North East England

[david1972]

Hello everybody,

Please post here if you are a current or future PHEV owner in the North East of England. Let's be the first to get a little local community up and running!! :mrgreen:

We've probably got the best network of public charging points in the UK on our doorstep, so I expect to see some activity on this thread soon

 

[Tristar500]

Hi - I can see 3 counties from my bedroom window, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Lancashire -I'm in the very west of West Yorkshire and we get Look North on the tellybox so I just about qualify!

 

[david1972]

Hello Tristar and welcome....we'll let you in

I see it may be a close run thing between us as to who gets their PHEV first :mrgreen:

 

[Tristar500]

Hello Tristar and welcome....we'll let you in

I see it may be a close run thing between us as to who gets their PHEV first :mrgreen:

Cheers! I could have taken my car on 1st Sept as the dealer that my contract hire company are using has a Pearl White GX4h in stock for delivery - but my current lease runs until early Oct so I am being patient - and still waiting for a charging point to be fitted!

 

[david1972]

Who are you using; British Gas or another approved, more local supplier?

 

[Tristar500]

Hoping to use EV Charging Solutions from Nottingham! Hopefully the chap that owns it is coming to take a look next Monday and we will go from there. What about you?

 

[david1972]

We used a local company back in November last year when the scheme first started - Elm EV based in Consett, Co Durham.

The thinking at the time was that it was clearly technology that was coming and coming soon to many cars, so it'd be silly to look a gift horse in the mouth. That decision has put us ahead of the game as such when it comes to our PHEV.

Subsequently, we saw more and more appear in our street. A neighbour a few doors away has a Nissan Leaf, but other than that, we will be only the 2nd people in the street to actually use theirs

 

[Tristar500]

Which spec did you end up with?

 

[david1972]

To be perfectly honest, I don't really know and have asked the company to tell me - no reply as yet though :?

There was no choice given at that time, so I assume it will have been the lower-spec'd unit. Not sure what that is though - I've seen various values mentioned (10A, 15A, 16A) :?:

What I can tell you is that it charges our Ampera from zero to full charge in 4 hours

 

[Hypermiler]

Hi both
I'd like to join the north east party, although as we are a little north of York we aren't quite in the land-of-loads-of-chargers like you david! I didn't realise you had an ampera - that's interesting.
H

 

[david1972]

Welcome Hypermiler!

Yes, it's only a temporary lease car until the PHEV arrives - had it for about 10 days now, it's my wife's daily drive (as the PHEV will be - I've got my Subaru to play in ) and by all accounts she's loving the electric/petrol vibe

 

[PaulRB]

Hi, my name is Paul and I have been driving my pearl white gx4 for about a month. I live up in the hills near Denby Dale/Holmfirth/Penistone and commute 25miles each way daily to Leeds city centre. There is a Chargemaster point outside my office which can charge 2 vehicles and its free!. Another work colleague also has a phev and another has an Ampera, but so far we have never all been in work on the same day.

My journey into Leeds is all electric but the journey home needs a little petrol to get me that last couple of miles. About to hit 1000 miles and still have 1/2 tank left...

Paul

 

[david1972]

Hi Paul and welcome....sounds like it could be fun on the charge point front for you and the others sometime soon.....

 

[PaulRB]

I'm sure we can avoid coming to blows! Don't know about the Ampera, but the charger can do a phev in a morning/afternoon, so we'll just have to swap at lunchtime.

 

[Hypermiler]

Just seen my first PHEV in the UK- other than mine or the demonstrator, that is! A black 14 reg with tow bar parked in Easingwold this lunchtime. Was very exciting.

We reckon we need a Phev sign to wave at other phevs when we finally see some (like the VW sign for old campers and Beetles). My OH has started waving madly at any Mitsu, which is a little embarrassing! I suggested a three pin plugging in type action using thumb and first 2 fingers but not sure it'll catch on...

Maybe one day we'll have Phev Fest - a weekend of music, drinking and very quiet/fuel efficient driving :lol: :lol: - not quite the same as Bug Jam with its nitro powered drag racing! Not sure that'll catch on either...
H

 

[FATFIL]

HI I'm in Bishop Auckland my car is on order and due mid November. Its great to hear all your tips on how the car is driving and yeah a local group is a great idea

 

[david1972]

Welcome fatfil.....what model and colour do you have on order?

I often find myself passing through Bishop - generally in the Subaru though

 

[FATFIL]

I've gone for the gx3 in white, I'm more interested in the saving of electric than the gadgets. Saying that its still a better spec than my astra that I am running now. There are often groups of Scooby's meeting up here. You will be getting called having a Scooby then going put and buying a Mitsubishi .

 

[david1972]

Hehe the irony, I know.

Scooby mine, phev the wife's drive, plus had to be low emissions through works lease scheme

 

[FATFIL]

That's why I've gone for the phev, low emissions for the salary sacrifice scheme but needed 4x4 for the road we live on no brainer really when the wife only commutes 30 mile a day.