I charged the Funky Cat up to 100% and had a predicted range of 170 miles. Obviously the predicted range is based on the energy consumption of the previous driving before you charged.
When I left home I had a 21% charge in the car and I drove very conservatively to where I was going to get the car charged, By the time I arrived it had dropped down to 9%, which is a lot less than I like to have it at.
I think 170 for this time of year is quite good, so was happy with that.
Yesterday I charged the Funky Cat up to 100% and had a predicted range of 132 miles, though as I started driving it went up to 133 miles. This was less than when I charged up at a similar 11 kW charger and reached a predicted range of 153 miles.
Obviously the predicted range is based on the energy consumption of the previous driving before you charged. Though, as a result it makes it challenging when planning to drive. I suspect the 133 was based on some motorway driving, whilst the 153 was based on trips which were mainly local and rural roads.
If I have a 153 mile range, but my next trip was motorway, I think I might need to think about planning the journey to ensure there was a potential charging location if I needed it.
These days charging stations are actually a lot easier to find compared to 2023 when I got the Funky Cat. For me, it’s not just about finding a charging station, but finding one that is relatively cheap. Paying 85p kW is extortion, whereas if I can find one for 57p or thereabouts, then I am saving money.
I recently bought an Ultra Compact Power Bank to replace my existing power bank and to use on a day trip to Venice.
My main use case is when travelling with just my phone or attending a conference with just my phone.
If I have my laptop with me I can usually use that to charge the phone. My phone can usually hold a charge for most of the day, but I have found now and then something I am doing kills the battery.
On my day trip to Venice I only planned to take my phone and the power bank. I also thought I should be able to charge my Apple Watch as well if that ran out of power.
Now the power bank worked a treat in charging the phone, I was down to 25% battery so plugged the phone into the attached cable on the power bank and it recharged the phone.
Towards the end of the day I noted that my Apple Watch was down to 1%. So I retrieved the USB-C watch charging cable from my bag, plugged it into the USB-C port on the power bank and watched the watch literally not charge.
It wasn’t critical I had my watch charged (I had my phone) but it was annoying that the charging didn’t work. I hadn’t tested charging the watch before I left, but had for the phone.
When I got home I checked the process, this time using the USB-A charging cable that came with the watch, and this time with the power bank it did charge the watch. So, maybe next time I will take the USB-A cable.
