Long trip advice for new EV driver

Long trip advice for new EV driver

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Discussion

Evanivitch

19,803 posts

121 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
vikingaero said:
SWoll was commenting that doing 300 odd miles in a day was too much. I was saying that many people do way more than that and illustrating my point. Obviously that does not meet with your approval.
I used to do a 360 mile round trip in a day a few times a month, with 8 hours of meetings in the middle.

But I'd never suggest that was normal, nor do I have eny expectation that someone working for me would do that.

But the reality is that if the destination (a large engineering site) had charging facilities it would have been a complete non-event in most EVs.

oop north

1,592 posts

127 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
vikingaero said:
JD said:
vikingaero said:
I'll drive 260 miles in around 5-6 hours to take Vikingette 2 to Uni in Manchester and drive back the same day - 520 miles and around 12+ hours of driving. The total time end to end with stops will be closer to 15 hours.
So what?

Are you trying to suggest that your usage is in any way common or regular?
SWoll was commenting that doing 300 odd miles in a day was too much. I was saying that many people do way more than that and illustrating my point. Obviously that does not meet with your approval.
Man, there’s some weird stuff being posted in here!

Anyway, I do 20-30 days a year where I travel over 300 miles. Have done it many times in a Jaguar iPace where the charging was slow (90kW) and range relatively low (160 in winter) - the routes I travel have been really poor for charging (Edinburgh and back meant two hours of charging - though new rapids installed this year would chop that in half for the ipace - and Aberystwyth was 1.5 hours of charging, though new rapids last year would reduce that a fair bit (don’t have the car so not sure how much)). For the last year have been in a phev xc90 but that’s going Monday

I am just about to get a bmw iX 50 which will be 300 miles real world (maybe not in the lowest temps) and near 200kW charging potential which will transform my travel. Well I hope it will - and new rapids appearing in at least three locations on or just off the A74M between Gretna and the Abington turnoff (apple green at Abington and Gretna, chargeplace Scotland at Moffat and a new Gridserve mini hub at Annandale Water all currently being installed or recently been opened) will make that really easy - would be ok in the ipace probably. Between Ionity at gretna opening in 2019 and now there hasn’t been anything new from gretna to Edinburgh and precious little in Edinburgh - but two new big hubs (can’t remember if both mfg) in south west side of centre should transform that

dmsims

6,452 posts

266 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Alickadoo said:
wyson said:
Alickadoo said:
What happens when you say to the children, 'this is the way it is, we have to wait here for an hour while the car charges'?
I’d welcome you to come and say that to mine and then deal with the fallout, while I went off with the Mrs for a coffee.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 30th March 08:38
Then perhaps you should have started saying that to them a long time ago.

No sympathy. You made your bed......
Quite - I wasn't sure if the OP was being humorous, how the world has changed!

wyson

2,066 posts

103 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Alickadoo said:
Then perhaps you should have started saying that to them a long time ago.

No sympathy. You made your bed......
Wouldn’t that make me slightly bonkers? Look for chargers and queue up with a petrol car so I can say that to them?

SWoll

18,206 posts

257 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
vikingaero said:
SWoll was commenting that doing 300 odd miles in a day was too much. I was saying that many people do way more than that and illustrating my point. Obviously that does not meet with your approval.
Have a read back.

I commented that a day trip with a 300 mile journey in each direction was highly unlikely as what kind of masochist is driving 10+ hours out of 24 just for a day out? 300 miles total in a day is perfectly normal, but still not something the vast majority do on anything like a regular basis and for most would be broken up by a stop around halfway.

I'd suggest there's not much in that statement to take issue with, but do crack on.


WestyCarl

3,217 posts

124 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
wyson said:
Alickadoo said:
Then perhaps you should have started saying that to them a long time ago.

No sympathy. You made your bed......
Wouldn’t that make me slightly bonkers? Look for chargers and queue up with a petrol car so I can say that to them?
Seriously. You don't want an EV because your young kids will complain about a potential 30min wait on a long journey.

cornish

76 posts

170 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
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Diderot said:
Moto Exeter (M5) has about 14 rapids, plus banks of Tesla chargers.
Are the Superchargers working at Moto in Exeter? Saw them go in last year and have never seen anyone using them so assumed they were not live. They also don't show up in the map I was using.


wyson

2,066 posts

103 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
WestyCarl said:
Seriously. You don't want an EV because your young kids will complain about a potential 30min wait on a long journey.
Is that a question or a statement?

Its definitely a concern yes, but this is a very interesting thread… my view is developing, but so far, from what ppl are saying Tesla might be an option other EV’s less so.

Charging up when you can on routine toilet stops etc. could definitely be a strategy, when as non EV owner I was thinking much more in terms of filling up a tank of fuel before a journey. I mean you wouldn’t go from half a tank, fill up to a 3/4 of a tank, go down to 1/3 of a tank, fill up to 2/3rds with a petrol car, that would be bonkers, but in an EV, if you’d be stopping anyway, it wouldn’t be much bother.

On the sort of day trips I do, 120miles to a destination, 120 miles back, if I set out with a full battery and I have 3 or 4 stops along the way, I can realistically get away with 2 or 3 of those charge points being unavailable for whatever reason, as long as 1 is working.

That doesn’t sound too bad tbh.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 30th March 13:47

SWoll

18,206 posts

257 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
wyson said:
Is that a question or a statement?

Its definitely a concern yes, but this is a very interesting thread… my view is developing, but so far, from what ppl are saying Tesla might be an option other EV’s less so.

Charging up when you can on routine toilet stops etc. could definitely be a strategy, when as non EV owner I was thinking much more in terms of filling up a tank of fuel before a journey. I mean you wouldn’t go from half a tank, fill up to a 3/4 of a tank, go down to 1/3 of a tank, fill up to 2/3rds with a petrol car, that would be bonkers, but in an EV, if you’d be stopping anyway, it wouldn’t be much bother.

On the sort of day trips I do, 120miles to a destination, 120 miles back, if I set out with a full battery and I have 3 or 4 stops along the way, I can realistically get away with 2 or 3 of those charge points being unavailable for whatever reason, as long as 1 is working.

That doesn’t sound too bad tbh.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 30th March 13:47
On the sort of daytrips you do there would be no need to charge away from home in many EV's. Assuming you an charge at home and have a 7kW charger fitted you'd be leaving every morning with a full battery and 300 miles of range in something like a Model 3/Y LR.

wyson

2,066 posts

103 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Was thinking Model Y rear wheel drive, motorways and A roads, AC on, music on. From what I have seen that might be tight?

Would like to arrive home with a decent amount of charge left for peace of mind and longevity of the battery.

Muzzer79

9,806 posts

186 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
wyson said:
WestyCarl said:
Seriously. You don't want an EV because your young kids will complain about a potential 30min wait on a long journey.
Is that a question or a statement?

Its definitely a concern yes, but this is a very interesting thread… my view is developing, but so far, from what ppl are saying Tesla might be an option other EV’s less so.

Charging up when you can on routine toilet stops etc. could definitely be a strategy, when as non EV owner I was thinking much more in terms of filling up a tank of fuel before a journey. I mean you wouldn’t go from half a tank, fill up to a 3/4 of a tank, go down to 1/3 of a tank, fill up to 2/3rds with a petrol car, that would be bonkers, but in an EV, if you’d be stopping anyway, it wouldn’t be much bother.

On the sort of day trips I do, 120miles to a destination, 120 miles back, if I set out with a full battery and I have 3 or 4 stops along the way, I can realistically get away with 2 or 3 of those charge points being unavailable for whatever reason, as long as 1 is working.

That doesn’t sound too bad tbh.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 30th March 13:47
This sums up the change of mindset that you need to have to get the most out of EV ownership.

It took me a few days/weeks, but once you get into that mindset, the range thing ceases to become a 'thing'

Some people can't identify with that mindset, or refuse to, hence will always be anti-EV. If their cars can't do 500 miles without refuelling, or without refuelling in minutes, they reject the notion completely.
But when you actually think about it, it's really not a big deal.

CheesecakeRunner

3,706 posts

90 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
cornish said:
Are the Superchargers working at Moto in Exeter? Saw them go in last year and have never seen anyone using them so assumed they were not live. They also don't show up in the map I was using.
Yes, they’re live. Should take some pressure off Darts Farm now.


DonkeyApple

54,923 posts

168 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Bannock said:
Yep, that's why I have a short range EV and a petrol powered estate car at the moment. I expect to fully transition away from fossil fuel to EV within the next 5-10 years.
For me, I reckon I've another decade of dragging boats, horses, trailers around the U.K. for the children. That also coincides with the approximate end of things like uni drives, work drives and generally being beholden to the clock and time of day etc and I suspect that pretty much anywhere I go to will have no shortage of chargers. In the meantime all the local pottering can easily be done and done much better with an EV so that'll be done shortly.

Vasco

16,475 posts

104 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
SWoll said:
Vasco said:
Precisely why I'd never consider driving an electric if staying away from home.
No point in judging based solely on examples given at the busiest of times (public holidays). It's like being surprised that Alton Towers is busy during school holidays, or that the M6 is busy during rush hour.

Implementing a charging network with enough spare capacity to easily handle these scenarios would mean leaving it relatively idle the other 90% of the time. Who's going to invest in that?
If I have a car and want to get from A-B, or have to change to A-C then I don't want to add in wasted hours charging up something when I could be far ahead if I was petrol powered. I'm certainly not going to hang around for ages just because I need to travel at a busy time.

WestyCarl

3,217 posts

124 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Vasco said:
If I have a car and want to get from A-B, or have to change to A-C then I don't want to add in wasted hours charging up something when I could be far ahead if I was petrol powered. I'm certainly not going to hang around for ages just because I need to travel at a busy time.
I guess it depends on individual lifestlye's. I was concerned about this but in 2yrs I can honestly say there was 1 week when a family emergency meant I was slightly inconvienienced and had to spend maybe 3 x 30mins charging instead of driving during that week. No big deal.

The other 103 weeks have been much more efficent (and a nicer drive) that an ICE vehicle.

Vasco

16,475 posts

104 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
WestyCarl said:
Vasco said:
If I have a car and want to get from A-B, or have to change to A-C then I don't want to add in wasted hours charging up something when I could be far ahead if I was petrol powered. I'm certainly not going to hang around for ages just because I need to travel at a busy time.
I guess it depends on individual lifestlye's. I was concerned about this but in 2yrs I can honestly say there was 1 week when a family emergency meant I was slightly inconvienienced and had to spend maybe 3 x 30mins charging instead of driving during that week. No big deal.

The other 103 weeks have been much more efficent (and a nicer drive) that an ICE vehicle.
I would also hate the sheer knowledge that I would no longer have the flexibility to go where I want, when I want.

raspy

1,459 posts

93 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
oop north said:
Man, there’s some weird stuff being posted in here!

Anyway, I do 20-30 days a year where I travel over 300 miles. Have done it many times in a Jaguar iPace where the charging was slow (90kW) and range relatively low (160 in winter) - the routes I travel have been really poor for charging (Edinburgh and back meant two hours of charging - though new rapids installed this year would chop that in half for the ipace - and Aberystwyth was 1.5 hours of charging, though new rapids last year would reduce that a fair bit (don’t have the car so not sure how much)). For the last year have been in a phev xc90 but that’s going Monday

I am just about to get a bmw iX 50 which will be 300 miles real world (maybe not in the lowest temps) and near 200kW charging potential which will transform my travel. Well I hope it will - and new rapids appearing in at least three locations on or just off the A74M between Gretna and the Abington turnoff (apple green at Abington and Gretna, chargeplace Scotland at Moffat and a new Gridserve mini hub at Annandale Water all currently being installed or recently been opened) will make that really easy - would be ok in the ipace probably. Between Ionity at gretna opening in 2019 and now there hasn’t been anything new from gretna to Edinburgh and precious little in Edinburgh - but two new big hubs (can’t remember if both mfg) in south west side of centre should transform that
You won't get the advertised max speed of 195kw in the ix50 that often, and even if you get it, it will only be for the first few mins at a very low SoC. A lot of iX50 folks are usually getting 100-130kw at rapids.

cornish

76 posts

170 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
CheesecakeRunner said:
Yes, they’re live. Should take some pressure off Darts Farm now.

Many thanks, was going to do Lifton + Darts Farm on the way back from Cornwall on Saturday but will now just go to Exeter services.

First trip back to Cornwall in a M3 RWD so just getting used to it all.

SWoll

18,206 posts

257 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Vasco said:
I would also hate the sheer knowledge that I would no longer have the flexibility to go where I want, when I want.
Of course you can, it just takes a little more thought and time to get there if the trip is beyond the absolute range of the car.

How often do you honestly grab your keys and got for an impromptu 300+ mile drive?

SWoll

18,206 posts

257 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
cornish said:
Many thanks, was going to do Lifton + Darts Farm on the way back from Cornwall on Saturday but will now just go to Exeter services.

First trip back to Cornwall in a M3 RWD so just getting used to it all.
Darts farm is a great spot for a charge stop and some lunch. There's a fantastic little place there called the Fish Shed, their fish and chip and Thai fishcakes are superb. smile

raspy said:
You won't get the advertised max speed of 195kw in the ix50 that often, and even if you get it, it will only be for the first few mins at a very low SoC. A lot of iX50 folks are usually getting 100-130kw at rapids.


Edited by SWoll on Thursday 30th March 18:11