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Ecotricity's "how to charge your car" video series...

27K views 102 replies 37 participants last post by  MarkPalmos 
#1 · (Edited)
Thought these were well worth sharing for newcomers on here and elsewhere, a guide to the Electric Highway chargers from @Ecotricity

CCS:



Fast AC:



CHAdeMO:



And all in one (thanks @Thermostat9)

 
#77 ·
You do really need 40 - 45 minutes to do that . I use the 22kW post at Leicester Forest sometimes as it is as fast as the rapid pump (you need to use your own 3-phase cable that comes with the car with the 22kW posts). Once you're down to 20% or so, you'll get a good rate of charge up to 90%, usually 21kW or so. That means you'll take on around 14kWh in about 40 mins, which would get you from 20-80%. Also, I've found 60mph vs 70mph makes a huge difference in terms of how often I need to stop to charge on the motorway. It can be quicker to drive slightly slower but charge less often..

@Pcoventry Ecotricty charge 15p per kWh to Ecotricity customers on the rapids. However, their home electricity cost are so expensive I don't think its worth it unless you rapid charge a lot. I use Bulb (shameless plug for referral link in my signature :whistle:) which is 100% renewable but costs me 11.5p per kWh, which is about 5p per kWh cheaper than EcoT. I'd need to do lots of rapid charges to cover the difference.
 
#78 ·
Thank you Spike, this is exactly what I wanted to know, much appreciated.

Totally agree for electricity costs, I compared them with my current provider and it is way more expensive, but perhaps, makes a different ve for someone doing rapid charging very often which is not a case for me.
 
#81 ·
okay so I could get an three phase cable too? I don't really see it as blocking if I am on it then I am on it there are 2 others- and to be fair we aren't likely to get in tat situation I stick to a certain area miles from him! lol
 
#82 · (Edited)
Well, I don't know what a 3 phase cable is. It doesn't apply to the Leaf anyway. There are two ways to charge a Leaf: at home (and sometimes away) you would use a cable (supplied with the car) which has a Type 2 plug at each end, or if your home charger is "tethered", i.e. has its own cable permanently attached to it, there would be a Type 2 plug on the free end that plugs into the Type 2 socket on your car. This will charge at a maximum of 7kW which is fine for charging overnight at home, or if you have access to a free charger elsewhere and you are going to leave it for several hours to charge up.

However, if you're somewhere like a motorway service station, they have rapid chargers with a CHAdeMO plug on a fixed lead that plugs into the other socket on your Leaf and charges at a much faster rate - this is preferable, but you usually have to pay for it!

Just watch the third video down at the start of this thread (How to use a DC CHAdeMO charger) and it will explain everything to you better than I can. The first two don't apply to the Leaf.
 
#83 ·
okay cheers :) I am glad you get a cable with the car. I just sold my Ampera one and wondered today what I do lol
 
#84 ·
I watched the videos before I even got my car so I would know exactly what to do when charging en route.

However, I still got caught out today at Leigh Delamere services. I tried several times but the pump wouldn't get past the first "Preparing to Charge" phase so I phoned Ecotricity, who told me that it meant it was not communicating with the car. I then realised the CHAdeMO connector was the old type with the lever that I have not come across before, so it was not properly connected until I pulled the lever. :) I didn't realise there were any of those left.
 
#85 ·
I met a I3 owner who had a problem with his AC - it literally pulled 2p's worth in 39 mins as the car wouldn't talk to the charger.

I sat on BOTH AC Medium parking spaces to stop ICE'ing - and then some pillock in a big pick up blocked one of the rapids. I did ask him to move but I got told where to go - so luckily someone with a electric van parked behind him.. oh that was fun to watch

I was also that way yesterday - in Membury.
 
#86 ·
The title of this thread always makes me laugh. Can it now be deleted or - at the very least - be amended to read

'ecotricity's how to charge your car - use another charging network' ? :)

Otherwise newbies might get the impression that @Ecotricity actually know how - and want - to run a charging network.

:mad::mad::mad:
 
#87 ·
It might not work for you but it does for some of us - so no I think it should stay as it is

:mad::mad::mad::mad::p
 
#90 ·
It might not work for you but it does for some of us - so no I think it should stay as it is

:mad::mad::mad::mad::p
OK furry nuff - but I won't be planning any routes based on their network. Do you get reliable service from the same ones in a particular area or are they more widely spread ?
 
#89 ·
1. I bet you still charge the same as before and 2. god that blonde is nice in the video :)
 
#98 ·
Does this still need to be a sticky considering half their chargers don't work ? Or maybe needs amending ? "pick broken plug up from puddle" "Is your car built after 2015 and running CCS ? Move along"
 
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#101 ·
Peeps, I'm a newbie here, but AFAIK the videos on this thread are all outdated... Ecotricty no longer use/require a card, they use their app QR code reader instead. Maybe this thread should be EOL'ed... ?
Thanks.
 
#103 · (Edited)
Hi, yeah, or perhaps the moderators can just UNPIN it so it no longer presents itself as important, useful information! It wouldn't be good to just change the videos because all the comments after the videos will be with regard to the old videos, so it would be better to create new videos on a new thread.
 
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