Not another newbie

Hi Guys,
I joined today, I will take delivery of my 5H a week today in Ruby Black with Red Napa.
Had the socket installed on the wall and I just need to get a cable now , (what's the best place to get that?)
Not driven the car, seen the car, or even sat in it, which may be a mistake but the reviews are good and the tax and emissions are appealing.

If you're used to driving an auto then you will have no problem. If, however, you have only driven manual cars then you will find it a whole new experience! Enjoy! Just 'drive it' for a few days before you try to change any settings (which in our experience aren't actually worth bothering with as the designers made a pretty good job of it!)

As to the charging cable, I have only ever used the supplied domestic plug type 240v UK 13A cable plugged into a proper external 13A socket and have found no real need for any faster charging as we plug the car in when we get home and let it do its own thing. It takes about 2kW whilst charging. Therefore 5 hours of overnight charge, if needed, works well.

Hi and welcome

On the assumption that you have a 'type 2' socket installed, you will need a 'type 2 to type 1' cable. Just google it, there are lots of choices. I would go for a recognised UK 'EV shop' rather than ebay, but of course that's up to you! IIRC mine cost about GBP160 (in UK) but that was a while ago. You may be able to find both '32A' and '16A' variants; the Outlander can only make use of 16A, but I was advised to go for a 32A as some charging points might have a problem with a 16A one - the difference in cost is very small.

As Tipper says, you may not need more than the 'granny' cable which came with the car, but if you are lucky enough to live somewhere which has free type 2 charging points, then you can take the 'type 2 to type 1 cable' with you and charge (and sometimes park!) for free!

Thanks guys, I do have a 32a thing installed at home so I will need a public charging cable, I will go for the 32a one to match then.
Any disadvantage of the coiled one over the straight one?

uktotty said:

Any disadvantage of the coiled one over the straight one?

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I find the reverse...
Advantage of straight over coiled:- takes up less storage space, can be looped and padlocked through road wheel easier....
You pays your money and takes your choice.
Cost from EV for 16a v32a is no different

I found EV Connectors in Essex to be much cheaper than ebay. Some on ebay were even more expensive than the Mitsubishi one.
I went for a 5m 32 A coiled version. Yes, the 32 A will be heavier than the 16 A and the coiled version is bulkier but with the coiled one in my instance when connected it keeps the cable off the ground. When finished I can pull out the two connectors, give it a shake if it is wet and then put it in the boot or more normally behind the driver's seat that way I keep my hands clean and it saves a fration of time.
If you do need to reach 5m and you go for the curly one you may need to go longer on the cable as the coils never fully straighten out - remember curly kettle leads but a lot heavier.

I have a 7m straight 32amp one for use at work where I have to park face on to the charger. When my home unit gets fitted in a few weeks, I am considering a 3m straight one, if not less, as the back of my car will only be 1m from the charge outlet. Although this will be 16amp, I will buy a 32amp cable as I find the thicker cable just feels much stronger.

As to the rest of the car, just get in and drive. I only had a 10 minute test drive and am now well past 16000 miles in a little over 6 months. If like me, you travel the country all the time, you will love it.

The car is smooth, quiet, comfortable, offers a superb view ahead and eats 500 mile days with ease as long as you stop regularly for fuel. Once you hit save when the electric gauge drops to around 50% and, if like me, you cruise at a Sat Nav regulated 70mph, you should consider 35mpg as doing well, after all, it is an 1800Kg brick. If, however, you will do almost all of your driving in an urban, less than 20 miles a day, environment, using no petrol at all should be an everyday occurence.

Decide which camp you fall into before filling up on the way home with your shiny new car. If you're like me, brim it and don't worry. If you fall to the other camp, no more than £10 because the car will force you to put fuel in after about 3 months to keep the petrol in the tank fresh.

If you want to play with the phone app - heating and cooling settings, door mirrors and locking options and lots more, download an app called WiFi Priority as well, this allows your phone to ignore the car and continue to function properly.

If you travel to London, go on the TfL website and follow the procedure to get free Congestion Charge, it costs a one-off £10. Also, you are allowed to park for free in Westminster, as long as you move to a different street after the maximum for the bay you are parked in, and keep moving all day for free. Remember, somewhere like Berkeley Square is regarded as the same street, so you can only park there once in any given day.

But above all, enjoy!!

Steel188 said:

Also, you are allowed to park for free in Westminster, as long as you move to a different street after the maximum for the bay you are parked in, and keep moving all day for free. Remember, somewhere like Berkeley Square is regarded as the same street, so you can only park there once in any given day.

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+1 but AFAIK it is not the "street" that defines where you can move to. Each block of parking bays is ended with a set of double lines. You can't move to another bay in the same block but moving to a different block is legal, even if in the same street.

In Westminster most (if not all) bays are "pay by phone" so, as we don't have to pay (the wardens "usually" know which are EV) there is no record of when we park. As a result the wardens can't be sure how long we have been parked (they don't seem to come round that frequently). In fact, I recently saw an i3 parked all day in the same spot without getting a ticket

PS. the Congestion Charge exemption is actually £10 per year and doesn't automatically renew you have to re-apply - but they will send a reminder.

Thanks for the feedback guys, very informative bunch, I think I will also go for the 5m curly one as my car will be on the drive with about 3m between the garage and the charge point on the car (drivers side??)
EV connectors sounds like a good place to go, any discount codes or deals on there as I can't see any but the web is littered with old ones??
Good call on "enjoy it" looks like it should be a great car.

Bought a wiggly orange one!

I believe I'm right in saying the car won't take more than 16A via that cable even though it is rated at 32A. Only other EVs can take 32A.
(Someone will shoot me if I've got that wrong! :lol: )

Tipper said:

I believe I'm right in saying the car won't take more than 16A via that cable even though it is rated at 32A. Only other EVs can take 32A.
(Someone will shoot me if I've got that wrong! :lol: )

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That's right - the Outlander is limited by its on-board charger, which is power rated at approx 3.5 Kw (~16A x 240V). The cable's own rating doesn't change this, so a 32A cable will charge at the same rate as for 16A. To charge any faster you would need the 32A cable PLUS an up-rated on-board charger, which will possibly arrive in some future model year.

I have a 32A wall socket and 32A cable for future proofing or for when I buy my Tesla Model S

It is a big shame the PHEV can't take 32A, since the 'loss' of the Ecotricity rapid chargers, the 32A rate would have been useful to get a worthwhile alternative charge.

Just charge it from your home supply using a 16A charger and similar from your work. As long as you sleep and work more than 3.5 hours you'll be fine.

uktotty said:

Thanks for the feedback guys, very informative bunch, I think I will also go for the 5m curly one as my car will be on the drive with about 3m between the garage and the charge point on the car (drivers side??)
EV connectors sounds like a good place to go, any discount codes or deals on there as I can't see any but the web is littered with old ones??
Good call on "enjoy it" looks like it should be a great car.

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WARNING - EV Connectors cable is fine, very pleased with it, but the bag, which they sell separately is not of same quality - zip has failed after not much more then 20 zip/unzips in 2 years. Kept neatly in one of the rear boot wells.

I have a Rolec 32A charging point at home and a 16A lead with a standard plug on for when mobile.
I have just modded my 32A charging point with a DIN rail timer and it works!
Hello to cheap overnight charging

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Well it's here, just gotta get the damn car now!!

So the first of September has come and gone and I still don't have a car!!
Seems my VIN was mixed up with someone else's VIN and my plates were put on my car at the dealership last week and ans this week we find that my car is in Portbury Docks in Bristol
To say I am not happy is an understatement!!