[Deirdre]

Hi everyone, I have just bought my first ev!! A metallic red, second hand Acenta Leaf. 2015, only 200 miles (ex-demo.) Has 6.6kwh fast charger and is in perfect condition inside & out. Was £11,495. Paid for it outright, battery & all. Will pick it up Friday.

Have been looking at Leafs for months and this was the best I saw for this price. The dealer was excellent too as he knew the Leaf really well. Most didn't have a clue and I often knew more than them!

Now need to sort home charging unit. Any tips? I believe there is a universal plug in or one just for Leafs, both same price, so I was thinking of going for universal in case I get a different ev in future?

Are there any free rapid chargers in Lewes/Hailsham/East Sussex? Does anyone know?

We have pv panels on our roof, so we are keen to use electricity from them as much as possible and may get a battery to store the electricity produced in the day, so we can charge car in evenings if we need to. Has anyone bought a battery to store pv electricity? If so, how much was it? I would be grateful for any advice.

Am very excited to finally have an ev!

 

[nattydread]

Are there any free rapid chargers in Lewes/Hailsham/East Sussex? Does anyone know?

Welcome to the EV club.
Ecotricity have a wide range of free chargers, although they will not be free much longer. You need to apply for a card to use them.

Check out their map:
Our Electric Highway - For The Road - Ecotricity

this is also useful for all other charging methods:
Map of charging points for electric car drivers in UK: Zap-Map

 

[Kieren B]

Hi Deirdre,
Used to live in Lewes and know it well - nice town
The closest free (Rapid) charger is in Pease Pottage. In Lewes, there is a Rapid Charger in the Phoenix Causeway car park. I believe this is part of the CYC network (so quite costly). There are several 7kW chargers as well (e.g at Lewes Train Station) - think these are part of Pod Point.
Suggest to download the ZAP Map app (or visit their site www.zap-map.com) to see what charge points are around the area.
Ref charge point - I have got the Rolec 32A charger, but there are others around (e.g. ChargeMaster, Pod Point). No issues with Rolec so far. I opted for the non-tethered variant (so use the cable from the car), but you could opt of a tethered variant (saves getting the cable out of the car each time)
I love my EV car although does take some careful planning for long journeys!
Best wishes,
Kieren

 

[Kieren B]

PS also have solar PV as well. From what I understand, battery storage is still pretty expensive, ca. GBP 4K from my investigations. Hopefully will come down in price

 

[Inkpen]

Hi everyone, I have just bought my first ev!! A metallic red, second hand Acenta Leaf. 2015, only 200 miles (ex-demo.) Has 6.6kwh fast charger and is in perfect condition inside & out. Was £11,495. Paid for it outright, battery & all. Will pick it up Friday.

Have been looking at Leafs for months and this was the best I saw for this price. The dealer was excellent too as he knew the Leaf really well. Most didn't have a clue and I often knew more than them!

Now need to sort home charging unit. Any tips? I believe there is a universal plug in or one just for Leafs, both same price, so I was thinking of going for universal in case I get a different ev in future?

Are there any free rapid chargers in Lewes/Hailsham/East Sussex? Does anyone know?

We have pv panels on our roof, so we are keen to use electricity from them as much as possible and may get a battery to store the electricity produced in the day, so we can charge car in evenings if we need to. Has anyone bought a battery to store pv electricity? If so, how much was it? I would be grateful for any advice.

Am very excited to finally have an ev!

Hi Deirdre. Have you worked it all out yet? I'm not far away (Seaford) and had my Leaf only a little longer than you. I hope you are enjoying yours as much as I 'm enjoying mine - a lovely car & driving experience. About a month after I bought it (2nd hand) the dealer rang me to arrange for a free Chargemaster home charging unit to be installed. I was surprised and said yes please! He said Chargemaster will contact me direct in due course. I didn't know they did this for used cars, but great. I think that I will opt for the tethered Type 1 - less tedious than using you cable from the car, especially putting it away in the rain. If you haven't already, maybe talk to your dealer? Enjoy the car.

 

[MikeProcter]

I bought 28 months ago and had a ChargeMadter unit fitted.

There are more CYC Rapids at Herstmonceaux, Midhurst and Hastings.

 

[Deirdre]

Thanks for information everyone. Car going really well. I was initially a bit surprised at how much lower the range is in reality to what Nissan advertise it achieving in their lab conditions. Mine will show 95 when fully charged. Is that similar to other people? I was expecting a bit more than that, but have got used to the idea of 95 now. Have done mainly 15 miles commute to work each week day and four long motorway journeys in the Leaf in last few weeks. A few scary moments when I have missed the turn to the services with only small amount of electricity left, but got there fine in the end. Realise I need to chat less and concentrate on Sat Nav when charge imminent! Will be good from now on... Also I probably need to drive a bit slower on motorway than I used to. Am a bit of a Speed Queen and generally do about 75mph. What is best speed to conserve battery whilst still making headway?

Inkpen - do you have a contact number for Chargemaster? I will give them a call to see if there is a free charger available as that sounds too good to be true!! I looked on their website, but saw no mention of free chargers.

Thanks!

 

[damian brown]

Thanks for information everyone. Car going really well. I was initially a bit surprised at how much lower the range is in reality to what Nissan advertise it achieving in their lab conditions. Mine will show 95 when fully charged. Is that similar to other people? I was expecting a bit more than that, but have got used to the idea of 95 now. Have done mainly 15 miles commute to work each week day and four long motorway journeys in the Leaf in last few weeks. A few scary moments when I have missed the turn to the services with only small amount of electricity left, but got there fine in the end. Realise I need to chat less and concentrate on Sat Nav when charge imminent! Will be good from now on... Also I probably need to drive a bit slower on motorway than I used to. Am a bit of a Speed Queen and generally do about 75mph. What is best speed to conserve battery whilst still making headway?

Inkpen - do you have a contact number for Chargemaster? I will give them a call to see if there is a free charger available as that sounds too good to be true!! I looked on their website, but saw no mention of free chargers.

Thanks!

That 95 miles of range is pretty similar to what i get. 75mph is about 10 mph too much if you want to make any headway. If i do 65 then i normally get about 65 miles out of it with about 15% left.

 

[Inkpen]

Thanks for information everyone. Car going really well. I was initially a bit surprised at how much lower the range is in reality to what Nissan advertise it achieving in their lab conditions. Mine will show 95 when fully charged. Is that similar to other people? I was expecting a bit more than that, but have got used to the idea of 95 now. Have done mainly 15 miles commute to work each week day and four long motorway journeys in the Leaf in last few weeks. A few scary moments when I have missed the turn to the services with only small amount of electricity left, but got there fine in the end. Realise I need to chat less and concentrate on Sat Nav when charge imminent! Will be good from now on... Also I probably need to drive a bit slower on motorway than I used to. Am a bit of a Speed Queen and generally do about 75mph. What is best speed to conserve battery whilst still making headway?

Inkpen - do you have a contact number for Chargemaster? I will give them a call to see if there is a free charger available as that sounds too good to be true!! I looked on their website, but saw no mention of free chargers.

Thanks!

Hi Deirdre. The Nissan dealer rang me to arrange for a free Chargemaster home charging unit to be installed. He said Chargemaster will contact me direct in due course, but they haven't yet. I think that it's about £950 of which the government pay £700 and Nissan pay the rest. From what I've heard, you can choose to pay an extra £100 or so to have a tethered lead, so you don't have to use the one in the car. So it's the Nissan garage that you need to call.

As you have the 6.6kW charger (very jealous!) you will need to tell Chargemaster that you need the 32A, not the 16A home charger. More so worth getting the tethered lead as the cables get heavy for 32A. Charges nice & quick, though. I hope that helps. Let me know if it doesn't. KR

 

[PHunter]

Chargemaster? I will give them a call to see if there is a free charger available as that sounds too good to be true!! I looked on their website, but saw no mention of free chargers.

Hi. Number on site Welcome to Chargemaster Cash price is £395 so if you can't get a free one try Rolec, now £149. ROLEC EV CUTS PRICE OF HOME CHARGING POINT INSTALLS TO £149 | News & Events | EV Charging | Rolecserv Ours has been fine.

 

[Inkpen]

Hi. Number on site Welcome to Chargemaster Cash price is £395 so if you can't get a free one try Rolec, now £149. ROLEC EV CUTS PRICE OF HOME CHARGING POINT INSTALLS TO £149 | News & Events | EV Charging | Rolecserv Ours has been fine.

Hi. How is your Kia Soul EV? They look great, have good reviews & the wife wants one, but a bit expensive at the moment, from what I've seen?

 

[davidr1963]

Hi Deidre, there's also a rapid at the service station at Selmeston (opposite the Barleymow pub). All the local Rapids are CYC and quite pricey. I only use them when I have to and only for ten minutes.

There's a 7kw charger st the leisure centre st Hailsham with three hours free parking and charging. You could fully charge your car there in that time!

There are also chargers dotted around the Eastbourne area; I don't know of any in bexhill but haven't looked. There's a rapid in Hastings too.

The home charger is going to cost you £3-400 and id recommend going for 32amp.

 

[David Harvey]

Hello Deidre,

Congratulations on your purchase and I am sure that you will find this group very useful. I too am a newbie Leaf owner, not too far away in Heathfield.

Enjoy!

 

[Inkpen]

Hi Deidre, there's also a rapid at the service station at Selmeston (opposite the Barleymow pub). All the local Rapids are charge master and quite pricey. I only use them when I have to and only for ten minutes.

There's a 7kw charger st the leisure centre st Hailsham with three hours free parking and charging. You could fully charge your car there in that time!

There are also chargers dotted around the Eastbourne area; I don't know of any in bexhill but haven't looked. There's a rapid in Hastings too.

The home charger is going to cost you £3-400 and id recommend going for 32amp.

Selmerston rapid charger is CYC, the same as Lewes, Newhaven, Withdean & Herstmonceux - £3.50 for 10 mins then 25p a minute - sort of emergencies only, really, plus £20 for the CYC card. The CYC rapid charger at Hastings (St Leonards) seafront is still free at the moment.

 

[PHunter]

How is your Kia Soul EV?

Really great. I work for Kia but can say without bias that it is a brilliant car to live with. We now have two plus a Diesel Soul(!). Pricing is competitive on PCH eg Kia Soul EV leasing offers - £208.50 inc VAT per month (36 months, 8,000 miles per annum)

 

[Bikerchickone]

Hi Deirdre if you ever come over to Worthing there's a rapid at the Nissan Dealer in East Worthing that's accessible during opening hours only. The staff can be a bit funny about regular use if you didn't buy from them and will try to tell you once a week only for other Nissan owners but I've been told by Nissan UK it's 3 times a week you're 'allowed' to use them if the dealer objects.

I've got a 32a polar unit untethered which has been great for the last almost 2 years. I keep a washing up bowl in the boot of the car to put the lead in stopping it getting the rest of the boot dirty or wet.

Enjoy

 

[MikeProcter]

Thanks for information everyone. Car going really well. I was initially a bit surprised at how much lower the range is in reality to what Nissan advertise it achieving in their lab conditions. Mine will show 95 when fully charged. Is that similar to other people? I was expecting a bit more than that, but have got used to the idea of 95 now.

Anywhere between 90 and 100 at this time of year (meaning dry and warm) in a Leaf24 sounds about right. Expect 60-70 in winter.

The way they test them is unreal... But for all cars it's stupid. I mean, a PHEV that does 155mpg? Really?

I probably need to drive a bit slower on motorway than I used to.

Yes......


(if you want to do more than 60-70 miles on 100% in the summer.)

Am a bit of a Speed Queen and generally do about 75mph. What is best speed to conserve battery whilst still making headway?

Try dropping speed to 60-65mph. It's more relaxing and much, much more efficient!

 

[davidr1963]

Selmerston rapid charger is CYC, the same as Lewes, Newhaven, Withdean & Herstmonceux - £3.50 for 10 mins then 25p a minute - sort of emergencies only, really, plus £20 for the CYC card. The CYC rapid charger at Hastings (St Leonards) seafront is still free at the moment.

You are quite right, I've corrected my post now.