Would you have an electric car if you had the money for a new car and were in the market for one?

[mangocrazy]

Same reason the top spec models are called "Plaid".

Dead men don't wear plaid.

[demographic]

Do Teslas still have Ludicrous Mode?

I thought the Spaceballs reference was quite good.

Same reason the top spec models are called "Plaid".

Boring German OEMs like us concentrate less on man child jokes and more on things like actually homologating systems and retaining buttons for key driving functions

Looks to me like a few German car manufacturers got rid of indicator stalks though eh?

[Taipan]

Do Teslas still have Ludicrous Mode?

I thought the Spaceballs reference was quite good.

Same reason the top spec models are called "Plaid".

Boring German OEMs like us concentrate less on man child jokes and more on things like actually homologating systems and retaining buttons for key driving functions

img photos

[Saga Lout]

Taipan: you might want to check your Tesla reported mileage against something like Google Maps.

Tesla faces a proposed class action claiming it speeds up odometers on its electric vehicles so they fall out of warranty faster

Tesla faces a proposed class action claiming it speeds up odometers on its electric vehicles so they fall out of warranty faster, saving Elon Musk’s company from having to pay for repairs.

The plaintiff Nyree Hinton ... said the odometer on the 2020 Model Y he bought in December 2022 with 36,772 miles on the clock ran at least 15% fast, based on his other vehicles and driving history, and for a while said he drove 72 miles a day when at most he drove 20.

[Taipan]

I decided that i'll give it a go at charging it on the 3 pin home charger. Not a clue what i'm doing or if I should charge it during the night etc, but then I dont have a EV specific tariff, so not sure theres any point? So out of my depth with this lol. Do I need a EV specific tariff when I only use occasional charging? Also, I noticed you can input the charge rate and I need to research home outputs, but I'm pretty sure it aint the default options?

[wheelnut]

Yes, you do have to be on a dedicated EV tariff to get the headline rate. Mine is Octopus Go and it’s 8p per kWh between 12.30am and 5.30am. The charger asks for the tariff you’re on and only charges during that period. At other times it’s the standard 23p per kWh.

There is an Octopus Intelligent tariff as well which charges at 7.5p at times of low grid demand.

The 13amp charger (called a Granny charger as it’s so slow) will charge at about 2.5 kWh. A dedicated home charger will charge at 7.2kwh. Mine can take up to 185kwh from a fast charger, the new Teslas can take more from the Tesla superchargers. Not sure on yours.

You know your battery capacity so the maths to work out charging times and costs are pretty simple.

[Count Steer]

Yes, you do have to be on a dedicated EV tariff to get the headline rate. Mine is Octopus Go and it’s 8p per kWh between 12.30am and 5.30am. The charger asks for the tariff you’re on and only charges during that period. At other times it’s the standard 23p per kWh.

There is an Octopus Intelligent tariff as well which charges at 7.5p at times of low grid demand.

I guess you need a 'smart' meter too?

[Nordboy]

I decided that i'll give it a go at charging it on the 3 pin home charger. Not a clue what i'm doing or if I should charge it during the night etc, but then I dont have a EV specific tariff, so not sure theres any point? So out of my depth with this lol. Do I need a EV specific tariff when I only use occasional charging? Also, I noticed you can input the charge rate and I need to research home outputs, but I'm pretty sure it aint the default options?

That'll take you somewhere between 24-36 hours to get a full charge on a 3 pin plug. (obviously depending on how much you start with). It's painfully slow. If this is a long term vehicle for you, you really need a wall charger and EV tariff, makes a huge difference.

I do hope you get on with it, personally, with the two we have in work, I don't like them that much. They're not bad ev's, there's just quite a few more EV's available these days which do it all better. We've had many on demo, and I'd pick some of them over a Tesla. Tesla seem to be getting by on what they did years ago, which at the time, put them way ahead of everyone else. Now, the others have caught up, and even surpassed Tesla with what they're doing.
Tesla build quality is a bit shit. I'd actually compare them with manufacturers like MG for build quality. Even stuff like the new BYD's etc are now much better put together. Kia/ Hyundai are way ahead for similar money, or even cheaper.
And I don't like the way everything has to be controlled or viewed on the large screen, even the speedo is now not in your eyeline. Again, other manufacturers have cottoned on to this and are bringing in physical buttons again for some of the controls.

[Taipan]

I've no objection to having a wall charger but i'm just not sure my mileage will justify it? I charged it with the granny charger last night to see if it worked okay and the lead and sockets didnt get hot etc. All was fine and it estimated it to take 9 hours, so was charged when I got up this morning. Stupidly, I didn't look. at how much charge it had before I started or looked at my leccy meter to get an idea.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Just be careful using any extension leads, try not to leave them coiled up. A lead on a real for example isn't really meant to run at "full power" for hours when all rolled up. Probably unlikely to cause a problem, but they can get hot.

[Taipan]

Just be careful using any extension leads, try not to leave them coiled up. A lead on a real for example isn't really meant to run at "full power" for hours when all rolled up. Probably unlikely to cause a problem, but they can get hot.

Campervan owner here. So I know that is sound advice.

[Nordboy]

I've no objection to having a wall charger but i'm just not sure my mileage will justify it? I charged it with the granny charger last night to see if it worked okay and the lead and sockets didnt get hot etc. All was fine and it estimated it to take 9 hours, so was charged when I got up this morning. Stupidly, I didn't look. at how much charge it had before I started or looked at my leccy meter to get an idea.

It should tell you in the charging screen how much the previous charge was I think?

My house is on the market, but wherever we go I'll then be looking to get a leccy car and deffo a wall charger if there's not already one there. I just don't want to buy one at the moment, only to then move and then buy another.

If it was to be my current car, i mainly only do 20-30 miles a day, so I could probably get away with a 3 pin setup.

[Yorick]

Just be careful using any extension leads, try not to leave them coiled up. A lead on a real for example isn't really meant to run at "full power" for hours when all rolled up. Probably unlikely to cause a problem, but they can get hot.

Campervan owner here. So I know that is sound advice.

I've worked on many building sites. Never saw them fully wound out. I've got a 25m lead here. Never had it fully wound out.

[Mr. Dazzle]

You probably also never leave it running and drawing the maximum possible current for 9 hours straight either.

[Taipan]

I've no objection to having a wall charger but i'm just not sure my mileage will justify it? I charged it with the granny charger last night to see if it worked okay and the lead and sockets didnt get hot etc. All was fine and it estimated it to take 9 hours, so was charged when I got up this morning. Stupidly, I didn't look. at how much charge it had before I started or looked at my leccy meter to get an idea.

It should tell you in the charging screen how much the previous charge was I think?

My house is on the market, but wherever we go I'll then be looking to get a leccy car and deffo a wall charger if there's not already one there. I just don't want to buy one at the moment, only to then move and then buy another.

If it was to be my current car, i mainly only do 20-30 miles a day, so I could probably get away with a 3 pin setup.

I'll do the occasional 80 mile round trip to my daughters, but apart from that I doubt it'll do 30 miles a week! I read that putting it on a tesla supercharger cost between £20-£40 for a full charge? If thats correct then installing a home charger would definitely be a waste of money for me?

[Taipan]

Just be careful using any extension leads, try not to leave them coiled up. A lead on a real for example isn't really meant to run at "full power" for hours when all rolled up. Probably unlikely to cause a problem, but they can get hot.

Campervan owner here. So I know that is sound advice.

I've worked on many building sites. Never saw them fully wound out. I've got a 25m lead here. Never had it fully wound out.

On some campsites wardens will talk to people and warn them about coiled up hook up leads.

[Yorick]

Campervan owner here. So I know that is sound advice.

I've worked on many building sites. Never saw them fully wound out. I've got a 25m lead here. Never had it fully wound out.

On some campsites wardens will talk to people and warn them about coiled up hook up leads.

Riding a bike is far more dangerous than a coiled cable.

[Count Steer]

Campervan owner here. So I know that is sound advice.

I've worked on many building sites. Never saw them fully wound out. I've got a 25m lead here. Never had it fully wound out.

On some campsites wardens will talk to people and warn them about coiled up hook up leads.

Yeah. Not many blokes on building sites are running their heating, lighting and cooker on an extension cable.

Often people buy the longest reel they can afford rather than the right length for what they need and iirc they're rated for use fully extended.

I don't worry too much about fully unreeling them if I'm just running eg an electric mower for 15 mins but I wouldn't want to be pulling 2.5kW/several amps through a coil (overnight particularly).

[Mr. Dazzle]

Obviously not gonna tell you the exact technologies, but one of the things I'm looking at lots right now is the cables which actually power your EV motor.

If you've got a 1000bhp motor that of course means you're sticking the equivalent of 1000bhp down the power cables too. They get a bit toasty

A 7 or 800kW cable of course isn't exactly novel tech. The novel bit is making it so it fits on the bottom of a car, not on the side of a pylon.

[Count Steer]

Obviously not gonna tell you the exact technologies, but one of the things I'm looking at lots right now is the cables which actually power your EV motor.

If you've got a 1000bhp motor that of course means you're sticking the equivalent of 1000bhp down the power cables too. They get a bit toasty

A 7 or 800kW cable of course isn't exactly novel tech. The novel bit is making it so it fits on the bottom of a car, not on the side of a pylon.

Superconducting cables would be neat. I half expected them to be single crystal/graphite coated but that seems to be the domain of (stupidly) expensive hi-fi cables that have (*cough, splutter, snurkle*) 'excellent musicality".