For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By Flying_john
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1609766
So after a break of nearly a year I have found another Nissan leaf to soothe my needs to drive an EV.

But things have changed a bit on the charging front !

No longer does my Ecotricity electric highway card work in the machines at the motorway service points, but there is a new thing called a "ZAPMAP".

Does anyone have experience of how this works ? Do you pay a subscription, or can you just pitch up at a charge point located on this ZAPmap and expect to plug in.

The previous owner did not use these charge points but just charged at home, but sometimes on a long journey I will need to charge. I know that Nissan Garages still offer charging - just turn up and plug in - but where else, especially out of office hours.


Any other Leafers still on the forum ?
Last edited by Flying_john on Sun Feb 07, 2021 8:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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By MikeB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1609772
Not a Leafer (I have an I3) but do use Zapmap. This is just an App that shows location of charging points - it does not provide access to charging.

Access to Ecotricity points is now via an App - search for "Electric Highway". Other charge points such as POD also require an App. Both of these providers charge for the electricity and on some, a connection fee. This is paid via card details entered into the App.

"Free" charging is available via the Chargenow/Polar network. However, to access this, you need a RFID card and pay a monthly 7 quid fee. I personally use this for 90% of the charging on my I3.
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#1609863
Assuming the original question has been answered(?) May I thread drift and ask about EV recommendations?

I’m test driving a Tesla S on Monday with a view to putting down a deposit for a 3 (recent press coverage on financials acknowledged).

Any thoughts on EV recommendations? 200 mile range is more than enough for me. Daily commute is around 45 miles, mix of dense urban and motorway on the days when I use bike and train combo. Longer distances (typically 200-400 miles in a day) tend to be in a company vehicle, but it would be nice to have be option to use the EV as well.

We had the discussion before about the practicality to carry bikes. I’ll Probably stretch the glide on one of our cars to use the towball for more than one bike, so as long as I can throw a standard drop bar road bike in then that would work for day to day use.

Motivation is that the PCP on one of my cars is coming to an end and I don’t want to buy any more old tech. Trying to make a decision as to whether to buy the car outright and wait a couple of years for an EV or go straight to EV now.

I’m used to Audis, hate the ergonomics of the Mercedes A class, and can just about cope with a Focus. Looking for a similar or better experience to Audi.
Last edited by Leodisflyer on Sat May 05, 2018 9:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
#1609887
Flyin'Dutch' wrote:What I don't understand is the need for all these charge providers to have their own cards etc etc. Why not let people pay with their normal debit/credit card?


You’d think it would be simple to have a system like Oyster/TfL where people can use a contactless cards and then log on later to look at their travel statements. Just register the card number to the provider. Saves unzipping the wallet too if your card is on your watch.
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By Flying_john
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1609978
Well I picked up the new wheels today and made use of the Ecotricity charger at Fleet. Simpler than it used to be, just an App on the Eyephone and type in the charge point number and they charged my debit card direct for the Kilowatts I used. £2.38 for a trip from Bournemouth to Maidstone was pretty good.

Thanks to Jodelman for a ride to Popham and Dyslexnick for a lift to the station.
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1610027
I'm very interested in the timings. So a couple of questions if you will @Flying_john

How long did the trip take and what rough route was followed?

Was there just the one charging stop?

How long did it take?

Thanks for any input as I'm starting to look at the practicalities of electric transport.
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By Flying_john
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1610032
The schedule was roughly:-

07:30 arrive at EGMF
08:00 depart for Popham in a Jodel.
09:00 Arr Popham for breakfast Tea.
09:10 meet with Nick for a lift to Micheldeva station
09:40 Arrive at station and wait for 10:10
10:20 arrive Winchester
10:25 change onto Bournemouth train - served with FREE cake and Coffee !
11:15 arr Bournemouth
11:30 - 12:00 check car and pay.
12:20 - depart for Aldershot
13:20 arrive Fleet services for coffee and quick charge
13:31 (according to receipt) top up to 50 miles range drive to Nissan Aldershot £2.38
13:50 Arrive Nissan Aldershot for FREE fast charge and coffee
14:00 Depart for Maidstone
15:45 Arr Maidstone - Accident on M25 holding up traffic :-(

So about 160 miles - 2 stops.
#1610033
I'm beginning to look at electric machines but will probably sit on the fence and do the hybrid thing because I'm concerned about running out of wigglies enroute. Could you have done Bournemouth to Maidstone without charging? How long do these things actually take to charge up? I know you had 11 minutes at the Fleet Services and topped up to 50 miles, but what did you arrive with that took 11 minutes to go to 50 miles?

I just wonder when the Government will whack on huge electricity taxes in the future and negate all the good that's being done to save the whales and the bank account.
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1610038
PaulSS wrote:I just wonder when the Government will whack on huge electricity taxes in the future and negate all the good that's being done to save the whales and the bank account.


I seems very likely that the future is road pricing. Whether they'll remove the petrol tax at the same time is anyone's guess but I could see a time when they don't, to "encourage" the take up of EVs.
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By MikeB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1610040
@johnm - my diary of I3 use yesterday went something like this.

Started day with battery at 80% showing 108 miles range. Drove 1 mile to local hotel, plugged car in, went to cafe for breakfast. Charged at 7kW/hr for free. 1 hour later unplugged car at 95% showing 130 miles range.

Drove 35 miles to Abergavenny, and went flying. Bought £45 Mogas to refill aircraft :D

Drove 35 miles back to hotel and plugged in again, went for a post flight shandy in nearby pub :cheers:

1 hours later battery was at 75% showing 95 miles range. Drive home and plugged car in to wall charger. Waited 2 hours for wife to get ready :roll: during which time car reached 100% showing 145 miles range.

Drove 75 miles to somewhere in the middle of Wild West Wales to meet Mr & Mrs Tomahawker for dinner. Then Mrs B drove us 75 miles home. Passed several handily-located charging points en route but didn't bother stopping, as we simply relied upon the built-in petrol Range Extender, which cut in about 20 miles from home.

Got home with battery at 5% (Minimum it will go), and Range Extender range down from 90 to 70 miles (used about 2 litres).

Will take car down to hotel this morning, leave it charging (about 4 hours to 100%), and cycle home. (I have an electric folding bike I bought for the purpose).

Total fuel/electricity cost for days motoring (220 miles) as follows:

Electricity at Hotel: £0
Electricity at home (about 15kW): £1.80
Mogas: 2 litres, £2.50

So about 2p/mile (edited for rubbish maths). Would have been 15p/mile if we'd gone in our Audi A6.
#1610062
I’d have bought a hybrid a few years ago (was waiting for the Audi A3 e-tron), but they seem like old technology now and you are paying for extra complexity and weight. To make the maths work I need the car to happily do more than 50 miles on full electric. 200+ miles is perfect.

Now looking for the right EV - whether to buy now or wait for 2 years.
By PaulB
#1610064
I bought my last last car (petrol) new, envisaging that the next one would be an EV. I still have it and it's a 58 plate. We're still not there, I don't think.

I often do a 120 mile trip to my Mum's. She has no charger so we'd be using a 13amp plug. The problem is that when i get there, I get sent to the shops and the DIY store etc. so need range available on arrival. 200mile (real life) would probably do, but that's not easily available for a reasonable amount of money.
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