[lparkinson633]

I've just taken delivery on my new Id4 pure life and have high hopes for my first forage into the world of EVs.
Loving it so far but I'm busily trying to read the manual.
Any tips for charging at the high speed public chargers? The rapid charger questions will come later.

 

[Stinsy]

I've just taken delivery on my new Id4 pure life and have high hopes for my first forage into the world of EVs.
Loving it so far but I'm busily trying to read the manual.
Any tips for charging at the high speed public chargers? The rapid charger questions will come later.

Congats on your new car! When did you place your order? Mine is due for delivery December and I’ve been doing a lot of research into charging. There are a lot of YouTube videos that are worth a watch, RSEV is a good channel that details road-trip charging in the UK in quite a few videos

The terminology can be confusing, “high speed” isn’t a recognised term. Also much of the terminology is designed for the US market and doesn’t elegantly transfer to the UK (and the rest of the world).

Charging is split into 3 categories.

1) “Granny charging” this uses a normal 13A domestic plug. It is sometimes called “Level 1” and while this makes sense it is technically incorrect. It takes roughly 36hrs to charge an iD4 from 20% to 80% using this method so it is really an “emergency only” method to use while staying with relatives over Xmas, or at a holiday cottage, etc.

2) So-called “fast” charging (it was fast when they decided on the name but by today’s standards it is pretty slow). These are correctly called “Level 2”. It is important to understand that the charger is in the car. The thing you connect to is a charging point. They are what most people use to charge at home. The iD4 comes with a 7.4kW single phase charging cord in the UK, this allows the car to charge from 20-80% in 12hrs. The iD4 has an 11kW 3-phase charger on board, so if you buy a 3-phase cord and use an 11 or 22kW charging point, the iD4 will charge from 20-80% in 8hrs. (It is worth buying a 3-phase cord if your employer provides 3-phase charging while you’re at work). Free “fast” chargers are available at Tesco. There are also networks of lamp post “fast” chargers in some cities, these usually involve a monthly subscription for reasonably-priced electricity, they are also often slowed down to 3.6kW. While public “fast” chargers do exist they don’t make much sense unless they’re at a hotel/workplace or somewhere else you already spend 4hrs or more.

3) So-called “Rapid” chargers. These are correctly called “Level 3”. Now these are the fast ones. The charger is in the unit not the car. The chargers vary from 50-350kW but the iD4 maxes at 125kW. These charge an iD4 from 20-80% in 30min. The cost of these varies a lot, most are 24-30p a kWh Ionity ones are 70p a kWh.

 

[Spin]

I've just taken delivery on my new Id4 pure life and have high hopes for my first forage into the world of EVs.
Loving it so far but I'm busily trying to read the manual.
Any tips for charging at the high speed public chargers? The rapid charger questions will come later.

Welcome to the group and good luck with the car!!

 

[lparkinson633]

Congats on your new car! When did you place your order? Mine is due for delivery December and I’ve been doing a lot of research into charging. There are a lot of YouTube videos that are worth a watch, RSEV is a good channel that details road-trip charging in the UK in quite a few videos

The terminology can be confusing, “high speed” isn’t a recognised term. Also much of the terminology is designed for the US market and doesn’t elegantly transfer to the UK (and the rest of the world).

Charging is split into 3 categories.

1) “Granny charging” this uses a normal 13A domestic plug. It is sometimes called “Level 1” and while this makes sense it is technically incorrect. It takes roughly 36hrs to charge an iD4 from 20% to 80% using this method so it is really an “emergency only” method to use while staying with relatives over Xmas, or at a holiday cottage, etc.

2) So-called “fast” charging (it was fast when they decided on the name but by today’s standards it is pretty slow). These are correctly called “Level 2”. It is important to understand that the charger is in the car. The thing you connect to is a charging point. They are what most people use to charge at home. The iD4 comes with a 7.4kW single phase charging cord in the UK, this allows the car to charge from 20-80% in 12hrs. The iD4 has an 11kW 3-phase charger on board, so if you buy a 3-phase cord and use an 11 or 22kW charging point, the iD4 will charge from 20-80% in 8hrs. (It is worth buying a 3-phase cord if your employer provides 3-phase charging while you’re at work). Free “fast” chargers are available at Tesco. There are also networks of lamp post “fast” chargers in some cities, these usually involve a monthly subscription for reasonably-priced electricity, they are also often slowed down to 3.6kW. While public “fast” chargers do exist they don’t make much sense unless they’re at a hotel/workplace or somewhere else you already spend 4hrs or more.

3) So-called “Rapid” chargers. These are correctly called “Level 3”. Now these are the fast ones. The charger is in the unit not the car. The chargers vary from 50-350kW but the iD4 maxes at 125kW. These charge an iD4 from 20-80% in 30min. The cost of these varies a lot, most are 24-30p a kWh Ionity ones are 70p a kWh.

Hi Stinsy,

Thanks for all the info.

We were really lucky with the car in terms of delivery. We'd been told a minimum of 20 weeks by our local dealer but when we contacted the leasing broker we were told that they had a Pure Life which was in stock due to a cancellation if we wanted it. Order to delivery took 4 weeks. It's got the smaller battery which means we have to charge it more often than we wanted but I'm sure we'll managed once the chargers at work are fixed.

 

[Stinsy]

Smaller battery and frequent charging is actually a better way to go!

99% of the time 99% of people only do 10-50 miles in a day. When you are on a rare road-trip it is best to stop every 100miles for a 10-15min splash-and-dash no-matter how big your battery. If you're making a special trip to charge an EV you're doing it wrong! The point is to plug it in every night while you sleep, or every day at work, so it always has enough charge without you thinking about it. You also benefit from an extra £2.5k off because the MSRP of the Pure Life is lower than £35k.

I went for the bigger battery because you can't have the smaller battery in "Max" trim and my parents live 180 miles away so I wanted the ability to get there in one hop in an emergency even in cold weather or traveling faster than I should.

 

[JimmyVW]

Smaller battery and frequent charging is actually a better way to go!

99% of the time 99% of people only do 10-50 miles in a day. When you are on a rare road-trip it is best to stop every 100miles for a 10-15min splash-and-dash no-matter how big your battery. If you're making a special trip to charge an EV you're doing it wrong! The point is to plug it in every night while you sleep, or every day at work, so it always has enough charge without you thinking about it. You also benefit from an extra £2.5k off because the MSRP of the Pure Life is lower than £35k.

I went for the bigger battery because you can't have the smaller battery in "Max" trim and my parents live 180 miles away so I wanted the ability to get there in one hop in an emergency even in cold weather or traveling faster than I should.

no tow hitch for the smaller battery version though. otherwise it's nice that the car is a lot lighter due to the smaller battery. That will help a bit to lower consumption and recover some range vs the larger battery.

 

[avagoode]

Nice!