How to charge Ionic on cheaper rate with a granny plug

[Hedobot]

Hi folks,

Well the time has come for the shed Vectra to go to the Vauxhall graveyard.

I thought this would be a great time to try electric. Armed with a budget circa 15k there are only really two options in the Leaf and Ionic.

Don't mind either but the Ionic seems more efficient.

So the plan was to get the car home and use the granny charger until such times as I can get a wall box, job done.

However all the plans that offer cheaper charging only seem to do it via a "compatible" car and wall box which is not a cheap or quick fix.

Have I missed something or have I over simplified the whole charging experience?

Thanks

[I52]

I had the same in March, prior to getting a charger compatible for the really cheap tariffs, I had a couple of months using a granny charger for the Ioniq for my 50 mile commute. I used E.ON's EV tariff, which gave 7 hours of cheap electricity and did not require any compatible EV or charger, although the peak rate had a premium, so probably only worth it if you are doing reasonable mileage or can shift a reasonable amount of your base load to the off peak. British Gas also offered a similar tariff, but a reduced off peak time which may be an issue if you have a reasonably long commute.
The only caution with E.ON is that in my case they did not change my tariff (they were my existing supplier) to EV tariff and did not get the half hourly metering, so it took a couple of months to sort out, but in the end I was not out of pocket.

[samoht]

Most "EV" tariffs just give you a cheap rate for certain fixed hours overnight (like the old Economy 7).

Hence with a three-pin charger you just need to arrange to do your charging during the cheap overnight period.

If your car doesn't support setting a start and stop charging time, you can get a smart plug to do so.

Further discussion here https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...


In terms of the EV tariff being worthwhile, my finding was it's cheaper than petrol even on a standard tariff, but it seems that even on a fairly low annual mileage of 5k a year and fairly modest load-shifting of other household devices, it's fairly easy to end up saving more from the cheap rate overnight than you spend on the slight premium during the day.

[CivicDuties]

Dunno about the Ioniq, but the Leaf has a Charging Timer feature on the car's built-in touchscreen. You just tell it what time to start and stop charging, plug the car in and Bob's your uncle. The car controls the charge, so it works with a granny charger. I have a 3kw PodPoint tethered cable charger for my Leaf and it works that way with that too. I'm on Octopus Agile, so I change the time slot I want the car to charge pretty much every day, takes a couple of seconds to do.

[dmsims]

Just curious why limited to those 2 cars ?

Kona, E2008, Zoe, ZS ?

[Hedobot]

Thanks chaps,

Looks like the Octopus tariff seems the way to go.

In terms of the car,

Budget was circa 15k tops but do not want a high mileage EV

Zoe is too small
Pug E2008 ... too expensive
Kona.. too small
MG... Still expensive....

Liked the Citroen ec4 but still out of price range (nicer than the Pug)

So back to Leaf or Ionic

[C G]

In a similar situation to you with a £15k budget in mind.

Then saw I could get a practically new Citroen e-C4 for a bit more so stretched the budget accordingly to get a newer model modern vehicle.

That said the Ioniq has great reviews and is said to be efficient. Just wasn't a fan of the shape (personal preference).

I was warned off the Leaf due to it having no battery cooling.

I'd probably go for a wall box tbh. If you are reliant on the car in any way it would get annoying having to granny charge. Those cheap tarrifs mentioned give 5 or 6 hours of cheap overnight electricity meaning you'd only get 1/3 of a charge done, meaning if you did a long journey you'd then be spending 3 nights replenishing the battery or seeking out a public charger at the same cost as petrol.

Edited by C G on Friday 8th December 22:50

[dmsims]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312054...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311244...

Hedobot said:

Thanks chaps,

In terms of the car,

Budget was circa 15k tops but do not want a high mileage EV

Zoe is too small
Pug E2008 ... too expensive
Kona.. too small
MG... Still expensive....


So back to Leaf or Ionic

[325iMSport]

Hedobot said:

Thanks chaps,

Looks like the Octopus tariff seems the way to go.

In terms of the car,

Budget was circa 15k tops but do not want a high mileage EV

Zoe is too small
Pug E2008 ... too expensive
Kona.. too small
MG... Still expensive....

Liked the Citroen ec4 but still out of price range (nicer than the Pug)

So back to Leaf or Ionic

The MG is within your £15k budget.

Or maybe a VW e-Golf?

[Hedobot]

325iMSport said:

The MG is within your £15k budget.

Or maybe a VW e-Golf?

MG is right on the cusp of mileage / cost / range

eGolf is not an option due to range

[DSLiverpool]

On our second Ioniq (not 5) and we love it, my wife get 4.9 miles per Kw and it’s a premium with electric everything. For running around it’s superb.

[njj850]

If the IONIQ is 2020 or newer, you can now add this to the OVO Charge anytime app for 7p/kWh.

I have been using this and it's been fantastic.

[JustGetATesla]

DSLiverpool said:

On our second Ioniq (not 5) and we love it, my wife get 4.9 miles per Kw and it’s a premium with electric everything. For running around it’s superb.

We had two! 2017 HEV - an easy 60mpg on a trip. Sold that when we needed £dollah for house move. Then leased a post facelift EV 38kWh. Hyundai's drivetrain is absurdly efficient, and I like the way they build cars (we've had 5...)

[Scrimpton]

I use a granny charger on a 38kwh Ioniq and program the car to charge only during the cheap hours. There is a convenient button next to the steering column to temporarily override the timer if you need more than you can get in the cheap hours.

[Hedobot]

Thanks for the replies

The MG does appear good value. However the dash layout feels much more advanced in the the Ionic. It also looks very slippery compared to a blobby SUV. Appreciate its all subjective.

But all very useful...Cheers