New Owner with No Clue

[Phevnumpty]

Hi Folks,

I am picking my new (to me) PHEV up tomorrow, less than a year old with 2.5K miles on it. I'm a private buyer and just loved the way the PHEV drove, and with 80% of my journeys being under 40 mile round trips I thought I'd give hybrid motoring a try.

Anyway, I have found this forum and all you knowledgeable people but being a long in the tooth technical numpty I am having a bit of trouble getting my mind around a couple of things (sorry if there is already a thread covering these questions):

I assume I can just plug the charger supplied with the PHEV into the 13amp socket in my garage and it will charge with no problems?

I assume I will need to buy a cable to use the public chargers that are dotted about and is there a spec for the PHEV and a 'good' supplier of these?

Is there a 'best way' to sign up to use the pubic charging points? I am in East of England and I see there is a network there but what about when travelling further on holidays, etc?

I will probably have many more questions when I get going but any answers to those above will be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Neverfuel]

Hi Folks,

You won't be a numpty in a few days - you might want to consider a name change

I am picking my new (to me) PHEV up tomorrow, less than a year old with 2.5K miles on it. I'm a private buyer and just loved the way the PHEV drove, and with 80% of my journeys being under 40 mile round trips I thought I'd give hybrid motoring a try.

You sound like the ideal owner.

Anyway, I have found this forum and all you knowledgeable people but being a long in the tooth technical numpty I am having a bit of trouble getting my mind around a couple of things (sorry if there is already a thread covering these questions):

I think everyone on here won't mind - there are no such things as stupid questions.

I assume I can just plug the charger supplied with the PHEV into the 13amp socket in my garage and it will charge with no problems?

Correct - best not to use an extension cable though.

I assume I will need to buy a cable to use the public chargers that are dotted about and is there a spec for the PHEV and a 'good' supplier of these?

Probably best to see your pattern of driving / parking / public charging before investing in a cable. If you are going on the continent it is best to see you appetite for stopping to get only 20 miles or so of charge. If in UK, you can charge at most motorway service station for free, using several cards. Other cards typically cost £20 per year.

Is there a 'best way' to sign up to use the pubic charging points? I am in East of England and I see there is a network there but what about when travelling further on holidays, etc?

Sign up for an Ecotricity card free (it will arrive within about 4 working days), give it a go on a fast charger at motorway services or IKEA stores, see how you get on - then order other cards as required. However, at £20 per card you need to be sure you will use it ( same advise for home installed chargers and type 2 to type 1 cables IMHO

I will probably have many more questions when I get going but any answers to those above will be greatly appreciated!!

Welcome to the exciting world of the PHEV - hope this helps.

 

[Phevnumpty]

Many thanks for the useful info Neverfuel, but I think the numpty tag is safe with me for a while!

Just a quick question on extension leads. I have a 'heavy duty' type extension lead with built in RCD that I was planning to use, are there any real safety or warranty issues if this is used?

 

[Oscarman]

I have used a 10m Heavy extension (2.5mm to overkill) and an RCD.
I carefully felt the cable, RCD and socket during charging using the standard 240v/13amp charger and no sign of warmth.
The warmest part was the Mitsubishi charging unit.
As long as you don't have coils in the extension should be OK.
I also looked carefully at the current rating of the circuit I plugged into and the equipment that might be on the same circuit.

 

[Neverfuel]

I guess a lot of people use extension cables - I have never heard of a problem, so it might just be a Mitsubishi thing. I have only used one once but was very wary and connected with an RCD unit at the plug end. Keep the live bits out of the rain / frost if you are going to try it and like the last post advises ensure it is a minimum of 13A and there are no coils in the wire. If your garage extension needs moving so that the 5m cable supplied with the car can reach - either get an electrician to install an IP66 sealed socket outside the garage or move one to a location inside the garage where the lead will reach under the door (without putting the mains plug lead to the control box under pressure). Try this first before committing to a tethered 16A charger as you will have to pay for a % of it yourself now the govt scheme has been relaxed (unless you live in Scotland - there are posts on the Scottish scheme on the forum).

Remember £300 in a tethered cable is about 2100 miles in petrol cost at £1.10 per litre - for the difference of 1.5 hours per night in charging time (same electricity charge)!

 

[Phevnumpty]

Many thanks for your advice Oscarman and Neverfuel, I'm happily home charging using the heavy duty extension and RCD with no problems and no sign of anything getting warm. 50 plus miles over 2 days and not a drop of petrol used, I like this car.

Next step is to sign up for an Ecotricity card!!

 

[Oscarman]

Be sure to read the posts under Technical Discussions re Ecotricity Fast Chargers. I like you got my card asap after vehicle delivery but at moment wouldn't risk using it.

 

[Neverfuel]

Be sure to read the posts under Technical Discussions re Ecotricity Fast Chargers. I like you got my card asap after vehicle delivery but at moment wouldn't risk using it.

Hi Oscarman,

Nothing wrong with Ecotricity chargers , to date 16 Fast Charges to 80% in 22 - 24 mins and 2 Fast charges to 95% in about 24 - 26 mins when there was a fair amount of SOC Left when I started. ADVICE: DO NOT TURN OFF THE CHARGER DURING ITS CHARGE CYCLE! If required used the advanced options button to set either the %SOC or the maximum duration if you can't wait for a max of 24 mins. And please give way to the BEV driver if Someone needs it. After all - 20 miles for us in 20 odd mins is 60 + miles to them - in the same timescale ( with no other way of getting home)

 

[Phevnumpty]

Be sure to read the posts under Technical Discussions re Ecotricity Fast Chargers. I like you got my card asap after vehicle delivery but at moment wouldn't risk using it.

Hi Oscarman,

Nothing wrong with Ecotricity chargers , to date 16 Fast Charges to 80% in 22 - 24 mins and 2 Fast charges to 95% in about 24 - 26 mins when there was a fair amount of SOC Left when I started. ADVICE: DO NOT TURN OFF THE CHARGER DURING ITS CHARGE CYCLE! If required used the advanced options button to set either the %SOC or the maximum duration if you can't wait for a max of 24 mins. And please give way to the BEV driver if Someone needs it. After all - 20 miles for us in 20 odd mins is 60 + miles to them - in the same timescale ( with no other way of getting home)

Thanks for the heads-up on this guys. I have now read the thread on Ecotricity Fast Chargers and it does seem to carry some risk if the full procedure is not followed ie. making sure the full charge cycle has finished. I think I will get a bit more familiar with the PHEV before I risk it, so far home charging each evening is doing the business and maybe when going further afield I might just have to get used to using some petrol (but it's surprising how quickly you can get into the 'I must not use any petrol' mindset!).

This is a great forum - lots of useful information!!

 

[lg1726]

Hi from a relative newbie. Had mine for 5/6 weeks, done 845 miles and had not used a singe drop of petrol until today!! Off on a long haul on Monday, so scooted down the nearby dual carriageway at 70(ish) just to experience it and orientate myself before a 480 round trip up the A9 which will be on EV until edge of town (8miles) then 'save button' until destination; EV for tootling about there and the opportunity to either use the 3-pin plug thing in my uncle's garage or a nearby public charger if needed before heading back, again on 'save' to have battery for the suburban bits to the house!

I have not yet used a public charger, although I did buy a cable (EVcables from Amazon) and I have never used the 3-pin charging thing that came with the car as I had a domestic charge point installed in the drive with a tethered cable. There are 100% grants for the installation of domestic chargers in Scotland, so that was a no-brainer! I'm tempted to use the local public charger when up north, just to have the experience and feel secure in the knowledge there is no real pressure as I can use my uncle's garage.

An added bonus to his car is the on-board calculations it does for your charging costs. To get this, you need to input your electricity costs at price per kWh, but when I looked at our electricity bill to get the figure it seemed high compared to some figures I'd seen, so I popped onto the Which switch web page and found a supplier at a much reduced cost per kWh! So the car is even cheaper to run, as is the kettle, the toaster, the hairdryer..........