This is why. Hopwood Park services off the M42. Non-Teslas can't use this particular site as it's deemed "high-usage". It happened to be empty when I arrived! On a 260-mile drive I needed a 10 minute charge to get home (or face driving ~150 miles at 50mph on the remaining charge). The Gridserve public chargers … Continue reading Why Tesla?
Using the EV chargers at STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
This page is intended for employees and visitors of STFC-RAL, until something official becomes available. This is the situation at March 2022. Hopefully some of what I've learned in nearly 6 years of EV driving is useful. TLDR; download the Chargepoint app and plug in! At the Harwell campus there are many tenants, STFC being … Continue reading Using the EV chargers at STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Tesla Model S charging in cold weather
Update December 22- the software now notifies you when your battery is heating up before charging! This is very useful since the charge will take longer. Say you've not used the car much over the weekend, it's not fully charged and you need to make a surprise trip on Monday morning. It's mild weather and … Continue reading Tesla Model S charging in cold weather
“Yay my energy bill is in!” or “How we pay only 9p a unit for our electricity!”
Warning - in 2021-2 the UK electricity wholesale price has risen substantially, so an Agile tariff may not suit you. We now use Octopus "Go Faster". This post dates from 2019... We switched to a time-of-use electricity tariff from Octopus in summer 2019, from an Economy 7 tariff. This means that the price of electricity … Continue reading “Yay my energy bill is in!” or “How we pay only 9p a unit for our electricity!”
Ioniq Electric datafest- Torque, EVNotify and canIoniq
There are now at least three apps on Android that enable access to the battery and motor data from the Battery Management System (BMS) via the On-Board Diagnostic port (OBD2). It's like a customisable version of "LeafSpy" but for other cars. Why would you be interested? If you need to ask then this probably isn't … Continue reading Ioniq Electric datafest- Torque, EVNotify and canIoniq
How much can you top up an Ioniq in 10 minutes from a Polar Ultracharger?
To answer this question, I tried out a Polar Ultracharger at the Holiday Inn Swindon, in the UK. The charger is quite close to J15 of the M4, and while the M4 is fairly well-served for charging, it's on the Electric Highway network which is, how shall I put it, a little creaky right now. … Continue reading How much can you top up an Ioniq in 10 minutes from a Polar Ultracharger?
Efficiency and charging losses, Leaf vs Ioniq
I measured a charger efficiency of 86% in the Leaf and 95% in the Ioniq. Electric cars display an efficiency figure which can range from 3 to 7 miles per kWh in my experience. This is the efficiency that the car measures, from the battery to the road. There are other losses in the system, … Continue reading Efficiency and charging losses, Leaf vs Ioniq
“So where do you charge it then?”
This is a question EV owners often get, usually after the inevitable "so how far can you go then?" I now respond "so where do you fill up your fossil car"? Overnight I charge at home because it's the cheapest, most convenient place to do so. But I never had a diesel pump at home … Continue reading “So where do you charge it then?”
Comparing different rapid chargers on a Nissan Leaf 24. 48kW?!
Many EV drivers have noticed that newer "Rapid" chargers can deliver a lot more power than the older models. So how do the older and newer chargers compare, what does the charging profile look like, and how long does it really take? Not all "rapid" chargers are created equal. Some date from 2012/2013 when Nissan … Continue reading Comparing different rapid chargers on a Nissan Leaf 24. 48kW?!
Solar powered EVs
Now that we have solar (PV) panels and two electric cars there's much more opportunity to take advantage of sunny days and charge a car from the sun. Today is one of the first sunny days of 2018 when I've been able to do this. The panels supply, at most, 2.6kW around mid-day. The PodPoint … Continue reading Solar powered EVs
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