Guardian article on the woes of charging ( taycan )

[robborover]

UK centric - good read

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/nov/28/electric-cars-porsche-charging-network

Sponsored

 

[GileP]

UK centric - good read

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/nov/28/electric-cars-porsche-charging-network

Some more real world experience. I have a 4s, battery plus, 6,000 miles on the clock. went from Leeds to Mancherster airport last night so about 130 mile round trip mostly motorway. three people on the way there and four plus some luggage on the way back. temperature was about 9 degrees and there was little wind. Car was driven on normal mode and at normal motorway speeds in light traffic. Started with 100% charge which was down to 33% by the time I got home which suggests a total range of 194 miles.

I decided to get the car thinking I could just charge at home as long as I never travelled further than 100 miles from home - which was for all but around 20 days a year. I now think that in the real world to be able to get somewhere 100 miles away and home again without charging wll require careful driving - which is a little disappointing and not what I had in mind when I bought another Porsche (having had two 911's in the past)

I use the car for business so will need to be able to rely on public charging for longer trips. The Guardian article is disturbing for sure but so far I've found Ionity chargers to be pretty reliable - although way too few and far between. They have also been available to use but it's not been a normal year with much less travelling being done. It might be a nightmare once everyone gets back on the road.

Ideally we need an Ionity fast charger at every service station up and down the land don't we

 

[robborover]

Some more real world experience. I have a 4s, battery plus, 6,000 miles on the clock. went from Leeds to Mancherster airport last night so about 130 mile round trip mostly motorway. three people on the way there and four plus some luggage on the way back. temperature was about 9 degrees and there was little wind. Car was driven on normal mode and at normal motorway speeds in light traffic. Started with 100% charge which was down to 33% by the time I got home which suggests a total range of 194 miles.

I decided to get the car thinking I could just charge at home as long as I never travelled further than 100 miles from home - which was for all but around 20 days a year. I now think that in the real world to be able to get somewhere 100 miles away and home again without charging wll require careful driving - which is a little disappointing and not what I had in mind when I bought another Porsche (having had two 911's in the past)

I use the car for business so will need to be able to rely on public charging for longer trips. The Guardian article is disturbing for sure but so far I've found Ionity chargers to be pretty reliable - although way too few and far between. They have also been available to use but it's not been a normal year with much less travelling being done. It might be a nightmare once everyone gets back on the road.

Ideally we need an Ionity fast charger at every service station up and down the land don't we

Good info -I agree we need a better network or at least the one that exists, upgrading! I too like you need the range for business (at times) so a little concerned (but not with a car yet to check).

 

[Reg]

The person thought they could charge at Tesla chargers, and a quick look at an app showed 4 fast chargers where they were. So the article is also about the woes of being unprepared.

 

[GileP]

The person thought they could charge at Tesla chargers, and a quick look at an app showed 4 fast chargers where they were. So the article is also about the woes of being unprepared.

Fair comment but seemed to me like they'd downloaded all the apps and thought about their route etc only to be let down by duff information and/or poorly maintained chargers. A sorry tale all round and not really their fault I thought

 

[RG2020]

The person thought they could charge at Tesla chargers, and a quick look at an app showed 4 fast chargers where they were. So the article is also about the woes of being unprepared.

I also thought this when I read the article. Unfortunate yes, avoidable more than likely yes.

It's one couple's experience of one occasion using the public charge network. My one experience was the opposite, better than I'd expected in fact. Not defending the network, everyone knows it needs improving but we're still relatively early adopters of the electric car so there are bound to be some drawbacks.

 

[Bonglim]

I think the biggest thing is the reliability. Imagine a long journey, running your fuel down the fumes, pulling off at a petrol station and finding that there was no petrol there. It (almost) never happens. And when service stations are closed/ have no fuel you get loads of announcements on the motorway signs etc.

But the risk here is running fairly low planning a stop in advance as you get low (so you only have to stop once rather than twice) - then finding it is just not working.

It will surely get better as more and more people switch to EVs, but it is certainly a worry.

I would imagine all being in use would be equally annoying!

 

[evanevery]

Good article. Planning is everything! Your travels need to be thoroughly planned in advance. You just can't pull out and then pull over "for gas" anywhere. Anyone who is relying on the Porsche Nav system to plan their "fueling" stops is also setting themselves up for failure. Road Tripping in an EV is a completely hands-on planning experience...

You also want to make sure there is another high-power charging terminal somewhere within range (hopefully down range) in case every terminal at one of your planned stops is out of service. This happened to me TWICE out of seven planned stops on a 700 mile trip (1400 miles round trip)!

Here's a planning summary I made for travels in the US.

The other comment I would make is the observation "Linda says she now knows why most drivers charge their cars at home overnight and avoid using the public network"... IMHO: that observation is somewhat backwards... Most EV owners "OWN" EV's because charging at home simply makes them more convenient. You don't just buy an EV and THEN figure out its easier to charge at home. You buy an EV KNOWING its much more convenient to charge at home.

If you're buying an EV expecting it to be just as convenient for every aspect of ICE ownership (i.e. Road Tripping) then you haven't done your homework. Sounds like these guys had absolutely no idea what they were setting themselves up for...

 

[evanevery]

Looks like folks foolishly embarking on EV road Trips without understanding the risks/requirements/realities are not limited to those who drive cars. A friend of mine just texted this to me:

https://jalopnik.com/i-took-a-harley-davidson-livewire-on-a-road-trip-and-ev-1845749463

 

[MARTY7]

My biggest gripe with Ionity is the price. At £0.69 per kwh they are three times the price of a tesla charger and a whopping 14 times the price of off-peak overnight charging. I think the realistic range of a Taycan 200/250 miles suits UK roads fairly well, so this shouldn't be a big issue as the car will rarely need public charging for most people

 

[Scandinavian]

My biggest gripe with Ionity is the price. At £0.69 per kwh they are three times the price of a tesla charger and a whopping 14 times the price of off-peak overnight charging. I think the realistic range of a Taycan 200/250 miles suits UK roads fairly well, so this shouldn't be a big issue as the car will rarely need public charging for most people

But the price for Ionity charging in the U.K. is only 0.30 GBP with the Porsche charging service. And the fee for the charging service is included for the first three years. Thereafter you can extend the service for about 170 GBP per year.

If you have no subscription then the price you have quoted is correct. I guess it will be adjusted in a couple of years once more competition from charging providers will be in the market. Otherwise I guess a calculation to see if the fee of 170 GBP pays off when charging at Ionity etc.

Here is a link to all the European prices as I have seen them

https://connect-store.porsche.com/m...IzMjhhOWVhMmQwZmRhMDE1MDRhODA4NWQ3MTcwZTk2YzU

 

[MARTY7]

But the price for Ionity charging in the U.K. is only 0.30 GBP with the Porsche charging service. And the fee for the charging service is included for the first three years. Thereafter you can extend the service for about 170 GBP per year.

If you have no subscription then the price you have quoted is correct. I guess it will be adjusted in a couple of years once more competition from charging providers will be in the market. Otherwise I guess a calculation to see if the fee of 170 GBP pays off when charging at Ionity etc.

Here is a link to all the European prices as I have seen them

https://connect-store.porsche.com/m...IzMjhhOWVhMmQwZmRhMDE1MDRhODA4NWQ3MTcwZTk2YzU

I have learnt something there. I even wrote to Ionity to ask them about prices and they didn't mention this. That makes a huge difference, thank you for that enlightenment.

 

[UKTIVO]

But the price for Ionity charging in the U.K. is only 0.30 GBP with the Porsche charging service. And the fee for the charging service is included for the first three years. Thereafter you can extend the service for about 170 GBP per year.

If you have no subscription then the price you have quoted is correct. I guess it will be adjusted in a couple of years once more competition from charging providers will be in the market. Otherwise I guess a calculation to see if the fee of 170 GBP pays off when charging at Ionity etc.

Here is a link to all the European prices as I have seen them

https://connect-store.porsche.com/m...IzMjhhOWVhMmQwZmRhMDE1MDRhODA4NWQ3MTcwZTk2YzU

Is the subscription automatic? My dealer didn’t even mention this to me. They said to use BP as its about 30p / kWh .. no mention of Ionity..
So do I need a card for the Ionity chargers and how do I get this, do you know?

Thanks.

 

[TSS]

Is the subscription automatic? My dealer didn’t even mention this to me. They said to use BP as its about 30p / kWh .. no mention of Ionity..
So do I need a card for the Ionity chargers and how do I get this, do you know?

Thanks.

You need to log into "My Porsche" and in there under Services you will find the Porsche Charging Service. Register on that and your Ionity card should appear in the post about a week later.

 

[MARTY7]

Is the subscription automatic? My dealer didn’t even mention this to me. They said to use BP as its about 30p / kWh .. no mention of Ionity..
So do I need a card for the Ionity chargers and how do I get this, do you know?

Thanks.

This might help, there is another page by Porsche which shows a 3-year plan with ionity. I will dig that out.

More than 200 Ionity fast-charging parks are already in operation along motorways and main traffic routes in Europe. By the end of 2020, the number is expected to be around 400. Using the Porsche Charging Service App, Taycan drivers will be able to charge at a particularly low rate: per kilowatt-hour, they will only pay 0.33 euros instead of the 0.79 euros.

https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/202...onity-taycan-delivery-start-europe-19824.html