First attempt at EVing (Polestar 2 weekend rental)
Discussion
Now then,
I thought I'd do a post on my first 'long term' usage of an EV - previously only had a couple of short test drives.
I am tempted to buy an EV as my next car as they seem to be the only vehicles offering any sort of value in the used market, and most recent ICE powertrains are uninspiring (and/or unreliable).
The major issue I have is a lack of home charging, but I live in the suburban south east so am surrounded by public chargers (including 7 or 8 Tesla Supercharger sites within half an hour's drive of home, the nearest being sub-10 minutes drive).
I had a four day weekend off work, and spotted I could rent a Polestar 2 from Hertz for £99 from Friday morning to Monday afternoon.
It was a RWD long range version.
The claimed range is 409 miles and I got into it with 90% charge and 280 miles range on the display.
The car drives very well, and I like the styling and size of it. So nothing not to like.
So it all comes down to the public charging and range, which is what I was wanting to test.
Setting off from home with 85% charge and driving the 100 miles (1hr 45mins) down to my parent's house in south Dorset used 40% of the charge, so a doable return trip (just) from 'full', especially if you drove economically (which I didn't - I wanted to compare like-for-like with driving an ICE, so cruising on the motorway at 75-85mph and enjoying the acceleration and overtaking dawdlers on the A-roads)
The first charging session was whilst walking the dog on the beach. The machine didn't like either my credit card or debit card, but took the Hertz RFID tag I'd been given. I came back about 45mins later to find it had stopped charging at 75% full (car was set to go to 90% so I assume there was a setting on the charger I'd missed). You also had to pay the car park charge rather than parking for free on the street that you normally would. (Verdict: Partial Success)
Second charge was an attempt at a 'splash and dash' type charge at a service station on the way home. This was at Solstice Park on the A303 by Stonehenge. ZapMap listed the GridServe chargers at 350kw but it only seemed to dribble in at 37kw. I originally planned to just charge while I ate my Gregg's sandwich, but I hung around for 30mins while I finished my cup of coffee and watched some Youtube on the centre console screen. It only managed to go from 25% to 45% in that time. I had put the charger as a destination on the satnav so hopefully the car had done some pre-conditioning of the battery? (Verdict: Somewhat of a Fail/inconvenience if I had needed more juice - if it had charged to 45% in the ten minutes I was eating the sandwich then I would have been happy - or gone to 70-80% in half an hour).
Third and Final charge was to get the car back to 'full' to return it to Hertz with >80% charge. Stopped at my local petrol station with its new 300kw chargers. These started charging at 150kw and slowly reduced down to 50kw as it got closer to 90% full. Took about 45mins to go from 25% to 87% while I read the latest issue of EVO so the time passed quickly enough. (Verdict: Success - no payment issues, decent initial charge rate).
In conclusion, if it wasn't for the unexpectedly slow second charge then I might have concluded that you could live with public charging only, but I think it is still touch and go on the viability - or perhaps I have unrealistic expectations on charging speed based on advertised rates and capacities?
I had also assumed the Polestar could charge at 350kw based on what Autotrader said for similar cars, but looking at Wikipedia suggests it can only do 200kw.
I think I need to go and rent a Tesla to see if that offers are better charging experience.
I thought I'd do a post on my first 'long term' usage of an EV - previously only had a couple of short test drives.
I am tempted to buy an EV as my next car as they seem to be the only vehicles offering any sort of value in the used market, and most recent ICE powertrains are uninspiring (and/or unreliable).
The major issue I have is a lack of home charging, but I live in the suburban south east so am surrounded by public chargers (including 7 or 8 Tesla Supercharger sites within half an hour's drive of home, the nearest being sub-10 minutes drive).
I had a four day weekend off work, and spotted I could rent a Polestar 2 from Hertz for £99 from Friday morning to Monday afternoon.
It was a RWD long range version.
The claimed range is 409 miles and I got into it with 90% charge and 280 miles range on the display.
The car drives very well, and I like the styling and size of it. So nothing not to like.
So it all comes down to the public charging and range, which is what I was wanting to test.
Setting off from home with 85% charge and driving the 100 miles (1hr 45mins) down to my parent's house in south Dorset used 40% of the charge, so a doable return trip (just) from 'full', especially if you drove economically (which I didn't - I wanted to compare like-for-like with driving an ICE, so cruising on the motorway at 75-85mph and enjoying the acceleration and overtaking dawdlers on the A-roads)
The first charging session was whilst walking the dog on the beach. The machine didn't like either my credit card or debit card, but took the Hertz RFID tag I'd been given. I came back about 45mins later to find it had stopped charging at 75% full (car was set to go to 90% so I assume there was a setting on the charger I'd missed). You also had to pay the car park charge rather than parking for free on the street that you normally would. (Verdict: Partial Success)
Second charge was an attempt at a 'splash and dash' type charge at a service station on the way home. This was at Solstice Park on the A303 by Stonehenge. ZapMap listed the GridServe chargers at 350kw but it only seemed to dribble in at 37kw. I originally planned to just charge while I ate my Gregg's sandwich, but I hung around for 30mins while I finished my cup of coffee and watched some Youtube on the centre console screen. It only managed to go from 25% to 45% in that time. I had put the charger as a destination on the satnav so hopefully the car had done some pre-conditioning of the battery? (Verdict: Somewhat of a Fail/inconvenience if I had needed more juice - if it had charged to 45% in the ten minutes I was eating the sandwich then I would have been happy - or gone to 70-80% in half an hour).
Third and Final charge was to get the car back to 'full' to return it to Hertz with >80% charge. Stopped at my local petrol station with its new 300kw chargers. These started charging at 150kw and slowly reduced down to 50kw as it got closer to 90% full. Took about 45mins to go from 25% to 87% while I read the latest issue of EVO so the time passed quickly enough. (Verdict: Success - no payment issues, decent initial charge rate).
In conclusion, if it wasn't for the unexpectedly slow second charge then I might have concluded that you could live with public charging only, but I think it is still touch and go on the viability - or perhaps I have unrealistic expectations on charging speed based on advertised rates and capacities?
I had also assumed the Polestar could charge at 350kw based on what Autotrader said for similar cars, but looking at Wikipedia suggests it can only do 200kw.
I think I need to go and rent a Tesla to see if that offers are better charging experience.
Truckosaurus said:
Now then,
I thought I'd do a post on my first 'long term' usage of an EV - previously only had a couple of short test drives.
I am tempted to buy an EV as my next car as they seem to be the only vehicles offering any sort of value in the used market, and most recent ICE powertrains are uninspiring (and/or unreliable).
The major issue I have is a lack of home charging, but I live in the suburban south east so am surrounded by public chargers (including 7 or 8 Tesla Supercharger sites within half an hour's drive of home, the nearest being sub-10 minutes drive).
I had a four day weekend off work, and spotted I could rent a Polestar 2 from Hertz for £99 from Friday morning to Monday afternoon.
It was a RWD long range version.
The claimed range is 409 miles and I got into it with 90% charge and 280 miles range on the display.
The car drives very well, and I like the styling and size of it. So nothing not to like.
So it all comes down to the public charging and range, which is what I was wanting to test.
Setting off from home with 85% charge and driving the 100 miles (1hr 45mins) down to my parent's house in south Dorset used 40% of the charge, so a doable return trip (just) from 'full', especially if you drove economically (which I didn't - I wanted to compare like-for-like with driving an ICE, so cruising on the motorway at 75-85mph and enjoying the acceleration and overtaking dawdlers on the A-roads)
The first charging session was whilst walking the dog on the beach. The machine didn't like either my credit card or debit card, but took the Hertz RFID tag I'd been given. I came back about 45mins later to find it had stopped charging at 75% full (car was set to go to 90% so I assume there was a setting on the charger I'd missed). You also had to pay the car park charge rather than parking for free on the street that you normally would. (Verdict: Partial Success)
Second charge was an attempt at a 'splash and dash' type charge at a service station on the way home. This was at Solstice Park on the A303 by Stonehenge. ZapMap listed the GridServe chargers at 350kw but it only seemed to dribble in at 37kw. I originally planned to just charge while I ate my Gregg's sandwich, but I hung around for 30mins while I finished my cup of coffee and watched some Youtube on the centre console screen. It only managed to go from 25% to 45% in that time. I had put the charger as a destination on the satnav so hopefully the car had done some pre-conditioning of the battery? (Verdict: Somewhat of a Fail/inconvenience if I had needed more juice - if it had charged to 45% in the ten minutes I was eating the sandwich then I would have been happy - or gone to 70-80% in half an hour).
Third and Final charge was to get the car back to 'full' to return it to Hertz with >80% charge. Stopped at my local petrol station with its new 300kw chargers. These started charging at 150kw and slowly reduced down to 50kw as it got closer to 90% full. Took about 45mins to go from 25% to 87% while I read the latest issue of EVO so the time passed quickly enough. (Verdict: Success - no payment issues, decent initial charge rate).
In conclusion, if it wasn't for the unexpectedly slow second charge then I might have concluded that you could live with public charging only, but I think it is still touch and go on the viability - or perhaps I have unrealistic expectations on charging speed based on advertised rates and capacities?
I had also assumed the Polestar could charge at 350kw based on what Autotrader said for similar cars, but looking at Wikipedia suggests it can only do 200kw.
I think I need to go and rent a Tesla to see if that offers are better charging experience.
"so cruising on the motorway at 75-85mph"I thought I'd do a post on my first 'long term' usage of an EV - previously only had a couple of short test drives.
I am tempted to buy an EV as my next car as they seem to be the only vehicles offering any sort of value in the used market, and most recent ICE powertrains are uninspiring (and/or unreliable).
The major issue I have is a lack of home charging, but I live in the suburban south east so am surrounded by public chargers (including 7 or 8 Tesla Supercharger sites within half an hour's drive of home, the nearest being sub-10 minutes drive).
I had a four day weekend off work, and spotted I could rent a Polestar 2 from Hertz for £99 from Friday morning to Monday afternoon.
It was a RWD long range version.
The claimed range is 409 miles and I got into it with 90% charge and 280 miles range on the display.
The car drives very well, and I like the styling and size of it. So nothing not to like.
So it all comes down to the public charging and range, which is what I was wanting to test.
Setting off from home with 85% charge and driving the 100 miles (1hr 45mins) down to my parent's house in south Dorset used 40% of the charge, so a doable return trip (just) from 'full', especially if you drove economically (which I didn't - I wanted to compare like-for-like with driving an ICE, so cruising on the motorway at 75-85mph and enjoying the acceleration and overtaking dawdlers on the A-roads)
The first charging session was whilst walking the dog on the beach. The machine didn't like either my credit card or debit card, but took the Hertz RFID tag I'd been given. I came back about 45mins later to find it had stopped charging at 75% full (car was set to go to 90% so I assume there was a setting on the charger I'd missed). You also had to pay the car park charge rather than parking for free on the street that you normally would. (Verdict: Partial Success)
Second charge was an attempt at a 'splash and dash' type charge at a service station on the way home. This was at Solstice Park on the A303 by Stonehenge. ZapMap listed the GridServe chargers at 350kw but it only seemed to dribble in at 37kw. I originally planned to just charge while I ate my Gregg's sandwich, but I hung around for 30mins while I finished my cup of coffee and watched some Youtube on the centre console screen. It only managed to go from 25% to 45% in that time. I had put the charger as a destination on the satnav so hopefully the car had done some pre-conditioning of the battery? (Verdict: Somewhat of a Fail/inconvenience if I had needed more juice - if it had charged to 45% in the ten minutes I was eating the sandwich then I would have been happy - or gone to 70-80% in half an hour).
Third and Final charge was to get the car back to 'full' to return it to Hertz with >80% charge. Stopped at my local petrol station with its new 300kw chargers. These started charging at 150kw and slowly reduced down to 50kw as it got closer to 90% full. Took about 45mins to go from 25% to 87% while I read the latest issue of EVO so the time passed quickly enough. (Verdict: Success - no payment issues, decent initial charge rate).
In conclusion, if it wasn't for the unexpectedly slow second charge then I might have concluded that you could live with public charging only, but I think it is still touch and go on the viability - or perhaps I have unrealistic expectations on charging speed based on advertised rates and capacities?
I had also assumed the Polestar could charge at 350kw based on what Autotrader said for similar cars, but looking at Wikipedia suggests it can only do 200kw.
I think I need to go and rent a Tesla to see if that offers are better charging experience.
FWIW, that will kill the range big time. I read somewhere that the goldilock speed zone for EV is between 65 and 70mph.
I rented a Polestar 2 on a cheap Hertz deal a year or two ago and came to a similar conclusion...I wouldn't have one in the UK without home charging. The infrastructure is improving but not really good enough yet. What I did like about Herts though was if you returned it with a low charge the cost for them to charge it was less than a fast charge at the motorway services.
Here in in NL I have a dozen or more on street chargers within a couple of minutes walk of my house, in a residents parking area so no extra charges. At €0.438/kWh and €1.97/litre for petrol, an EV doing 3 miles/kWh would be the equivalent of doing around 80mpg on petrol, so worth it but no where near as big a saving as those who are charging from home on cheap EV tariffs. Add in the UK's 3p/mile tax it's down to around 50mpg equivalent.
I went with a PHEV instead, more economical around town than a petrol, and the 60ish km range is plenty for that, but I don't have to rely on electric charging.
Here in in NL I have a dozen or more on street chargers within a couple of minutes walk of my house, in a residents parking area so no extra charges. At €0.438/kWh and €1.97/litre for petrol, an EV doing 3 miles/kWh would be the equivalent of doing around 80mpg on petrol, so worth it but no where near as big a saving as those who are charging from home on cheap EV tariffs. Add in the UK's 3p/mile tax it's down to around 50mpg equivalent.
I went with a PHEV instead, more economical around town than a petrol, and the 60ish km range is plenty for that, but I don't have to rely on electric charging.
Pistonheadsdicoverer said:
FWIW, that will kill the range big time.
Indeed. Which is why I wanted to see what the reality was when 'making progress' similar to how you would drive a similarly powerful ICE.I suspect it would be worth dropping the speed to get more range on a trans-continental drive (or just one the length of the UK) but for a modest non-stop trip across 2 counties I think you can live with burning up the electrons....
I perhaps should have added to the OP that my current use-case is having to drive to Bristol and back once a week (100 miles each way on the M4 past countless chargers) and staying over in hotels and eating out during the week, so plenty of time spare to charge up without it being too much of an inconvenience.
If you could get most of the 100 miles commuting charge into a car in 10-15 minutes while you stop for a pee and to buy a coffee at the services then top up to full once a week when getting some dinner it could fit into my dull life perfectly.
Pistonheadsdicoverer said:
"so cruising on the motorway at 75-85mph"
FWIW, that will kill the range big time. I read somewhere that the goldilock speed zone for EV is between 65 and 70mph.
Power required increases with speed cubed, so it is critical to range. But I still get decent range at 78 mph, so I don’t worry about it. FWIW, that will kill the range big time. I read somewhere that the goldilock speed zone for EV is between 65 and 70mph.
Mine is the dual motor long range, so less range than the single motor long range. It's almost always charged at home, and to be honest if I couldn't do that I would not really be going electric with anything yet, but depends on your application. It sounds as if finding reasonably priced slower public charging might be an option for you with the regular usage you're thinking of.
I've found that the Tesla (boo, hiss) charging network seems to be the best priced, most reliable, and most consistently fast charging option. The rate of charge does slow noticeably as the car gets full, but I tend to be doing journeys which aren't far beyond the car's range so not adding too much - typically less than ten minutes on the charger. It will still charge at 100kW at 70%.
RE motorway cruising speed - to be honest, these days, I just set the adaptive cruise to the speed limit. Last car didn't have adaptive cruise, but I used to do the same with the dumb cruise or if the traffic was heavy enough to make maintaining a constant speed difficult, I set the speed limiter instead. Too many cameras on the motorway route I use.
I've found that the Tesla (boo, hiss) charging network seems to be the best priced, most reliable, and most consistently fast charging option. The rate of charge does slow noticeably as the car gets full, but I tend to be doing journeys which aren't far beyond the car's range so not adding too much - typically less than ten minutes on the charger. It will still charge at 100kW at 70%.
RE motorway cruising speed - to be honest, these days, I just set the adaptive cruise to the speed limit. Last car didn't have adaptive cruise, but I used to do the same with the dumb cruise or if the traffic was heavy enough to make maintaining a constant speed difficult, I set the speed limiter instead. Too many cameras on the motorway route I use.
Thanks for the report 
Nice to see a balanced review and conclusion which seems fair.
Most reviews from first time EV users end up being hyper critical or just regurgitating the same old "can't drive 900miles without stopping", "takes more than 5 mins to fill up" etc which effectively lose all credibility in my eyes as that all goes without saying.
Nice to see a balanced review and conclusion which seems fair.
Most reviews from first time EV users end up being hyper critical or just regurgitating the same old "can't drive 900miles without stopping", "takes more than 5 mins to fill up" etc which effectively lose all credibility in my eyes as that all goes without saying.
Phateuk said:
Most reviews from first time EV users end up being hyper critical or just regurgitating the same old "can't drive 900miles without stopping", "takes more than 5 mins to fill up" etc which effectively lose all credibility in my eyes as that all goes without saying.
Indeed. Or as seen in the other thread running in this sub-forum, people with home chargers who can't abide public charging for time or cost reasons.I think it helps that I am solo driving for 99% of trips so no need to worry about a partner or child moaning that we're hanging around charging.
Also, public charging is only going to improve as time goes along.
Truckosaurus said:
Also, public charging is only going to improve as time goes along.
Home charging is great for cost of course, but in terms of practicality, it's not "do you have off street parking?", it's more "can you charge where you park?".
I know plenty of people running an EV for years without home charging, but if you have a charger at work or in the street that actually works, that really isn't an issue.
Apologist said:
uktrailmonster said:
Power required increases with speed cubed, so it is critical to range. But I still get decent range at 78 mph, so I don t worry about it.
I d have thought squared, not cubed?Power to overcome it increases with speed cubed, since Power = Force x speed.
Charging speed is one of those things a bit like MPG or top speed, it’s a headline figure, it’s not always achievable
So many factors can cause a slow speed, such as the battery not being warm enough, a lot of the “300kw” stalls are 300 for the 2 chargers attached, so max 145 if both sides are used
Lots of these such as battery temperatures can be sorted by using the inbuilt sat nav to navigate to the charger, tesla really have got it licked, you Put in your destination and it will give you where to charge and pre heat the battery on the way there so you can achieve the best speeds, then tesla’s are 41p per kw or 28 I think off peak, compared to gridserve etc which are 60-90p kw depending where you go, plus you’re charged though the app so no chance of the card reader not working
As much as people hate on Tesla they are the best EV you can buy
People say not to buy one if you have to publicly charge but even if you can’t charge at home it’s still not more expensive than a petrol car, but you still get the benifits of a EV such as the quiet smooth drive, pre heating the interior, lower running costs etc
Rent a Tesla and your experience will be slick
So many factors can cause a slow speed, such as the battery not being warm enough, a lot of the “300kw” stalls are 300 for the 2 chargers attached, so max 145 if both sides are used
Lots of these such as battery temperatures can be sorted by using the inbuilt sat nav to navigate to the charger, tesla really have got it licked, you Put in your destination and it will give you where to charge and pre heat the battery on the way there so you can achieve the best speeds, then tesla’s are 41p per kw or 28 I think off peak, compared to gridserve etc which are 60-90p kw depending where you go, plus you’re charged though the app so no chance of the card reader not working
As much as people hate on Tesla they are the best EV you can buy
People say not to buy one if you have to publicly charge but even if you can’t charge at home it’s still not more expensive than a petrol car, but you still get the benifits of a EV such as the quiet smooth drive, pre heating the interior, lower running costs etc
Rent a Tesla and your experience will be slick
ZesPak said:
Truckosaurus said:
Also, public charging is only going to improve as time goes along.
Home charging is great for cost of course, but in terms of practicality, it's not "do you have off street parking?", it's more "can you charge where you park?".
I know plenty of people running an EV for years without home charging, but if you have a charger at work or in the street that actually works, that really isn't an issue.
Great first EV post! Maybe you deserve an award .
I've been driving EVs for 15 years, but always had home charging. I think EV viability without home charging is getting there depending on where you live, but make sure you get a car with a decent range. As a rough guide, take 30% off WLTP (you'll do better around town, but fast motorway driving is what eats electrons).
As mentioned above get a Tesla Model 3 for fast, efficient motorway miles and easy charging. The long Range RWD is the one to go for, if within your budget. For Tesla's, make sure it has the heat pump fitted (starting from ~ end 2020). With HP, Tesla range doesn't dramatically reduce in colder weather with the heater running, unlike some other EVs.
.I've been driving EVs for 15 years, but always had home charging. I think EV viability without home charging is getting there depending on where you live, but make sure you get a car with a decent range. As a rough guide, take 30% off WLTP (you'll do better around town, but fast motorway driving is what eats electrons).
As mentioned above get a Tesla Model 3 for fast, efficient motorway miles and easy charging. The long Range RWD is the one to go for, if within your budget. For Tesla's, make sure it has the heat pump fitted (starting from ~ end 2020). With HP, Tesla range doesn't dramatically reduce in colder weather with the heater running, unlike some other EVs.
Phateuk said:
ZesPak said:
Truckosaurus said:
Also, public charging is only going to improve as time goes along.
Home charging is great for cost of course, but in terms of practicality, it's not "do you have off street parking?", it's more "can you charge where you park?".
I know plenty of people running an EV for years without home charging, but if you have a charger at work or in the street that actually works, that really isn't an issue.
uktrailmonster said:
CMTMB said:
Public charging is really expensive though. Setting aside the convenience element, I wouldn't be able to justify the cost of regular public charging.
Tesla network is probably the only one still cheaper than petrol. CMTMB said:
uktrailmonster said:
CMTMB said:
Public charging is really expensive though. Setting aside the convenience element, I wouldn't be able to justify the cost of regular public charging.
Tesla network is probably the only one still cheaper than petrol. Where I live wouldn’t work without home charging. Nearest Tesla chargers are a bit too far away and the local options in town are flaky. One of neighbours attempted to run an EV without home charging and gave up within a year.
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