[Considered1]

Hi Folks, long time Volvo fan, had a 2014 XC60 Rdesign Lux (D4 2.0 FWD) with Polestar and then on to an older RS6 5.0 v10 Avant for the mid life crisis until someone offered me a price I couldnt say no to.

Now looking for a Hybrid or full Electric, although charging facilities in North Yorkshire are not great, I'm hoping its just like an RS6 in terms of range before I need a pit stop!!, just a lot cheaper overall!!!

 

[GDank]

Hi and Welcome. What was the range of your RS6? 300 miles?

Unless you drive like a 90 year old Sunday Driver there are not many EV's that can do that on a motorway.

However, it all comes down to how far you drive daily. If less than 100 miles per day then there are a lot of EV's you can look at, including the Polestar 2.

In addition if you only go beyond 150miles a few times a year then range is irrelevant for a certain point of view. Charging around "North Yorkshire" isn't the problem ... as you'll be well away from there before you need a charge top up.

So what's your daily millage?
How far are typical drives beyond 150miles?
How many times per year do you do these 150+ journey's?

 

[Considered1]

HI Thanks for your really quick reply, The Audi always said 360 miles range after I filled it up but I doubt it got that far (ave 20mpg!) and only filled up once (ok sometimes twice) a week on average so I'm seriously contemplating bypassing the Hybrid stage and straight to Electric.

My biggest problem is no on-street charging solution at home as we live in a village in a very old cottage set back a little off the road and no drive or garage, and while North Yorkshire County Council live in the dark ages I was hoping to charge on the go or install a charging point at my elderly parents which is a 90mile round trip which I make most weeks. Might even rely on Lidl opening their new store eminently which would double the number of charging points around here overnight!

i'm out and about visiting customers mainly at least once or twice per week so i'm not averse to meeting them at retail parks/supermarkets where I can top up while enjoying the coffee but I need to understand the different charging systems so all help greatly appreciated, I dont want to get stuck with the only 7kw charger which would need 10hrs? when I could have waited for a Tesla and used the rapid ones..! but you're right when I travel longer distance I can count on one hand and that would involve several motorway services and /or a nice overnight at a decent hotel, again where i've seen the Tesla supecharges but not many others..

 

[GDank]

Ok forgot that 7kw takes 10 hours - because it's extremely rare you'll go from 100% to 1-2% of battery.

In addition I'm going to assume you know nothing about EV's and battery maintenance and charging. The TLDR version is: Keep the batter between 20-80% for short daily drives - this gives around a 110-150 miles range depending on what you are doing with the car. Charging from 80-100% takes longer than 0-80% takes once at 50kW or higher.

Assuming you can't charge at home or in the local town, then you'll want to plan around the following :-

7kW = 22 Miles Per Hour

11kW = 35 Miles Per Hour

50kW =
1 Hour = 150 miles (Assuming Battery is 20% or lower in charge) - max 80% battery. So if you are 50% battery 1 hour will get you to around 90%, as half the time will be the 80-90%.
Up to 3 Hours = 100%

150kW=
35mins from 0-80%. (So around 180-ish miles)
+2 Hours from 80-100%.


So as you can see from the above you really want to focus on the 50 or 150kW chargers. Use Map of charging points for electric car drivers in UK: Zap-Map to determine where the nearest one's are to you - use the Filter on the left and only select the 50kW CCS (Non-Tesla) or higher from the Rapid connections.

For example if you find a nearby 50kW that is only 20 miles away then you know you can always pop there to charge if required.

You can also use Zap Maps for any of your meetings etc.. and plan your route around there.

The Polestar 2 will also advise of charging locations - although not as good as the Zap Map data, as users can update if a place has problems.

Another tool is the "A Better Route Planner website that you can use now to plan some trips to see if they work for you.


Hope the above can help you make your mind up.

 

[Considered1]

Thanks, really appreciate the pointers, is there a link somewhere as to what charging set up comes with the Polestar and how in the real world do you all manage to pay/register with all these different charge point providers, please tell me there is one app that does it all, hopefully its not like the volvo app that promised pay for parking that after 2 years still no one knew how to use or how to register... kind regards

 

[GDank]

One app to control all the payments .... 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 .. what a joker!!!

ohh your are serious .... ermmm welcome to the UK EV world.

In essence nope. Make a folder on your phone, sign up to as many as you can or think you will use and prey they work. Th EV world in the UK has been held back by the Torries who do the min required to make it look like they are making an effort, then just like PPE they make a balls up of it anyway.

The Polestar 2 comes with a Type 2 and a CCS charging port (or also know as as Combination or Combo) - you can use Zap Map to see these. Tesla chargers generally do not work as a rule of thumb but some at hotels or other destinations might.

 

[Considered1]

Ha HA!, thought so, i'm loving this already another British Challenge and why we need such amazing Forum Members! Keep up the good work, should be paid as volunteers. A few things to keep an eye on and wait for perhaps..What price per Kwh are these public charging points, I had a quick look at that Plugsurfing website and 50p is way to much.. I'm on Octopus Agile as well so might be cheaper to move somewhere with a drive.!

 

[GDank]

Depends, around 30p is average. Shell and some other fast 150kw one's are 49p.

They are fine for a long journey once in a while, but using them to charge your EV regularly is a little pointless. You need to find a local charge point or get your town council to install a charge point or two in the local car parks or high street.