Electric Car Diary

[Slim]

This morning, it was cold and the range had dropped to 404km and quickly dropped to 393 after a short trip to town. Back to 100% now and showing 404km.

I will stop at a Circle K for a fast charge tomorrow.

I haven't set up ABRP as I have 3 apps for the networks and I didn't care for its homepage.

Tried to set Mrs. S up but to set her up with her own log in(email and password) would have entailed deleting the vehicle from my phone!

Here goes..fingers crossed!

 

[Zenith63]

I will stop at a Circle K for a fast charge tomorrow.

The only thing I’d say is if at all possible aim for a location with more than one charger. Anywhere with Tesla chargers will mean no chance queuing behind them for access to your ESB charger, anywhere with Ionity means there will be at least 6 bays suitable for your car and you’ll never have to charge, anywhere with multiple ESB/EasyGo chargers would be next best but there are few of them around yet, then worst option is somewhere with a single ESB/EasyGo.

Truck I use if there are only single charger locations is to keep an eye on the ESB eCars app as you head up the road, that way if you see the one you’re aiming for is busy but a slightly closer one is not in-use you can stop a little earlier.

Before anybody gets alarmed, queuing is not that common but it does happen and as there are ways to avoid it you may as well use them! There’s a penalty for staying longer than 45 minutes on a fast charger and fast chargers are significantly more expensive than charging at home. so queues tend to move quickly if you’re unlucky enough to encounter one.

 

[Blackrock1]

This morning, it was cold and the range had dropped to 404km and quickly dropped to 393 after a short trip to town. Back to 100% now and showing 404km.

I will stop at a Circle K for a fast charge tomorrow.

I haven't set up ABRP as I have 3 apps for the networks and I didn't care for its homepage.

Tried to set Mrs. S up but to set her up with her own log in(email and password) would have entailed deleting the vehicle from my phone!

Here goes..fingers crossed!

ABRP is more to advise on where to stop to make the journey the quickest so that could mean stopping en route at an IONITY charger rather than on the way back at a different one. It’s a route planner more so than a charge point locator. But seeing as you have made up your mind I won’t recommend it again.

 

[Blackrock1]

This morning, it was cold and the range had dropped to 404km and quickly dropped to 393 after a short trip to town. Back to 100% now and showing 404km.

I will stop at a Circle K for a fast charge tomorrow.

I haven't set up ABRP as I have 3 apps for the networks and I didn't care for its homepage.

Tried to set Mrs. S up but to set her up with her own log in(email and password) would have entailed deleting the vehicle from my phone!

Here goes..fingers crossed!

Also to set her up with the app you just put the app on her phone and use your login , there isn’t any need for two separate accounts.

 

[Slim]

ABRP is more to advise on where to stop to make the journey the quickest so that could mean stopping en route at an IONITY charger rather than on the way back at a different one. It’s a route planner more so than a charge point locator. But seeing as you have made up your mind I won’t recommend it again.

I do appreciate the recommendation and I will look into it! Thank you.

 

[losttheplot]

ABRP is very useful.

 

[Slim]

Update: Set off yesterday for the 240km drive to Dublin. I had charged to 100% and the range indicated 441km. Almost immediately on setting off, this dropped to 404km! Arrived in Dublin with just under 200km left. Headed off this morning and arrived at Applegreen Northbound at Lusk with 150km left in range. All 3 chargers available. Tried to start the CCS charger but no go. Another driver arrived and said he often has trouble with it. He gave up as it seemed my car was blocking the chargers, not physically. Rang ESB twice. Second time got a guy who was able to start the charger. 44 mins and an additional 170km added. Cost was €11.01. Arrived at Circle K, Monaghan with just under 200km left. Didn't need a charge but tried to activate the CCS charger but it wouldn't start. Guy charging his Nissan on the adjoining charger said he had tried to start but had to ring. I didn't need it so didn't bother. Not impressed today with ESB! Arrived home with 105km left in range. Overall, a very pleasant driving experience. I will summarise my feelings on the EV very soon. I have much to learn.

 

[Baby boomer]

...Overall, a very pleasant driving experience.

Ok, not trying to be controversial for the sake of it, but I genuinely don't get how you consider this to be "very pleasant." I have to say, it sounds like an absolute nightmare to me. Multiple charging points not working, multiple calls to sort it out, 44 minute top-up time.
And all this to do a simple, basic trip to the nation's capital and back! On motorways! Heaven forbid you might need more flexibility or venture more off the beaten track.

 

[Zenith63]

44 minute top-up time.

In fairness @Slim only needed a 10-15 minute stop, he chose to charge for longer, probably getting food as most tend to on longer journeys. Also had they stopped at the Ionity chargers (very next exit!) they could have charged at 150kW instead of 50kW and got away with a 5 minute charge, with the added benefit of there being multiple chargers to avoid the risk of having to queue.

As Slim has said a few times though, this is mostly lack of experience. Better knowledge transfer to new purchasers is clearly required and would go a long way to avoiding these issues. It’s a little like picking up a rental car in Italy for the first time, there’s a huge amount to get used to and even the basics like knowing whether you should use the benzina or gasolio pumps to fill it are a real challenge, until they’re not.

The faulty charger issues were annoying, though this is very uncommon (I’ve never encountered one) and can be avoided by stopping at locations with more than one charger. FWIW the Department of Transport published it's Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy 2022-2025 last week outlining how €100m will be spent to improve this situation in the coming years. Far too late in my view, but we're getting there at least.

 

[Blackrock1]

In fairness @Slim only needed a 10-15 minute stop, he chose to charge for longer, probably getting food as most tend to on longer journeys. Also had they stopped at the Ionity chargers (very next exit!) they could have charged at 150kW instead of 50kW and got away with a 5 minute charge, with the added benefit of there being multiple chargers to avoid the risk of having to queue.

As Slim has said a few times, what this stuff highlights is mostly limited experience, better knowledge transfer to new purchasers would go a long way, as will hearing from Slim in a few months when they’ve worked this stuff out. It’s a little like picking up a rental car in somewhere like Italy for the first time, there’s a huge amount to get used to and even the basics like knowing whether you should use the benzina or gasolio pumps to fill it are a real challenge, until they’re not.

The faulty charger issues were annoying, though this is very uncommon (I’ve never encountered one) and can be avoided by stopping at locations with more than one charger.

yes agreed, id imagine if the route had to have been planned in ABRP it would have suggested ionity (which would always be my preference) which would have been a 10 min stop max, with 4 chargers available most likely.

 

[Slim]

yes agreed, id imagine if the route had to have been planned in ABRP it would have suggested ionity (which would always be my preference) which would have been a 10 min stop max, with 4 chargers available most likely.

@Blackrock1...I downloaded the ABRP app and it's a different appearance to the Web page I referred to above. I see what you mean and it will be very useful.
About Ionity, is it not over twice the price of ESB per kW/hr? It's hard to justify if so.

 

[Zenith63]

About Ionity, is it not over twice the price of ESB per kW/hr? It's hard to justify if so.

It is in fairness. In the case of this journey you only really needed to add a few quid of charge to get you home (with some overhead incase there was an emergency), so the difference might have been €5-10. But I know the feeling when you're just getting used to this stuff, it's safer to just leave it charging while you're stopped eating anyway.

Again as you get more used to it you'll have more of a sense of what you really need to fill up by and the Ionity chargers might have made sense. Although I guess you could easily have spun in to see if the 50kW ESB charger was free at Lusk SS, if not then it would not be a big deal to get straight back on the road to the Ionity location.

Glad the trip went better than your airport one

 

[Firefly]

About Ionity, is it not over twice the price of ESB per kW/hr? It's hard to justify if so.

I wonder in the future, will charging at stations like these be included in the finance packages for new EVs along with the likes of breakdown assist and servicing that we see currently?

 

[Blackrock1]

@Blackrock1...I downloaded the ABRP app and it's a different appearance to the Web page I referred to above. I see what you mean and it will be very useful.
About Ionity, is it not over twice the price of ESB per kW/hr? It's hard to justify if so.

It all depends on what you value. If you want to get home as quickly as possible and also goto a location with multiple chargers, then ionity normally wins out, if you are happy to spend some time grabbing a bite to eat then a slower cheaper esb charger is a good option.

 

[Blackrock1]

I wonder in the future, will charging at stations like these be included in the finance packages for new EVs along with the likes of breakdown assist and servicing that we see currently?

they already are to an extent, you can get a cheaper per mw/h rate if you pay a monthly sub, for some new cars you get a free year or two from the monthly sub.

For a lot of people you might only use these expensive chargers 5 or 6 times a year though.

 

[Firefly]

For a lot of people you might only use these expensive chargers 5 or 6 times a year though.

That's why I think they might be "thrown in" with the finance package - it's the same for breakdown assist for example. Maybe 30 hours per year at an Ionity station?

 

[jpd]

Usually "things thrown into a package" are available cheaper on their own albeit at a cost of searching for and acquiring them. It all depends on how you value your time

 

[peemac]

Great little diary and shows that for most drivers an ev is getting to be a more attractive option for them.

I would like to see a solar panel built into the roof as a "trickle" charger. (it is a feature in some soon to arrive models) That would help with the range anxiety especially if in a remote area and of course the benefit of free trickle charging if parked up whilst playing a game of golf or lounging on the beach

 

[Leo]

I would like to see a solar panel built into the roof as a "trickle" charger. (it is a feature in some soon to arrive models) That would help with the range anxiety especially if in a remote area and of course the benefit of free trickle charging if parked up whilst playing a game of golf or lounging on the beach

I'd say give it a few years until the efficiency of solar panels improves quite a bit. The added weight of the panels and charging equipment would likely result in little to no benefit at the moment.

Hyundai have advertised an option of full roof panels (205W) on the Ioniq 5 and they say it can add 5-6km range per day in places like the South of France.

 

[fayf]

I’d give it a decade, in your example about 1% extra charge per day, and thats probably a very sunny day, the power generated by PV’s is a tiny fraction, of what an EV needs, and there is extremely limited space where one can mount them. There is also likely a major cost/benefit shortfall

I saw something a while back, a concept car that had solar panels built into the roof, back, and doors, so it was doubling the available solar gain area.

A long, long way to go before solar on EV’s, is even remotely viable.