Random EV thoughts.....

Yea I could drop kids off but they would have to walk home. Probably shows that some people need more range than others. Presumably though you live in an urban setting while I'm a little bit more out in the sticks

Why didn't you aim for the Ionity units in the first place? 😉

Seriously, they're not that much more expensive anymore and there's a better chance of getting a free charger

Okay, fair enough, it sounds like they were a bit of a detour which is annoying, but personally I'd probably have just planned to head there on the return and use the Ecars charger if it happened to be free

I would say balance your arrival SoC against the likelihood of getting stuck waiting. I've pulled into Ionity sites with 15% remaining confident there was a charger available that would deliver full power, and worst case there were a couple of slower sites nearby if disaster struck and the whole site was offline

If I was heading out somewhere that had a single Ecars fast charger for the whole town (i.e the entire city of Waterford) then I would definitely engage in some opportunistic charging before I arrive

Ionity was 30km out of my way in wrong direction. I probably should have charged earlier on the trip but I was hoping to arrive with a low charge and quickly fill up to travel on. I started off at 100% and I needed to charge twice today due to distance and small battery EV, so it's always a compromise of number of stops and risks. There is no guarantee next charger will be available nor work. As I said Longford was crazy busy, I'm glad I was well charged up passing there. Easygo units tend to be quieter when available as not many people know about them.

Can anyone use ionity, is it an app like all the others? Should be getting my EV this week I've always noticed ionity chargers are mostly empty which would be handy the odd time I'd ever need a public charge.

Cupra Born, should be ready this week. Do the ionity use a standard credit card? In reality I'd be rarely using public charging but it would be handy to be setup before trying to use one.

For Ionity I use ChargePoint as they send you a physical rfid card as well, which I like having in case of ever encountering network/app issues on the phone….

The battery charge can drop further after you get home as the fans continue to run and the battery cools down. This is even more noticeable in winter. If you have an overnight timer on your home charger, you may need to charge a little immediately.

Will ask when I'm collecting the car, thanks.

Well wear! I have only tried Ionity once when they were new and it was a novelty. That was years ago and I can't remember what I used, might have been a German app on my phone. I started the thread in this forum when Ionity announced that they were going to launch in Ireland and with this new boards setup, I can't even unsubscribe from that thread 😂

In truth I almost never publicly fast charge as my car has about 300km motorway range, that is almost always enough for a day trip

According to the lads on the Born thread they're getting similar range too so I'll rarely, if ever need to use public charging. Flogas have submitted my request for a D/N meter and with 14.75c night rate I'm well sorted. The deal includes servicing, a set of tyres and front discs and pads, it's going to be cheap motoring ☺️

+1 on the solar PV.

From April 5th to July 3rd I only charged from the grid twice... everything else was PV.

Also @CoBo55 the front discs and pads that you got in the deal... might sound better than it actually is as it'll be a long time before you need new pads, and a long long long time before you need new discs!! The ID.3/Born is RWD isn't it?? therefore the rear wheels will be doing all the braking thanks to regen, so your front brakes/pads will hardly see any use at all...... I'm up to 82,000km in my Model 3 and the front pads look like they were only put on a few thousand km ago....

Ask around in the Born & ID.3 thread how folk are getting on with pads/discs.... but I'd imagine disc's won't need changing for at least a few hundred thousand km's.

I think there aren't even discs on the front, just good old cheap drums, like on bottom of the range cars from the 70s. VW know how to save a few bob and present you with the ultimate Paddy spec 😁

Untrue, there's no modern car with drums on the front. Anything else wrong with them?

Just don't listen to the dealer when he insists your discs are corroded due to lack of use, which he will carefully explain results in EV discs requiring even more regular replacement that ICEs😂

Maingau? Used that a few years ago, thanks for the tip 🙂

For the DCI card, do you not need a company to use their EV charging card?

I was looking at it earlier but couldn't find the pricing either.

Anyone any info?

Cheers

Don’t bother with a DCI EV card unless someone else is paying your bill, rates aren’t discounted and you’ll have additional card charges etc. Their fuel card is worth having at times for ICE vehicles but their fuel pricing can be quite volatile.

There’s a waitlist option. You generally get a slot with 2 weeks

Oh yes I added my name to it but still, 2024 as next available is shocking

My beemer due in January…. Earliest test I could get was September….

as soon as it does it I’ll immediately rebook for the Jan 24 test…. Might get a test by summer 2024

Mine is due in May 2025, guess I'd better book it now 😬

My Model 3 will be due in March, so I’d probably want to get booking it soon enough..!

I think if you check for slots at 11pm or is it midnight they show up. I've done that before and it worked.

more news, the Renault Twizy is to be no longer made.

I have to say I was a fan of them. If all you want is something to get you the few km to work or the shops, and you dont need it for long spins or hauling a shedload of camping gear or 2 kids and the wife, it works perfect.

Not everyone needs a 5 seat tank of a yoke with 600 to 1200km range. If you had a component of motor tax by weight, you would (or will) see more of this type of ultra light car on the road.