Another long tow with an EV
Great journey yesterday from South Northamptonshire to the Lake District, towing our 1550kg Unicorn Vigo, with our Polestar 2 LRDM. It’s our 7th or 8th holiday towing with the Polestar so are getting the hang of it.
Two stops, the first after 110 miles in Crew at an Instavolt. Insta was on a go slow at only 80kW max (49 mins)
Second stop 85 miles later at the South lakes Porsche experience center. Great 350kW charger peaked at 136kW for me (battery at 26%). Stopped for just 25mins. Then on to Borrowdale. The whole journey used 146kWh over 260 miles giving a potential range of 132 miles on a single charge. The first leg was even better (much flatter) with a potential range or 140miles towing.
In all just 75 mins of charging on a 7:25 min journey, but we had some long delays on the M6 (around 50 mins). Car was superb…
Total electricity cost, about £61, with about 40 solo miles left over at the end.
We did the same journey last October. I have learned 4 key things since then.
1) ultra-rapid chargers make a huge difference. I would love an EV6 as a tow car for that reason (though I am not sure I would give up the Polestar just for that).
2) there are a LOT more ultra-rapid chargers than just 8 months ago.
3) Gridserve MSA that replaced the Electric Highway chargers are NOT ultra-rapid, even though they are advertised as 120kW.
4) Plan to use as much of your charge as possible each time to maximise charge rate and minimise charge time. As the number of Ultra-rapid chargers grows, this gets easier.
The infrastructure is definitely not as bad either the press make out or people think it is, but it still has a long way to go!
Comments
-
Glad it’s working out well for you CT👍 At some point or other, most folks will be going electric.
2 -
Have to be honest and say that EVs seem to have a awfully long way to go (excuse the pun) until they become viable towbars for owners of heavier vans. Until I can find one that’ll tow our 1800kg loaded Adria Adora for a good 200 miles we’ll be sticking with our trusty Toaureg diesel. One day they might work well enough, but not yet; might compromise with a Hybrid, and use the electric side for local trips without the van.
Additionally, I’m still not convinced about the charging infrastructure in the more remote highlands of Scotland.
5 -
From a cost point of view, fuel cost for my 3500Kg A Class motorhome would work out at about £70, which bearing in mind that Choccy presumably charged up before leaving home means the cost to travel is not dissimilar. He will, of course, be quids in on small local journeys.
0 -
Keswick has 4 Instavolt in Booths, and a Geniepoint rapid and 2 7kW chargers in the main carpark. Not had to pay form the club site charge yet.
We will probably use the club facility on our last night to be sure if 100% before leaving.
1 -
Definitely. Motorhomes, even large class A are at least as efficient as towing a caravan, if not more so. Pottering solo, not so much 😁. But that’s what bicycles and e-bikes are for, right?
0 -
Between 56 and 60. Typically closer to 56. My average was way down on Friday due to terrible traffic in a couple of spots on the M6.
0 -
I’m sure it'll be less than you spend on pies 😙😆
0 -
ChocT, I’m a bit puzzled because the handbook for our 3 months old 64kw Hyundai Kona EV clearly states that frequent/regular high speed charging will considerably shorten the battery's expected life span. It recommends a 7kw charge for regular charging to get the longest and most efficient battery life and also states that the granny charger should only be used when there is no alternative.
Surely people who drive long distances on a regular basis, perhaps for work, will have no option but to use high speed chargers most of the time. Is this an issue you have encountered or considered as it’s something I’ve hardly ever seen mentioned in EV discussions?
0 -
No more than we would have done in the old tow car. The whole point of stopping before was for a coffee and break. Now we happen to charge too.
Buying coffee while you charge is definitely not mandatory, and is certainly not exclusive to EV drivers0 -
Usually granny leads are only recommended for emergencies as they take ages and are subject to decent wiring. Nothing to do with damage to the car.
Generally batteries are only damaged through excess heat, being totally discharged for a long time or absolutely fully charged for a long time. The BMS in the car is designed to minimise that. Some may do a better job than others and some may have better thermal management than others. Certainly the only mention of degradation of battery on mine is that it may degrade slightly with age and use. There is no mention of types of charger being an issue. Indeed, I know that the Leaf actually benefits from the occasional rapid charge.
The only other advice for mine is that the battery should not be left at 100% or 0% for any significant length of time, and for that reason it’s only recommended to charge to 90% unless you need the full range the next day.
Certainly there are a lot of Tesla taxis that have only ever been rapid charged, and have covered over 200,000 or even 300,000 miles on the original battery.0 -
BTW - welcome to the EV world! How are you finding the Kona? It’s a great car with excellent range by all accounts. Better than mine real world on a smaller battery I believe?
0 -
Thanks, ChocT, and for the charging info as well. The granny charger is so slow and definitely only for emergencies. So far we’ve only charged at home on the 7kw charger. I have heard the advice about only charging to 90° but I don’t think it’s in our instructions.
The Kona does seem to be a good smallish car and we've found that with careful driving and making max use of the regen braking, we can extend its range of 300mls to something like 350. We're currently getting 5.3mls to the kw but we have only used it locally as yet. Long trips are done in the MH. We deliberately chose the 64kw model to give ourselves a good range using the theory that bigger is better.
My goodness what a learning curve it was getting used to it! It was almost like learning to drive all over again. All made good, though, when the price of filling the 'tank' is worked out.
0 -
5.3 m/kWh is excellent territory! Hyundai and Kia have a well deserved reputation for building extremely efficient EVs. 350 miles on one charge (of £5 for octopus go) is fantastic!
It kind of is like learning to drive all over again, obviously not from a road sense perspective, but just how to get the best from the car. Glad you are enjoying it!
0 -
Cheers! It's still early days but we're getting there.
Btw, servicing costs of about £100 per year are good too👍
0 -
Chocolate Trees said:-
I would love an EV6 as a tow car for that reason (though I am not sure I would give up the Polestar just for that).
Just out of interest have you been following the Andrew Ditton videos on YouTube as I think he is currently towing with an EV6?
David
1 -
On a cost basis I was interested to see the figures.
On 13th July we drove from Harwich to Merseyside after our 5 weeks in Holland.
We were not towing the same weight but did have a very full car, 1.5 petrol towing a 1200kg low height van. Our costs are comparable.
The leisurely 6 hour journey with a lunch break was 275 miles, recording 39mpg when brimming the tank, cost £60.58.
Colin
0 -
While that's not bad at all, EM, for it to be a true comparison you'd need to be towing the same caravan as ChocT with an ICE car the equivalent of the Polestar. However, you show it can be done economically.
0 -
I know well away from where Choc Trees was towing but it was a good thing he was not trying to charge up at Cobham Services on M25 yesterday. All points full when I stopped there and I do not think you could have used them with a caravan behind you. I stand to be corrected on last this point.
0 -
Yes, watching with interest. His experience of charging and range seems very similar to mine. I love the V2L capability the EV6 has too.
0 -
I definitely could not charge with a caravan on hitch. My charging point is at the rear so have to back in. But I would not plan to stop at Cobham just because of its business, and especially as I can see the charger use from the Navigation on the car. I pick places that are empty!
0 -
Amazing, if you can get 350mi from a charge, you're only 20mi short of the range of our petrol 5 series with a full tank!
0 -
Still waiting for the EV6 to land, but the first thing I'm going to do when it gets delivered is plug the mower into the socket by the rear seats and mow the front lawn. Simply because I can
2 -
Colin, there's a chap on the kia EV forums just starting to tow an Eriba with the EV6.
https://www.kiaownersclub.co.uk/threads/official-kia-uk-towbar-fitted.67314/
post #4
The mileage he gets (which is not yet that accurate due to lack of miles) suggests the lower height of the van might make a significant difference to range. It certainly backs up much of the info from the Norwegian YouTuber who tests all the different EVs for towing ability - that the shape of the load has far more effect than the weight.
If we find towing a 1500kg Vigo more troublesome than CT, I think our first mitigation would be to swap for an Eriba. Eriba's are incredibly cool already, but with an EV towing it, could anything be cooler?
1 -
Yes, it is pretty amazing but, as with all cars, it depends how you drive and what sort of journeys you make. I’m very happy😃👍🏻
1
