Posts

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Keep in low gear

from Google Street View

So, the other day I was driving down Porlock Hill in Somerset which is rather steep (20%). As you approach the hill there are some warning signs, one said Try your brakes, fine I can do that. The other said Keep in low gear. However, I was driving down in my EV and realised I really didn’t know what this means when driving an EV. 

The Highway Code isn’t much help, rule 160 says:

select a lower gear before you reach a long downhill slope. This will help to control your speed

The key with travelling in a lower gear, is that engine braking will help slow the car and control the speed.

I know that, but an EV doesn’t have a clutch or a gearbox as a petrol engine car has. I guessed that the regenerative braking (which I have always in strong mode) would do what engine braking did. I do wonder though what would happen if you were at 100% or close to it without regenerative braking, I am guessing then the brakes would have to do all the work, more than they would usually do.

In the end the regenerative braking worked wonders, but even so….

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Charging at Arlington Court

I was visiting Arlington Court in Devon. It took me a while to find the EV chargers, literally drove around the entire car park before I found them. These were the same Chargepoint EV chargers available at other National Trust properties. A simple matter then of plugging in the Funky Cat and using contactless to authenticate and authorise payment. Chargepoint take a hold of £15 which is a lot less than other providers who, from my experience, can sometimes place a hold of £50 on your bank account.

I then left the car to charge and went to enjoy exploring Arlington Court.

When you read social media threads about EVs, often a criticism made about EVs is the time it takes to charge. I often think that criticism is misplaced as people are thinking that charging an EV is like filling a car with petrol. Though there are EV charging stations on major roads and at motorway services, you can often find EV chargers in many other places such as hotels, car parks, theme parks, shopping centres, designer outlets, and National Trust properties.

So, yes you can stop on your journey to charge, but you can also charge when you reach your destination. So, no surprise when visiting Arlington Court in Devon that there were EV chargers available to charge the Funky Cat. I arrived, I charged, I enjoyed my visit, and the Funky Cat was at 100% when I was ready to leave.

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Only 160 miles

Recently charged the Funky Cat to 100% and the predicted range was down to 160 miles.

Lately I have been getting 170 miles when charging. As with all figures like this for the Funky Cat, the predicted range is based on previous driving, and I have (in the main) been commuting to work which includes a section of motorway and a few hills. I also have been using the air conditioning as well.

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MFG to get cheaper for the summer

One of the annoying aspects of owning an electric vehicle is the high cost of rapid charging (more than 50kWh) at charging locations and motorway services.

When I first got the Funky Cat, there were MFG chargers at my local garage, however, it was still a few months until they went live. They were expensive at 79p per kWh, so they were usually my charger of last resort.

However I saw today, in an email,  that for the next three months, they are reducing their prices to 59p per kWh.

From 1 July to 30 September 2026, you can charge for just 59p per kWh at every UK EV Power location – down from 79p per kWh. That’s a saving of 25%, or around £6 on a typical charge.

This makes them comparable to the peak cost of Tesla chargers. This is also a lot cheaper than the cost of the InstaVolt chargers, which I also use, which are now 92p. Hopefully we might see a little more competition in charging pricing.

This 59p price from MFG is available not just with the MFG app, but also with standard contactless payment, which is a bonus.

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Still fixed

I did the fix for my malfunctioning Ora Funky Cat app the other day and today the app is working as expected, reporting on the current charge and predicted range of the Funky Cat. I will keep an eye on it even so.

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Fix for the malfunctioning ORA Funky Cat app

I wrote earlier about an issue I was having with the Ora app.

When I put the Funky Cat on charge this week, the app was showing no change to the charge. Checking the actual car, I could see it was charging. 

Since then I have been unable to see the real charge of the Funky Cat through the app.

I wasn’t alone and on various forums others were having the same problem.

However, there is a possible solution.

Use the app to unlock the car, then refresh the app interface and check whether the data is synchronised. 

If this is the case and it is synchronised then the app now should be working correctly.

I tried this method and it worked for me (and has for others).

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No more Ora

headlight of a red car

Slightly old news, in April GWM announced that the Funky Cat (now known as the Ora 03) is being phased out of UK dealerships after four years. This means that GWM have stopped selling the Ora Funky Cat in the UK Essentially the reason was that it did not sell. In the first three months of 2026 they sold just 26 cars.

I did like the quirky look of the Ora Funky Cat, but that quirkiness obviously did not appeal. I was always thinking about replacing the Funky Cat with the ORA 07. However, that model never made it to the UK market.

My lease for the Funky Cat is ending at the end of July. I was given the option to extend the lease or even purchase the car. I did think about it, however with the dealerships disappearing, and stories about issues with spare parts not being available, the decision was almost made for me. 

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ORA Funky Cat app malfunctioning

I initially thought this was just me.

When I put the Funky Cat on charge this week, the app was showing no change to the charge. Checking the actual car, I could see it was charging. 

Since then I have been unable to see the real charge of the Funky Cat through the app.

Thought this was a fault with my app, but on a few Facebook ORA groups, it looks like I wasn’t alone. Consensus is that this is not a problem with the car or the app, but the servers which facilitate the connection between the app and the car.

Hopefully it will get fixed soon.

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Yes, there are chargers

Packwood House

I had been planning to visit Packwood House, a National Trust property in Warwickshire. Before heading up I checked the National Trust app on my phone and there was no indication that there were EV chargers there, I was pretty sure there was. Had I messed up, confused it with another property. I was convinced that there were chargers there, so I checked the entry on the National Trust website and there on the property page was information about the EV chargers. The app was updated so did make me wonder. The search function on both the app and the website weren’t providing accurate results either.

So, as I drove up the M5 to Packwood House, I did wonder if they would have any chargers there. As I drove into the entrance there was a sign indicating the way to the EV charging. They were close to the reception. These were the same kinds of chargers I have used at other National Trust properties. A simple matter of plugging the cable into the Funky Cat and then using contactless payment to start the charging.

It’s quite slow to charge, but ideal if you are visiting somewhere, you can put your car on charge, enjoy visiting the house and gardens, have a cup of tea, and when you get back to the car there is charge on the car.

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Let’s brighten things up…

Since I got my iPhone 17 Pro Max I have thought about using it for some filming, video blog type things. I know I could do that selfie thing and hold the camera in my hand, but I also wanted to do some pieces to camera, where I am not holding the phone. 

Though the iPhone 17 Pro Max is pretty good in low light conditions, I did have a look at what lighting options there were for the phone.

One kit I found on Amazon was this 128 LED Rechargeable Portable Selfie Light Video Conference Lighting with Clip and Camera Tripod Adapter which I got on special.

I liked the fact it was magnetic and would attach to the back of the phone. Another feature was that it could be used with a laptop, which will help with the many video calls I do and when presenting online as well.

It can be charged with an USB-C charger, so no need for extra cables. 

When I used it recently to record a video I was pleased with the enhancement it gave my video recording.