future purchase

[Mollydog22]

Hello all,
first time post here i’m a complete newby to the world of PHEV but am hoping to buy the Dynamic safety later this year perhaps September, at the moment I have a two and a half year old Skoda Kodiaq I have been really pleased with the car and can’t really fault it, however due to my mileage and in general shorter runs I think I perhaps should have looked at the Hybrids when I got the Kodiaq, my preference is a plug in but I have had god look at the new Rav4 hybrid (non plug in) yesterday I sat in a new outlander and the interior quality blew the Rav away. I do have an issue in that there is no spare just the spray in gunk, on the car before the Kodiaq (a vauxhall Zafira) it had the same spray in stuff, it was only just over a year old when a piece of metal pierced the side wall and left a one inche gash so it was wait for a tow truck time, I was concerned that I could have been in a no phone signal area fortunately I wasn’t, so decided at the time my next cars would have a spare tyre, my purchase of the Kodiaq was based partly on this, The Rave4 I mentioned does have a skinny spare, but have come to realize that the PHEV’s do not due to the extra room required for the battery.

This is something I have to get my head around, I may be being paranoid as I have never had such a puncture in 45 years of motoring.

Also regarding charging overnight, at the moment Have a standard weather sealed plug socket on the patio, this is about 12 meters from where the car would be, is it doable to charge from this socket or do I need to get the socket closer ? also I am assuming that a standared extension would not suffice so what would I need ? Thanks for any advice given

Jim

 

[TweeNeuzen]

Hi,
Welcome on the forum

On the charging,
I certainly would not use an extension cable, apart from water ingress issues, it should be properly rated for the 10A current that the supplied charger takes.

On the spare,
That was an issue for me as well, but it is more than compensated by the pros of the PHEV, as a pure electrical car is not an option for us, with 2 hunting dogs, and taking in account the trips we make, the PHEV is the sensible option.

 

[Mollydog22]

Hi,
Welcome on the forum

On the charging,
I certainly would not use an extension cable, apart from water ingress issues, it should be properly rated for the 10A current that the supplied charger takes.

On the spare,
That was an issue for me as well, but it is more than compensated by the pros of the PHEV, as a pure electrical car is not an option for us, with 2 hunting dogs, and taking in account the trips we make, the PHEV is the sensible option.

Hi TweeNeuzen, thanks for the advice, the lack of a spare tyre thing I will learn to live with cos I really like the car,

I too carry 2 dogs about in the Kodiaq (only smallish doggies) they are just loose in the boot with a dog guard, but when I get the PHEV i'm going to get a custom made car crate as much as anything to keep the back windows & everything else free of mud, I notice that the charging cables reside under the floor in the boot so I may have an issue moving the crate every time I want to access the cables unless I just leave them loose somewhere

Jim

 

[TweeNeuzen]

Hi Jim,
Our “granny charger, also known as brick” remains at home.
The extra charge cable type 1 to type 2 remains in the car and is hardly used for charging, as 99 percent of charging is done at home.
But that depends on your use.

Our dogs have a boot protector and iron guard.
The boot protector leaves options to grab the 1 to 2 cable, as it resides in the right hand recess

Albert

 

[littlescrote]

Ideally you'd get your outdoor socket closer fr the std granny charger to reach, but it's no big deal to use a weatherproof extension with high enough continuous rating. It's advised by the manual not to because people will inevitably use an unsuitable one.

Be aware that the granny chargers are not meant for regular charging though. The high current involved over long periods of time and multiple times of the plug and socket being connected and disconnected can cause loose connections and overheating. As long as you keep on top of inspection and maintenance, you should be alright, but you can probably expect the granny charger to need repair or replacement within a few years.

On the subject of a spare, if you're that bothered just get one. There's nowhere to put it neatly, but you can always attach it to the rear of the rear seats, strap it up to one side of the boot or whatever. You can either get a suitable sized space saver, or a steel wheel from the commercial variant which are narrower than the alloys.

 

[ChrisMiller]

Be aware that the granny chargers are not meant for regular charging though. The high current involved over long periods of time and multiple times of the plug and socket being connected and disconnected can cause loose connections and overheating. As long as you keep on top of inspection and maintenance, you should be alright, but you can probably expect the granny charger to need repair or replacement within a few years.

No doubt (as with any manufactured item) there may be some poorly made examples, but I've used only the standard mains charger and after 4 years and >1,000 charges, there's no sign of any problem. Do make sure you use the strap, so the full weight of the charger isn't hanging from the plug.

 

[jaapv]

16A extension cables are easy to obtain...
I have a bench in the rear for the dogs.

 

[Regulo]

Be aware that the granny chargers are not meant for regular charging though.

Doesn't say that anywhere in my manual. What's the point of providing a charger that can't be used "regularly"? I've used mine for over 5 years with no problem, usually 5 times a week. I think that's "regularly"!

 

[AndyInOz]

Same story here.

The granny charger looks like it is built to last the life of the car to me.

However, I am thinking of getting a home charging point just to save mucking around with the little charger.

 

[ThudnBlundr]

While many people may have used their granny charger for years without problems, there are also numerous instances of the granny charger or the socket it's using failing. It's like saying, "I've smoked for years and not got cancer"

 

[Mollydog22]

Thanks everyone for all the advice, plenty to think about there

Regards

Jim

 

[Anrix]

While many people may have used their granny charger for years without problems, there are also numerous instances of the granny charger or the socket it's using failing. It's like saying, "I've smoked for years and not got cancer"

I have looked at that and I have found out that every fail is related to using it wrong. Or the components are not in good shape (for example an old socket). Almost every one with the fail have hanged the brick directly from the socket without any support so it wears the cable and the socket. The weight of the brick will eventually cut some wires from the cable making poor connections that heats the wire much more. The same happens with the socket wearing: poor connection -> heat. If you just look at the amperes they are made for it is fine (at least in Finland, but here everything is good ).

 

[michael8554]

Recently I did buy a dead Yazaki granny charger with a view to repairing it, but this one was definitely dead, not the usual broken input cable, or crushed output cable.

Despite rigorous quality control, any electronic component will have a few examples that fail after time, but most will go on forever.

 

[ThudnBlundr]

While many people may have used their granny charger for years without problems, there are also numerous instances of the granny charger or the socket it's using failing. It's like saying, "I've smoked for years and not got cancer"

I have looked at that and I have found out that every fail is related to using it wrong. Or the components are not in good shape (for example an old socket). Almost every one with the fail have hanged the brick directly from the socket without any support so it wears the cable and the socket. The weight of the brick will eventually cut some wires from the cable making poor connections that heats the wire much more. The same happens with the socket wearing: poor connection -> heat. If you just look at the amperes they are made for it is fine (at least in Finland, but here everything is good ).

Seriously! You have looked at "every" fail. Did you look at all the other forums and Facebook pages where this is mentioned? Or how about when the plug on mine started to get warm last summer and I had to rewire the plug? That wasn't "using it wrong". :roll: Please don't make incorrect statements that you cannot possibly backup.

 

[jaapv]

While many people may have used their granny charger for years without problems, there are also numerous instances of the granny charger or the socket it's using failing. It's like saying, "I've smoked for years and not got cancer"

How numerous? One thing about Internet forums: The problems get magnified out of proportion, the unproblematic majority remains silent. :ugeek:

 

[ThudnBlundr]

Indeed, people don't "complain" when it's working fine, so you don't hear about the silent majority. I'm just more aware of it, so I'm flagging it up having been almost burned by it, literally and figuratively.

 

[greendwarf]

This is something I have to get my head around, I may be being paranoid as I have never had such a puncture in 45 years of motoring.

Jim

In which case, the chances of another before you stop driving are very remote. Having said that, I have had more slow punctures on the last 5 years with the PHEV than in the previous 50 years of driving!

 

[greendwarf]

While many people may have used their granny charger for years without problems, there are also numerous instances of the granny charger or the socket it's using failing. It's like saying, "I've smoked for years and not got cancer"

I have looked at that and I have found out that every fail is related to using it wrong. Or the components are not in good shape (for example an old socket). Almost every one with the fail have hanged the brick directly from the socket without any support so it wears the cable and the socket. The weight of the brick will eventually cut some wires from the cable making poor connections that heats the wire much more. The same happens with the socket wearing: poor connection -> heat. If you just look at the amperes they are made for it is fine (at least in Finland, but here everything is good ).

Seriously! You have looked at "every" fail. Did you look at all the other forums and Facebook pages where this is mentioned? Or how about when the plug on mine started to get warm last summer and I had to rewire the plug? That wasn't "using it wrong". :roll: Please don't make incorrect statements that you cannot possibly backup.

The issue was the earlier comment that suggested the standard charger is not designed to be used regularly (for which there is no evidence) not that some are poorly manufactured etc. and will fail (for which there is evidence) :roll:

 

[jaapv]

Hmm... there is plenty of evidence that most won't fail, too. I don't think the problem is in the design.

 

[Anrix]

I have looked at that and I have found out that every fail is related to using it wrong. Or the components are not in good shape (for example an old socket). Almost every one with the fail have hanged the brick directly from the socket without any support so it wears the cable and the socket. The weight of the brick will eventually cut some wires from the cable making poor connections that heats the wire much more. The same happens with the socket wearing: poor connection -> heat. If you just look at the amperes they are made for it is fine (at least in Finland, but here everything is good ).

Seriously! You have looked at "every" fail. Did you look at all the other forums and Facebook pages where this is mentioned? Or how about when the plug on mine started to get warm last summer and I had to rewire the plug? That wasn't "using it wrong". :roll: Please don't make incorrect statements that you cannot possibly backup.

The issue was the earlier comment that suggested the standard charger is not designed to be used regularly (for which there is no evidence) not that some are poorly manufactured etc. and will fail (for which there is evidence) :roll:

You got it what I meant And I forgot the "almost" word from my first sentence (and no, I don't have checked every case so my apology for the over statement). If you just see the specs and design there is nothing wrong to use the brick/granny/standard charger. If there are tens of thousands non-failing units and a hundred of failing units which from 98 are due to misuse, is it bad design and not allowed to use? There are also failing charging stations so they are also a fire risk.

I have also repaired my cable (I bought my car second hand and had to repair my cable at day two at owning the car). The previous owner had apparently hanged the cable without support so one of the wires was cut off at the base making a poor connection. The charger worked okeyish but heated up so I knew what was going on. I am a master of science in electronics and my job is to design electrics to the heavy work machinery so I knew what to do.