EV without a home charger??
Discussion
New car time.
I usually get a cheap lease deal. Done well with last 4 cars, all amazing deals.
However, decent lease deals all seem to be on EVs at the moment. Unfortunately I don’t really have a way of installing a charger without a load of expense.
Question is - Has anyone had an EV as their only family car without a home charger? How easy was it and did it stack up financially using public chargers?
I usually get a cheap lease deal. Done well with last 4 cars, all amazing deals.
However, decent lease deals all seem to be on EVs at the moment. Unfortunately I don’t really have a way of installing a charger without a load of expense.
Question is - Has anyone had an EV as their only family car without a home charger? How easy was it and did it stack up financially using public chargers?
probably wouldnt stack up unless you can charge at home, even on a 3 pin plug if not a proper charger.
its cheaper for me to drive from newcastle to edinburgh and back in my TVR that it would be solely on public charging in my EV.
Also depending on your mileage, it would be a load of hassle having to use public chargers esp if you might need to charge more than once a week.
A neighbour of mine is able to charge at work and so hasnt bothered to install a charger at home
its cheaper for me to drive from newcastle to edinburgh and back in my TVR that it would be solely on public charging in my EV.
Also depending on your mileage, it would be a load of hassle having to use public chargers esp if you might need to charge more than once a week.
A neighbour of mine is able to charge at work and so hasnt bothered to install a charger at home
I would have to convert the front of our house to accommodate a car plus drop a kerb. I’m probably going to move in the next couple of years so not economical to do now.
The best option I can see is a public charger that is on our holiday home site that is always available and I can walk back leaving it on charge for a few hours / overnight. It’s 7kw at 35p / kwh.
The best option I can see is a public charger that is on our holiday home site that is always available and I can walk back leaving it on charge for a few hours / overnight. It’s 7kw at 35p / kwh.
Without charging at home or work (or somewhere else you spend a lot of time and has free or cheap charging), running an EV becomes more expensive and less convenient than internal combustion.
It's a massive hurdle for wider adoption and really needs sorting.
If you happen to have any AW Energy charging sites nearby they're very reasonably priced.
It's a massive hurdle for wider adoption and really needs sorting.
If you happen to have any AW Energy charging sites nearby they're very reasonably priced.
Ham_and_Jam said:
Pretty much bang on 10k for last 10 years.
So I estimate charging once a week with a decent battery range.
It's entirely possible to do depending on your local public infrastructure. But if the enticement is a cheap lease then you'll probably find it quite expensive paying for public charging.So I estimate charging once a week with a decent battery range.
Even home charging is still possible, depends on your local council appetite for pavement charging, or if you van even get near your property. Workplace, gym, coffee shop, supermarket are all options where you might find decent public charging.
But for your motivation, probably wouldn't bother.
Ham_and_Jam said:
jonathan_roberts said:
No driveway and no home charging option would be a no from me.
This has always been my response. Just wanting to hear from others that might have made it work or found novel solutions before completely ruling it out.
king faff and I wouldn’t do it. I would just accept that my BIK free company car costs me the odd €20 in extra electricity.Without home charging it will cost you more than a normal car but you may enjoy the EV power train, the lack of maintenance, etc. for your mileage you probably only need to charge once a week but it can cost you 60-70 on fast DC. With a Tesla and using a supercharger that would cost around £0.40p per kW so say 85Kw battery would cost around £35 for a full charge.
Only you know but it’s doable for 20k a year with minimal time wasting charging.
Charging at home at 7-8p a kW is where you can really save money though.
Only you know but it’s doable for 20k a year with minimal time wasting charging.
Charging at home at 7-8p a kW is where you can really save money though.
Ham_and_Jam said:
gmaz said:
Can you charge from a 3-pin plug? If so and you have fairly low mileage, it could be OK.
The issue is not having a driveway.I’m not sure the costs of 100% fast charging would even make it viable - even Tesla charging is over 50p/kwh iirc.
I’ve had an EV relying only on public chargers for the last 3 years, with the caveat of it being an i3 Range Extender (so I do have a petrol back up, although I only bought this i3 to maximise the range vs price for an EV, not a specific distrust of public charging)
Home charging would absolutely be more straight forward, but public charging is very doable, if your area has chargers. If I had a more modern EV with 200+ miles of range I wouldn’t worry about it at all. There is usually a charger near something I want to go to at some point in my area, so there is always a way of charging my car.
The price can be fairly ridiculous in places, but I view it it no differently to how much petrol my old V8 5 series would drink. I want to drive an EV, indeed I prefer it 99% of the time, so the price is just something I have to live with.
The only things I would mention as a warning, are my i3 (no idea if other EVs do similar), throws up warnings if you leave the car on <10% charge, for an extended period, as it may damage the battery. The car doesn’t define what an extended period is (overnight? A week? A month?) so we try to avoid that, and I can never leave the house on 100% charge, as I normally lose 1% or so driving home from a charger at least, assuming I even let the car get to 100% in the first place. So that shaves some miles off the range at either end
If you have access to your own semi private charger, 35p is a very reasonable price, so I would absolutely go for it. The change in charger availability in the last 3 years has been enormous. We do a 300 miles trip every few months in the i3 to visit family, and whilst the i3 isn’t at its best on a motorway, access to long distance chargers etc has only had one or two hiccups, both of which wouldn’t have mattered had we a longer range EV than ye olde i3
Home charging would absolutely be more straight forward, but public charging is very doable, if your area has chargers. If I had a more modern EV with 200+ miles of range I wouldn’t worry about it at all. There is usually a charger near something I want to go to at some point in my area, so there is always a way of charging my car.
The price can be fairly ridiculous in places, but I view it it no differently to how much petrol my old V8 5 series would drink. I want to drive an EV, indeed I prefer it 99% of the time, so the price is just something I have to live with.
The only things I would mention as a warning, are my i3 (no idea if other EVs do similar), throws up warnings if you leave the car on <10% charge, for an extended period, as it may damage the battery. The car doesn’t define what an extended period is (overnight? A week? A month?) so we try to avoid that, and I can never leave the house on 100% charge, as I normally lose 1% or so driving home from a charger at least, assuming I even let the car get to 100% in the first place. So that shaves some miles off the range at either end
If you have access to your own semi private charger, 35p is a very reasonable price, so I would absolutely go for it. The change in charger availability in the last 3 years has been enormous. We do a 300 miles trip every few months in the i3 to visit family, and whilst the i3 isn’t at its best on a motorway, access to long distance chargers etc has only had one or two hiccups, both of which wouldn’t have mattered had we a longer range EV than ye olde i3
jonathan_roberts said:
No driveway and no home charging option would be a no from me.
Agreed.EV's in this case are not fit for purpose, unless you do a handful of miles a week and can charge somewhere for a good length of time without inconveniencing yourself.
Often wondered what percentage of population is in that position, especially as so many apartments are built nowadays.
My boss has a BMW i4 with no way of charging at home.
She goes into the office twice a week where we have guaranteed availability of all day charging points, so she can always get one.
Without that relying on public charging infrastructure would be a costly time-consuming headache.
Surely a mild or a self-charging hybrid is your best alternative?
The Honda Civic was Parker's Car Of The Year 2023.
https://www.parkers.co.uk/car-awards/2023/car-of-t...
She goes into the office twice a week where we have guaranteed availability of all day charging points, so she can always get one.
Without that relying on public charging infrastructure would be a costly time-consuming headache.
Surely a mild or a self-charging hybrid is your best alternative?
The Honda Civic was Parker's Car Of The Year 2023.
https://www.parkers.co.uk/car-awards/2023/car-of-t...
Edited by Shooter McGavin on Monday 30th December 19:13
Shooter McGavin said:
My boss has a BMW i4 with no way of charging at home.
She goes into the office twice a week where we have guaranteed availability of all day charging points, so she can always get one.
Without that relying on public charging infrastructure would be a costly time-consuming headache.
Surely a mild or a self-charging hybrid is your best alternative?
The Honda Civic was Parker's Car Of The Year 2023.
https://www.parkers.co.uk/car-awards/2023/car-of-t...
I’m just looking at the viability of pure EVs as thats where all the bargains are. Not looking at specific cars as Ive just gone with the best deals for my last 4 cars.She goes into the office twice a week where we have guaranteed availability of all day charging points, so she can always get one.
Without that relying on public charging infrastructure would be a costly time-consuming headache.
Surely a mild or a self-charging hybrid is your best alternative?
The Honda Civic was Parker's Car Of The Year 2023.
https://www.parkers.co.uk/car-awards/2023/car-of-t...
Edited by Shooter McGavin on Monday 30th December 19:13
I can guarantee access to a gated public charger for hours at a time / overnight @ 35p / kwh within a few minutes walk of where I stay.
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