[m455954]

Hi there,

I just picked up my new Ampera Electron (Black with red trim) today

I've been following the 'VOLT' story ever since the prototypes were announced years ago and I finally have my very own model sitting on my drive charging

I've only done the trip from the dealers (NOW! Vauxhall at Staples Corner) home, and a couple of short jaunts near home with the family - all on EV only mode so far.

My daily commute is about 51 miles round trip, so I'm really looking forward to seeing if I can eke that out on electricity only, or if not what my actual MPG will end up being. After having had a 2.7L v6 for the last 10 years it'll feel so good not to be a slave to the pump prices.

I've only found two problems so far.

1) Although I managed to sync my phone with the Bluetooth in the car, and it will recieve calls OK and the phonebook works - I can't MAKE calls from the car. I can make calls from the phone and talk via the car handsfree, but it just won't actually make a call from the car interface (Nokia Lumia 800 with Windows Phone 7.5 Mango) - this seems to be a generic problem with this phone/handfree kit combo. The phone works perfectly in the rental Ford Fiesta I've had for the past 3 weeks.

2) The socket I was planning on using in my garage to plug the charge cable into is apparently not earthed correctly (two flashing red lights on the charge cable), so I'm currently using a wall socket in the hall and passing the charge cable out the cat flap :lol: The cat's none too pleased, but it does the job for now till I can get the socket in the garage fixed.

The dealer told me that I was the first actual customer in the UK to take delivery of an Ampera (i.e. non demo car), but seeing the posts on this forum I guess they were wrong :roll:

Anyway, happy to have joined the ranks of the electric vehicular revolution at last and look forward to chatting with you all.

Cheers,

Mark.

 

[m455954]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

I'm looking into a dedicated charge point - definitely don't want to do the British Gas thing as they'll charge an arm and a leg and attempt to strongarm me into switching gas and electric supplier as well!

Trevor the Ampera guy from Vauxhall said that the dealer could source the chargepoint direct for about £400 and I could then get a local electrician to fit it - i'm persuing that angle at the moment.

Not sure what other options are out there - there seem to be many, but since my car is on a driveway and not in a garage I'd need a unit to be weatherproof or with a long enough cable to reach out from the garage.

I'd prefer to have a cable laid under the flower beds (armoured) that can then come up on the far side of the drive where I normally park my car (allowing space for the wife to park hers next to it), with an interior switch in the hall (shared wall with the garage) to power it on - that way I could pull in, plug the cable in then switch it on from inside the house without having to go into the garage - and let the Ampera's timer figure out when to start pulling current.

Any pointers to suitable chargepoints would be gratefully received.

Ta,

Mark.

 

[m455954]

Thanks Paul, would be handy to know if it's a Nokia or MS problem.

Mark

 

[m455954]

I like the look of the Rolec ones, smaller and less garish if you pick the right colours.

Now I've sorted the socket in the garage out and fitted a hook on the wall to hang the cable on when it's not plugged into the car I'm wondering if I need a dedicated chargepoint anyway. Chances of me needing those extra 2 hours are minimal, however it is a major faff having to take the charging cable out of the garage to put it back in the boot, so I'm wondering if it might just be a cheaper option to just get another charging cable so I have one permanently hooked up at home and another in the boot for when I stay away from home.

Thanks for all the help.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[m455954]

OK, no worries. Thanks for taking the time to try.

 

[m455954]

Pity you can't actually buy one from them!