Shocking cost of charging!

[Tipper]

I've just spotted a fast charge point in Looe Cornwall UK that costs an astronomical £0.30/kW for an AC/DC fast charge plus car parking. It also has a penalty charge of £10 for overstaying your welcome in the car park space!

Is this typical for fast charge points? (I am new to all this PHEV stuff but am a bit perplexed by these charges.) it must be more economical to use petrol.

 

[Zsaraman]

I found a fast charge point in Seahouses on the NE coast that was both free and so was the first hour in the coucil car park 20+ miles for free each day was worth the 4 mile detour each day.....plus the fish & chips were good whilst the car had its charge. I stay clear of charged charge points, but no doubt the day will come....

 

[jaapv]

Except for the UK where free fast chargers can be found fast charging is horribly overpriced everywhere, even normal charging on the Continent is getting prohibitively expensive. The best way is to use your own charge point at home and at work.

 

[CJ1045]

Not entirely true - we just did a day trip to Calais from the UK. At the Le Shuttle terminal on the way back they had fast chargers for PHEV like vehicles and Superchargers for Teslas - all were FREE!

To the original poster all the motorway chargers in the UK are Free if you get a free swipe card from Ecotricity (just apply on line)

CJ

 

[jaapv]

Yes - the same for the chargers on the ferry from Hook to Harwich and at Schiphol airport ( and many garden centers etc.) but unfortunately that is not the norm.

 

[Neverfuel]

Not entirely true - we just did a day trip to Calais from the UK. At the Le Shuttle terminal on the way back they had fast chargers for PHEV like vehicles and Superchargers for Teslas - all were FREE!

To the original poster all the motorway chargers in the UK are Free if you get a free swipe card from Ecotricity (just apply on line)

CJ

If you would have bought the diesel instead of the PHEV you could have brought 2 more refugees over instead of all the Christmas booze!

 

[levant]

Do you have to have your own charging cable? or does the charging points already have one? These cables are not cheap to buy.
best wishes

Outlander phev GX4H black

 

[Ozukus]

Do you have to have your own charging cable? or does the charging points already have one? These cables are not cheap to buy.

It depends, if you are using a rapid charge point, they will have a tethered CHAdeMO cable.

Non rapid charge point tend to either have no tethered cable with a type 2 socket or they have a type 2 tethered cable.

Some charge points, though rare, do have a type 1 tethered cable or a 3 pin socket, which you can use with the cable supplied with the car.

Unfortunately the European standard is type 2, whereas a lot of the Asian manufacturers are type 1, shame they didn't have a type 2 for the European spec version.

As for buying a cable weigh up whether or not you will need to charge when out and about or not to compensate for the cost of the cable. For me all my local driving is covered by my home charging, and on my commutes I use rapid chargers, and I have no charger at work, so no point on me paying for a cable that doesn't really need to be used.

 

[jaapv]

The type 2 cable came with the car in my case. At home I bought a long one for my home chargepoint, at my work I installed an external Schuko plug for the car "charger".

 

[levant]

Very helpful indeed
received my Ecotricity card today. ROLEC will give me one year free access to other charging points in the UK
so I will not buy a cable as it is reassuring that Rapid charging does come with its cable.
Best wishes

 

[greendwarf]

Whilst I understand that both Fast & Rapid chargers cost a lot of money to install, some of which is for the overcomplicated control mechanism designed to let them charge for the service. Surely it would be better to install more simple weather proof 3 pin sockets - which must cost peanuts in comparison - and not worry about trying to recover the value of the electricity used. After all there would be very few opportunities for anyone other than an EV user to make use of these in public areas.

 

[jaapv]

Very helpful indeed
received my Ecotricity card today. ROLEC will give me one year free access to other charging points in the UK
so I will not buy a cable as it is reassuring that Rapid charging does come with its cable.
Best wishes

Yes - but Mitsubishi warns against frequent use of rapid chargers in the manual as it might impair battery life.

 

[maby]

Whilst I understand that both Fast & Rapid chargers cost a lot of money to install, some of which is for the overcomplicated control mechanism designed to let them charge for the service. Surely it would be better to install more simple weather proof 3 pin sockets - which must cost peanuts in comparison - and not worry about trying to recover the value of the electricity used. After all there would be very few opportunities for anyone other than an EV user to make use of these in public areas.

The trouble is that the slower the charger, the more of them you need. And don't forget that the focus is not on the PHEV with its small battery. It takes us well over three hours to charge off a 13A socket - how long will it take to charge a LEAF or Tesla? And how many people will be prepared to wait that long? For most people, the half hour it takes on s rapid charger will be inconvenient enough.

 

[levant]

I thought it is very reasonable to install a 32 Amp charger for £ 195 as apposed to 16 Amp charger for £ 190
will it charge much faster? not so sure but a little faster will certainly help, with me in and out of the house that often.

best wishes

 

[anko]

Except for fast chargers, the actual charger is in the car, not in the "box on the wall.". The charger in the PHEV is limited to approx. 3300 watt, so it will not charge faster with a 32 amp home charger than it will with a 16 amp charger (unless you are in the U.S.).

 

[greendwarf]

Whilst I understand that both Fast & Rapid chargers cost a lot of money to install, some of which is for the overcomplicated control mechanism designed to let them charge for the service. Surely it would be better to install more simple weather proof 3 pin sockets - which must cost peanuts in comparison - and not worry about trying to recover the value of the electricity used. After all there would be very few opportunities for anyone other than an EV user to make use of these in public areas.

The trouble is that the slower the charger, the more of them you need. And don't forget that the focus is not on the PHEV with its small battery. It takes us well over three hours to charge off a 13A socket - how long will it take to charge a LEAF or Tesla? And how many people will be prepared to wait that long? For most people, the half hour it takes on s rapid charger will be inconvenient enough.

OK but my point is that standard 3 pin is very cheap to install so why not have one for every parking bay, even if they are only used for short top ups?

 

[maby]

OK but my point is that standard 3 pin is very cheap to install so why not have one for every parking bay, even if they are only used for short top ups?

Someone's still got to pay for them - both installation and operation - who's going to do that if it is impossible to recoup the costs?

Your "cheap to install " probably still translates to thousands per socket when done in accordance with Health and Safety regulations in a public place

 

[CJ1045]

Very helpful indeed
received my Ecotricity card today. ROLEC will give me one year free access to other charging points in the UK
so I will not buy a cable as it is reassuring that Rapid charging does come with its cable.
Best wishes

Yes - but Mitsubishi warns against frequent use of rapid chargers in the manual as it might impair battery life.

In the English manual it warns that battery life might be reduced if ONLY using quick charging. It says to maintain full battery life if you are quick charging normally then do a slow charge also once every two weeks and to not quick charge when battery nearly full (which I would take as greater than 80%)

This is page 3-05 of the English manual


CJ

 

[jaapv]

OK but my point is that standard 3 pin is very cheap to install so why not have one for every parking bay, even if they are only used for short top ups?

Someone's still got to pay for them - both installation and operation - who's going to do that if it is impossible to recoup the costs?

Your "cheap to install " probably still translates to thousands per socket when done in accordance with Health and Safety regulations in a public place

Ten Amps standard household outlet? Thousands? I should start up an UK installing company and buy that villa in the Bahamas...

 

[maby]

...

Ten Amps standard household outlet? Thousands? I should start up an UK installing company and buy that villa in the Bahamas...

Don't make the mistake of thinking in terms of the cost of installation of an extension socket in your garage. Greendwarf is talking about charging points installed for public use in public places and that is going to be a lot more expensive due to Health and Safety regulations. Suitable power feeds are unlikely to be available for a start, so many of them will require significant new cable runs and quite possibly extra switching gear. They will be in publicly accessible locations, so cabling will need to be armoured and probably fire resistant. If anyone gets electrocuted by one of them, there will be legal hell to pay in our litigious environment, so the owner of the site is going to want a safety survey done and a risk and impact report prepared. They will need to be inspected at least once per year and that inspection will not be a simple visual one - you will need a qualified electrician with professional grade test gear. They are going to be vulnerable to vandalism and a fair number will need to be replaced every year.

If you were to roll out publicly accessible 13A sockets on any kind of scale across public car parks and roadside installations across the country, I would be amazed if the average cost came out at less than £5000 per installation and I would not be surprised to see it coming out at several times that figure - particularly if you go for the roadside option.