Resources for EV newbie

Mark Hamill

What are some general resources for an EV Newbie that you would recommend?

Stuff like useful apps (eg for monitoring your own car, or finding public chargers etc) or useful gizmo's (might not make a big difference, but I'm planning to get a big 20,000+ mAh portable charger to charge phones in the car with).


(I'm getting a Peugeot e208, so if anyone has specific recommendations for that, then they would appreciated too).

slave1

Hi Luke, just charge off whatever USB or 12v ports are in the car, no need for separate portable charger

unkel

Mark Hamill wrote: »

I'm planning to get a big 20,000+ mAh portable charger to charge phones in the car with).

You already have a portable power bank with about 1,000 times as much capacity as that power bank in your car

Have a good read of this forum and get some stuff ready, like a home charger, a night rate meter, an ESB eCars card and cards for various other operators like Ionity / easygo, etc. Maybe install some PV while you're at it?

Well wear! The e208 looks like a very good EV, got the looks too!

graememk

Apps
ESB ears app
Easygo
Zapmap/plugshare/Abetterrouteplanner

and as the others said, just use the car's power for charging phones etc, the e208 has a 50kwh battery, the battery bank is 100wh capacity in comparison. Back of envelope math, assuming 17kwh/100km, say if you charged that battery bank from the car would only reduce your range by 600m ish on a full charge of the car.

zg3409

Mark Hamill wrote: »

(I'm getting a Peugeot e208, so if anyone has specific recommendations for that, then they would appreciated too).

For your personal use case first thing is getting home charger sorted, there is a thread for that.

Next is to find your local slow and fast chargers, and get the correct app to activate them. Best app for finding chargers is plugshare, then use esb/easygo/Ionity app to activate. Try using them when you are not under pressure and learn how to activate them. Filter for 50kW chargers with correct CCS connectors. (Some chargers don't have the right connector for e208 so you can't use them, particularly in Northern Ireland)

For long distance trips plan to use 50kW chargers enroute, and assume they will be busy/blocked/broken so stop and charge up with at least 30% left and enough juice to make it to another 50kW charger. Bring granny cable as last resort or for overnight charging away from home.

Consider borrowing an ICE petrol/diesel for trips outside the range of your car, as public charging is stressful and slow, and certain trips and locations have no 50kW chargers in convenient spots.

Make sure you are in no rush for your first few long distance trips and plan well ahead. Its better and quicker to charge 30% to 70% twice and move on than one 10% to 100% 50kW charge.

Beware the range of your car will drop dramatically in cold ICY weather (low battery temperature) and also if you drive at or above speed limit. You can increase range slightly if needed by slowing down to say 80km/h.