Category: funky cat

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Not all plain sailing…

electric car being charged

I had read some time ago that non-Tesla electric vehicles could use some selected Tesla superchargers. Alas none in the Bristol area can be used, so I’ve never had the chance to try them out. On a recent long distance journey to Norfolk I  stopped at the Tesla superchargers in the Studlands Retail Park in Newmarket in Suffolk, and it all worked really easily and smoothly.

On my return journey, I decided to use the superchargers again. It was mid morning when I arrived and there was a fair few Tesla cars in place charging. As a result I had to use the space differently than on my previous visit. The first Tesla charger I used, I had to stretch the charger over the bonnet, I plugged in and using the Tesla app, set it to charge. However it wouldn’t charge. Tried again, but still no joy. Ah well I thought, I would use a different charger. The car though wouldn’t unlock the charger. I did my usual lock, an unlock routine, but that still didn’t release the charger. I had to use the manual cable release under the bonnet, which took me an age to find, but this once found worked fine.

I then moved spaces and tried again. This time the charging worked fine. I headed to the café in the Tesco and had a coffee and did some work.

Once I had a good charge on the Funky Cat, I headed off.

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Tonight, Matthew, I’m going to be…

…a Tesla

I had read some time ago that non-Tesla electric vehicles could use some selected Tesla superchargers. Alas none in the Bristol area can be used, so I’ve never had the chance to try them out.

So on a recent long distance journey to Norfolk, I planned a stop at the Tesla superchargers in the Studlands Retail Park in Newmarket, in Suffolk. I had a backup to use the nearby Instavolt chargers at McDonalds if I couldn’t use the Tesla superchargers.

I had never used the Tesla superchargers before, so wasn’t 100% confident it was going to work. I created an account on the Tesla app, set up the payment, and then plugged the charger into the Funky Cat. On the app I set the charging going. I was pleased (and a little) surprised it worked.

The chargers were in a retail park, but the Costa coffee was still under construction. It was rather cold and chilly. I had to go elsewhere for refreshment.

After charging to 80% I headed off to complete my journey. It had take less than forty minutes to charge from 9% to 80%, which I thought was quite impressive.

The charger was cheaper than other rapid chargers I have used. Using these off-peak these are 55p per kWh compared to 85p for the Gridserve chargers I usually use at services. 

I believe part of the compatibility issue is the length of the charging cable. The Tesla superchargers when charging Tesla vehicles, don’t need a long cable, as they only need to plug into the charging socket in the boot area of the Tesla. Other electric vehicles, their charging sockets are all over the place. The Funky Cat is on the front passenger side, on other cars I have seen them at the front, in the middle, rear driver side, and so on. The Tesla superchargers at Studlands had cables of a sufficient length.

It’s a pity that the ones in and around Bristol are Tesla only.

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How low can you go?

Up until recently the lowest predicted range I had seen on the Funky Cat having charged to 100% was 141 miles.

I know that the predicted range is dependent on the ambient temperature, as well as previous power consumption over (I think) the last 200 miles.

I was though a little surprised to see recently when charging to 100% that the predicted mileage was just 133.

I was even more surprised when charging to 100% later in the week, that the predicted mileage was now, just 122 miles.

I suspect I might get more than that when I actually start driving, but it does give you a bit of range anxiety, and 122 is a lot less than the 182 I had at the beginning of the month.

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Adjusting the steering wheel

I guess that as I probably only every adjust a steering wheel once and then drive for years; I had kind of forgotten that I could adjust the height of the steering wheel on the Funky Cat. Well I think the last time I did in fact adjust a steering wheel was probably in 2015.

Well I have been driving the Funky Cat or nearly six months now, and it was only on a recent journey, that I was thinking about the steering wheel and maybe I should adjust it.

It wasn’t in the wrong position, but I had noticed my knees occasionally knocking the steering wheel as I got into the car.

So, after having stopped after my journey, I raised the steering wheel to a higher position. 

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Safety Recall for the Funky Cat

Car

In my experience, cars often have safety recalls and it wasn’t really a surprise to get a safety recall about the Funky Cat.

There is a potential concern with the ORA Auxiliary (3 pin) charge cable that if the cable is used in a manner that is not in accordance with the information and instructions provided in the ORA Owner’s manual, on the safety label attached to the charge cable or in the GWM ORA website the cable may potentially overheat. 

Additionally, should the vehicle be charged using a commercial 3-phase fast charger there is a possibility that if the cable is disconnected immediately after charging (before 15 seconds) a spark may be generated. 

I was not overly concerned, as I had only used the Auxiliary (3 pin) charge cable once and had not experienced the sparking issue either.

I took my Funky Cat in for the recall to Wessex Garages in Bristol. Booking was done through lease company, but I did receive a SMS reminding me of the booking.

I knew they needed to replace the three pin charging cable, so I took it out from the secret compartment in the boot and left it in the main part of the boot.

After comments in an internet group, I expected the recall to take about an hour, so I was a little surprised when they said they wanted it all day. That was my fault for not checking with them how long it would take and how long they would need the car for.

They said they did three updates, gave the car a vacuum and a clean. They also did a health inspection, which the Funky Cat passed with flying colours (well it’s less than six months old, so no real surprise there).

I was about to leave and putting my bag in the boot, when I saw that the cable was still there. I wasn’t sure it was replaced, so I went in and asked, I was assured that all aspects of the recall and been done. I wasn’t totally convinced. On the way home Wessex phoned me, I was driving so it went to voicemail, Wessex were ringing to say, they should have replaced the cable, and they had a cable for me back at the dealership.

So a couple of days later I went back to Wessex and got my recall replacement charging cable. That was a little frustrating.

Staff were friendly and welcoming.I appreciated the free coffee and soft drinks. The Mall at Cribbs Causeway is only a few minutes walk away, so it was easy to get to. It was also nice to see the other Funky Cats on show.

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Festive Charging

I was a little surprised and a little intrigued charging the Funky Cat to 100% today to have a predicted range of 182 miles.

The last time I got close to that it was back in October. More recently it has been between 140 and 160.

I haven’t had the chance to charge to 100% recently, using rapid chargers to charge the Funky.

My local MFG worked normally when I used that to charge the Funky, giving it an additional 50% charge.

I used a Mer charger at the local library, however despite having it on charge for 30 minutes, it only added 2% to the battery, so I gave up and went to my local MFG.

One interesting experience was using the MFG up at Cribbs Causeway, as it happens opposite the Wessex Ora dealership. I set it to charge, as it got going it did indicate that it needed thirteen hours for a full charge, I knew that it “fibbing”. I gave it a few minutes and it then gave a more realistic figure on the app of 85 minutes. With 50 minutes left to a full charge I decided to have a coffee, checking the app while I waited the time left had “suddenly” dropped to 20 minutes. I had to leave my coffee and go and grab the car.

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One year on…

A year ago today I was shopping at The Mall, Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, and I saw outside John Lewis a car on display.

Funky Cat

It was an Ora Funky Cat.

I had not only never seen the Funky Cat before, but I had also never heard of it either. I looked over it and really liked the look of it.

I looked over it and really liked the look of it.

Didn’t even think or realise that in less than a year I would be driving my own Funky Cat.

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It’s getting cold out there

It’s November and the weather is getting colder this week. The Funky Cat was telling me this morning that it was 0℃ outside.

I did appreciate using the app to heat the car this morning, so it was nice and toasty when I got inside, and that the windscreen was clear.

What was less appreciated was that certain features were unavailable. I couldn’t use Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), and Smart Cruise Control (SCC) was also not available. In addition the front assist sensors weren’t working, so  was told that wasn’t going to work either. I am not sure if this was the frost or even mud. 

Obviously these aren’t critical systems, in previous cars I never had them, and you shouldn’t really rely on them either when driving. Will need to see if they are back online later. Will keep an eye on it, just in case it is something other than the cold weather. 

I also think the cold is impacting on the battery and I am as a result getting a reduced range. I mentioned in another post how, even with a 100% charge, the car was predicting just a 147 mile range. Today it was only 141 miles.

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Only 147

I was rather disappointed on charging the Funky Cat that the predicted range was just 147 miles. I wonder if this is down to the cold weather we’ve been having, combined with using the heater.

The last time I charged to 100% it was 157 miles. Usually it is higher, and has been 185 miles.

 

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Muscle Memory

I have now had my Funky Cat for four months. This means I have been driving an electric car for four months, driving a car with no gears and an automatic transmission, driving a car with an electric automatic handbrake (well a parking brake). I’ve also had to get use to not having a rear windscreen wiper.

Prior to getting the Funky Cat I drove manual petrol (and diesel) cars for over thirty years. These had gears, manual transmission, a manual handbrake, and a rear windscreen wiper.

As a result, it isn’t too surprising that in some instances I still do things that I did driving a petrol car that I don’t need to do with the Funky Cat. I still have muscle memory based on those thirty years of driving experience.

For example, driving off from a roundabout, sometimes my left hand drops to change gear. Now and again, I try and put the handbrake on, where there isn’t one. When it’s raining, I still try and turn on the rear windscreen wiper. I smile when I do these things when driving the Funky Cat.