Chademo - practically useless in Australia

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user 4363

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Jul 12, 2019
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Firstly, I've had my 17 PHEV for just over 24 hours and I love it. I love the tech, the silence, the economy.... it's great!

However, I do think that having CHAdeMO rapid charging ability is almost useless here in Australia. There are just hardly any charge stations. I'm not expecting to run it as an EV entirely for long trips, but being able to stop in at a cafe for a half hour break while it charges up and I grab a coffee would be ideal. Instead if I plug in it's at 3.5kw and will take 5 hours to charge (is that right?), so there's no point.

Am I wrong about this? I'm sure CHAdeMO makes more sense in the UK or Japan, but it seems pointless in Australia. And from my understanding it doesn't look like CHAdeMO is going to take off here in the future.

This is the map of CHAdeMO stations in my home city, Melbourne. Very slim pickings! Is there an alternative that would have been more practical? Some sort of adaptor for the CHAdeMO port to allow faster charging?

Sorry if these are dumb questions. Very new to plugging in!
 

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It is useless anywhere - it will only gain you a few kms at an elevated price, making it no cheaper than petrol and it will damage your battery when overused.
 
Charging from a 3.6kW charger will take about 2-3 hours, it's the 2.3kW granny charger that takes 5-6 hours.

I tend to agree that Chademo isn't a huge advantage for the PHEV due to its relatively small battery and hence you can charge it in a couple of hours of driving using petrol. However it means the car qualifies for all kinds of V2G and V2H breaks in countries like Japan (as you can draw power from the car via Chademo as well as put power in). That may prove to be handy for some people at some point.

It can be handy for the odd trip to IKEA, as they effectively pay you to charge at the moment (in the UK anyway). So if you live within 20km of the store, your trip to and from is free.

In general PHEVs (of all makes) are designed with the expectation that you'll charge it at home and maybe at work so that your daily commute use little or no petrol. If you're going out of your way to never use petrol, then you're not really using it as designed and maybe a BEV would be better - however there have been very few if any EV cars with a similar size boot and ground clearance to the Outlander PHEV until recently.
 
Pro rata London is no better served than Melbourne - apart from the network of new charging stations for our EV taxis. :?
 
richr said:
Charging from a 3.6kW charger will take about 2-3 hours, it's the 2.3kW granny charger that takes 5-6 hours.
Ahh yep, my mistake. The point remains, though - on a long roadtrip I don't want a 3 hour break, I want 30-60 minutes!

richr said:
I tend to agree that Chademo isn't a huge advantage for the PHEV due to its relatively small battery and hence you can charge it in a couple of hours of driving using petrol.
...
In general PHEVs (of all makes) are designed with the expectation that you'll charge it at home and maybe at work so that your daily commute use little or no petrol. If you're going out of your way to never use petrol, then you're not really using it as designed and maybe a BEV would be better
Chademo isn't a huge advantage mainly because there aren't any stations - see the map in my first post showing all the Chademo stations in the second most populous city in Australia. I'm not trying to go petrol-free, I agree with you that's not the point of a PHEV. But I am trying to be as fuel efficient as reasonably possible, and breaking up a long journey for a coffee and a quick bite while the car charges in half an hour is a sensible approach I think. Not absolutely necessary but still nice!

Anyway I'm really just whinging here :)

And I don't believe there are any rapid charging alternatives, at least in Australia (I haven't heard of any CCS here).
 
jaapv said:
It is useless anywhere - it will only gain you a few kms at an elevated price, making it no cheaper than petrol and it will damage your battery when overused.
I think it’s a big advantage over other PHEVs, it’s the only decent way to add EV range when out and about. I use it all the time, I’ll happily do a longish trip and stop for coffee and charge. I’ll then save that charge for town driving at the other end. It may not be a massive saving but it’s certainly cheaper. As long as you don’t use the electric at speed on the motorway (it’s pointless) but use it when it matters it’s better.
I don’t really care about the battery as it’s a lease, it’s someone else’s problem really, I’m paying to use it now and we’ll see if it’s as bad as people make out.
 
Chademo is only good for BEV's, as it allows them to charge faster and pack more charge.
 
Craigy said:
jaapv said:
It is useless anywhere - it will only gain you a few kms at an elevated price, making it no cheaper than petrol and it will damage your battery when overused.
I think it’s a big advantage over other PHEVs, it’s the only decent way to add EV range when out and about. I use it all the time, I’ll happily do a longish trip and stop for coffee and charge. I’ll then save that charge for town driving at the other end. It may not be a massive saving but it’s certainly cheaper. As long as you don’t use the electric at speed on the motorway (it’s pointless) but use it when it matters it’s better.
I don’t really care about the battery as it’s a lease, it’s someone else’s problem really, I’m paying to use it now and we’ll see if it’s as bad as people make out.
Yeah, Mitsubishi wouldn't have added if if they didn't think it would be a selling point. I don't know where you are, but over here it is simply too expensive (.51 Euro/minute 0r .35 Euro/kWh), and drinking a coffee every 30 km would have me in hospital for a caffeine overdose one third through my journey.
 
Glad you're enjoying your PHEV :D , I'm still really enjoying mine after several years of smooth and reliable ownership.
Like so many things about PHEV's it is very subjective to your individual requirements, I personally don't charge during a journey at all, just overnight at home, but the big selling point of CHAdeMO is the bi-directional charging capability. Mitsubishi have been working on the "Dendo house" system of using the PHEV as storage from solar panels that apart from being able to run your car, you can store the energy and use it to power your home if needs be. This is supposed to be introduced this year in the UK and I am hoping that the Government will introduce some grants to help with the take up (I'm hopeful, but I won't hold my breath). I don't have the link to the clip, but I have seen a vid on YouTube of a guy in Australia that has this type of system already up and running.
I think that Mitsubishi have been thinking outside the box with the PHEV, and that as customers we need to do so as well to get the most from what I think is a fairly amazing bit of kit.

That is a lot of "thinking" on my part in that last sentence, which probably explains my headache and the burning smell :shock:
 
Sumpy said:
That is a lot of "thinking" on my part in that last sentence, which probably explains my headache and the burning smell :shock:

Go for a lie down in a darkened room, Sumpy. That's what I do, after reading some of the techy stuff on here! ;)
 
jaapv said:
Yeah, Mitsubishi wouldn't have added if if they didn't think it would be a selling point. I don't know where you are, but over here it is simply too expensive (.51 Euro/minute 0r .35 Euro/kWh), and drinking a coffee every 30 km would have me in hospital for a caffeine overdose one third through my journey.
No one's suggesting that you stop to refill the battery as soon as it's empty - that's why i bought a PHEV for long journeys. But if I'm stopping for a break anyway, it makes sense to charge the battery while I'm stopped. In the UK a charge on Electric Highway costs 30p/kWh, which makes it cheaper than petrol for the 6kWh you get. I know it's not the 50kW that Chademo can supply, but 18kW isn't too bad. Our Zoe maxes out at 22kW but soon drops as the battery fills beyond 60%
 
jaapv said:
Craigy said:
jaapv said:
It is useless anywhere - it will only gain you a few kms at an elevated price, making it no cheaper than petrol and it will damage your battery when overused.
I think it’s a big advantage over other PHEVs, it’s the only decent way to add EV range when out and about. I use it all the time, I’ll happily do a longish trip and stop for coffee and charge. I’ll then save that charge for town driving at the other end. It may not be a massive saving but it’s certainly cheaper. As long as you don’t use the electric at speed on the motorway (it’s pointless) but use it when it matters it’s better.
I don’t really care about the battery as it’s a lease, it’s someone else’s problem really, I’m paying to use it now and we’ll see if it’s as bad as people make out.
Yeah, Mitsubishi wouldn't have added if if they didn't think it would be a selling point. I don't know where you are, but over here it is simply too expensive (.51 Euro/minute 0r .35 Euro/kWh), and drinking a coffee every 30 km would have me in hospital for a caffeine overdose one third through my journey.

Yeah I definitely wouldn’t bother at those prices!
 
This thread prompted me to get the Ecotricty App (free) as I was doing a 200 mile round trip this week and would need to get EV miles from somewhere for when I returned across London. It was much easier than using the previous RFID card, nearer the building where I needed the coffee anyway and cheaper than "self charging". :p
 
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