Random EV thoughts.....

innrain

Renault was always betting on AC22. They've push it with AC43 but nobody else got on board so they've dropped it.

slave1

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I see the new Renault Kangoo EV with it's 44kWh battery (265km WLTP) can AC charge at up to 22kW..

Great that at least 1 manufacturer is looking at a network of 22kW chargers, and deciding their EV offerings should be able to fully utilise them.....


Those Kangoo's should fly off the shelf as taxi's (and if wheelchair accessible, the full @25k grant). Add in the ability to add in 50% of charge in 1 hour at any AC22, and they'd be a really attractive prospect!!!

This is what An Post switched to in my area before XMas, great except they charge to full every night despite having 2-3 days capacity on a full charge

AndyBoBandy

slave1 wrote: »

This is what An Post switched to in my area before XMas, great except they charge to full every night despite having 2-3 days capacity on a full charge

And how do Renault batteries cope with going to 100% on a daily basis?

Would they be similar to most in that the sweet spot is between 20% - 80%? Or would they have a big top buffer?

liamog

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Would they be similar to most in that the sweet spot is between 20% - 80%? Or would they have a big top buffer?

It's an extremely small list of cars that need to operate with the sweet spot of 20% to 80%. Most of them have the buffers that mean this isn't needed. You may choose a lower top end state of charge, but that is primarily to maintain a consistent performance of the regeneration system. I.e. there is less regen available at a high SOC so the braking will be inconsistent.

The only real concern people should have is to try and leave the battery at around 50% if you plan to leave the car stationary for an extended period of time.

Kramer

liamog wrote: »

It's an extremely small list of cars that need to operate with the sweet spot of 20% to 80%.

Apparently Tesla now recommend charging to 100% once per week, for some models. It's all getting very confusing these days & not conducive to more mainstream adoption IMO.
A 2020 Model 3 shouldn't be charged beyond 90% but a 2021 needs to be charged to 100% weekly.

KISS principle is gone out the window.

ICE - put petrol in, drive. Repeat.
EV - don't charge past 80%, or discharge below 20%, or do charge to 100%, when necessary for an occasional long trip, or charge to 100% weekly, if you own these model years.....

OK, I'm overthinking it :pac:.

Silent Running

Kramer wrote: »

Apparently Tesla now recommend charging to 100% once per week, for some models. It's all getting very confusing these days & not conducive to more mainstream adoption IMO.
A 2020 Model 3 shouldn't be charged beyond 90% but a 2021 needs to be charged to 100% weekly.

KISS principle is gone out the window.

ICE - put petrol in, drive. Repeat.
EV - don't charge past 80%, or discharge below 20%, or do charge to 100%, when necessary for an occasional long trip, or charge to 100% weekly, if you own these model years.....

OK, I'm overthinking it :pac:.

I seem to remember that the manual for the e-Niro said that the HV battery should be charged to 100% once a month to help with cell balancing or some such guff. :P

unkel

Kramer wrote: »

Apparently Tesla now recommend charging to 100% once per week, for some models. It's all getting very confusing these days & not conducive to more mainstream adoption IMO.
A 2020 Model 3 shouldn't be charged beyond 90% but a 2021 needs to be charged to 100% weekly.

A load of bollocks. Just charge your car up when you need to. Same as petrol / diesel.

And yes, technically if you charge from 0-100% every single time, your battery will only last 15 years, not 50 years. If you are that kind of person, you probably also leave the plastic covers on the seats when you get the car new, so the seats will still be fresh once you re-sell the car in a few years time

the_amazing_raisin

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

And how do Renault batteries cope with going to 100% on a daily basis?

Would they be similar to most in that the sweet spot is between 20% - 80%? Or would they have a big top buffer?

Charging to 100% isn't too bad as long as the van isn't sitting around for a long time at a higher SoC. Vans like that would do a lot of short hops so would be putting plenty of mileage on during the day

the_amazing_raisin

innrain wrote: »

Renault was always betting on AC22. They've push it with AC43 but nobody else got on board so they've dropped it.

I think Renault's mistake was betting solely on 22kW. If all the Zoe's had 50kW CCS plugs as well as 22kW AC then I think they would have vastly outsold the Leaf

I wish more cars would start using 22kW, in 10 years we still only have the Zoe and some Model S's with the dual chargers (I feel there's another one I've forgotten). Most manufacturers seem to not bother above 11kW

slave1

Upcoming Nissan Ariya also 22kW AC

Kramer

unkel wrote: »

A load of bollocks. Just charge your car up when you need to.

Why are manufacturers doing it then? Tesla mainly - they don't keep any hidden buffer (or very little), while most other manufacturers, particularly the Germans, keep significant upper & lower buffers, to protect/prolong the life of the battery.

Even BMW PHEVs keep large hidden buffers.

But I agree, there's more to life than worrying about your car's SoC & I think these differing manufacturer recommendations aren't a great development.

whippet

with the new leaf coming next week - I've just realised that I'll need a 10m cable if I want to be able to park the PHEV and BEV side by side and able to charge.

the 5m cable just won't stretch far enough ... so it would mean moving cars around to charge ... where is the best place to get a decent 10m cable ?

Black_Knight

whippet wrote: »

with the new leaf coming next week - I've just realised that I'll need a 10m cable if I want to be able to park the PHEV and BEV side by side and able to charge.

the 5m cable just won't stretch far enough ... so it would mean moving cars around to charge ... where is the best place to get a decent 10m cable ?

Kramer still got a few?

Back in the day I would of said any number of UK EV cable shops, but import duty might scupper that.

slave1

whippet wrote: »

with the new leaf coming next week - I've just realised that I'll need a 10m cable if I want to be able to park the PHEV and BEV side by side and able to charge.

the 5m cable just won't stretch far enough ... so it would mean moving cars around to charge ... where is the best place to get a decent 10m cable ?

Amazon Germany?

AndyBoBandy

whippet wrote: »

with the new leaf coming next week - I've just realised that I'll need a 10m cable if I want to be able to park the PHEV and BEV side by side and able to charge.

the 5m cable just won't stretch far enough ... so it would mean moving cars around to charge ... where is the best place to get a decent 10m cable ?

Theres an Irish crowd that does 5m, 10m, 15m & 20m cables... can't remember the name, but a few on here have highly recommended them...

Might have been this crowd;
https://www.epower.ie/ev-cables

If the price is competitive with anything on amazon etc... try to buy Irish....

DrPhilG

unkel wrote: »

From another Energia tariff (mid-contract) without charge. And I specifically asked was this open to all Energia customers to switch without penalty and they confirmed

Just off the phone to Energia, who refused to switch my tariff until the end of my contract, insisted that this was the same for all customers, and there would be no exception.

Arseholes.

slave1

I don't think that's a bad outcome, now you will deffo be closer to change when you see what FIT brings in, just over 3 months away now...

liamog

DrPhilG wrote: »

Just off the phone to Energia, who refused to switch my tariff until the end of my contract, insisted that this was the same for all customers, and there would be no exception.

Arseholes.

There is a €50 break fee on the contract, if it's going to save you more than that it's worth breaking the contract and switching the account into your partners name

DrPhilG

liamog wrote: »

There is a €50 break fee on the contract, if it's going to save you more than that it's worth breaking the contract and switching the account into your partners name

It's just the inconsistency that pisses me off.

They switched unkel without any fuss and told him that anyone else could do the same.

Then someone else calls up and they deny all knowledge.

whippet

and just got a call - I can pick up my Leaf 40 SVE this afternoon - so will get a good play with it over the weekend - doing circles of 5k !

Kramer

DrPhilG wrote: »

They switched unkel without any fuss and told him that anyone else could do the same.

You missed a trick there Phil - you should have contacted unkel & asked him to ring for you :pac:.

Funny story about Energia. They switched me from another supplier when I was just a few months into contract. I didn't request it & was never informed, nothing, until I received final bills for both electricity & gas, both including contract breaking fees.

My existing supplier couldn't tell me who "ported" me - data protection, just that a port request was submitted & completed. I finally was told by the energy regulator who I was now with, after they contacted ESB Networks.

Energia.

I had been with them previously (move every 12 months for the best deal).

Anyway, took a lot of calls/emails to get it reverted & Energia profusely apologised, made it right & I got well compensated financially for the hassle, but it was interesting.
Turns out it was an employee in a back office, working on dormant/dead legacy accounts, trialing/implementing smart metering protocols & billing etc.

She inadvertently pulled from some live accounts & triggered the whole sequence from there.

I've been promised I'll be looked after again when I go back - have the manager's personal email address etc. so i may be back with them soon & likely have the cheapest electricity in Ireland, hopefully. Bitcoin mining here I come .

DrPhilG

Kramer wrote: »

have the manager's personal email address etc

Well tell her to get her staff to match up their stories!

Black_Knight

DrPhilG wrote: »

It's just the inconsistency that pisses me off.

They switched unkel without any fuss and told him that anyone else could do the same.

Then someone else calls up and they deny all knowledge.

There's an unkel clause on everything. He's incapable of paying anything close up what is normal folk have to pay. Not that he won't, just that he never gets charged it.

unkel

LOL

Honestly, after I got moved onto the new EV package (mid-contract), I specifically asked the girl was this ok for any other Energia customer to do. I asked this so I could share it here on boards.ie. She had to go back to her supervisor again and came back to me and confirmed that yes, any Energia customer could do this too.

liamog

unkel wrote: »

LOL

Honestly, after I got moved onto the new EV package (mid-contract), I specifically asked the girl was this ok for any other Energia customer to do. I asked this so I could share it here on boards.ie. She had to go back to her supervisor again and came back to me and confirmed that yes, any Energia customer could do this too.

It's obvious at this point that you are lucifer and have dirt on the call centre operators association of Ireland :P

DrPhilG

I've emailed them too, and I'll call again during the week.

Different day, different rules apparently.

If that fails I'll just name drop unkel and watch them fall at my feet lol.

Black_Knight

Has anyone noticed Bjorn's ego getting rather big? Has started to brag a bit about his influence and how manufacturers etc should be happy to give him cars for free and for long periods. Bit of a lack of humility of late

slave1

I think he’s doing this to lose the haters he’s gained in comments, he had a great put down in his last video where he thanked them for increasing his stats and income, loved the way he did it.
Also, look at his Tesla referrals, there’s bound to be huge amount of purchases based on his reviews, he raved about the Ioniq28 and had massive comments saying folk purchased after watching his videos so he has a point that manufacturers are getting a free ride off him.
I’d give him a bit of licence, he’s done a lot for us and still the go to for comprehensive reviews

AndyBoBandy

I got about mid way through his video about cancelling the Plaid + order and lost interest, as he does tend to go on and on etc.....

Why did he cancel in the end? And what’s his plan now? To just keep Millennium Falcon for the foreseeable..

I still very much enjoy his videos, particularly the road trips and 1,000km challenges and range tests etc..... (Norway is a stunning country).

And is absolutely still the de facto go to when wanting to know what the craic is regarding any type of EV.

slave1

He cancelled basically because his Plaid+ order delivery date will now end up being very close to his (free based on referral program) Roadster delivery date and performance wise they are too close to own both...