Renault Zoe e-car

[Burt2000]

I've used a few in town, some are free some aren't. Adelaide street is free, translink central station is free but Cromac street DRD car park isnt,I thought it was but I got a ticket at it when charging by some jobs worth. Seems to be that your only supposed to park for as long as you need to charge the car though rather than using it all day for free parking.

 

[saxo_man]

Just had a read through this thread! I knew Paul had one didn't realise there were two on here. I think there will be more EVs popping up here with the good lease deals out there. I've had mine 2 months now, and after the novelty has started to wear off, it's actually a great concept and very little hassle!

 

[Burt2000]

Must be a deal on at the minute with those Mitsubishi outlander hybrids, I counted 4 yesterday using up nearly every charger in the city centre yesterday ffs. Ones sitting at them all day to get free parking. I was tempted to leave a note saying give somebody else a chance

 

[Dervhead]

Must be a deal on at the minute with those Mitsubishi outlander hybrids, I counted 4 yesterday using up nearly every charger in the city centre yesterday ffs. Ones sitting at them all day to get free parking. I was tempted to leave a note saying give somebody else a chance

You see, that's what would get my goat up. I just know I'd drive to Belfast & you'd have all the "smart guys" sitting in the charge bays parked up all day.

Think people blocking the petrol pump doing their weekly shop but 100 times worse.

 

[rupertfinch]

Must be a deal on at the minute with those Mitsubishi outlander hybrids, I counted 4 yesterday using up nearly every charger in the city centre yesterday ffs. Ones sitting at them all day to get free parking. I was tempted to leave a note saying give somebody else a chance

Think they must be the new DLA vehicle of choice.

 

[Burt2000]

I was well pissed off, as I had about 10 mile left on the charge, still enough to get me home but its not the point.
I think ill give them a taste of their own medicine next week with an early start in the Translink central station ones and hog it for the day.......charge wars!!

 

[Crow555]

Might be worth highlighting your concerns to whoever is in charge (pun unintended) of EV charging points. Either someone regulates parking them (e.g. redcoat attendents) or they start to roll out more EV points to cope with demand.

 

[saxo_man]

Do hybrids need plugged in?

 

[Crow555]

Some do. The i3 for example can be bought as a hybrid, as the petrol engine component is only there as a generator to supply extra electricity. The i8 I believe is also able to be plugged in, even though the engine can drive the wheels. The prius on the other hand doesn't have a plugin capability, at least last time I looked.

 

[livie18t]

Just took ours to Donegal this weekend, 110 miles. Stopped at glenshane for a rapid charge and a coffee and still had 30 mile left by the time we got here

Do u need a card for the charging points?
did the same card work in donegal?

 

[saxo_man]

Do u need a card for the charging points?
did the same card work in donegal?

You need to register for a card but it's free. If you forget it you can ring the number on the charging unit and it can be remotely unlocked.

 

[livie18t]

You need to register for a card but it's free. If you forget it you can ring the number on the charging unit and it can be remotely unlocked.

What way does it work in England as I'm going over to collect mine
was thinking of driving to Scotland to get the boat which is 220 miles lol

 

[saxo_man]

What way does it work in England as I'm going over to collect mine
was thinking of driving to Scotland to get the boat which is 220 miles lol

I'd imagine it's totally separate. I got mine put on a lorry to the docks in Scotland, as dealer didn't charge to do delivery anywhere on mainland.

Get your card here:
e-car charged for success

 

[Graham]

Do hybrids need plugged in?

Hyundai's new Ioniq comes in hybrid, hybrid plug-in and full e-car as an example

 

[Burt2000]

We got 2 cards when they installed the charger at home about a week or two before we got the car. The card works down south as well, we have taken the zoe to Donegal twice and had no issues

 

[saxo_man]

Hyundai's new Ioniq comes in hybrid, hybrid plug-in and full e-car as an example

I'm a bit more clued up on them now! I'm pretty sure the wife's next car will be a plug in hybrid, as best of both worlds. Plus with getting the solar panels installed its a no brainier.

 

[saxo_man]

We got 2 cards when they installed the charger at home about a week or two before we got the car. The card works down south as well, we have taken the zoe to Donegal twice and had no issues

Any time I've phoned its been answered by a southern accent so must be based in the south?

 

[livie18t]

We got 2 cards when they installed the charger at home about a week or two before we got the car. The card works down south as well, we have taken the zoe to Donegal twice and had no issues

I'm buying mine in private sale and they never used the charge points in England so they don't have the cards :-( they where using the 13amp charger(3 pin) from the house not the fast house charger might just have to come home on the slow Liverpool boat :-(

 

[livie18t]

I'd imagine it's totally separate. I got mine put on a lorry to the docks in Scotland, as dealer didn't charge to do delivery anywhere on mainland.

Get your card here:
e-car charged for success

thx I registered with that tho must be closed as it says someone will phone u and no joy so will get a phone on Monday I'm sure lol

 

[saxo_man]

thx I registered with that tho must be closed as it says someone will phone u and no joy so will get a phone on Monday I'm sure lol

I'm sure it took a week to get mine. I filled all paperwork out online.

 

[livie18t]

What sort of range are yous getting at the minute with the cold weather ?
How long does it take to charge from those council charging stations ?

 

[Burt2000]

Range drops a fair bit in cold weather. I haven't let it run right down and usually top up at around 50-60 miles in winter. I'd say around 70 max per charge and 90 in summer. All short journeys.

Rapid chargers can take about 30 mins for full charge and around an hour for any of the other ones. Home installed wall charger takes about 3 hours for a full charge

 

[RickyB]

Must be a deal on at the minute with those Mitsubishi outlander hybrids, I counted 4 yesterday using up nearly every charger in the city centre yesterday ffs. Ones sitting at them all day to get free parking. I was tempted to leave a note saying give somebody else a chance

Never realised that you got free parking in those bays in Belfast. Now that does sound appealing

 

[PaulYDP]

There is a very noticeable drop off on winter in the range, given my commute it turns into a bit of a pain as sometimes I'll need to stick it on the charger every night. You also find in the winter that the range can change overnight, for example the range was showing 8 miles less this morning than when I stopped it last night!

I see they have just brought another Zoe out with a '250' mile range - which I think real world is actually about 180 and it still charges in the same length of time. Mine goes back in May and I don't think I'll get another, the higher range is certainly tempting though.

 

[Burt2000]

Yeah ours goes back in May as well. we are in two minds whether to go for another or ask to extend the lease if possible. If we got a similar deal on a new one with the longer range we would go for it.

Financially when you work out the figures we would have to buy a 2nd car at say a couple of grand for something half decent, then you have to fuel and tax it which would probably near come to what we pay monthly for the Zoe which has almost no running costs. Then there's maintenance and fixing it if it breaks which we wouldn't have to worry about with a new ZOE under warranty.

@RickyB the translink car park at central station used to be free but people abused it.
Some inconsiderate p***k left his big merc hybrid jeep in it for 2 days a lot of weeks ago while he took himself off to Dublin and blocked the use of the charger for anyone else. Translink have since changed the policy that the first 2 hours are free but you pay normally after that. The owner of the merc who used it for 2 days got a £30 bill when he arrived back home...