Random EV thoughts.....

innrain

I wouldn't be surprised they have a credit card processor charging them a minimum fee per transaction. They want to cover themselves from the situation when the bank fees are greater than what they charge. Is easygo not the same? I have a tenner in their account since last year. Never got to charge at their paid chargers. From other models I'm thinking leapcard is the same, Parking tag in Dublin although for these you can choose how much you want to add and the minimum is much less.

the_amazing_raisin

innrain wrote: »

I wouldn't be surprised they have a credit card processor charging them a minimum fee per transaction. They want to cover themselves from the situation when the bank fees are greater than what they charge. Is easygo not the same? I have a tenner in their account since last year. Never got to charge at their paid chargers. From other models I'm thinking leapcard is the same, Parking tag in Dublin although for these you can choose how much you want to add and the minimum is much less.

There seems to be a general theme that either you have to top up initially by a minimum amount, or pay for the charge card if you don't want to use the app

Silent Running

Would it be too much trouble for us to follow the UK lead on this and have every charger able to give a charge with a swipe of a debit or credit card, without being a member of any 'club'?

obi604

Silent Running wrote: »

Would it be too much trouble for us to follow the UK lead on this and have every charger able to give a charge with a swipe of a debit or credit card, without being a member of any 'club'?

exactly, but this makes too much sense

AndyBoBandy

Could you imagine the outcry from ecars and all the other operators if they suddenly had to retrofit every one of their charge units to accommodate bank/credit card swiping/tapping.....

I can't imagine the current raid readers would be enough to tap bank cards onto would they? as tapping only works for end of transaction payments i.e. when you know how much the transaction is going to be??

ELM327

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Could you imagine the outcry from ecars and all the other operators if they suddenly had to retrofit every one of their charge units to accommodate bank/credit card swiping/tapping.....

I can't imagine the current raid readers would be enough to tap bank cards onto would they? as tapping only works for end of transaction payments i.e. when you know how much the transaction is going to be??

You could tap for €50 preauth and then the amount is debited/credited after.
Like unmanned petrol stations.

innrain

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I can't imagine the current raid readers would be enough to tap bank cards onto would they? as tapping only works for end of transaction payments i.e. when you know how much the transaction is going to be??

Reason for which Ionity holds 80 quid if you do start a session with your bank card.

the_amazing_raisin

Silent Running wrote: »

Would it be too much trouble for us to follow the UK lead on this and have every charger able to give a charge with a swipe of a debit or credit card, without being a member of any 'club'?

Judging from some of the complaints I've heard from the UK, I think a lot of their chargers require a fob or app to charge.

Shell are the only ones I know that take credit cards by default

the_amazing_raisin

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Could you imagine the outcry from ecars and all the other operators if they suddenly had to retrofit every one of their charge units to accommodate bank/credit card swiping/tapping.....

They'd probably demand another 10 million to upgrade their chargers

The funny thing is that in a hub location there's less retrofitting needed, as you can just have a separate card reader for all of the chargers.

So if the ESB would bother installing proper hubs they'd have less work accommodating credit cards

ELM327

cruisey1987 wrote: »

Judging from some of the complaints I've heard from the UK, I think a lot of their chargers require a fob or app to charge.

Shell are the only ones I know that take credit cards by default

Shell and Instavolt, yeah.

Silent Running

ELM327 wrote: »

Shell and Instavolt, yeah.

And Instavolt use the same units as Easy-go do here.

liamog

There is a filter on Zap-Map, I use it whenever I'm going to the UK.

DrPhilG

Yeah I used an Instavolt on the way back from Scotland with the i3. Very straightforward.

obi604

For the very occasional user of the charging network, and mainly just charging via the ESB chargers —> which company is the cheapest to go with for pay as you go?

Any ideas.

the_amazing_raisin

obi604 wrote: »

For the very occasional user of the charging network, and mainly just charging via the ESB chargers —> which company is the cheapest to go with for pay as you go?

Any ideas.

Probably ESB themselves, I know that Chargemap and WE Charge cost more than the base ESB rate


As much as I dislike ESB and would prefer to give my money elsewhere, it's hard to avoid the fact that they own 90% of the public chargers in Ireland

the_amazing_raisin

Here's an interesting thought I just had:

So I was looking at a nice 2019 64kWh Kia E-Niro for just under £30k in the UK. Thinking it might persuade the missus to go electric as well

Now I'm not going to go and buy it, but if I was then I'd have to do it in 2020, otherwise I'd be paying 23% VAT on top of the car
I'd probably head over to collect the car myself and travel back via NI

Obviously me and the family would have to self isolate for 14 days upon returning, which is 1 of 2 major problems (the other being a lack of money)

BUT, on the way home, I would need to recharge the Kia at least once.

Because I'm isolating however, I shouldn't leave the car.
So how do I charge the car???

NOTE: Obviously I know the answer, just charge the car, the chargers are fairly isolated anyway and wipe down the plug afterwards.

It's an interesting conundrum, I imagine folks fueling cars after travelling from the UK or Europe face the same issues or worse, since they might need to go into the shop to pay

As I said, I'm not going to actually buy the car this side of Christmas and after 2020 the possibility of importing a car from the UK disappears anyway.

Silent Running

cruisey1987 wrote: »

Here's an interesting thought I just had:

So I was looking at a nice 2019 64kWh Kia E-Niro for just under £30k in the UK. Thinking it might persuade the missus to go electric as well

Now I'm not going to go and buy it, but if I was then I'd have to do it in 2020, otherwise I'd be paying 23% VAT on top of the car
I'd probably head over to collect the car myself and travel back via NI

Obviously me and the family would have to self isolate for 14 days upon returning, which is 1 of 2 major problems (the other being a lack of money)

BUT, on the way home, I would need to recharge the Kia at least once.

Because I'm isolating however, I shouldn't leave the car.
So how do I charge the car???

NOTE: Obviously I know the answer, just charge the car, the chargers are fairly isolated anyway and wipe down the plug afterwards.

It's an interesting conundrum, I imagine folks fueling cars after travelling from the UK or Europe face the same issues or worse, since they might need to go into the shop to pay

As I said, I'm not going to actually buy the car this side of Christmas and after 2020 the possibility of importing a car from the UK disappears anyway.

Normally, charging in the UK is fairly painless and, as you say, normally away from contact with people. The Ecotricity chargers can be started and stopped with an app, while the Shell and Instavolt chargers are contactless payment.

The only issue would be handling the plug. Gloves will work here and if you carry a ziplock bag, they can be made safe if you can't dispose of them at the charger.

ELM327

cruisey1987 wrote: »

Here's an interesting thought I just had:

So I was looking at a nice 2019 64kWh Kia E-Niro for just under £30k in the UK. Thinking it might persuade the missus to go electric as well

Now I'm not going to go and buy it, but if I was then I'd have to do it in 2020, otherwise I'd be paying 23% VAT on top of the car
I'd probably head over to collect the car myself and travel back via NI

Obviously me and the family would have to self isolate for 14 days upon returning, which is 1 of 2 major problems (the other being a lack of money)

BUT, on the way home, I would need to recharge the Kia at least once.

Because I'm isolating however, I shouldn't leave the car.
So how do I charge the car???

NOTE: Obviously I know the answer, just charge the car, the chargers are fairly isolated anyway and wipe down the plug afterwards.

It's an interesting conundrum, I imagine folks fueling cars after travelling from the UK or Europe face the same issues or worse, since they might need to go into the shop to pay

As I said, I'm not going to actually buy the car this side of Christmas and after 2020 the possibility of importing a car from the UK disappears anyway.

Refuelling doesnt count, it's the same as with the lockdowns in Kildare/offaly earlier. you were allowed to stop there for refuelling.

AndyBoBandy

ELM327 wrote: »

Refuelling doesnt count, it's the same as with the lockdowns in Kildare/offaly earlier. you were allowed to stop there for refuelling.

Yeah I was driving from Limerick to Dublin when Kildare was in lockdown, and diverted to Kilcullen to spend the proverbial penny and also use the 150kW charger...

garo

The risk from refuelling is minimal if you follow the precautions listed above. This thing will be around for months yet so we need to take a scientific risk-based approach and not go to either extreme.


Also, would you consider having the car transported? It would be 500ish. Get a video call with the seller and have it checked out if you can.

the_amazing_raisin

garo wrote: »

The risk from refuelling is minimal if you follow the precautions listed above. This thing will be around for months yet so we need to take a scientific risk-based approach and not go to either extreme.

As you say, we're going to be living with the lurgie for a while yet, so it's more about learning to live safely than seeing what you can get away with

It'd be nice if some folks would START taking that approach so we wouldn't be in a situation where you can buy a litre of vodka but not get new socks for your kids.

Anyways, I digress....

Also, would you consider having the car transported? It would be 500ish. Get a video call with the seller and have it checked out if you can.

Could do, I reckon it'd cost 200 to travel over and bring the car back, so if it was 300 extra to get someone else to deal with going into quarantine that seems worth it.

Still not going to get the car though, as I said a chronic lack of funds is currently preventing that, especially since I've pre-ordered an ID.4 which has sucked up the money from my bank account

the_amazing_raisin

ELM327 wrote: »

Refuelling doesnt count, it's the same as with the lockdowns in Kildare/offaly earlier. you were allowed to stop there for refuelling.

Phil Hogan should have said that he was just driving around look for cheap fuel

AndyBoBandy

cruisey1987 wrote: »

Phil Hogan should have said that he was just driving around look for cheap fueldaysul

fixed that...

DrPhilG

cruisey1987 wrote: »

Obviously me and the family would have to self isolate for 14 days upon returning, which is 1 of 2 major problems (the other being a lack of money).

You have to self isolate on return from the UK?

the_amazing_raisin

DrPhilG wrote: »

You have to self isolate on return from the UK?

Apart from NI, yes you're supposed to self isolate

graememk

DrPhilG wrote: »

You have to self isolate on return from the UK?

cruisey1987 wrote: »

Apart from NI, yes you're supposed to self isolate

I think they phrase it as "great britain"

So if you fly into dublin you have to fill out a form.. but if you fly into belfast... you dont (from GB)

garo

I mean you should have to isolate no? They are going gangbusters with the second wave there. Chances of picking it up when you go there are higher than here I would say. NI is a weird case here and a potential vector of transmission. But we don't know because not enough tracing has been done. Anyway enough off-topic chat. I'll shut up now.


PS: Ah well reservation for ID.4 then whachu complainin' 'bout?

graememk

garo wrote: »

PS: Ah well reservation for ID.4 then whachu complainin' 'bout?

Maybe it's a case of "want it now!"

The Chinese are coming.

This is basically a sort of Suzuki SX4 clone with an EV powertrain.
This company has had the almost unlimited backing of one of the Chinese Regional areas for the last decade.
This is a Saloon but a slightly cheaper hatchback version is just a month or two away with an SUV type coming early next year.

I just stumbled across this. Think of a Dacia Sandero/Logan with an EV powertrain and that is what this car is.
200 of these have just landed in a port in Germany and with Government incentives will be selling to the public for under 10,000 euro.

https://www.chinapev.com/henan-suda/henan-sudas-first-ev-sa01-to-be-released-in-china-market/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh2kma47Dtc
German Youtube video.

Website: http://www.sudacar.cn/en/
takes an eternity to load.

It has always been a case of "when" not "if" the Chinese start to penetrate the market, they'll kill off many of the low end vehicles as they could never compete on price. Cars have to pass safety rules of course, but the Chinese are not stupid, their cars will pass (just).