Tag: charging

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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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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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It’s 185 again

I had charged to 100% on Friday, with a resulting 159 mile predicted range.

After a weekend of local driving and a 50% charge left,  I once again charged to 100% and the predicted range rose to 185 miles

Did some driving after charging, and as I write this, I have a 80% charge with a predicted range of 155 miles.

This is an interesting figure as 80% of 185 is 148 miles, so I am driving more economically than predicted. Of course if you inverse 155 miles at 80% to 100% you get 193 miles. This is the published range of the Funky Cat.

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185 yesterday, 159 today

The other day I charged up to 100% and had a predicted range of 168 miles.

Yesterday I charged to 100% and this range went up to 185.

Today I charged again to 100%, but the range dropped to 159 miles.

Despite the driving being quite similar, I still don’t quite get why it varies quite so much.

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Charging in Portishead

Went off out. I originally planned to go to a National Trust property, but decided it was probably a little too far away, so went to Portishead instead.

Parked on the road, but as I walked towards the marina I saw an EV charging station in the Parish Wharf Leisure Centre car park.

It had four spaces and was on the Revive network. The car park it was in was free for three hours. I didn’t need charging (urgently) so didn’t use it. Useful though to know it was there for a future visit to Portishead.

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Charging in Sand Bay

I hadn’t planned on using the EV (electric vehicle) chargers in the car park at Sand Bay. I had driven down to go for a stroll along the beach. However many others had the same idea and though the car park was full, the two EV car spaces were free. Well I was driving an EV, so I parked there. Paid for my parking through the MiPermit parking app. 

This was a Revive charger. I had issues with the Revive chargers up at Cribbs Causeway. Mainly as they didn’t accept my debit card or my Shell Recharge card. As I had some time I decided to register with Revive and use the charger.

They don’t have an app, so you register for the chargers on a website.

This I managed to do, but had to immediately do a password reset, as my saved password didn’t work.

It was then a “simple” matter of plugging my Funky Cat charger into the charging point and the car.

You then use the website to start the charging process.

Well. Though the charger itself said it was charging, the right light was lit up, the website said it wasn’t. The Ora app, also said it wasn’t charging. I waited, but in the end I did want to go for a walk.

As I walked along the beach I checked the Ora app and saw that the charge had increased by 2%, so it was charging.

When I got back, I did find it quite challenging to initially stop the charge. The initial website status page had “vanished”.

There was no menu item for stopping a charge. 

I found out that I needed to scroll down the page, past the menu, and then I could see my current charging session. I was then able to stop the charge, disconnect the cables and drive home.

Well at least now I have registered for the Revive network. I could get an RFID card for the service, but it costs £9, which seems expensive, compared the free apps and cards from other services. I think I will stick with the website instead.

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166 miles and more

car headlight

Charged the Funky yesterday, I got a predicted 166 mile range after charging to 100%.

This is nowhere near the 193 miles that Ora advertises for the Funky Cat. The closest I have got was 185 miles.

Ora have also announced that next month they will be selling fifty models of a new version, the First Edition+ which is similar to models sold in other regions. This has a longer range.

Most notably, the First Edition+ variant will host GWM ORA’s 63kWh battery, offering 260 miles of WLTP electric range.

Too late for me.

Next year there will be new models too.

In addition, ‘First Edition+’ will provide a taster of what is to come when the full ORA Funky Cat range launches in 2024.

Again, too late for me…

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Coffee and charging…

After seeing that the chargers at the Shell Garage had gone live, and needing a charge, I decided to take advantage and try them out.

They have a series of six 150KW chargers, each with CSS and CHAdeMO chargers. I connected the Funky to the charger. I plugged the cable in, which as with a lot of CSS chargers was quite heavy. It was then a simple matter of tapping with contactless and setting the charge going.

It was nice not to worry about if the chargers are in use, with six I was pretty sure one would be free. This is unlike the Osprey chargers at the nearby Travelodge which I have found to be used quite heavily, and I have on the odd occasion when using them, find them in use, forcing me to come back later. At least with these MFG chargers, there being six, means more chance one will be free.

Whilst I was charging I went for a coffee at the Starbucks next door.

Within fifteen minutes I had already gone from a 18% charge to 42%.

I wasn’t going to do a full 100% charge, the aim was to get between 60% and 80%.

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Finally…

When I was considering an electric vehicle I was concerned about where I could charge the car. Close to where I live is a Shell Garage and they had a series of six 150KW chargers. This I thought would be ideal for rapid charging the car when needed.

You can imagine when I got my car back in August and checked the garage out I was somewhat disappointed that the chargers had not been connected to the grid and weren’t operational.

When I checked with the staff, they said it had been planned for the end of July… they didn’t have a date for when it would be done.

This was annoying and frustrating. There are a couple of Osprey chargers at a nearby hotel and I have used them. One time though it was challenging as others were  using them, luckily I was not in a hurry.

So it was a nice surprise when I was at the garage today, to wash Funky, when I saw that the MFG chargers were operational now and that other electric vehicle owners were charging their cars.

The MFG app, which I have downloaded, also confirms that they are connected and working.

They’ve not been added to the Zap-Map yet, nor on Google Maps.