Charge points

[Herky130]

I'm a new Outlander PHEV owner and would like to know what is the preferred charging system when out and about in the UK.
Thanks.

 

[SolarBoy]

I prefer to charge at home via my dedicated car charger.

There are plenty that do use a CHAdeMO 80% top up at the motorway services but I'd prefer to be 20 miles nearer my destination than save a few quids worth of fuel.

My habits are atypical it has to be said ...

 

[greendwarf]

I'm a new Outlander PHEV owner and would like to know what is the preferred charging system when out and about in the UK.
Thanks.

The Ecotricity card will enable you to use the above Rapid chargers at motorway service areas and IKEA but if you are likely to come into London frequently then the Source London card covers most public charge points in the capital PLUS the Ecotricity ones, as well.

There should be a more local card (Source South?) for the South Coast, which will probably allow you to roam into other regions. However the Polar/Chargemaster card which covers a lot of other points nationally costs £7.85 per month even if you don't use it - so not really for us.

BUT having said that the older Chargemaster ones in London can still be operated by the Source London card

 

[user 816]

Just to add if you start off with the free Ecotricity rapid ones, you don't need anything extra like your own cable, these chargers have one that fits the PHEV permanently attached to them.

If you want to use other slower chargers you will have to buy and carry in the boot a special cable to connect up with. In the £100 to £150 price area. On top of the cost of a cable you need to either pay for use of these other chargers or at least pay for a subscription to a service to get free access. Depending on how often and for how long you can charge (remember they are 'slow' chargers) you may not gain enough 'electric miles' to make this viable to cover the costs.

3rd option is using the portable charger supplied with the car if you can get to a domestic 13amp plug such as at work or discreetly out a window somewhere!

 

[ChrisMiller]

Like others here, I do nearly all my charging at home, with the occasional use of the free (at present, they reserve the right to introduce a fee at some point) Ecotricity outlets at M'way services. But (like so much else) it's entirely dependent on your usage patterns. If the majority of your journeys are less than (say) 30 miles, charging at home will work brilliantly. If you commute a longer distance, you should try to persuade your workplace to install charging points. If you commute to a railway station, many of them have charging points, but you have to pay (on top of your normal parking fee) and you'll need to find out which 'scheme' they belong to.

As a (very rough) rule of thumb (and you should try to work out your own position more exactly) a top-up from 'flat' costs around £1 (if using your own domestic supply) and will take you about as far as 3 litres of petrol, so that may help you to decide if using alternative charging methods is financially beneficial.

 

[greendwarf]

If you want to use other slower chargers you will have to buy and carry in the boot a special cable to connect up with.

But not the "slowest" - those in NCP car parks use the standard 3 pin socket only, so you can use the lead supplied with the car. In addition, most on-street charge points have dual 3 pin/Type 2 sockets but, of course, the type 2 charges up faster.

 

[user 816]

If you want to use other slower chargers you will have to buy and carry in the boot a special cable to connect up with.

But not the "slowest" - those in NCP car parks use the standard 3 pin socket only, so you can use the lead supplied with the car. In addition, most on-street charge points have dual 3 pin/Type 2 sockets but, of course, the type 2 charges up faster.

Thanks for the addendum...

The 3 pin sockets such as NCP, how much do they charge to use?

I saw a PHEV plugged in at a charger in the car park out front of the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan the other day but didn't have time to go check it out. If it was worthwhile for a PHEV then perhaps free?

 

[JSC]

A surprising number of the charging points are currently free (although some need a subscription to get the card), and you do need a type 2 cable to use most of them

I've only been charged at a Charge Your Car point in Durham = £1.

The ChargeMaster points I've used in Coventry and Cambridge have been free (and the subscription of £7.99 per month is not charged for the first six months you have the card). My simple reckoning is that once I have to pay the monthly charge it's worth keeping with it as long as I use them at least three times a month.

I've also used the PodPoint charger at Warwick Parkway station and that is also free (and didn't seem to need a card to make it work either -although I got a card from PodPoint when I had my home charger installed.

The motorway and Ikea Ecotricity points are also free at the moment although there are persistent rumours that a charge will be introduced at some point

 

[Ollycat]

on a totally simplistic basis, not accounting for gasoline used - it cost us £125 for the cable, so at a rough cost of £1.25 per charge at home, I've got to charge to full 100 times to get my money back.

In our area there's only Waitrose where I use it, and I'd probably blow any benefit on shopping, not to mention it would take longer than I'm ever there for to fill to 100%. I did stay in a hotel that had a point, where I charged it overnight, so maybe we've used it a dozen or so times.

I've used the Motorway services at Stafford - half way through a jourbey - and again, wondered if it was worth the effort, given the extra 20 minutes it added to an already long journey, and the pain when I hit the M42 in the rush hour. And the fact that the gasoline was on expenses.

Look at your mileage, where you typically drive to, and what cards you might need to use the charge points.

 

[SolarBoy]

The free Ecotricity card works with some of the PodPoint chargers.

 

[greendwarf]

If you want to use other slower chargers you will have to buy and carry in the boot a special cable to connect up with.

But not the "slowest" - those in NCP car parks use the standard 3 pin socket only, so you can use the lead supplied with the car. In addition, most on-street charge points have dual 3 pin/Type 2 sockets but, of course, the type 2 charges up faster.

Thanks for the addendum...

The 3 pin sockets such as NCP, how much do they charge to use?

I saw a PHEV plugged in at a charger in the car park out front of the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan the other day but didn't have time to go check it out. If it was worthwhile for a PHEV then perhaps free?

All the NCP car park sockets I've used in London have been free but, of course, you are paying £4 per hour to park. However, I've HAD to park there for several hours anyway, so treated the charge as a discount on the cost

Sainsbury's at Angel is also free to charge & park so long as you spend £10 and again, I needed to park in the area. Although limited to 2 hours (if I remember correctly) even a free part charge is a nice bonus.

Also in Westminster, parking is still free for the PHEV both at the free charging points (dual) and in ordinary bays but with a 4 hour limit - just move it to a different block. (NB. Despite this a new warden gave me a ticket recently but easily overturned online :lol: )

The only public charger I've used outside London is in a Southend public car park - branded Chargemaster but free to use with my Source London card (presumably roaming under the Source East scheme) and I avoided the parking fee by using it after 6pm while visiting relatives, having a meal out, going to the cinema etc.

I'm off to Ireland next month and have been told I can apply for a card that covers almost every charge point (all free) on the island (inc. NI) by just e-mailing a copy of the V5C "Log Book" and a recent utility bill. :mrgreen: