r/evchargingUK

I swear I spend more mental energy planning charging than I do actually driving the car sometimes. Not even range anxiety anymore, more charger anxiety. Is it working? Is it actually available? Will the app randomly decide I don’t exist halfway through the session? I still enjoy owning the EV overall but sometimes it feels like the UK infrastructure requires a weird amount of optimism.

Hi all.

I have recently started driving a 22kwh 2014 bmw i3. Given the small capacity (especially with degradation), charging overnight with the level 1 charger can easily get me a full charge, something that was easy at my parents' detached house. I usually live in Glasgow in a 4th floor flat, which makes this a little tricky. The arrangement of roads within the development theoretically would allow for the car to be charged by an extension lead guided down the side of the building and across about 2 metres of shared (but rarely used) green space. Has anyone else charged their car in a similar way? Is it a socially acceptable thing to do?

Just curious really - how fast can your car charge? It's not a question it occurred to me to ask when buying. My MG is supposed to manage 75kW. Who's making full use of the 300kW chargers?

I’m looking for the best tariff to use with my Tesla and granny charger and was looking for some recommendations please!

I charge at 8a and do about 60 miles a day, resulting in currently charging the car for about 9 hours every day.

I’ve been looking at Scottish Power EV Optimise and EDF Go Electric with Smart Charging. How has this been for people that have needed to charge for more than 6/7 hours a day?

Any other tariff recommendations?

Hello all, recently switched to ev and trying to find myself in this world of ev tariffs.

My eon next drive tariff advertises 9p/kw night rate.

When I do my calculations the rate is more like 10.5p a kw

Eon customer support gave me an answer that it’s due to demand the price rises…but hold on how can it rise if I signed up for a fixed 9p?

Any wisdom from the community?

To be able to get full 7kW EV charging, my mains supply needs to be unlooped.

I’m not on the hook for the cost (thank god), but it isn’t going to be an easy or quick job - matey who came out did not sound chuffed.

DNO is going to need a new 30m cable run underneath a public road and two paths, apparently needs multiple permits to get the work done!

I’m guessing I’m going to be waiting a while with my granny charger for now.

Anyone else have any horror install stories?

I know Octopus gets a lot of love here but, as someone who’s been on a SVT with EDF for years and has just switched to an EV tariff, I have to say that it’s a pretty decent deal.

I changed to the EV tariff after finally getting my own charger installed at home and I was also able to sign up for their ‘Sunday Saver’ “challenge”, which involves reducing your peak time (4-7pm weekdays) usage percentage by a given amount, eg: from 12% to 6%.

I’ve had free electricity all day Sunday (8am - Midnight) for 5 weeks straight now!!

Shifting my usage has not been difficult at all - especially now all the laundry and vacuuming is getting done on Sundays!!

Are other providers as good? Would be interested to know.

Disclaimer: Not an employee or affiliate, not paid or commercialised post in any way, just felt it was worth sharing for anyone looking for their best deals and interested to know if others are similar / better.

Not even angry anymore. Just tired. Is there a network in the UK where the real time status actually reflects reality or is checking the app before you drive somewhere just wishful thinking at this point?

I have a model 3 on order.  I have access to plenty of "cheap enough" charging between work and superchargers so I'm not jumping in with a full charger installation right away but I would like to be confident if I need to "top up" from home the odd day that I could do so.

Apparently Tesla no longer supply a granny charger so I was going to buy the Tesla one which is £180 but it doesn't quite have enough reach so I would need an extension lead like the ones Toughleads sell.

So around £220 all-in.

A Cord Plus 10M charger is £135.

Looks like the moment I put a link to the Cord EV website the post gets pulled by some content filter so third time lucky.

I'm seeing conflicting info on the safety side of this.

The charger above is type 2 and maxes out at 10A and can be downgraded plus I would say Cord look like a reputable brand v some of the "who on earth makes this?" stuff you see out there.

I plan on getting a local electrician to quote on a charger install and also see if they can check/inspect/replace the 13A socket in the garage which is literally 2 feet away from the consumer unit.

I wouldn't be plugging this into the lounge next to the TV or anything that seems daft.

Is there anything to be concerned about please as I keep reading a range of view from "this is absolutely fine" to "your house will burn down".

I've been on IOG for years but was tempted by EDF's very similar tariff, which is also driven by Octopus's Kraken infrastructure. I switched this week and thought some information might be useful for some people.

I had never been particularly tempted by the Eon version as I couldn't find any convincing evidence that their API would play nicely with Home Assistant, which is a must-have for me as I also have a house battery and solar. I took the plunge with EDF only after u/stek2022 reported about his fork of the BottlecapDave integration for EDF; there's a new subreddit for that integration here: r/HomeAssistantEDF Anyone who does decide to switch and for whom HA is useful might consider using his r e f e r r a l code, as I did (available on the github page.) He's earned it!

For me the switch was painless. I applied (by phone) on Tuesday; the switch occurred at midnight Wednesday night/Thursday morning; the selected tariff (GoElectric) and smart add-on (Smart Charge) activated on Saturday morning. Export will take a little longer but I was assured export payments will be backdated to the switch date.

Pros:

• Off peak import 6.99p 2300-0600
• Off peak also applies during smart charging periods for the whole house, just like IOG
• Rate fixed for one year
• £50 switch bonus until 24 May 2026, plus the usual £50 r e f e r r a l bonus
• £5 per month bill credit just for signing up to the intelligent functionality
• Fixed export 15p - also fixed for one year
• Works virtually identically to IOG (same setting of target times and targets, etc)
• Really easy to switch HA automations just by replacing Octopus entities with equivalent EDF entities

Cons:

• If you're in a PowerUp area for Octopus, you will no longer get these
• EDF is obviously a much smaller player in this space so it may be more difficult to get support from either EDF or a large pool of other users (like this sub!)
• So far, that's it

Worth a look, I would say. For me the clincher was the 12 month fix, given what the predictions for price increases look like this summer. I am in no way anti-Octopus and wouldn't be at all surprised if I end up back with them at some point in the future, but this made a lot of sense for me right now.

I'm looking to get a new car next year and would love to make the switch to EV.

Just wondered if a home charger is an absolute must or can you get away with using public chargers only?

I'm renting so not really in a position to install a charger at home.

Hello people. Ignore the ignorance but I'm extremely new to the world of public EV charging in the UK.

Can some kind soul please guide me through the best way to look and pay for public charging while we wait for our charger at home to get installed?

For ref,

Car - Audi A3 PHEV

Battery size - 19.7 kWh

Max charging speed - 11kW AC/50kW DC with a Type 2

No, I'm not with Octopus or Eon nor do I plan to be in the next 12 months as I'm on a fix with Outfox energy.

Let me know if any additional info is required and I'll edit the post accordingly.

Thanks

Hi, I recently picked up an eNV200 and am loving it so far (First EV) I managed a 178 mile trip home using the Chademo fast chargers on route, I did find a couple of faulty ones though 😱.
One of the faulty ones was reset by the company after a phone call and worked first time after that.
I have been doing a bit more research and discovered a Chademo to ccs2 adapter, which would be great to have on hand for long journeys, it would reduce range anxiety (only a 22kWh usable battery) and would open up a ton more charging sites.
I later discovered the cost was a LOT more than my type 2 to type 1 plug adapter as it has a lot of electrical gubbins inside to make it work.
I am not in immediate need of one, and wondered if any fellow EV Redditor’s had one and were looking to upgrade their EV to a more modern CCS2 vehicle and wouldn’t mind selling their adapter to me?
I would happily take it off one of your hands!

Not anti EV. Own one. Love it for everything within about 80 miles of home. The moment a longer journey enters the picture something shifts. Which chargers are actually working today. Whether the app for this network talks to the app for that network. Whether the one rapid charger at the services is occupied by someone who finished charging 40 minutes ago and wandered into Greggs. The infrastructure is getting better. It is just not getting better at the same speed as the sales numbers. What is the single thing that would most improve the real world experience of charging in the UK right now?

Just bought an ID5, bought a house 2 years ago with a New Motion charger and a Matt E electrical box. When plugging the car in I get an error message, only way to get it working is to manually switch off the electric box and turn it back on. Not the end of the world but not ideal each time. Tried scanning QR code on NewMotion unit but get an error page as I think it got bought by Shell - unsure who to contact for support, or whether someone here may be able to help? TIA!!