EV Owners Thread

[CXRAndy]

There is scope with certain vehicles to get more power and range.

For example The early Nissan Leafs, can have larger motors from later models and larger batteries fitted.

 

[BrumJim]

I recently bit watched an ev conversion car show on TV. It made me wonder how feasible it is to increase range on EVs? ICEs traditionally got molded by those into that sort of thing. People converting vans to campers often chipped their vans from 115 or 125bhp up to 140 to 160bhp depending on make and model. Can you do something for EVs?

Only by fitting a larger battery, or by restricting power.

There is an option to increase power. Motors can be over-driven for a short time, resulting in temperatures rising at an unsustainable rate, but as long as it isn't continuous, it is fine. There is some controversy in this area, with manufacturers looking at the subscription model and controlling through software, i.e. if you don't pay us £XXX per month, your car's maximum power will suffer as a result.

 

[DRM]

In theory yes you can increase range, by fitting a replacement battery pack with more cells in it to increase the amount of KWh's it can deliver. in reality it boils down to available space in the cars bodywork/chassis that will allow the fitting of a larger capacity battery pack in to that particular space, adding a battery pack elsewhere in the car's body wouldn't be worth it as not only do you have to find a suitable place, but also run extended wiring, of the correct capacity to connect it into the high power side of the drive system, and canbus control wiring for the data and charge control side of things, possible problems may involve altering software so that the car knows it has a larger battery, and the cost of a larger charger that can cope with delivering the correct power to allow it to charge correctly, all in all I think the quote would render the whole exercise pointless.

 

[mistyoptic]

In theory yes you can increase range, by fitting a replacement battery pack with more cells in it to increase the amount of KWh's it can deliver. in reality it boils down to available space in the cars bodywork/chassis that will allow the fitting of a larger capacity battery pack in to that particular space, adding a battery pack elsewhere in the car's body wouldn't be worth it as not only do you have to find a suitable place, but also run extended wiring, of the correct capacity to connect it into the high power side of the drive system, and canbus control wiring for the data and charge control side of things, possible problems may involve altering software so that the car knows it has a larger battery, and the cost of a larger charger that can cope with delivering the correct power to allow it to charge correctly, all in all I think the quote would render the whole exercise pointless.

Plus those batteries are no lightweights and so upgraded suspension and brakes probably required

 

[DRM]

Plus those batteries are no lightweights and so upgraded suspension and brakes probably required

Yes, that too, the only way I think it could work is if a newer type of higher capacity cells become commercially available, that fit in the existing casing, so it only uses existing control wiring & power cabling, which may well happen in the future as the technology improves and develops

 

[cougie uk]

My car is being delivered 2 months early!
But I haven’t got the home charger sorted yet. How feasible is it to use a domestic supply for a few weeks if i’m only averaging 50-80 miles a day?

My leaf takes about 3-4kwh an hour on the granny.

80 miles would be about 23 kWh ISH.

So a good 8 hour charge should see you right. Or something like that. You'll have to see how it is with yours.

We usually charge to 80% each night and then there's plenty of range for anything unexpected.

 

[Rusty Nails]

I was chatting to a neighbour today about his newish company car, not sure about the model but a very big e-tron, his first electric car. He said it was a great car to drive and was moaning about the range problem as he travels few times a week to London and has to stop to recharge on each leg of the trip, but his main gripe was because he was having to have his drive re-paved. He has never previously had any problem in the 20 years he has lived there but since his new car six months ago just about every paving stone that his car drives over or rests on has cracked. His last car was an ice Tiguan.

Probably not an issue with all e-cars, but his car is presumably a lot heavier than most.

 

[Buck]

The e-trim might be the Q8 which is overly large and will weigh over 2000kg.
His Tiguan will be nearer 1400-1500kg I’d think so yes, heavier by 1-200kg per corner!

 

[markemark]

Someone went into a petrol station on tv. Haven’t been into one for a couple years. And seriously don’t miss them!

 

[Beebo]

My Ioniq 5 has arrived 6 weeks early!
Can I pick your brains.
Which apps should I download for charging?

 

[BrumJim]

My Ioniq 5 has arrived 6 weeks early!
Can I pick your brains.
Which apps should I download for charging?

Whichever ones you need to use.
Zapmap and Chargemap are both (I think) expanding their scope so that you can not only use them to find charging points, but to pay for the charging too.

Mer UK and Pod Point are the ones I use most often.

 

[figbat]

Your usage will no doubt be different to mine but I have a phone full of all the apps and a wallet full of various cards, and I don’t use any of them. My current car is just over a year old, 13,000 miles in and I’ve never charged anywhere other than at home. The previous one got a handful of charges in the wild, mostly Pod Point.

 

[mikeIow]

I guess you need to examine your usage.
If you do lots of very random journeys outside the range you can home-charge for, then it might be a challenge.
Most people will have a limited number (variety) of longer journeys: check charge-points (zapmap) investigate.
I have always found Instavolt very reliable, so would lean towards seeking them out, but always have a Plan B just in case…

 

[icowden]

My Ioniq 5 has arrived 6 weeks early!
Can I pick your brains.
Which apps should I download for charging?

Are you with Octopus? If so Electroverse is the first one.
ZapMap is the second
After that, it's going to be a veritable cornucopia of apps.
I find BP Pulse very useful. You may find the Shell one useful too.

 

[CXRAndy]

Unless you're doing lots of miles away from home, 99% of charging will be from home.

I would use ZapMap and try using Ionity and Instavolt superchargers.