Everything you always wanted to know about electric vehicle (but were afraid to ask)

BKtje wrote: »

Hey folks, got a question on charging which I thought was fairly straight forward but I guess I was mistaken.

I wasn't sure where to put this so please let me know if I can find the answer elsewhere or if I should ask the question in another thread.

The car:
Mercedes A 250 e (hybrid) with a 15.6KW battery (12.6 useable).

AC 22KW socket: Max rate 7.1KW
DC 50KW socket: Max rate 22KW.

The DC was the expected charge speed but is it possible that the car is limited to 7.1 KW of power over AC while DC is 3 times that?

I haven't been able to test another plugs (quarantined) but this has been bugging me while im sitting at home. My confinement ends tomorrow so will try again but was hoping that someone knowledgeable can set be straight

Thanks

Yes. The battery is DC, so when you're charging via AC it goes through an AC to DC converter, which in your car is rated for 7.1kW. 7.1kW is pretty standard for AC. Some newer cars are coming with 11kW onboard AC chargers, sometimes as an optional extra.

The battery being DC, means it can charge in DC at the rate the BMS (battery management system) determines (limited to protect the battery life).

lordgoat wrote: »

Hey all, didn't want to start a new thread but feel free to split out Mods if it's off topic.

Looking to but an EV, this year in a few months time, will have a 161 Fiesta 1L to trade and will have around 15k to go with it. Could maybe stretch a little more but don't really want to.

It's mainly for a commute which is 20km-60km a day, depends on the day.

Just wondering what the best options would be?

Any other criteria?
Is fiesta size still suitable for you? Any regular long drives? Have you access to home charging?

2016 fiesta? Around 8k? So 23k total.

New there's nothing, but the e208 and Corsa-e are mid 20s money as far as I know.

Second hand you've the Nissan leaf and Hyundai ioniq primarily. Both will do that range easy, and both will leave you money to spare. Both should still have a few years warranty too.

lordgoat wrote: »

Adding a home charge point will be the plan as soon as it's ordered. No real regular long drives, but would like the option to fast charge as best as possible when out. Basically minimise the amount of time charging when not at home, realistically this could be once a month if we had to pop somewhere at short notice.

From my personal experience, the Hyundai ioniq is a great car. 160km range is pretty much guaranteed, up to 230km in summer on slower roads. It's got a pretty small battery (but it's efficient, hence the range) yet it charges pretty quickly (up to 70kW) meaning a 20 minute stop would give you about 3/4 a battery*.
It holds plenty too, and it's pokey enough.
Price wise there's a 2016 UK model from a reputable used EV cars seller going for 14k I think. Absolute bargain. 2017 models (no difference in spec or style) are ~17k.

If you're ready to drop money now, get that ioniq, you won't regret it.

*EVs have a charging curve. 0-70% in the ioniq will charge around 70kW, but it drops of to about 30kW at that point. So 20 minutes will charge the first 3/4 of the battery. The last 1/4 could take another 20 minutes.

By contrast (from what I know, I've no experience) the leaf charges at a max 50kW on the old CHAdeMO socket. There are plenty of these plugs around, but CCS is the new standard, so expect less CHAdeMO plugs installed Vs CCS going forward. The leaf is also known for not being great at motorway speeds, hitting it's range quite hard. They also appear to suffer much more with battery degradation Vs the ioniq (rare to see an ioniq with reported battery degradation).