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3K views 27 replies 15 participants last post by  HEVRA 
#1 ·
Hello everyone,

My name is James and I am posting about the new site I have launched; www.electricvehicleexpert.com

The aim of the site is to try to help the transition to electric vehicles by providing the information and answers to all topics around electric vehicles. I have started this site off the back of the knowledge I gained from working at the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre which is the UK's first government funded project with the aim to help people understand and even test drive electric vehicles.

If you are looking to find out more information about EVs then have a look! If you already know about them then any feedback / areas of the site you think could be added to would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

James
james@electricvehicleexpert.com
 
#2 ·
Good luck to you.

I see this is your first post.... you might have benefited your site somewhat had you posted on here and garnered the experience of those EV owners who've been owner for years! ;)
 
#7 ·
Good luck to you.

I see this is your first post.... you might have benefited your site somewhat had you posted on here and garnered the experience of those EV owners who've been owner for years! ;)

Thank you for your reply! I defitely would like to here what EV owners think and the stories that they have. My dad has owned an EV for a long time and done 80,000 miles in it so I am fortunate enough to be able to benefit from things he has learnt over the years. James
 
#3 ·
/Rant
The site does not mention the complete and total disaster of charging away from home, with a myriad of suppliers with a raft of different charging methods including Apps the don't work and even Apps that are required though the posts are in places with no mobile signal like underground carparks.
Then there are CCS chragers which only work with some cars and not others.!
The favorite trick is to provide only 1 charger which is unreliable instead of multiple chargers so one or 2 out don't matter. Did any one mention the excessive time (can be months) some providers take to fix faulty units. Then there are the abandoned ones where no one will accept responsibility. There is at least one company that charges a huge amount to stop EV's using their points so they can park their hire cars in the ev bay.
There was supposed to be contactless charging by now - that seems to be generally ignored and OLEV or whoever is supposed to be in charge is not enforcing.
One mob provides several different RFID cards which are not interoperable. the same shower has a deliberatly bad App with a high charge to try and force folks to subscribe to their RFID card.
?Rant off

This might give the reality of having an EV a more balanced view on your site.
Me I'm sticking with my EREV until its possible to drive a BEV , stop and charge with the same ease, lack of planning and likelihood of it working as filling a petrol tank.
We are a long way off currently IMO
 
#6 ·
/Rant
The site does not mention the complete and total disaster of charging away from home, with a myriad of suppliers with a raft of different charging methods including Apps the don't work and even Apps that are required though the posts are in places with no mobile signal like underground carparks.
I think this is a good point, as someone new to EV I'm finding the public charging somewhat confusing. It just baffles me that there isn't standardisation and more contactless PAYG. Admittedly I haven't looked for one yet as I trawl this forum, but it would be good to read a guide to say A & B will do you for 70% of <this>, C & D will of you for 20% of <this> and E, F, G, H, I are all localised so only of interest in <this> case.

Personally I much prefer the personal feedback of a community such as this, but I think there are plenty of people who will prefer a website so think it's a good idea. Good luck (y)

*disclaimer: I haven't looked at your site yet but am interested to when I get 5 mins.
 
#11 ·
Can people unplug your cable?
No. Charging cables are locked into both the charging unit and the vehicle charging port.


Type 1 cables?

I will be sure to change this. From my experience, all of the vehicles I have used locked the cable into the vehicle even if it was, for example a Nissan LEAF type 1. I appreciate this is not the case as certain vehicles like the Ampera don't. Thanks, James
 
#5 ·
Unless you use a (small) padlock on the catch the Type1 can be unplugged. 3 year back @ some erk unplugged mine on the drive and the alarm went off, they had run off by the time I'd opened the door, never since.
 
#12 ·
Thank you for your comment. I have been able to experience, i3, LEAF, Zoe, Soul and a whole host of other vehicles so I hope to have a fairly well rounded experience. However, this is partially why I have posted on here because this is where I can discover other peoples experiences so that I can gain a broader understanding. Thanks, James
 
#13 ·
I agree with the points above, as the last car I owned (for nearly five years) had a Type 1 connector and they don't lock at all (unless, as mentioned above, you faff around fitting a very tiny padlock through the locking hole).

The public charge network is, quite frankly, pretty abysmal. The plethora of incompatible systems and apps, the need to pay subscriptions to access some services, the need to carry a wallet full of different access cards, the general flakiness of systems that rely on apps to work (loss of signal, badly written apps, incompatible phones etc), plus the high charges that some charge point suppliers impose, makes the whole public charging thing a bloody nightmare for anyone new to EV ownership and enough to make some forget about the whole idea, I'm sure. It's the one aspect that has delayed my switch from a PHEV to a BEV, and one thing that led to me being cautious and going from a PHEV to a BEV with range extender.

A year or two ago I filled in a government questionnaire that was aimed at finding out more about the problems with public charging, and I (and probably everyone on here, I suspect) made the point several times that what was needed was a unified system whereby every charge point in the land, with no exceptions, just worked with any debit or credit card and no need for membership cards, subscriptions, mobile phone apps or whatever. Sadly we seem no nearer to this ideal now than we were then, with the wooly wording of the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill 2018 which arose from that consultation, only sort of suggesting that common payment methods may be adopted.
 
#14 ·
what was needed was a unified system whereby every charge point in the land, with no exceptions, just worked with any debit or credit card
A law demanding that would have resulted in most 7kW to 22kW charging posts being removed because it just isn't cost (or in some case technically) viable. You need to be careful what you wish for!

New rapid chargers could absorb the cost (as we see) but retrofitting older models is not always viable. We may see the government mandating that new ones have the facility, but I suspect mandatory roaming will come first. According to the impact statement, that is the lowest cost solution to make things at least a bit easier for the driver.
 
#19 ·
I think your site is a great idea, there are some things I’d change though. Some of it seems a little simplistic and more explanation would be better. As an example, when you talk about kWh you simply say it’s a kilo watt hour (normally written kilowatt hour) and it’s a measure of electricity stored in a battery. I think it would be a lot better if you expanded on this and explained what it actually is? Even if it’s on a link from the main page?
 
#20 ·
James, you could perhaps talk about efficiency and miles per kWh. Sounds basic to us here but those new to EV’s will be used to thinking in mpg to compare efficiency. We all know 30mpg is rubbish and 70mpg is good, but those new to all this would not know whether 5 miles per kWh was good or bad, or how to use that figure to get a rough idea of range on a test drive along their usual routes etc.
 
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#21 ·
James, I've just had a quick look, and your site looks very helpful & welcoming to read for a novice. I think maybe you could usefully add links to detailed pages elswhere, as there are many things that need to be explained in more detail.
Such as:
Main page :
"Can people unplug your cable?" vehicle-specific details (type 1 unlockability, env200 mentioned above) could usefully go into a later section. Also in there you would explain that the Rapids provide the cable in question, but Type 1&2 usually you bring your own - though I'm told there are also some (v rare) type-1 tethered chargers in existence! This would also tie into a section about whether a home charger should be tethered or untethered (pros & cons both ways), and details about whether any EVs you buy come with a portable Type 2 cable as standard. Am not myself aware of any that do, as they aren't peanuts to buy. Cost of these can be mentioned, links to trustworthy suppliers as well?

"How far can an electric vehicle go?"
Needs a detailed section, describing effects of winter, wet weather, choice of tyre, effect of fitting winter tyres, driving style, as well as the car's own efficiency, e.g. 30 kWh Ioniq going similar distance to 40 kWh Leaf. Then someone will wonder about towing, or roof-rack, and effects of - a whole new topic in itself. Tesla Model 3 has an approved roofrack you can buy & fit.

"How much does it cost to charge an electric vehicle?"
Needs detailed linked section, which would mention that some Teslas come with free lifetime charging, along with tables/info about the other various suppliers around.

"Do the batteries in an EV last long?"
needs detailed linked section. Recent append had a Mk1 leaf, 70K miles done and 50% degradation! We don't know the history of that car, but it may be the worst out there! Otoh Ampera manages zero detectable degradation over 200k miles. Teslas & otehr Nissans have done huge mileages. Maybe mention some cars upgradeable (i3) but this isn't commonly or easily done.

Understanding EVs page:
"Range Extender"
"REX vehicles have similar size batteries to full EVs." : Only correct for i3. Ampera has 10.4 kWh useable.
"Example BMW i3." Please add Ampera & Chevrolet Volt after BMW i3. Ok it's second hand only, but an impressive car nonetheless.

It's worth saying that the experience of driving a REX is essentially that of driving a full EV, with the huge torque and silence available whenever there's electricity in the battery. REX battery is usually greater than that of plugin hybrids
The experience of driving a Hybrid (plug-in or not) is that of driving a petrol/diesel car. Max torque only available by running the petrol engine. Some will start the engine as a matter of routine, even if you don't want it to (Ioniq plug-in). Driver aware of gear changes usually, though not in Prius I believe.

Worth mentioning somewhere that non-plugin-hybrids are really just an ordinary car to drive, just slightly more efficient than a conventional petrol/diesel, and that readers should not be taken in by claims of "self-charging cars".

"Models Available" linked page. Looks good, but what about the 2nd hand market? Ampera? MB 250e? Leaf Mk1? links to owner's experiences of these vehicles? By all means point them to some of our threads here, why not? We're public!
Maybe add a section somewhere (under "Cost Savings" ?) about buying 2nd hand, and what to look out for? Leaf Spy & other tools to help check a 2nd hand purchase? Likely to be very vehicle specific.

Overall I think it looks to be an excellent site, my concerns are that the devil is in the detail! Anyone considering buying an EV first-time really does need to talk to /read about other owners to make sure they're not having the wool pulled over their eyes. Maybe link to youtube reviews of the various cars? It can be hard to find that Ioniq .vs/ Leaf rang&speed test by Bjorn for e.g., which could be extremely useful to someone torn between which of the 2 to go for.

Section on health benefits? E.g. even if can't afford a BEV, driving a Phev means you can choose to use electricity when passing through built-up areas, and burn petrol out in the open, so reducing the pollution in said areas.

Problem is, how to avoid drowning the reader in this stuff! pretty-much every topic you raise could have a lot of backup & related info. But thanks for your efforts so far, looks v impressive!
 
#26 ·
Thank you very much for taking the time to have a look at the site and give your feedback. I will definitely expand on the areas you have brought to my attention. Unfortunately, due to the size and fast changing nature of the market it is very difficult to be specific but I will certainly try to where needed. I strongly agree with your point about people wanting to read about others experiences and this is something I am working on. Thank you very much again for taking the time to message, James
 
#22 ·
Hi James - nice looking site! My comments are with my proof-reader's (somewhat pedantic) hat on:
  • Top of page: "this site's aim" is missing an apostrophe.
  • How much does it cost to charge: "will be similar" - "be" missing
  • Home charge unit: Inconsistencies - left panel has "homecharge" all one word. Two words as in right panel is preferred.
  • "I don't have the ability to charge at home": has a "click here" but link is missing.
  • "Is there a grant towards electric vehicles?": £ sign missing. "Click here" link is missing.
  • "What does kWh mean?": Perhaps you need to explain the relationship between Ah and kWh. I had several goes at coming up with a simple explanation - the best I could do was "To convert to kWh you need to know the battery voltage, and multiply by that".
That's all for now!
 
#24 ·
I think your site is a great idea, there are some things I’d change though. Some of it seems a little simplistic and more explanation would be better. As an example, when you talk about kWh you simply say it’s a kilo watt hour (normally written kilowatt hour) and it’s a measure of electricity stored in a battery. I think it would be a lot better if you expanded on this and explained what it actually is? Even if it’s on a link from the main page?
Really pleased to hear that you think the site is a good idea. I will look into expanding this as I think you're right, it needs a bit more explanation. Thanks again, James
 
#25 ·
James, you could perhaps talk about efficiency and miles per kWh. Sounds basic to us here but those new to EV’s will be used to thinking in mpg to compare efficiency. We all know 30mpg is rubbish and 70mpg is good, but those new to all this would not know whether 5 miles per kWh was good or bad, or how to use that figure to get a rough idea of range on a test drive along their usual routes etc.
Thank you for your message. As you said, not being new to EVs this is not something I thought about doing but it could be something very useful for those who are. Thanks, James
 
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