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[TheBoy]

I'd also add, for the evangelists of the milkfloat, I could easily get from Londonium to St Davids/Fishguard and back again without having to stop.  That to me is more important that worrying about finding a working charger and paying through the nose for it.

[tunnie]

So BMW was actually a bit pessimistic on charge on arrival, rubbish bank holiday traffic helped though. Stop/start speed up/down traffic is actually better for an EV than a constant cruise I've found. As it can generate quite a bit more of electric back into the car.

Constant speed is better for any vehicle, as Scottie would say, ye cannae change the laws of physics, Captain.

Also you'll only regenerate leccy under "braking", but thats inefficient as you have to speed up again, unless of course you need to slow down.


As to not getting much out of the charger, it is possible you were also at a point where the batteries can't take full whack, which is prob as you approach 80%-ish?

It fell away almost straight away to sub 100 within a minute of plugging in and I was on ~72% of similar.

[TheBoy]

I suspect after more journeys where you charge en route means you get to know the car, and make it easier to know what is normal

[Sir Tigger KC]

He gave uk clear instructions. “ Get your own oil”.

Don’t worry this sh1t show will end in a few weeks then everyone else will have to pick up the mess ( except of course Israel)

Dorset has it's own oil! 

We should proclaim independence from Starmer's socialist shitshow Yookay. 

The Democratic People's Republic Petrostate of Dorsetshire?   

I know you're sort of joking, but the UK has no refineries producing Diesel. All diesel has to be imported. So even if Darzet has a squillion barrels of crude oil lying around, it'll still have no diesel.

And it doesn't matter what hole in the ground the oil comes out of, or even which country that hole in the ground is actually in. Oil is globally priced, so if it's $100 a barrel in the UK, it's $100 a barrel in the USA, $100 a barrel in China, $100 a barrel in Russia etc. The oil isn't owned by 'the UK' or 'Darzet' - it's owned by Shell/BP/Exon/Whoever, and they will sell it to whoever is prepared to pay the most for it. If some idiot starts a war which cuts off 30% of world supply, then the countries that used to receive that oil will shop elsewhere, which puts up prices for everyone. The only way to stop that is export restrictions, but since we can't refine the oil anyway that'd be pointless.

That's no problem, I'd annex Hampshire as they have a refinery at Fawley* and the Port of Southampton would be useful as well.    Just because we don't produce diesel at the moment, that doesn't mean we can't. 

Exporting oil and byproducts is no problem either as it's good for the Democratic People's Petrostate Republic of Dorsetshire's balance of payments, jobs and tax revenue. 

*Fawley oil refinery is one of four oil refineries left in the UK, down from ten in 2010! 

[Doctor Gollum]

Welcome to The Communist Republic of California 

[LC0112G]

So BMW was actually a bit pessimistic on charge on arrival, rubbish bank holiday traffic helped though. Stop/start speed up/down traffic is actually better for an EV than a constant cruise I've found. As it can generate quite a bit more of electric back into the car.

Constant speed is better for any vehicle, as Scottie would say, ye cannae change the laws of physics, Captain.

Also you'll only regenerate leccy under "braking", but thats inefficient as you have to speed up again, unless of course you need to slow down.


As to not getting much out of the charger, it is possible you were also at a point where the batteries can't take full whack, which is prob as you approach 80%-ish?

It fell away almost straight away to sub 100 within a minute of plugging in and I was on ~72% of similar.

Most milk floats start to reduce the charge rate once the battery charge is at about 50%. By the time you get to 75% battery charge, the charging rate has typically dropped to about 50% of maximum. This is the reason that they reccomend you charge from 20% to 80%. If you try to charge to 100% it'll probably take double the time that it takes to get to 80%.

However, the side effect of this is that the real usable battery (and hence range) is only 60% of the claimed capacity once you've done the first stint.

[TheBoy]

In addition to what LC says, Lithium batteries degrade if kept at high charge levels.  Hence you iPhone will try to charge to 80%, and only go to 100% just before you take it off charge if it's learnt your daily routine (Apple call that optimised charging).

Lithium batteries really, REALLY don't like to be over discharged or overcharged, and I suspect most EVs (aside from a Leaf) will prevent any individual cell from dropping that far.  Over discharging can lead to magic smoke, which on a lithium battery, cannot be stopped once it starts.  In addition to that, they tend not to like to be discharged too low anyway.

Thus when a lithium cell is low, and decent charging system should start it slowly.  When it's high, the charging system should tail back heavily.  And if it's balance charging (I hope they all are now, aside from Leafs), that needs to be done slower.


So as LC says, recommended regular usage is keeping between around over 30% at all times and under 80% at all times, and also not whacking the charge in at full chat.  That should keep the battery in the best condition for longer.  As the battery management systems improve - again, don't include shite like the Leaf, as it doesn't really have any battery management - the charge rates can be increased, certainly between the 20-80% mark.

Obviously, in Tunnie's case, he only has the car probably 24 or 36 months, so shove it in as fast as it will go lad, and keep it at 100% .  When its 10yrs old, that is somebody else's problem

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

My Leaf has had over 1200 fast charges in its life, hence the useable range of around 50 miles.
Im trying to make the battery pack last as long as I need it to by not letting it drop below 20% if I can help it and not charging above 80%.
Having said that, replacing the whole battery pack with one from  a written off car from a breakers is relatively easy to do, although having a forklift would be very useful. I happen to have one at work. 
Its easier than changing an AR*5 on an Omega.
Replacing individual cells is also doable, but a bit more involved and theres potential for frying yourself if you dont know what your doing I would imagine.
Theres plenty of Youtube tutorials though so wcpgw. 
I may consider both of these options at some point if the range drops below what I need for my 35 mile return, commute.

[TheBoy]

Leaf lacks any battery management, so whatever you do with it will shag the battery.  That's why all Leafs are worthless 2nd hand.

However, that suits you, as you probably paid thruppence halfpenny for it, and it still has enough range to do your commute.  By manually doing the same as battery management - reducing charge rate, not charging beyond 80% or letting it run low, not charging just after use, and not charging when cold, you can eek max life from it.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

its a 2017 model in very nice condition. Paid £1800 for it. Hopefully will get three and a half years out of it, but not counting on it.
Being a pretty early design there is no battery cooling or heating so as you say, the batteries get shagged quickly.
I drive the 17 miles to work, park it up for an hour or two and then plug it in to the charger.
Hoping these little things I do help it last as long as I need it to.
If not, I might consider another battery pack...................or another car.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I could always sign up for one of those three year lease deals for about £50 a week for a brand new EV, but its mainly Chinese stuff to help their quest for market saturation and I dont like that idea too much.