of a PowerPoint from a conman in a shiny suit.
SWoll said:
Caddyshack said:
That says to me that the U.K. is not ready based on the cars being used for whatever reason they are being used. More cars in use than acceptable chargers.
There needs to be many more fast charging stations to keep up with the number of cars being bought.
People don’t like waiting 10 mins to fill up with petrol if some Wally is doing an M & S shop after their fill up.
The issue is that increasing demand to cover peak periods will obviously leave a considerable excess during the rest of the time, and who wants to invest in that? You always see stories like this around school/bank holidays when large numbers of people are on the move and doing longer distance trips than are the norm.There needs to be many more fast charging stations to keep up with the number of cars being bought.
People don’t like waiting 10 mins to fill up with petrol if some Wally is doing an M & S shop after their fill up.
I'm not saying things shouldn't be improved, just that the problem can look rather worse than it perhaps is if only judged at specific times?
I guess we need to not compare to petrol filling and think of it another way.
I was surprised when my friend bought a Tesla but said he wouldn’t bother with a home charger. He says he just charges it at the gym. I can’t imagine that the gym chargers would be enough for his weekly use if he is at the gym say 1 hr per day?
SWoll said:
I'm not saying things shouldn't be improved, just that the problem can look rather worse than it perhaps is if only judged at specific times?
When charging was 'free' and EVs cheap as chips, around 2014/15 with Ecotricity chargers + a Leaf I wasn't too fussed about occasional queue (or a PHEV plugged into a rapid). But a £100k car waiting to charge in a queue and than getting 2014 charging speeds and paying 40p+/kWh.....We are told to expect to get a serivice roughly equivalent to what we pay for.
I would say owing an EV right now in many was is WORSE than in 2014/15, and a huge amount of the blame is with the government for not having the foresight to see the importance of ensuring legislation is in place to make sure the infrastructure was ready.
Would you buy a new build these days and expect it not to any swearage drainage in place? Power supply, land rights etc are not sexy to talk about, expensive to sort out, but are absolute prerequisites to mass EV adoption, and successive governments in the UK have simply not paid attention.
I hear lots of nosie from this government about EV charging, but action speaks alot louder than words. There are Tesla Supercharger sites that are completely but unstable, sat there for years now just waiting for due to power supply/connection contracts arguments.
Edited by gangzoom on Sunday 10th April 05:38
TwoManyCars said:
One chap was from the Netherlands in a Polestar and was driving from Netherlands to Wales to see family, he said European infrastructure is amazing and totally ready for EVs.
Having recently planned our European EV road trip to Norway I was amazed to see Tesla SCs in the Netherlands nearly are all 20+ charger sites, where as here in the UK 10+ charger sites is rare. Norway is similar, out in the middle of no where (literally) and there are 20+ charger sites. Where was in the UK we cannot get power/grid connection for 8+ sites any where.My biggest 'worry' about our road trip is ensuring we don't miss the ferry due to delays on UK side of charging, so planning a buffer time of 3-4 addtional hours incase of long queues.
Our government really needs to do something if they really want to support EV adoption. The cars themselves are absolutely fine, but it doesn't matter how much range/big the battery packs are, all EVs have to recharge at somepoint. There needs to be atleast as many DC rapid chargers on major roads as there are petrol stations, we are no where near that in the UK.
Caddyshack said:
SWoll said:
Caddyshack said:
That says to me that the U.K. is not ready based on the cars being used for whatever reason they are being used. More cars in use than acceptable chargers.
There needs to be many more fast charging stations to keep up with the number of cars being bought.
People don’t like waiting 10 mins to fill up with petrol if some Wally is doing an M & S shop after their fill up.
The issue is that increasing demand to cover peak periods will obviously leave a considerable excess during the rest of the time, and who wants to invest in that? You always see stories like this around school/bank holidays when large numbers of people are on the move and doing longer distance trips than are the norm.There needs to be many more fast charging stations to keep up with the number of cars being bought.
People don’t like waiting 10 mins to fill up with petrol if some Wally is doing an M & S shop after their fill up.
I'm not saying things shouldn't be improved, just that the problem can look rather worse than it perhaps is if only judged at specific times?
I guess we need to not compare to petrol filling and think of it another way.
I was surprised when my friend bought a Tesla but said he wouldn’t bother with a home charger. He says he just charges it at the gym. I can’t imagine that the gym chargers would be enough for his weekly use if he is at the gym say 1 hr per day?
7kW charger - 49 kWh - 3.5 miles/kWh = 170 miles/24 miles per day
12 kW charger - 84 kWh - 3.5 miles/kWh = 294 miles/42 miles per day
gangzoom said:
TwoManyCars said:
One chap was from the Netherlands in a Polestar and was driving from Netherlands to Wales to see family, he said European infrastructure is amazing and totally ready for EVs.
Having recently planned our European EV road trip to Norway I was amazed to see Tesla SCs in the Netherlands nearly are all 20+ charger sites, where as here in the UK 10+ charger sites is rare. Norway is similar, out in the middle of no where (literally) and there are 20+ charger sites. Where was in the UK we cannot get power/grid connection for 8+ sites any where.My biggest 'worry' about our road trip is ensuring we don't miss the ferry due to delays on UK side of charging, so planning a buffer time of 3-4 addtional hours incase of long queues.
Our government really needs to do something if they really want to support EV adoption. The cars themselves are absolutely fine, but it doesn't matter how much range/big the battery packs are, all EVs have to recharge at somepoint. There needs to be atleast as many DC rapid chargers on major roads as there are petrol stations, we are no where near that in the UK.
WonkeyDonkey said:
Blame the manufacturers for not investing in infrastructure. They're more than happy to reap the rewards of lower taxation on electric vehicles.
At this point, unless you can do all your journeys from your home charger I don't know why you'd bother with anything else than a Tesla.
Like Ionity which is exactly what you're suggesting (manufacturers investing in charging), with 410 locations and over 1660 chargers across Europe? They have the same number of locations as Tesla had about 2 years ago in the UK.At this point, unless you can do all your journeys from your home charger I don't know why you'd bother with anything else than a Tesla.
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