Best charging network

[Peter Ferguson]

Hi all

I am currently swapping my diesel audi company car to a M3 (RN number received on the 23rd March).

I cannot charge at home due to no drive/off road parking so am going to rely on the supercharger network which is pretty decent around me and the routes I take (35k annual miles in the South East of England, from my understanding you should get just under 4miles pkwh of charge which won’t be much of a loss on the 9p a mile fuel allowance based on 38p kWh at Dartford off peak times (there are a couple of free/lower cost 7kw chargers near my gym/asda etc so will make that loss back charging there a couple of times a week).

and finally the question are there any other networks you would recommend for fast charging that is sensibly priced (everything I have found is double the cost which is obviously not feasible unless it’s an emergency).

also I am getting the M3RW which I understand you should charge to 100% on a regular basis will this suffer with the same slow down at 80% as other models when using the supercharger network (I believe the battery is different).

 

[Adopado]

also I am getting the M3RW which I understand you should charge to 100% on a regular basis will this suffer with the same slow down at 80% as other models when using the supercharger network (I believe the battery is different).

You are correct that Supercharging will be slower (and therefore unnecessarily expensive) as you go beyond 80%. You could maybe find a slow charger once a week to top it off. I believe some people coordinate a local share with someone with a driveway and charge point. I know nothing much about it but Co Charger Electric Vehicle Charging is one app.

 

[GRiLLA]

I would flag that prices at the moment are pretty volatile, Tesla seem to be leading the way with bringing them back down as quickly as they put them up, other suppliers seem to find that takes more time to organise decreases than the increase did (funny that).

As you are doing a lot of miles even though price will be a factor I think you will also determine that reliability and availability is equally if not more important. Driving around a bunch of broken/in use chargers is not worth your time.

So in general the known best networks are

Tesla (by a long way)
GridServe (at sites where they have Forecourts or Hubs 150KW chargers, not regular service stations)
Fastned
Instavolt (although they are typically only in pairs so can be busy)
MFG
Osprey's larger sites

BP/Shell would be a last resort for me, always the most expensive and unreliable.

 

[Peter Ferguson]

Thank you

 

[M1tch]

Personally, I’ve all but given up on other networks. The only one that is reliable (apart from the supercharger network) is podpoint. Normally 7-22kw chargers (you can only take 11kw on the M3 anyway) but there are a good amount of 50kw chargers appearing in Tesco, Lidl etc so good for a little top up if you’re doing a weekly shop / having a bacon buttie in the cafe.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I cannot charge at home due to no drive/off road parking so am going to rely on the supercharger network

You might want to consider (slower) e.g. supermarket chargers. Basically a charger where you can be doing something else with your time, rather than waiting for the car to charge. Obviously depends whether your local Supercharger is in the middle of a shopping hub

Supercharger will do you 10% - 80% in 20-30 minutes, and there are overstay charges if you are slow to return and disconnect/move the car

So you might find it more convenient to have a 1 or 2 hour charge, at a slower charger - e.g. whilst shopping, or "at work". Usually slower chargers have lower price-per-kWh too

But ... 3rd party chargers notoriously unreliable and not promptly repaired when needing service (huge broad brush used!), but you'd find out which ones near you are good/bad soon enough by trying them for size.

The other snag may be that Supercharger will have lots of stalls (and charges quickly so even if you have to wait then "not for long" (unless massive queue), - i.e. "a good experience" whereas 2 or 4 stalls of slow chargers, all occupied, is probably an hour or two for each car, and thus (on only a few stalls) the churn, when all occupied, might only be one-per-half-hour. Superchargers typically have loads of stalls and anything else mostly "4 or fewer"

Destination Charger might be the other approach - Restaurant / Gym / Golf Club (or whatever your fancy is) might have some of those. Might only be 7kW (28 MPH-ish), but could be more than that (but they won't be anywhere near the power of a rapid charger), and those might be free.

 

[Jason71]

Hi all

I am currently swapping my diesel audi company car to a M3 (RN number received on the 23rd March).

I cannot charge at home due to no drive/off road parking so am going to rely on the supercharger network which is pretty decent around me and the routes I take (35k annual miles in the South East of England, from my understanding you should get just under 4miles pkwh of charge which won’t be much of a loss on the 9p a mile fuel allowance based on 38p kWh at Dartford off peak times (there are a couple of free/lower cost 7kw chargers near my gym/asda etc so will make that loss back charging there a couple of times a week).

and finally the question are there any other networks you would recommend for fast charging that is sensibly priced (everything I have found is double the cost which is obviously not feasible unless it’s an emergency).

also I am getting the M3RW which I understand you should charge to 100% on a regular basis will this suffer with the same slow down at 80% as other models when using the supercharger network (I believe the battery is different).

You may get 250wh/m on the road on long journeys but over the course of driving year round expect to average more like 300wh/m. Then add 30% to cover non driving use e.g. charging losses, sentry, preheat etc. So for budget purposes i would assume more like 400wh/m or 2.5m per kwh for an LR charged at home
For a rwd charged using the SUC It should be a bit better maybe 280 average with 20% losses (SuC charges for DC not C) so maybe 336wh/m or 2.8 miles per kw

 

[Sean.]

Instavolt (although they are typically only in pairs so can be busy)

The 120kW BYD chargers they install at places like McD's are capped at 200A output. So with our 400V architectures the highest you can ever get in a Tesla is somewhere approaching 72-ish kW

 

[Sean.]

Personally, I’ve all but given up on other networks. The only one that is reliable (apart from the supercharger network) is podpoint. Normally 7-22kw chargers (you can only take 11kw on the M3 anyway) but there are a good amount of 50kw chargers appearing in Tesco, Lidl etc so good for a little top up if you’re doing a weekly shop / having a bacon buttie in the cafe.

I've had a very high success rate at Fastned, Ionity and Gridserve Elec. Forecourts also to be fair.

Suc net. is great but not infallible - on Monday I was at Amesbury, and half of the stalls were failing to deliver charge after about 10 minutes or failing to start altogether. One poor lady in a 23-plate Y tried about 4 before she could initiate a charge.

 

[Peter Ferguson]

Thanks for the replies all.

Seems I will be leaving my car at Tesco and walking to the gym quite a bit to take up the cheaper slower charging

 

[SageBrush]

I understand you should charge to 100% on a regular basis

The BMS will stay well calibrated if you charge to 100% once a week. L2 would be a good fit for that, DCFC would not because you would end up adding congestion to the DCFC.