EV Public Charging Only

[patch5674]

Hi all,

Hoping for some advice, I have an EV turning up about 2 months earlier than expected, and whilst I was always planning on being in this situation for a short while - I am going to have to rely on public charging before I move into a house with a drive, and then actually get a charger installed in said house with all of the other home moving hassle.

So I need some advice on public charging in terms of schemes and charge cards etc.

I have all the apps for locating chargers and am based in Cardiff so there is a good selection including some residential street council run ones (although they are a comparative ripoff at 60p for 7KW)

The bit I am getting mixed up with is that the car will come with a BMW charging card, but my understanding is that this isn't really that useful?

There is a single Ionity site awaiting being switched on in Cardiff (could be months) and there isn't any BP pulse stations near me (which is the two schemes BMW give you discounted rates on). Does it give you discount on anything else?

I have also signed up for Octopus Electroverse card - is this any good?

I am happy for the next couple of months my charging might cost the same as petrol and that is fine, but I would like to make it as cheap as possible/not get ripped off when cheaper rates are available.

My main plan is around supermarket charging as I can do an 45 mins/ an hour of 50KW charging each week without modifying routine, and then looking into charging whilst I am in work o a 7KW. But this isn't nailed on yet.

Osprey seems to be the biggest 50-150KW provider in the city which seems to be both a rip off and not part of any discounted schemes, if anyone has any steer.

Thanks in advance!

[Nomme de Plum]

I've used the Octopus Electroverse card a few times and it works fine with some discount from normal retail rates. I do use Octopus for energy provision to the house though and I get a cheap night time rate.

You will be able to charge at home before the charger is installed.

[raspy]

BMW charging card can be useful if you just want everything billed into one contract. You get access to almost 800k charge points across the UK and Europe.

I have that card and an Electroverse card too, which can prove cheaper especially when Octopus do plunge pricing and rapid charging becomes a lot cheaper during a certain time.

[patch5674]

CheesecakeRunner said:

Tesla Supercharger in Cardiff is open to all cars. Costs 60p/kWh peak (4pm to 8pm) and 48p/kWh at all other times.

If you charge enough to warrant the 8.99 per month membership, then the rates are 46p/kWh peak and 37p/kWh off peak.

https://www.tesla.com/findus/location/supercharger...

That is a great shout and I didn't realise that, it is the wrong side of town for me, but could easily wander up there after the gym or something or I do already go out that way to take the dog for bigger walks - because the off peak rate is very competitive for 150KW+

Also if I am coming back into town from the M4 (although also have Ionity Magor)

raspy said:

BMW charging card can be useful if you just want everything billed into one contract. You get access to almost 800k charge points across the UK and Europe.

I have that card and an Electroverse card too, which can prove cheaper especially when Octopus do plunge pricing and rapid charging becomes a lot cheaper during a certain time.

Good to know, I have read that you sometimes pay more than the PAYG rate for the billing convenience vs just using contactless though? Do you use your BMW card regularly? I can see the appeal of just tapping it and it being sorted.

[loudlashadjuster]

Had my Tesla for two months before I had a home charger fitted.

Wasn’t an issue, but I do have charging at work. Even without that though I don’t think it would have been inconvenient to continue with only public charging.

[patch5674]

loudlashadjuster said:

Had my Tesla for two months before I had a home charger fitted.

Wasn’t an issue, but I do have charging at work. Even without that though I don’t think it would have been inconvenient to continue with only public charging.

Good to know! I really don't think it is going to be that tricky in terms of logistics. I have work, gym, supermarket and dog walking time and places that all have EV charging.

I just don't want to get properly ripped off.

My office does have 6 pod points wired up to it, but they aren't available yet, as I think they are still working out how to sort them out with hundreds of people.

There is public chargers near the office which would be fine as I just need to accept the cost - 40 ish pence a KW is fine - still cheaper than Petrol at 40MPG which I currently am in.

I head into the office 2/3 days a week which on 7KW would be more than enough to be doing the 20-80 regime.

Really looking forward to it tbh I am a gadget/tech person too and i think working all this stuff out is part of the fun

[ashenfie]

Pardon my maths if an ICE does 40mpg and Costco price is 124.9p a litre then thats 14p per mile. So an EV that averaged say 3.7 miles per Kw would mean finding charge point charging less than 52p to save anything. Near me 75 kwh chargers typically cost 75p, but I am sure you could find cheaper. To make real savings you really need home charging and a energy deal.

[patch5674]

ashenfie said:

Pardon my maths if an ICE does 40mpg and Costco price is 124.9p a litre then thats 14p per mile. So an EV that averaged say 3.7 miles per Kw would mean finding charge point charging less than 52p to save anything. Near me 75 kwh chargers typically cost 75p, but I am sure you could find cheaper. To make real savings you really need home charging and a energy deal.

Nope you’re not wrong although I’ve not seen petrol that cheap for years. My local supermarkets are currently 1.33 and that’s the lowest it’s been.

But yeah your point is right I think I worked it out at about 17/18p a mile when it was circa 135/6 a litre - because I get about 400/430 miles from a 58 litre tank in my current car which is about 75 quid - so my break even point is circa 65/70p a KWh. (I did this maths a little while back recalling from memory)

But in my OP I did point out that this is just a temporary solution for a few months until I move house and install a charger.

I ideally would just like some advice on how to most effectively and cheaply use the public network. Is it using contactless, is it using one or a combo of RFID cards etc.

Tah

[this is my username]

Tesla Supercharger every time for me when I have to charge away from home. It's utterly painless and if you are using it regularly then the subscription makes sense. I have just been away for a week, all the charging was on Superchargers and it was well worth taking a month's subscription to reduce the cost.