[Karny]

Hey everyone.

With a little luck, I'll be getting my first EV this Saturday! ?

I live in London and only have on-street parking, so a home charger is out. There are a few street light chargers nearby, but these are time-limited and not in reserved spots, so I doubt I'll be able to use them regularly.

I don't commute for work and will only use the car recreationally on the weekends, so I'm trying to find a way to integrate charging into my routine, like finding a shopping centre or a pub which has charging facilities.

Are any of you in a similar situation? What strategies do you use? Bonus points if you're in North London/Camden and have some helpful tips

 

[teepee]

Hi Karny

Live in Westminster, formerly from Finchley; got our first EV 2 weeks ago;no off street home charging so rely on public network like you. Retired now so no commute and can keep an eye on public chargers via Zap Map and jump on a local one during the day when its free.

Try supermarkets - often have (free) Pod Point/Polar although you may be limited to 2 hours max (Waitrose in Mill Hill has free Polar, Sainsbury in Camden Town has free Pod Point). Useful for a small top up.

Brent Cross has several Polar stations (12p per kwh), Westfield at Shepherds Bush has many too which are free vend but you have to pay for parking!

We decided against the Ubitricity lamppost chargers - 24p per kwh for PAYG is pricey and their special cable (£399 !!) was out of stock and only really worth it (access to 16p per kwh or 19p prices) if you do a high mileage. Also their lamposts are nearly all in resident bays that are not cordoned off for EV use only so are nearly always unavailable. We've gone for Polar Plus - we have 6 locations all within a 10 minute walk of home and so far (touch wood) I've been able to get one when I need it.

Which EV have you gone for?

Good luck with the EV journey.

Tom

 

[Karny]

Hey Tom! Thanks for the really helpful response - I'll definitely look into those!

Which EV have you gone for?

I went for the MG ZS EV. Frankly, it's the only EV I can afford, but it seems a great value and I really enjoyed driving it. It's a big step up from my old 2010 Mini!

 

[teepee]

Hey Tom! Thanks for the really helpful response - I'll definitely look into those!



I went for the MG ZS EV. Frankly, it's the only EV I can afford, but it seems a great value and I really enjoyed driving it. It's a big step up from my old 2010 Mini!

Likewise, we have a blue Exclusive model and prior to that a 17 year old Mazda MPV which we'd had from new. It was great when the kids were growing up but was on its last legs after 150,000 miles!

 

[simon-g]

I don't live around there any more but did have a look at how feasible it would be if I did.

Morrisons towards Chalk Farm has a Geniepoint rapid, and if you go up to Crouch End there's a pair of Polar rapids in the carpark behind Waitrose plus a Shell rapid at the petrol station down the road, so probably the best change of getting on. Plenty of shops and cafes to spend time in while your car charges.

There's also a pair of Polar rapids in the carpark behind the M&S in Muswell Hill - again, nice spot to spend an hour or so.

 

[ianclark78]

A decent number of ubitricity lamp posts use a normal type 2 cable now so no need for the more expensive £399 cable. I think they are called direct access and have little plusses on the ubitricity app.

You can park and charge with source London if you do trips into Kensington, south bank or around smithfields but it is pricey unless you factor both energy and parking together. Westminster council allow you to park for 4 hours for a minimum cost of 10 minutes which is much cheaper than source London. There are Polar points in the city of London car park under London Wall which is pretty reasonable off peak the last time I checked.

Ikea tends to have rapid chargers. I'm not sure about the Edmonton branch though.

 

[Karny]

Thanks - these are great recommendations!