Hi, im considering the Model 3 low range as first electric car. I travel the uk weekly for business and cover on average 500-750 miles a week. Im concerned about the charging while out and about. My concern is are there enough super chargers in the uk? Can anyone give any advice on whether this is viable or should i stick with petrol?
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Considering Tesla Model 3 as first Electric car
- Thread starter No10bowles
- Start date
Hi and welcome!
There is a plethora of information on real-world achievable range within these pages - a search will produce numerous threads for you to peruse. For that kind of mileage I'd be considering an M3 Long Range, rather than the standard "low" range. with the LR you can conservatively work on a range of 220-240 miles between charges (range is affected my so many variables - speed and temperature being the main ones). There are a good number of Super Chargers the length of the country (less the width) and the built in navigation will safely see you to these en-route - you will need to rethink and adjust your journey planning.
Let us know how you get on with your investigations.
There is a plethora of information on real-world achievable range within these pages - a search will produce numerous threads for you to peruse. For that kind of mileage I'd be considering an M3 Long Range, rather than the standard "low" range. with the LR you can conservatively work on a range of 220-240 miles between charges (range is affected my so many variables - speed and temperature being the main ones). There are a good number of Super Chargers the length of the country (less the width) and the built in navigation will safely see you to these en-route - you will need to rethink and adjust your journey planning.
Let us know how you get on with your investigations.
Mr H
Active Member
750 miles a week is only 5 stops in a LR so it’s perfectly doable and with Ecotricity teaming up with Gridserve there will be many other chargers at all motorway services and then there is Instavolt too. I see the supercharger network as an addition to, not instead of, the public network.
You’ll save a fortune in fuel costs too.
You’ll save a fortune in fuel costs too.
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kelvin 660
White SR+ with LFP battery
There are quite a few super-chargers and more on the way but it depends on where you drive in the UK...
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Mr H
Active Member
Just 3 words for you " you'll love it" apart from arriving at work refreshed because of the comfiest seating. You'll be able to relax on motorways and most dual carriageways and you'll wonder what all this range fuss was all about. The only slight problem is if you have to venture into parts of Wales and the West Country and there are plenty of 3rd party chargers now.. even the West of Scotlandabd the Islands have 50kWh now. Use A Better Route Planner to.plan your routes and you'll never look back.
Many 3rd party charging resources in addition to the map of Tesla Superchargers. Dig for it!
Mr H
Active Member
Before I got mine I used A Better Routeplanner to check out the journeys I do regularly. It allows you to select nearly every make and model of EV, and also knows where all the chargers are on multiple networks. It gave me a lot of confidence knowing just how long I would be charging and how much I would spend to do so. Easy to compare SR+ to LR as well.
It's not associated with Tesla or any manufacturer, and has it's own models of consumption based on people that use it's service, so it's not just going to give you idealized answers. I would also suggest adjusting the temperature that it's using as range changes when it's colder.
It's not associated with Tesla or any manufacturer, and has it's own models of consumption based on people that use it's service, so it's not just going to give you idealized answers. I would also suggest adjusting the temperature that it's using as range changes when it's colder.
Before everyone spends your money for you, do you have some examples of trips you do? Distances, how long you usually like to drive without stopping, where about a in the UK etc.
as mentioned above you can use a better route planner and try examples of your routes with both standard range and long range, and play with speed/temperature which affect range.
lots of super chargers around but there are some less populated areas. Don’t forget you can use all the other chargers too, and they’re increasing all the time. And the recent gridserve/ecotricity deal should bring big upgrades to all motorway services
basically you’ll live it and probably have nothing to worry about, but a bit of experimentation will help reassure you
as mentioned above you can use a better route planner and try examples of your routes with both standard range and long range, and play with speed/temperature which affect range.
lots of super chargers around but there are some less populated areas. Don’t forget you can use all the other chargers too, and they’re increasing all the time. And the recent gridserve/ecotricity deal should bring big upgrades to all motorway services
basically you’ll live it and probably have nothing to worry about, but a bit of experimentation will help reassure you
Sounds like a Tesla would be a perfect introduction to the EV world for you. You do a lot of travelling and, in all honesty, nothing beats the supercharger network for much of that. As others have said there are plenty of their party chargers around should you be far from the nearest red and white tombstone. This infrastructure is improving all the time. I'm seeing more fast chargers come online.
If I was to be truly honest if you're doing high mileage week on week out, a diesel would still serve you better. Bit a model three, with it's decent range and best charging network of any EV wouldn't be far behind in terms of convenience. Factor in costs. And the fact the EV will become more and more useful as the diesel becomes less and less of say you should seriously consider it. As others have said, check out your regular journies and see if there are good charging networks nearby. If there are. Go for it.
If I was to be truly honest if you're doing high mileage week on week out, a diesel would still serve you better. Bit a model three, with it's decent range and best charging network of any EV wouldn't be far behind in terms of convenience. Factor in costs. And the fact the EV will become more and more useful as the diesel becomes less and less of say you should seriously consider it. As others have said, check out your regular journies and see if there are good charging networks nearby. If there are. Go for it.
It's very particular to your actual individual journeys ... I could claim that you could do 750 miles a week and never use a Supercharger or public charger so long as you have home charging because you can start every morning with a "full tank" and an evenly spread 150 miles a day (for 5 days) can be achieved even by the shortest range Tesla. However, that's not realistic and I'm going to guess that your journeys will not be evenly spread and will be longer in some instances ... that's why we need to know your real-life journey pattern! If a couple of your trips are going to be pushing 300miles or more then you're going to be using external charging and a Longe Range is likely to be your chosen steed!
I’m on my third EV. First was a 24kWh Leaf, but we also kept an ICE vehicle for longer journeys. Then we had a 64kWh Kona electric for a year, then the LR AWD Model 3. I’d never go back to ICE now.
We are retired, so weekly miles doesn’t come into it for us. We have done some long trips for holidays though, up to the Isle of Skye a couple of times, and to Paris though the Chunnel before the current hoo-ha. We’re based in the East Midlands. All you need to do for long trips is a little pre-planning. This is easier if your longer trips are regularly to the same destinations. I suggest you use a combination of ABetterRoutePlanner (for Tesla Superchargers) and Zap-Map (for areas where there are no suitable Tesla chargers). Tesla chargers are generally fast and reliable, third-party chargers less so.
Over the three cars I’ve covered about 55,000 electric miles, and I’ve never run out of electrons. Get a home charger installed if you can - I’d say about 95% of my charging is done at home.
Driving electric is different, but in a good way. Go for it, you won’t regret it!
We are retired, so weekly miles doesn’t come into it for us. We have done some long trips for holidays though, up to the Isle of Skye a couple of times, and to Paris though the Chunnel before the current hoo-ha. We’re based in the East Midlands. All you need to do for long trips is a little pre-planning. This is easier if your longer trips are regularly to the same destinations. I suggest you use a combination of ABetterRoutePlanner (for Tesla Superchargers) and Zap-Map (for areas where there are no suitable Tesla chargers). Tesla chargers are generally fast and reliable, third-party chargers less so.
Over the three cars I’ve covered about 55,000 electric miles, and I’ve never run out of electrons. Get a home charger installed if you can - I’d say about 95% of my charging is done at home.
Driving electric is different, but in a good way. Go for it, you won’t regret it!
just to clarify you said "low range" as in the SR+ and not the "long range"
If I was doing a lot of mileage I wouldn't choose the SR+, I know you can cover huge milage with one with some planning (I've got the SR+ and a leaf) but as a first car you will hit the range limit a lot, and while super charging is great the public charging network is still a complete shambles and probably will be for a couple more years.
Just bear in mind that a motorway car is not the biggest strength of the model 3, don't get me wrong it's still a great motorway car, but probably no better than a modern diesel vauxhall, so not the wisest financial decision. But for just about all other forms of driving, city, back roads etc it excels.
Ultimately if you can afford the LongRange go for that.
If I was doing a lot of mileage I wouldn't choose the SR+, I know you can cover huge milage with one with some planning (I've got the SR+ and a leaf) but as a first car you will hit the range limit a lot, and while super charging is great the public charging network is still a complete shambles and probably will be for a couple more years.
Just bear in mind that a motorway car is not the biggest strength of the model 3, don't get me wrong it's still a great motorway car, but probably no better than a modern diesel vauxhall, so not the wisest financial decision. But for just about all other forms of driving, city, back roads etc it excels.
Ultimately if you can afford the LongRange go for that.
I agree with the comments above but would add the following, range is seriously reduced in the winter, don't under estimate this.
If this is a company car with the BIK it is a no brainer, the only real alternative (more expensive on tax) is a petrol hybrid, the new peugeot 508 and volvo S60 look nice along with the obvious bmw330e and merc equivalent.
You can make the tesla LR work but you will have to be fully committed and appreciate the benefits or it will be an inconvenience once the honeymoon period ends.
My previous work car was a 5 series diesel bmw and I prefer the tesla but there are no superchargers available on my daily route so without the luxury of charging at work and for my own money, personally, I'd have stuck with the mile muncher dirty diesel.
If this is a company car with the BIK it is a no brainer, the only real alternative (more expensive on tax) is a petrol hybrid, the new peugeot 508 and volvo S60 look nice along with the obvious bmw330e and merc equivalent.
You can make the tesla LR work but you will have to be fully committed and appreciate the benefits or it will be an inconvenience once the honeymoon period ends.
My previous work car was a 5 series diesel bmw and I prefer the tesla but there are no superchargers available on my daily route so without the luxury of charging at work and for my own money, personally, I'd have stuck with the mile muncher dirty diesel.
Stranger Dings
Member
I moved to an M3P a year ago and haven’t looked back since. If you are doing 150 miles a day, it will be cheap and effective. I regularly do 100 miles in a day for my commute and it has saved me a fortune in fuel costs. If you charge at home on Octopus Go @ 5p per KWh, you pay less than 2p a mile.
There are loads of chargers all over the place now. Even a recent trip to west Wales for me found plenty of decent charging opportunities. Use Zap Map and ABRP to work out charging options (and get back up plans in case your expected charger isn’t working when you get there).
I was really worried whether having an EV would be problematic, but it has been really easy.
There are loads of chargers all over the place now. Even a recent trip to west Wales for me found plenty of decent charging opportunities. Use Zap Map and ABRP to work out charging options (and get back up plans in case your expected charger isn’t working when you get there).
I was really worried whether having an EV would be problematic, but it has been really easy.
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