Random EV thoughts.....

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120854774#Comment_120854774

Yea I could drop kids off but they would have to walk home. Probably shows that some people need more range than others. Presumably though you live in an urban setting while I'm a little bit more out in the sticks

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120850883#Comment_120850883

While 20% on a big battery car is a lot, I don't recommend attempting the first public charge with only 15km range left. For example today I was in the Midlands. Only about 30km range left arriving at the charger. On the way I checked on the esb app if it was in use. Arriving at petrol station another car was just pulling in ahead of me to start a charge. I had a choice, wait, go in wrong direction for around 30km to nearest 50kW+ single charger, head around 35km wrong direction to multiple ionity units, or go about 2km to the event I was heading to and come back later. When I came back to same site about 35 minutes later owner was still charging with car. They said trying to get to 80% which took 2 minutes, then they spent 10 minutes trying to disconnect the CCS. I was cutting it fine, not ideal, having about 26km range at this point.

The moral of the story is stop when you are down to 60/100/120km (unless you can make it home) and top up a bit. Dont arrive with 30km range unless multiple 50kW+ units are within 30km. It's not the first time I have arrived second to a public charger. I passed Longford later, 2 cars on the one 50kW charger...

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860323#Comment_120860323

Why didn't you aim for the Ionity units in the first place? 😉

Seriously, they're not that much more expensive anymore and there's a better chance of getting a free charger

Okay, fair enough, it sounds like they were a bit of a detour which is annoying, but personally I'd probably have just planned to head there on the return and use the Ecars charger if it happened to be free

I would say balance your arrival SoC against the likelihood of getting stuck waiting. I've pulled into Ionity sites with 15% remaining confident there was a charger available that would deliver full power, and worst case there were a couple of slower sites nearby if disaster struck and the whole site was offline

If I was heading out somewhere that had a single Ecars fast charger for the whole town (i.e the entire city of Waterford) then I would definitely engage in some opportunistic charging before I arrive

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860323#Comment_120860323

That's why I'll always target multi CCS chargers, I'd rather pay the extra knowing that it's more likely to be available or that with 3+ chargers I'm queueing for 1 of 3 which is going to be a much shorter wait. We're in a much better position these todays to plan routes like that.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860472#Comment_120860472

Ionity was 30km out of my way in wrong direction. I probably should have charged earlier on the trip but I was hoping to arrive with a low charge and quickly fill up to travel on. I started off at 100% and I needed to charge twice today due to distance and small battery EV, so it's always a compromise of number of stops and risks. There is no guarantee next charger will be available nor work. As I said Longford was crazy busy, I'm glad I was well charged up passing there. Easygo units tend to be quieter when available as not many people know about them.

unkel

@zg3409 - "Ideally as a driver aim to end your trip with 20% spare"

There's no need for that at all, well depending on the car. If a Tesla says it will bring you home with 1% or 0% left, that's good enough for me, there is typically a decent enough buffer. I've gone on trips home where the car told me up front I wouldn't make it. Just drive a bit slower than the speed limits and you'll be fine. But I guess this gets easier the more experienced you are as an EV driver. I've never run out in near 7 years of driving EVs

CoBo55

Can anyone use ionity, is it an app like all the others? Should be getting my EV this week I've always noticed ionity chargers are mostly empty which would be handy the odd time I'd ever need a public charge.

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861058#Comment_120861058

For sure anyone can use them as long as you don't have a Nissan Leaf with obsolete CHAdeMO DC fast charging. What EV are you getting? I've seen you around on this forum and on the classic cars forum for many years, you were fairly sceptical at times about EVs, delighted you have finally made the jump into EV ownership :-)

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861096#Comment_120861096

Cupra Born, should be ready this week. Do the ionity use a standard credit card? In reality I'd be rarely using public charging but it would be handy to be setup before trying to use one.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861185#Comment_120861185

Not exactly, you'll need to download the Ionity app and then select a charger to pay by card through the app

Seat probably have an equivalent of We Charge for VW and it's probably easier to register that and get a card if it's free

AndyBoBandy

For Ionity I use ChargePoint as they send you a physical rfid card as well, which I like having in case of ever encountering network/app issues on the phone….

CoBo55

Thanks lads, another app for the EV folder on the phone🫣

markpb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860921#Comment_120860921

The battery charge can drop further after you get home as the fans continue to run and the battery cools down. This is even more noticeable in winter. If you have an overnight timer on your home charger, you may need to charge a little immediately.

innrain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861357#Comment_120861357

I would ask the dealer about the Cupra charging and some introductory tariffs.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861704#Comment_120861704

Will ask when I'm collecting the car, thanks.

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861459#Comment_120861459

I had this a few years ago on a particularly cold winters night...

Plugged in at about 6-7pm at 16%, checked it a few hours later and the cold had brought it down to 7%... and it was still falling.... so I gave it a bit of a top up to about 15% again as my scheduled charge wasn't due to start till 2am, which was still 2-3 hours away...

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861185#Comment_120861185

Well wear! I have only tried Ionity once when they were new and it was a novelty. That was years ago and I can't remember what I used, might have been a German app on my phone. I started the thread in this forum when Ionity announced that they were going to launch in Ireland and with this new boards setup, I can't even unsubscribe from that thread 😂

In truth I almost never publicly fast charge as my car has about 300km motorway range, that is almost always enough for a day trip

silver_sky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861989#Comment_120861989

I had this issue with another thread here. Its buried deep but I found the option. I'll dig out the link later for you.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861989#Comment_120861989

According to the lads on the Born thread they're getting similar range too so I'll rarely, if ever need to use public charging. Flogas have submitted my request for a D/N meter and with 14.75c night rate I'm well sorted. The deal includes servicing, a set of tyres and front discs and pads, it's going to be cheap motoring ☺️

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120862371#Comment_120862371

Yep. My last ICE car cost me €50 per week in fuel. I replaced it with my Ioniq electric in early 2017 and that car cost me €30 in fuel. For the year 😁

Maybe get some solar PV as well? Both my EVs have been run 100% on the sun for about 2 months now.

AndyBoBandy

+1 on the solar PV.

From April 5th to July 3rd I only charged from the grid twice... everything else was PV.

Also @CoBo55 the front discs and pads that you got in the deal... might sound better than it actually is as it'll be a long time before you need new pads, and a long long long time before you need new discs!! The ID.3/Born is RWD isn't it?? therefore the rear wheels will be doing all the braking thanks to regen, so your front brakes/pads will hardly see any use at all...... I'm up to 82,000km in my Model 3 and the front pads look like they were only put on a few thousand km ago....

Ask around in the Born & ID.3 thread how folk are getting on with pads/discs.... but I'd imagine disc's won't need changing for at least a few hundred thousand km's.

joe1303l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860912#Comment_120860912

Ionity hubs here seem to be getting busier by the day over the last 6 months. Unless you’re arriving early morning or late at night, you’ll be likely to waiting at least a few minutes to have one free up.

ChargeFinder App is useful as it shows the SOC% of the occupied stalls. It often demonstrates the nonsense of idiot drivers insisting on getting to 100% before they leave.

Ionity seems to be very popular with company car/van drivers who aren’t paying the bill for charging.

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120862732#Comment_120862732

I think there aren't even discs on the front, just good old cheap drums, like on bottom of the range cars from the 70s. VW know how to save a few bob and present you with the ultimate Paddy spec 😁

AndyBoBandy

I thought the drums were only on the rear...?

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120863345#Comment_120863345

Untrue, there's no modern car with drums on the front. Anything else wrong with them?

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120863531#Comment_120863531

Sorry, the drums are on the rear 🤣

DaveyDave

If I had any doubts about the braking performance of the Born I would have been onto a VW specialist to get the larger eboost discs fitted.

The brakes are fine, it's the tyres that are crap :D

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120863539#Comment_120863539

I can confirm from experience that the stopping power on the ID.4 is rib crushing 😵

Born should be a bit better as it doesn't have quite as much inertia

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120862732#Comment_120862732

Just don't listen to the dealer when he insists your discs are corroded due to lack of use, which he will carefully explain results in EV discs requiring even more regular replacement that ICEs😂

handpref

Second that Andy, 180,000km’s on the i3 and brakes have plenty left.