Category: funky cat

Posted on

Charging at Darts Farm

Down in Devon in Topsham, close to Exeter is Darts Farm, a wonderful farm shop. I discovered it through the Tesla App, as they have a bank of Tesla chargers which my Funky Cat can use.

I have used them a number of times now, and each time the experience has been seamless. This is a little surprising as these are the V3 chargers and in some places I have had issues with charging with these with the connection failing and then I have to pop the bonnet of the Funky Cat to manually release the charging cable. I never have issues with the bigger V4 chargers, these are at Reading Services for example.

At Darts Farm it is a simple matter to set the charge going on the app, plugging the charge cable into the Funky Cat and all is well. I then head off to the shop, either to buy some amazing produce, or get a drink in the cafe.

The location is ideal when visiting places in Devon (even Dorset).

Posted on

Charging once more at the National Trust

Castle

More and more National Trust properties are putting in EV charging stations. These are mainly fast chargers, which means they are the slower 11kWh chargers, which are in fact ideal when visiting a property.

I recently visited Castle Drogo down in Devon, upon my arrival I was able to park and connect my car to the charger. You can use the Chargepoint app if you want, I though used contactless. Unlike many other chargers which use contactless they only take a £15 hold on your card. BP Pulse took a £50 hold on a recent charge in comparison. The cost was 50p kWh which I thought was reasonable for a public charger.

What this meant of course, was when my visit to the property was over, the Funky Cat was at a 100% charge ready for the journey home.

Posted on

170 miles again

I do realise that the predicted range is based on my previous driving, and that will vary depending on which roads I am driving, use of heating and air-conditioning, acceleration and regenerative braking.

I would normally expect in the colder months the predicted mileage to be in the 140-150 mile range, so when I recently charged to 100% I had a predicted range of 170 miles. That also happened last month.

That was a little surprising, this was before a long motorway trip, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise the next time I charged to 100% the range has dropped down to 151 miles.

Posted on

Charging at the National Trust

I recently visited Stourhead, my last visit was nearly ten years ago back in May 2016.

 Having arrived at the property, I was pleased to see EV chargers, so I put the Funky Cat on charge. I could use contactless to start the charge, though if you have the ChargePoint app you can use that. I did in fact try to use the ChargePoint app, which then attempted to charge my debit card, which the bank blocked. No idea why, so I avoided the app and used ApplePay instead.

As well as 22 kWh EV chargers, Stourhead also had some rapid chargers which looked like they could deliver more charge (so faster charging). I was less pleased to see that there had been a cable theft from the rapid chargers.

It all worked out using the 22kWh chargers, though the Funky Cat can only draw down 11KwH.

When a couple of weeks later, I made a trip to Kingston Lacy, another National Trust property down in Dorset I was pleased to see they also had chargers. I headed to the EV charging and I put the Funky Cat on charge.

By the time I finished my visit to the house and gardens, the Funky Cat was at 100%. I had time left, and it was only twenty miles away I headed off to Corfe Castle.

I parked in the National Trust car park, and was pleased to see they also had EV chargers. I didn’t put the car on charge, but with hindsight, it might have been a good idea, but I hadn’t used that much charge travelling there. In the end I didn’t need to charge on my way home.

With the often rural locations, travelling to National Trust properties often means finding a charge on the way there or the way home. However, as the National Trust starts to install more chargers at different properties it becomes a lot easier for EV drivers.

Posted on

Really, 170

Screenshot

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.

Posted on

Probably around 140…

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.

Posted on

Now it’s just 157

funky cat headlight

I recently charged my Funky Cat to 100%, the predicted range was 157 miles. Just a bit under from what I reported in December.

The predicted range is based on how the car used energy for the last 100km. Over the last few weeks it has been cold, so I have had the heating on, the windscreen has been misting, so I have had both the heating and the air conditioning on as well.

Batteries perform less well in colder weather and last week it was right down at zero, even if we did not have any snow.

I’ve not drive the Funky Cat in snow and I think it would be either an interesting experience or an utter nightmare.

Posted on

Well it is getting colder…

I recently charged my Funky Cat to 100%, the predicted range was 159 miles.

I haven’t charged to 100% for a while as I haven’t been doing that much driving.

When I first got the Funky Cat in August 2023 whenever I charged to 100% my predicted range was usually 185 miles. Not quite the 193 of the advertised WLTP range but pretty close. However in the winter it did drop quite dramatically.

Posted on

Out of order

I use Tesla Superchargers for my Funky Cat because they are significantly cheaper than other public charging options. I was on my way back from Birmingham, and though I didn’t have enough charge to get home, I did to get to the Gloucester Services. On previous trips back from Birmingham I would visit Frankley southbound services on the M5 and use the Tesla chargers there, which would then get me home. However, my preference was to head to Gloucester as the services there are much nicer than the ones at Frankley and I did fancy getting something from the Farm Shop at the services.

When I arrived, I had a 12% charge left on the Funky Cat. I drove around to the Tesla chargers, and it looked like most were free, and there was a reason for that. I did my usual process of starting the charge on the app and then plugging in the cable to the Funky Cat. This appeared to go okay, but then as I waited for the charging to initialise and start, I saw there were problems. The Tesla driver next to me was having a similar issue. It appeared that the chargers were temporarily out of order.

The Gloucester Services have a set of other chargers in their parking as well. However, all the other chargers were all busy. 

I popped into the services anyhow as I needed the loo. My new plan was to go to the northbound services via Junction 12. However, when I came out I saw a car was about to leave the (other) chargers, so I quickly took their place and put the Funky Cat on charge. At 69p kWh not as cheap as the Tesla chargers, but certainly cheaper than Gridserve or InstaVolt at other motorway services.

I went in to the services to get some coffee and browse the shop.

By the time the Funky Cat was at 84% I saw that the Tesla chargers were now working. Was it worth moving the car, well the ones I were using were 13p more per kW. So, using the other chargers and with my 31.3 kWh I was charged £4.07 more than if I had used the Tesla chargers at 56p kWh.

However, moving the car for probably another 5 kWh would save me 65p, so I didn’t bother. I had enough charge to get home, so I unplugged the Funky Cat, took a photograph of what I had been charged and headed home.

Posted on

Made it by minutes…

pocket watch
Image by Bruno from Pixabay

I often use the Tesla superchargers when charging the Funky Cat, as they are often significantly cheaper than other public chargers. The last time I used the chargers at Cribbs Causeway I had an issue with one of the chargers so I missed the cheaper charging window.

On my way up the M5 and needing a charge I tried again, though this time I arrived with about ten minutes to spare (not quite the fifteen I planned for). However this time I used the charger that worked last time first and it just worked. This meant I got my charge at 32p kWh rather than 56p kWh. This saved me over nine pounds on my 39kW that I put into the Funky Cat.