Public Charging - please explain to EV Newbie
Discussion
Hi All,
I have a BMW i3 Rex coming in March, its been on order since November, so in that time i've managed to consume pretty much every EV video on Youtube and got through most of the relevant content on here and SpeakEV et al.
However what has me confused is public charging. Other than the complete revolt and multiple discussions on the apparent cheek of being asked to pay for the power we drivers are consuming there doesn't seem to be a bible of the multitude of providers and what they're charging.
The only thing that is clear is the rapid chargers seem to charge £6 for 30 minutes.. other than that its a free for all, even within the same provider it can be different, with the only discriminating factor being location.....
Anyway using Zap Map there seems to be some primary providers in my area (Portsmouth - Guildford)
As an observation its apparent the networks are in a mess and for many, now that you have to pay, the mangled mismanagement of the network is leading people to just leave public charging alone... as a owner of an EV car is this perception correct?
I have a BMW i3 Rex coming in March, its been on order since November, so in that time i've managed to consume pretty much every EV video on Youtube and got through most of the relevant content on here and SpeakEV et al.
However what has me confused is public charging. Other than the complete revolt and multiple discussions on the apparent cheek of being asked to pay for the power we drivers are consuming there doesn't seem to be a bible of the multitude of providers and what they're charging.
The only thing that is clear is the rapid chargers seem to charge £6 for 30 minutes.. other than that its a free for all, even within the same provider it can be different, with the only discriminating factor being location.....
Anyway using Zap Map there seems to be some primary providers in my area (Portsmouth - Guildford)
- POLAR
- Charge You Car
- POD Point
- Charge Point Genie
- Ecotricty
- Source London
As an observation its apparent the networks are in a mess and for many, now that you have to pay, the mangled mismanagement of the network is leading people to just leave public charging alone... as a owner of an EV car is this perception correct?
CooperS said:
As an observation its apparent the networks are in a mess and for many, now that you have to pay, the mangled mismanagement of the network is leading people to just leave public charging alone... as a owner of an EV car is this perception correct?
Yes. 
We just charge overnight at home. Sometimes charge at chargers in York, but the system is as you say, a total mess. The multitude of cards/prices/etc is a joke.
What I have done is obtain a dutch charging card on the basis that the dutch company has reciprocal agreements with many of the uk companies, so by carrying one card I get access to many systems. Not sure how this will play out as they all move to apps.
A quick reply to the objection to paying. I've enjoyed 12 months free electricity and I continue to enjoy it at a piffling £4/month with Source London.
My complaint however is that when they "upgrade" the 100% satisfactory and 100% functional and reliable posts to different ones that won't have the 3 pin option, I'll be expected to pay almost 4p per minute for the 90 minutes it takes to get my ~5.5kW of juice at the 16A max charge rate.
That's about 5-8 times the cost of domestic electricity and represents a disgusting bit of profiteering.
In summary, nobody is complaining about having to pay for electricity. Provided the price is fair.
My complaint however is that when they "upgrade" the 100% satisfactory and 100% functional and reliable posts to different ones that won't have the 3 pin option, I'll be expected to pay almost 4p per minute for the 90 minutes it takes to get my ~5.5kW of juice at the 16A max charge rate.
That's about 5-8 times the cost of domestic electricity and represents a disgusting bit of profiteering.
In summary, nobody is complaining about having to pay for electricity. Provided the price is fair.
Another 330e owner here.
So I've signed up to POLAR Plus myself - 6 months free then £7.85/month. I did this after looking at Zap-Map for chargers around my way as well as on my main routes into/in London.
I haven't managed to use quite 78kW (as let's say 10p/kWh) as of course my car only charges at 16A max vs an i3 that'll charge a lot more. But it's not just trying to hit the 78kW charge a month to say you've got cheaper electricity from destination chargers, but also ergo how many miles you aren't running on the ICE (say ICE for simplicity is 15ppm vs EV at 10ppm) - so yes whilst it may cost you 10ppm on the charge, you're saving 5ppm on every mile you get out of destination chargers. I hope.... that makes sense. I'm sorry if I'm not phrasing that quite right.
I look at the benefits of free charging at my local supermarkets and also 9p/kWh at all the ChargeMaster charging points of which there are a fair few down my way - price per mile is as cheap, if not cheaper than I get at home. So I do see destination charging as a big benefit - it's a shame not more hotels do it as I travel a lot, even if they're scheme ones rather than free. If you look on Zap-Map the Polar and Chargemaster chargers charge £4/6/12 for 1/2/3 hours for the Rapid chargers, but as an i3 you can use the standard/fast type-2 43kW chargers which are just billed (if at all!) at 9p/kWh + VAT.
If you look on Zap-Map an example is there's a charger at Bournemouth University - it's £4/hour for the rapid, £0 for the standard. I charged off the standard last month, looked at my polar bill and for 7kWh I got charged £0.00. If you had your i3 sat plugged into that for an hour you'd have got 30 miles of range I think? As the i3 charges at 7.7kWh - so it'll cost you £0.00, it'd have costed you £3.00 if you charged it at home, it'd have saved you £4.50 instead of running on ICE.
Like Supermono, I've looked at Source London as I do a lot of work in the city, but it's not cost effective nor can you stay in a space for too long, so if you're in an all day meeting you have to hope the space is free, charge up and then move. Though saying that, zap-map does show a lot of NCP car parks with chargers in now so I guess it's dependant upon your behaviour and where you're using the car.
The cost of Ecotricity doesn't make it that viable now to use their fast chargers unless you're a domestic customer and want to spend a while at services - generally they're not around at destinations but more at midpoints which are more of a PITA I think.
Just my two pence
Edit: Oh and I don't get why polar charge you a £1.20 charge per use with the phone app vs the RFID card which has no charge. Just keep the RFID card in your glove box etc. Easy enough.
So I've signed up to POLAR Plus myself - 6 months free then £7.85/month. I did this after looking at Zap-Map for chargers around my way as well as on my main routes into/in London.
I haven't managed to use quite 78kW (as let's say 10p/kWh) as of course my car only charges at 16A max vs an i3 that'll charge a lot more. But it's not just trying to hit the 78kW charge a month to say you've got cheaper electricity from destination chargers, but also ergo how many miles you aren't running on the ICE (say ICE for simplicity is 15ppm vs EV at 10ppm) - so yes whilst it may cost you 10ppm on the charge, you're saving 5ppm on every mile you get out of destination chargers. I hope.... that makes sense. I'm sorry if I'm not phrasing that quite right.
I look at the benefits of free charging at my local supermarkets and also 9p/kWh at all the ChargeMaster charging points of which there are a fair few down my way - price per mile is as cheap, if not cheaper than I get at home. So I do see destination charging as a big benefit - it's a shame not more hotels do it as I travel a lot, even if they're scheme ones rather than free. If you look on Zap-Map the Polar and Chargemaster chargers charge £4/6/12 for 1/2/3 hours for the Rapid chargers, but as an i3 you can use the standard/fast type-2 43kW chargers which are just billed (if at all!) at 9p/kWh + VAT.
If you look on Zap-Map an example is there's a charger at Bournemouth University - it's £4/hour for the rapid, £0 for the standard. I charged off the standard last month, looked at my polar bill and for 7kWh I got charged £0.00. If you had your i3 sat plugged into that for an hour you'd have got 30 miles of range I think? As the i3 charges at 7.7kWh - so it'll cost you £0.00, it'd have costed you £3.00 if you charged it at home, it'd have saved you £4.50 instead of running on ICE.
Like Supermono, I've looked at Source London as I do a lot of work in the city, but it's not cost effective nor can you stay in a space for too long, so if you're in an all day meeting you have to hope the space is free, charge up and then move. Though saying that, zap-map does show a lot of NCP car parks with chargers in now so I guess it's dependant upon your behaviour and where you're using the car.
The cost of Ecotricity doesn't make it that viable now to use their fast chargers unless you're a domestic customer and want to spend a while at services - generally they're not around at destinations but more at midpoints which are more of a PITA I think.
Just my two pence
Edit: Oh and I don't get why polar charge you a £1.20 charge per use with the phone app vs the RFID card which has no charge. Just keep the RFID card in your glove box etc. Easy enough.
Edited by caseys on Wednesday 4th January 11:12
Loads of info on this on the UK i3 facebook group - http://bmwi3owners.uk
Interesting points and thanks for the heads up on the Facebook page will take a look.
Really looking forward to picking my car up. Albeit starting to like the look of the 20" wheels but I'm sure the 458 wheels will look great.
I've gone across to my local hospital near where I work and apparently it's free to use. So I'll have a £3 parking charge but that will bring me back to a full charge (my commute is 40 miles each way) but for those concerned about me taking a space from someone visiting the hospital there's 6 bays and I visited everyday last week to get a guide on how busy they become and not at one point was anyone using them.
Really looking forward to picking my car up. Albeit starting to like the look of the 20" wheels but I'm sure the 458 wheels will look great.
I've gone across to my local hospital near where I work and apparently it's free to use. So I'll have a £3 parking charge but that will bring me back to a full charge (my commute is 40 miles each way) but for those concerned about me taking a space from someone visiting the hospital there's 6 bays and I visited everyday last week to get a guide on how busy they become and not at one point was anyone using them.
Edited by CooperS on Sunday 8th January 11:56
I'm a Leaf owner. Love the thing but since Ecotricity started charging for charging I only charge up at home.
Wouldn't have minded paying for what I use, and wouldn't mind paying if I knew that I could drive somewhere and guarantee I'd be able to charge up again.
Sadly the flat rate and lack of reliability/booking means that staying within range of home is the only viable option.
Shame really.
Wouldn't have minded paying for what I use, and wouldn't mind paying if I knew that I could drive somewhere and guarantee I'd be able to charge up again.
Sadly the flat rate and lack of reliability/booking means that staying within range of home is the only viable option.
Shame really.
I'm a Leaf owner. Love the thing but since Ecotricity started charging for charging I only charge up at home.
Wouldn't have minded paying for what I use, and wouldn't mind paying if I knew that I could drive somewhere and guarantee I'd be able to charge up again.
Sadly the flat rate and lack of reliability/booking means that staying within range of home is the only viable option.
Shame really.
Wouldn't have minded paying for what I use, and wouldn't mind paying if I knew that I could drive somewhere and guarantee I'd be able to charge up again.
Sadly the flat rate and lack of reliability/booking means that staying within range of home is the only viable option.
Shame really.
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