Tag: chargepoint

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Charging at Charlecote Park

I was on my way back from Birmingham and I had time, so stopped to visit Charlecote Park, a country house set in rural parkland near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.

As with many National Trust properties they have EV chargers available. I plugged the Funky Cat in and let it charge. I went to explore the house and grounds, and have a cup of tea, well an iced coffee, it was a hot day!

When I arrived no one was using the EV chargers, it was a weekday, but even so the car park was quite busy. With EV ownership is on the rise, I wonder why more people don’t take advantage of the charger, it might be the cost, as 60p kWh though cheaper than some, is on the high side for fast 11-22 kWh chargers.

Charging pricing is so varied, but I am guessing part of people not taking advantage of the EV chargers, is people charging (for less) at home. I rarely charge at home and don’t (yet) have an EV charging point installed. My main reason for having one installed is less about saving money, but more for convenience.

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Charging at Arlington Court

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.