Electric Car Etiquette

[Antonia]

My new Belgian neighbours had friends from the old country down for the festivities. On day two I noticed the guest car had been parked round the back and a cable was sticking out from it's 'fuel tank'. The house doesn't have an outside socket so the back door had to be left ajar and the cable was retrieved at night and plugged back in the following morning. This went on for three days. I'm sure this had all been agreed in advance but it got me thinking. Do you EV owners normally ask to charge up when you get to your destination, even if it is a private house? I've looked on a couple of EV forums ( admittedly American ) and it seems to be the norm.I must admit I would be a little nonplussed if a visitor expected me to allow them to charge their car whilst they were staying with me. Obviously if they had an 'empty tank' that would be different but there are public chargers 5kms away and, if it were me, I'd be making a point of using them rather than compromise my host.

[exile]

From what I have picked up, charging at home is slow but relatively cheap. Charging at a public station is quick, but expensive - to the point that I seen it suggested that some rapid charging points can make electric travel nearly as expensive as petrol but I cannot give chapter and verse on that.

[Loup-garou]

I thought that I might change the dog's van this year. It's a 7 year old diesel Partner. When I looked up the electric version, released in 2021, it proudly that it could do UP TO 275k between charges.

Maybe good for deliveries around a town but, otherwise, too restrictive. Our Dutch neighbours have an EV and have to stop at least once on the journey down here.

[niemeyjt]

Public chargers are OK if you are the only person wanting to use them, otherwise, a 15 minute charge becomes somewhat longer:

Queues stretching for hours show what it’s really like owning a Tesla at Christmas

source: https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/28/six-hour ... -18004669/

I bet I can get 500 miles range into my old Volvo somewhat more quickly!

[Blaze]

With rising electricity costs, I doubt many non-electric car users would welcome someone charging up their car for free ! Apparently some places like Leroy Merlin, Lidl and Carrefour have or will have bornes where you can charge up for free (which I find surprising).

None of the people we know who have an electric car have the connection to plug into an ordinary "domestic" socket, so charge up at public bornes or at home if they have a borne installed.

[DaveW]

I was thinking of installing a charging point but it depends on if I decide to sell the house or not, and the cost of installation. I’m on 3 phase 12KW, would that provide a faster charge than a normal house plug? I’m no expert on the matter but the main board is in the house on the wall facing the drive where I park the car, would seem relatively easy to go through the wall with a charging point and incorporate the necessary stuff in the existing cabinets.

[niemeyjt]

Is that 3 phases each of 12Kw - or 4Kw? I understand the chargers use 7.5Kw on a single phase - or 22Kw on three phase.

[DaveW]

Just looked at the contract, it’s actually 15kVa. I assume that to be per phase. I thought you could across the phases, stil not 22 though. I shall ask my friendly electrician.

Mmm, looks like 11kW is possible with 3 phase and it provides a lot faster charge than 7.5kw single phase. I guess it’s best to do it overnight so nothing trips.

[Antonia]

I understand the chargers use 7.5Kw on a single phase - or 22Kw on three phase.

That's very interesting, and rules me out as I only have a 6Kw supply.

[Hotrodder]

It didn't occur to me to bookmark the site but I recently read of a study that compared the running costs of petrol, diesel, and electric cars. Surprisingly there was only about 5p a mile difference between the worst and best of them. The cars compared were of closely similar size and performance.