Volvo EV Progress

[Tobes]

Thanks, a quick look shows there's a £9 monthly subscription fee which (for me) wouldn't be worth it with a hybrid that can't use the rapid charging rates, but anyone doing a lot of business miles and able to use fast chargers it would make sense.

Oh - absolutely - for a plugin hybrid, the only sensible use case is to charge every night at home, and use the ICE for anything outside of battery range. Trying to use anything except a very low cost destination charger with a PHEV is (IMHO) pointless. (I had a PHEV for 4 years prior to my current BEV).

 

[GaryB]

I regularly take 4 other people out for the day - on longer trips we have to stop for a comfort break - it NEVER takes more than 10 minutes, often only 5 minutes if the toilets are close by the parking - just how much recharging can you actually achieve in such a short time, less the time it takes to plug-in, authorise and then disconnect afterwards.

I can drive anywhere solo in the UK without having to refuel as it's "only" 560 miles to the north coast of Scotland, much less than that down to Cornwall - if/when I switch to an EV I know I'll have to take recharging stops into account for journey planning which will increase overall journey times.

That's great if you have an ICE car by choice. A lot of folks with company cars are now being forced financially down the EV route and hence having to adjust their driving style to suit. Some (like me) enjoy the flexibility from a hybrid vehicle as I have the choice to buy one (I opted out of a company car scheme a few years ago but my employer prefers anyone taking an allowance to try and tick some sort of green-credential box with their car choice).

We all have choices and for me I like to read how others do things, even if it's not my own preferred flavour.

 

[otherclive]

Nowadays employers encourage anyone driving on company business to take a break, from memory it's endorsed by ROSPA and the like to try and reduce accidents caused by fatigue.

Even your car will have a fatigue driver time warning. Unless you switch it off. I’m glad the days of driving Bath to Barrow and back in a day are consigned to history by responsible employers.

 

[otherclive]

A cynic would say it's only the advent of EV charging delay that's highlighted the "need" for breaks to avoid fatigue.

No that came in well before EVs. My two private sector employers emphasised the need for stops and were pretty good on funding overnights if required.

 

[Buckman]

I regularly take 4 other people out for the day - on longer trips we have to stop for a comfort break - it NEVER takes more than 10 minutes, often only 5 minutes if the toilets are close by the parking - just how much recharging can you actually achieve in such a short time, less the time it takes to plug-in, authorise and then disconnect afterwards.

I can drive anywhere solo in the UK without having to refuel as it's "only" 560 miles to the north coast of Scotland, much less than that down to Cornwall - if/when I switch to an EV I know I'll have to take recharging stops into account for journey planning which will increase overall journey times.

Also a lot depends on whether there is a charger that has a free space and that it is working. Not so long ago there were pictures in various papers of long queues at motorway service stations to access the chargers over a Bank Holiday weekend.

Unfortunately no mention of the distance they travelled before needing to recharge, but if it was under 50 miles it makes you wonder why they did not recharge either at home or closer to their departure point?

 

[GaryB]

Even your car will have a fatigue driver time warning. Unless you switch it off. I’m glad the days of driving Bath to Barrow and back in a day are consigned to history by responsible employers.

Yes it has, it starts pinging at you after about 2 hours driving.

 

[Buckman]

Even your car will have a fatigue driver time warning. Unless you switch it off. I’m glad the days of driving Bath to Barrow and back in a day are consigned to history by responsible employers.

My driving was a lot of stop and go so plenty of short 5 -10 minute breaks during the day. Our current TomTom advises me when a break is required which is very seldom as generally no alternative except to stop anyway for a very good reason. LOL!.

 

[Tobes]

I regularly take 4 other people out for the day - on longer trips we have to stop for a comfort break - it NEVER takes more than 10 minutes, often only 5 minutes if the toilets are close by the parking - just how much recharging can you actually achieve in such a short time, less the time it takes to plug-in, authorise and then disconnect afterwards.

I can drive anywhere solo in the UK without having to refuel as it's "only" 560 miles to the north coast of Scotland, much less than that down to Cornwall - if/when I switch to an EV I know I'll have to take recharging stops into account for journey planning which will increase overall journey times.

If you have a Tesla, or another car with plug and charge support, plugging in _is_ authorising. It literally takes 30 seconds longer than parking. If you don't have plug and charge support, you tap a card - it's an additional 10 seconds. Then you start the walk to the loo. The charge rate is car and battery status dependent.

If you genuinely get back 5 mins after you left, and immediately unplug, in my car (now 4 years old and far from state of the art) at 20% state of charge, you will absorb 150kW/12 =12.5kWh or 37.5 miles(at3miles per kWh). In a Tesla M3 or MY, or the new Polestar2 or Polestar 4 thats more like 200kW/12=16.667 kWh 58Miles (polestar 3.5 miles/kWh) or 66 miles in the Tesla (4miles/kWh). In an Ioniq5 or EV6 280/12=23kWh or 87.4 miles (3.8miles per kWh).

 

[otherclive]

Even if not charging, the advice is to stop after 2 hours and have a10 minute walk around. After having a DVT in 2017 I largely stick to that guidance, with or without pee. The macho days of long continuous drives without a stop are consigned to history for me. Along with the recognition that I am nearer 80 than 40.

 

[Tobes]

Even if not charging, the advice is to stop after 2 hours and have a10 minute walk around. After having a DVT in 2017 I largely stick to that guidance, with or without pee. The macho days of long continuous drives without a stop are consigned to history for me. Along with the recognition that I am nearer 80 than 40.

While I am nearer 40 than 80, 2 to 2.5 hours is enough for me too. And was before I started driving an EV! When I drove home from France over the summer, almost 750 miles, there were a couple of legs where I had wanted to reach a particular charger for cost benefit, and wished I was less of a miser, so I could use a more expensive charger and have an earlier break!

 

[RogerL]

Yes it has, it starts pinging at you after about 2 hours driving.

I've switched mine off - it was over-sensitive in that long motorway sections with little traffic so rarely changing lanes would trigger it because no steering input - but on twisty roads you could drive all day without it activating - in reality I quickly learnt when I retired to take a break whenever I was tired - with that discipline I was able to drive from Dunnet Head/John O'Groats to Land's End/Lizard in a day earlier this year - although couldn't quite do it on one tank of fuel.

 

[otherclive]

I've switched mine off - it was over-sensitive in that long motorway sections with little traffic so rarely changing lanes would trigger it because no steering input - but on twisty roads you could drive all day without it activating - in reality I quickly learnt when I retired to take a break whenever I was tired - with that discipline I was able to drive from Dunnet Head/John O'Groats to Land's End/Lizard in a day earlier this year - although couldn't quite do it on one tank of fuel.

Was that a charity drive?

 

[GaryB]

I've switched mine off - it was over-sensitive in that long motorway sections with little traffic so rarely changing lanes would trigger it because no steering input - but on twisty roads you could drive all day without it activating - in reality I quickly learnt when I retired to take a break whenever I was tired - with that discipline I was able to drive from Dunnet Head/John O'Groats to Land's End/Lizard in a day earlier this year - although couldn't quite do it on one tank of fuel.

Round Britain Reliability run by any chance?

 

[Mel]

An EV is not the same as an ICE and trying to demonstrate that you can drive both in the same way appears pointless.
If you want to drive an EV beyond its range, you have to accept that you will need to stop and recharge it. If your circumstances mean that this stop is not a problem then there is no difficulty and you reap the benefits of an EV. If your circumstances mean that this a repeated and substantial inconvenience then it probably not worth it.
Horses for Courses and all that
Mel

 

[RogerL]

Was that a charity drive?

No, just a motorhead doing it for fun

 

[Dustydog]

Thank you Tobes . I wondered how long it would be before you helped us out😉

This thread and posts is NOT “knock the EV” ! We are well beyond that now.👍

My son’s new EV Volvo is part of a big experiment with his Corporate Employers who decided to be seen as green. Fine with most of us.

My intention is to share as far as possible real life experiences with a young family and long distance travels to see his extended family.

Planning his last journey was not possible because he had to work that day. I would have spent five minutes filling the diesel which would have done the entire round trip. As explained , through no one’s fault this wasn’t possible with the Volvo. It’s just pure simple facts.

His experiences at the chargers are well documented elsewhere. I am sure when the infrastructure is improved we can all cheer. Not so day to day just yet.

I’m intrigued with your fast charger costing. Are you willing to explain how my son can achieve the same costs? That would really help.
Why isn’t everyone else taking advantage? Are Tesla points still for Teslas only?

This brings me to the often unexplained difference between a Fast charger and Super charger. The availability of the two is vastly different as is the cost and time to charge.
I’m learning 😉

Overall the Volvo is a lovely car but does have limitations over the ICE . Used locally around Yorkshire and home charging at cheap rates is excellent . Employer pays. But like the ICE no free mileage fuel so private long distance is at his expense.

As Prof and others have said battery technology is improving at lightening speeds and I suspect in a few years 500 achievable miles will be available. At the moment , in the current weather , road conditions the Volvo doesn’t like much more than 150 before a good blast of volts.

 

[otherclive]

My daughter’s NHS lease Corolla ends in January and over the three years NHS lease costs have rocketed as have others. Even a Yaris X is significantly more expensive than the outgoing Corolla. So she’s dived in to buy a new MG hybrid over four years. Substantially cheaper and more in line with her budget. Gets a 53ppm mileage rate too.

 

[Tobes]

Thank you Tobes . I wondered how long it would be before you helped us out😉

This thread and posts is NOT “knock the EV” ! We are well beyond that now.👍

My son’s new EV Volvo is part of a big experiment with his Corporate Employers who decided to be seen as green. Fine with most of us.

My intention is to share as far as possible real life experiences with a young family and long distance travels to see his extended family.

Planning his last journey was not possible because he had to work that day. I would have spent five minutes filling the diesel which would have done the entire round trip. As explained , through no one’s fault this wasn’t possible with the Volvo. It’s just pure simple facts.

His experiences at the chargers are well documented elsewhere. I am sure when the infrastructure is improved we can all cheer. Not so day to day just yet.

I’m intrigued with your fast charger costing. Are you willing to explain how my son can achieve the same costs? That would really help.
Why isn’t everyone else taking advantage? Are Tesla points still for Teslas only?

This brings me to the often unexplained difference between a Fast charger and Super charger. The availability of the two is vastly different as is the cost and time to charge.
I’m learning 😉

Overall the Volvo is a lovely car but does have limitations over the ICE . Used locally around Yorkshire and home charging at cheap rates is excellent . Employer pays. But like the ICE no free mileage fuel so private long distance is at his expense.

As Prof and others have said battery technology is improving at lightening speeds and I suspect in a few years 500 achievable miles will be available. At the moment , in the current weather , road conditions the Volvo doesn’t like much more than 150 before a good blast of volts.

Have a look at post #117 on the Tesla costs. Not all Superchargers are open, but many are - including Harrogate. Why does not everyone take advantage - lots of reasons; education - people don't know; convenience - there is no charger where you want it; subscription cost - you need at least 2 if not 3 decent charges in a month to make the subscription worth while. For me - I rapid charge a handful of times a year. For that little, it's not worth paying the subscription premium, and I save so much on all the times I am not rapid charging, it's not worth fussing about. I pick a charger that is convenient and available (Tesla dont yet have an open API for their availability, so unless I have a co-pilot with the Tesla app, I cant see while I am driving).

 

[Dustydog]

Have a look at post #117 on the Tesla costs. Not all Superchargers are open, but many are - including Harrogate. Why does not everyone take advantage - lots of reasons; education - people don't know; convenience - there is no charger where you want it; subscription cost - you need at least 2 if not 3 decent charges in a month to make the subscription worth while. For me - I rapid charge a handful of times a year. For that little, it's not worth paying the subscription premium, and I save so much on all the times I am not rapid charging, it's not worth fussing about. I pick a charger that is convenient and available (Tesla dont yet have an open API for their availability, so unless I have a co-pilot with the Tesla app, I cant see while I am driving).

Also worthy of mention here is how an EV driver accesses a charger.

Volvo in their wisdom have installed a very comprehensive sat nav with time and distance including final destination all linked to where you need to stop for a charge. Not sure if it include Tesla? Doubt it. This software at the moment heavily influences son’s journey.

VW haven’t bothered me with such luxuries😜

 

[RogerL]

Also worthy of mention here is how an EV driver accesses a charger.

Volvo in their wisdom have installed a very comprehensive sat nav with time and distance including final destination all linked to where you need to stop for a charge. Not sure if it include Tesla? Doubt it. This software at the moment heavily influences son’s journey.

VW haven’t bothered me with such luxuries😜

Why would you need an EV-aware satnav in a diesel VW? I

 

[Dustydog]

Why would you need an EV-aware satnav in a diesel VW? I

I meant the VW doesn’t tell me where to fill up.

 

[Tobes]

Also worthy of mention here is how an EV driver accesses a charger.

Volvo in their wisdom have installed a very comprehensive sat nav with time and distance including final destination all linked to where you need to stop for a charge. Not sure if it include Tesla? Doubt it. This software at the moment heavily influences son’s journey.

VW haven’t bothered me with such luxuries😜

The Volvo system is the same as in my Polestar- it's called Android Automotive and is as good as it gets (IMHO). Basically the car runs Android for the infotainment natively and had Google maps built in. It does know where the open Tesla chargers are, and can plan a route for you including them, but right now it cant tell you how many chargers are available (which it does for most other networks). When Tesla open that information, Google will no doubt adopt it.

It's the same system in the new Renault cars.

Most EVs have some mechanism to tell you where a charger is, and even about the availability. Few do it as well as the Android system.

 

[RogerL]

I meant the VW doesn’t tell me where to fill up.

Start with a full tank and go anywhere!

 

[GUMPY]

I meant the VW doesn’t tell me where to fill up.

Even my ancient Yeti asks me if I want it to find a filling station when the tank gets low.

 

[Buckman]

Also worthy of mention here is how an EV driver accesses a charger.

Volvo in their wisdom have installed a very comprehensive sat nav with time and distance including final destination all linked to where you need to stop for a charge. Not sure if it include Tesla? Doubt it. This software at the moment heavily influences son’s journey.

VW haven’t bothered me with such luxuries😜

Can we assume that it is updated constantly when new charging points come Online and the update can be done at home using a laptop or Smartphone and not the dealership?