Potential Cayenne S to Taycan 4S in The UK

[Guyneutron]

Hey everyone,
I’ve been stalking these forums for a few weeks now as I am considering taking my first plunge into the EV world.
I love the idea of an EV and also love the benefits of having it as a company car.
My dilemma is this, I will not be able to install a home charger, but have several chargers around me.
3x 7kw on the next street over(30 second walk from my house)
1 or 2 22kw chargers within a 5 min walk
And the Porsche dealership is a 3 min drive from my house (where the have a Porsche charger)
I live in London and mostly drive around town.
I probably take 3-5 long trips a year, going up to leeds or down to Cornwall area.
I would love to hear from other owners who don’t have home chargers, how do you get on? Do you find it easy? Is it worth taking the plunge into the EV world. I know Tesla’s have a longer range, but I just can’t stand them, I don’t love the looks, and I find the interiors very underwhelming.
Sorry for the long dragged out question, but I really want to make the jump.

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[Fuzzy80]

Very worth getting if you can get a home charger, but not viable without unless you happen to have one at your workplace and even then I would think twice.

A lot of EV owners will do 95% of all charging at home.

The charging not at home is a pain is the truth compared to filling up a tank.

The charging at home is easier.

 

[W1NGE]

To be honest EVs really only make sense if you have the home charging / ecosystem available to you given the limited range of the vehicle even with the Performance Plus battery (max 220 miles, UK and this time of year). Note that these are theoretical maximum numbers and typically the recommendation is to not charge beyond 85% for daily use (do the math and this reduces your range before considering implications of air conditioning etc where 85% can very quickly become 81% in a few short miles).

Without this comfort blanket the stress (and range anxiety) of worrying about charging (and if they are working) could have an adverse impact on your wellbeing.

Ideally, you want to have access to a minimum of 50kW DC charging (have you checked ZapMap for your area?) as the other options you have mentioned are no better than home charging (7.4kW) at best . Take care with the 22kW AC charging option as you won't be able to use this unless you decide to add the 22kW AC onboard charging option which is an expensive option at £1,179 (!!!). Even for home users this is a stretch as it would require a 3 phase electricity supply (££££) and besides 7.4kW (single phase) is more than adequate as you are typically charging overnight. By default you should add the 150kW DC charger option (£294) when specifying your vehicle.

Sorry to sound negative but EV + Home Charger = whereas EV + surrogate home charging =

If you are located in London then there must be 50kW (or better) in BP / Shell / Council Park and Ride locations. This would ease the pain but no substitute for home charging.

Have you considered renting an EV for a weekend / week to see how you get on using the available 3rd party charging facilities?

 

[Guyneutron]

To be honest EVs really only make sense if you have the home charging / ecosystem available to you given the limited range of the vehicle even with the Performance Plus battery (max 220 miles, UK and this time of year). Note that these are theoretical maximum numbers and typically the recommendation is to not charge beyond 85% for daily use (do the math and this reduces your range before considering implications of air conditioning etc where 85% can very quickly become 81% in a few short miles).

Without this comfort blanket the stress (and range anxiety) of worrying about charging (and if they are working) could have an adverse impact on your wellbeing.

Ideally, you want to have access to a minimum of 50kW DC charging (have you checked ZapMap for your area?) as the other options you have mentioned are no better than home charging (7.4kW) at best . Take care with the 22kW AC charging option as you won't be able to use this unless you decide to add the 22kW AC onboard charging option which is an expensive option at £1,179 (!!!). Even for home users this is a stretch as it would require a 3 phase electricity supply (££££) and besides 7.4kW (single phase) is more than adequate as you are typically charging overnight. By default you should add the 150kW DC charger option (£294) when specifying your vehicle.

Sorry to sound negative but EV + Home Charger = whereas EV + surrogate home charging =

If you are located in London then there must be 50kW (or better) in BP / Shell / Council Park and Ride locations. This would ease the pain but no substitute for home charging.

Have you considered renting an EV for a weekend / week to see how you get on using the available 3rd party charging facilities?

Solid advice to be fair.
The only reason I was
Considering is the fact that I have 3 7kw. Chargers right next to me(literally 15-30 second walk)
I have a BP Pulse(I think it’s a 50kw charger), within a 2-3 minute walk.
Plus next to my work I have a few chargers. I also don’t do many miles each day. Most days it’s 4 miles each way some days it’s an extra 4-6 miles a day. So really it that many miles.
I think my real main concern was longer drives up to Leeds,or down to Cornwall....
a lot to take in for a newbie....

 

[PanameraFrank]

The above are correct. Is it possible to own a Taycan without a charger? Sure. Is it worth it? Nah.

If you've never had an EV before you'll find jumping into ownership without a home charger to be a real pain.

You mention chargers right by you. Are they free? How reliable are they? Any non-home charger is going to be broken some of the time. How fast are they actually? There's a difference between stated power and charging output. How often are they used?

It is doable but there's a great chance the car will turn into a major pain in the ass for you.

 

[Guyneutron]

The above are correct. Is it possible to own a Taycan without a charger? Sure. Is it worth it? Nah.

If you've never had an EV before you'll find jumping into ownership without a home charger to be a real pain.

You mention chargers right by you. Are they free? How reliable are they? Any non-home charger is going to be broken some of the time. How fast are they actually? There's a difference between stated power and charging output. How often are they used?

It is doable but there's a great chance the car will turn into a major pain in the ass for you.

They are brand new chargers installed within the last 2 months. Not sure their actual speed besides what’s stated.
They aren’t used very often, as in the last two months I’ve seen them used a handful of times.
But you guys are all correct, I guess I’m just excited to join the revolution! Hahaha

 

[rquinton]

They are brand new chargers installed within the last 2 months. Not sure their actual speed besides what’s stated.
They aren’t used very often, as in the last two months I’ve seen them used a handful of times.
But you guys are all correct, I guess I’m just excited to join the revolution! Hahaha

If you feel that strongly about going Electric, don't let where you charge stop you. Just realize what we are saying here is very true. You want to be able to control when and where you charge. The only way to do that is to home charge. With that said, if you can mitigate the challenges of not having your own charger at home, sounds like you could live with the hunting for a AC plug in your neighborhood. If you don't drive much around town, you can get top offs as needed and keep the car above 80%. Owning a Porsche Taycan is a big investment and we just want you to have all the facts. If you are worried less than 25% of the time in finding a reliable charger, I say GO FOR IT. We only live once and can't be buried in our Porsche Taycans so enjoy while you are vertical.

 

[W1NGE]

Solid advice to be fair.
The only reason I was
Considering is the fact that I have 3 7kw. Chargers right next to me(literally 15-30 second walk)
I have a BP Pulse(I think it’s a 50kw charger), within a 2-3 minute walk.
Plus next to my work I have a few chargers. I also don’t do many miles each day. Most days it’s 4 miles each way some days it’s an extra 4-6 miles a day. So really it that many miles.
I think my real main concern was longer drives up to Leeds,or down to Cornwall....
a lot to take in for a newbie....

For the longer journeys you'll need to plan ahead. The Taycan has an intelligent range manager built into the navigation which is fine as far as it goes but relies on chargers that Porsche has in its database which isn't ideal. It does however plot a route based on what it knows and calculates how long you'll need to charge for at each. It also tells you what charge you'll have remaining at your final destination. It is really accurate too.

There are many other apps you can use to find chargers so don't sweat it.

 

[Taycanturbolondon]

i live in central and use my car in a similar to you. I only have 3pin charger at home which i dont use use all the time and use many other charges on the street. Given the low mileage you probably do, not having a home charger will be fine for you.

With congestion charge and cheaper/free parking plus EV/permit only roads getting an EV in central london is a no brainer

 

[Peterw]

I live in Yorkshire and travel to London charging at IONITY chargers either at Newport Pagnol or Peterborough
You Could use these to “ fill you up “ yo travel to Leeds
There us an IONITY station just to the east of Leeds - fill up to return
Yes needs s little planning - join up coffee stops with charging
Re home charging - yes it’s mire convenient
But if you are typically doing 10 Miles a day you only need to visit a public charger every 20 days - if yo be safe and remove any daily range anxiety every 20 days
So with the charging options you have locally I would ssy thus is doable
If you factor in other savings congestion charges, reduced road tax if company car bik tax at 1%
maybe 1 st year write down if bought through a company
I certainly think worthwhile
And then there is the silent smooth addictive acceleration

giid suggestion to rent one - if test drive fir a weekend - but be careful- may be difficult to say no after that

peter in Yorkshire

 

[Arjan_]

Very worth getting if you can get a home charger, but not viable without unless you happen to have one at your workplace and even then I would think twice.

A lot of EV owners will do 95% of all charging at home.

The charging not at home is a pain is the truth compared to filling up a tank.

The charging at home is easier.

Depends of the infrastructure is my answer. I also don't have a home charger but have 10 x 300kwh chargers close by. Even in the cold I got decent charge rates. Furthermore at our office we have 11kwh chargers which I use when I am there.

 

[Guyneutron]

i live in central and use my car in a similar to you. I only have 3pin charger at home which i dont use use all the time and use many other charges on the street. Given the low mileage you probably do, not having a home charger will be fine for you.

With congestion charge and cheaper/free parking plus EV/permit only roads getting an EV in central london is a no brainer

Good to hear from a follow Londoner with similar charging circumstances .
I do think that I have enough chargers around most location I visit the most.
I have several shops around London, and all have chargers in the local parking garages, and I have several different options within a 10 min walk radius.
Thanks for letting me know re your experienceS

 

[Guyneutron]

I live in Yorkshire and travel to London charging at IONITY chargers either at Newport Pagnol or Peterborough
You Could use these to “ fill you up “ yo travel to Leeds
There us an IONITY station just to the east of Leeds - fill up to return
Yes needs s little planning - join up coffee stops with charging
Re home charging - yes it’s mire convenient
But if you are typically doing 10 Miles a day you only need to visit a public charger every 20 days - if yo be safe and remove any daily range anxiety every 20 days
So with the charging options you have locally I would ssy thus is doable
If you factor in other savings congestion charges, reduced road tax if company car bik tax at 1%
maybe 1 st year write down if bought through a company
I certainly think worthwhile
And then there is the silent smooth addictive acceleration

giid suggestion to rent one - if test drive fir a weekend - but be careful- may be difficult to say no after that

peter in Yorkshire

Thanks for the input! That’s great to hear. I was looking at zap map, and that exactly what I was thinking.
Super appreciated, cheers

 

[SteveMc]

Just to add my 2p worth, I would consider:

1. With the growing EV adoption rate, the nearby chargers may not be as freely available as they are now (3-4years ago I was the only user of the chargers in a local Sainsburys, they are now always taken)

2. Public charging costs - appreciate your are a low miler by the looks of it, but public charging costs have only been going up and are often on a par or more expensive than running a ICE car.

3. Charging time - can you leave your car on the 7kW charger overnight, as it'll take that long to get a decent "fill"?

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