Wiki UK and Ireland Supercharger Site News

[WannabeOwner]

I’m a Petrol head

Me too ... or more correctly "was"

I like fast cars and love my 3.5L V6

I've had a few - various Lotus Esprit back-in-the-day, enjoyed an RS4 but had decided (somewhat before that) that it was all Electronics and Driver Aids and the smell of Leather and Oil, and a handful of opposite-lock had been replaced with "just let the car get on with it" so I built a Lotus-7 type kit and stuffed a Rover V8 in it with ... errmmm ... some "engine upgrades". I drove that on nice sunny days for about a decade I suppose ...

... haven't driven it even a single mile since I got the MS ...

The concept of having a daily-driver with all the benefits of Passenger and Cargo carrying, but supercar performance, and wolf-in-sheep's-clothing 100% scratches that itch for me. Yeah, even more driver aids, and even less Leather and Oil smell ... definitely never had to resort to opposite-lock in it!

I don't miss the noise, and in fact like the stealth of the silence.

I was at some pedestrian lights at night a while ago. Some youths were crossing the road and obviously interested in the car. I gave it the beans ... not sure what they made of the car instantly disappearing into the distance, in the dark, with no sound! but hopefully they were entertained, just "differently".

hybrids which have pathetic range

I have two views. 1) Battery price falling, maybe 300 mile range will become the norm "soon" 2) Petrol range-extender may have the most appeal to The Average Joe. I've had a few journeys where an unforeseen detour put me low on EV range ...

the new leaf and even that could do with bigger battery

I agree. largest battery is too small, and I am not confident that Nissan have cracked the degradation problem either (but my facts may be wrong on that)

The I-pace may be a decent car but I doubt it will ever come close to a model x.

I'm confident the coach-building will be better

 

[DJP31]

I’ve spent a fair amount of time looking for my next car and most spent at the more luxury brands so I could get something that’s SUV feel but with bigger ICE but again I’m left feeling empty nothing gets me excited then I started to take a serious look at Tesla and other EV’s and it seems that all traditional makers are too focused on hybrids which have pathetic range as an EV and I think “right now” the only choice for anyone thinking seriously of making the move to EV is a Tesla

There's nothing out there to touch the S or X, and I doubt the I Pace will make a dent in Tesla sales when it's finally available later this year (?). Without a high speed charging network it becomes an expensive second car IMO. Build quality will be good though!

I can't think of a PHEV that I'd be happy with, and that leaves a Lexus type hybrid, and whilst Lexus make great cars nothing in their SUV range delivers any meaningful power. So I agree "right now" it's a one horse race and I'm bloody happy to be in one, so to speak

 

[Fellsteruk]

Couldn’t agree more with all of you. Looking at the leads times on model x I suspect I’ll be ordering in this summer with a view to getting it in the winter when my xtrail lease is up but I’m already trying to sell my 350z ...

Wish I didn’t have to wait but it will be worth it and very excited to join the EV family, also waiting on my employer to confirm they will have free charging points which with super charger network for long drives will make the cost of “fuel” completely free for me

 

[WannabeOwner]

I suspect I’ll be ordering in this summer with a view to getting it in the winter

Might be worth ordering at earliest opportunity for delayed delivery. Assuming it is still the case: I ordered with max lead time (forgotten how long, either 9 months or 6) and Tesla held the price despite two price increases in that time, and fitted whatever new stuff was included in that period. They did discontinue the battery size I ordered, so I had to choose Larger/Smaller with price adjustment (at original price) or take immediately delivery of the battery I had originally ordered, which apparently cheesed a lot of people off, but I was happy with that.

You'll have to part with the deposit for the whole time, and that is now higher than when I ordered mine ...

 

[DJP31]

Looking at the leads times on model x I suspect I’ll be ordering in this summer with a view to getting it in the winter

Adding to the ever helpful advice from @WannabeOwner don't forget to factor in "Tesla time" and the fact they care only about quarter end delivery numbers. The bulk of UK orders are delivered towards the end of a quarter and are generally made in batches. End Sept and Dec will be Tesla target dates, so order late enough to miss Sept but early enough to avoid the chaos at the end of Dec. Although you are supposed to take delivery within 7 days of the car being available in reality so long as it's in the quarter figures they don't really care.

Exciting times! And today is the Silent Bullet's first birthday . She's worked harder than expected too, 15k miles rather than my customary 10k.

 

[arg]

Limited amount of info given out at last night's Clubhouse:

• Membury was supposed to have been connected yesterday, buy DNO called it off due to snow. Can be expected imminently if the weather improves.
• Other sites stuck with various problems, many (but not all) with wayleaves for power.
• The rapid building last year ahead of sorting the power supply is now seen as something of a mistake: for the ones they are working on at the moment, the intention is to get the power sorted before actually building the charging bays.
• Many new sites still planned for 2018, including at least 2 in Wales, 2 in Scotland

One interesting related point was that they are apparently lobbying to get an extra clause in the Electric and Autonomous Vehicles Bill (currently going through parliament) to grant code powers similar to what the phone and cable TV companies have to reduce the amount of red tape involved in constructing public charging facilities. Time for a letter to the MP maybe?

 

[M4guy]

I’m really in need of the ones in wales , can’t wait for them to be sorted!

 

[WannabeOwner]

No Client with some sort of charging capability (when you get there)? Even a 13AMP plug will give you ~5 MPH.

But I'm sure you must have thought of that

 

[M4guy]

No Client with some sort of charging capability (when you get there)? Even a 13AMP plug will give you ~5 MPH.

But I'm sure you must have thought of that

Yeh problem is I don’t know how long I will be stopped at each client for, could be anything from 5mins to 45mins. It’s also rare I get close enough to the building

I have a caravan up that way too which is horrendously slow to charge at so it would be handy for that too

 

[JammyP]

Attached pic of the Old Thorns site today. Been like this for weeks. They are doing work do one of their hotel buildings and every time I drive past there are usually trucks and lorries parked in the bays. Perhaps they are waiting until that work is done as the site entrance is very close to the Superchargers...Management assured me it would be open by the end of January so not sure what the issue is...

 

[DJP31]

.Management assured me it would be open by the end of January so not sure what the issue is...

It’ll either be the power connection isn’t ready, or more likely the legal wayleaves and permissions haven’t been granted. I think Tesla have learnt from these experiences and in future I don’t expect them to break ground until they are 100% ready to fire them up.

 

[Andybissett]

Yeah, but presumably you didn't know, at that time, how slow the Elon-Time-Clock ticks?



I don't know anything about it, but won't the i-pace be available soon?

Personally I'd still want a Tesla. No idea if ICE manufacturers can get EV right-first-time and also as-good-as-Tesla-is-now - although need to compare both included-Toys and Build/Service Quality

I had a Jaguar for a few years (obviously an ICE - and build quality etc. were great. As far as I can tell, the main issue with the I-pace is destination charging. Whilst we are all frustrated by having many Superchargers seemingly built but still under wraps, the existing Tesla supercharging network is still fantastic. From reports in other threads, Jaguar were a bit non comittal when asked specifically about charging.

 

[DJP31]

From reports in other threads, Jaguar were a bit non comittal when asked specifically about charging.

They’ve gone further than that in some replies to questions, saying the charging network is nothing to do with them. Much like petrol stations, other providers will deal with the issue, not the car makers.

For me, even if the car was the best car ever made I wouldn’t buy it if I had to rely on the existing non Tesla charging network.

 

[MagicMagicD]

They’ve gone further than that in some replies to questions, saying the charging network is nothing to do with them. Much like petrol stations, other providers will deal with the issue, not the car makers.

For me, even if the car was the best car ever made I wouldn’t buy it if I had to rely on the existing non Tesla charging network.

That was the conclusion I came to. Public charging is an order of magnitude better than it was two or three years ago, but still not good enough to rely on if it's the only way to 'fill' your car. I have tremendous respect for MK1 Leaf drivers - to manage trips with such a small battery too... hat's of to them.

 

[DJP31]

That was the conclusion I came to. Public charging is an order of magnitude better than it was two or three years ago, but still not good enough to rely on if it's the only way to 'fill' your car. I have tremendous respect for MK1 Leaf drivers - to manage trips with such a small battery too... hat's of to them.

Agree, and currently limited to 50kW - although I’ve never seen a CHAdeMO deliver that. So you have to find one and spend 90 mins there!

 

[WannabeOwner]

Membury was supposed to have been connected yesterday [01-March], buy DNO called it off due to snow. Can be expected imminently if the weather improves

Presumably still covered in snow there then?

 

[cyberkryten]

Presumably still covered in snow there then?

Haha, was wondering as I came past on Saturday. No sign of any progress

 

[scottrobertson]

Fleet Services Northbound is now open!

 

[M4guy]

Burtonwood still closed

 

[DPRC]

Liphook should be going live later today according to the contractors on site this morning