22 kWh charging limitations

For discussions on the Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric
eugen61
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Post by eugen61 »

Oldie wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 8:59 am Taxing electricity to replace fuel-duty is far too complicated and unnecessary - tax needs to be levied at the source and that source would be the miles we do - instead of MPG it will be MPT?
In the future governments will find a way to compensate for the loss of fuel duty. Perhaps a simple, levied at the source tax on EV ownership? :lol:

Deleted User 3629

Post by Deleted User 3629 »

Also by taxing at a pence-per-mile rate we can get rid of the silly annual road tax too by combining the two, after all the road tax has always been an unfair tax - a person doing 5k mile PA pays the same as someone doing 10x as many - how unfair is that?
KeithR56
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Post by KeithR56 »

Clicking on the i brings up a box showing charging limited to 11 kWh. This is very disappointing and means that a short stop at one of these charges isn't really worth it on longer journeys
@qrt31, Had you known this beforehand, would you still have chosen a Volvo EV?
MY22 XC40 Inscription B4P, Auto, FWD, Denim blue, Blond Leather, Climate, Versatility, Sunroof, Tints.
KeithR56
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Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:16 pm

Post by KeithR56 »

[Charging at home might also be taxed in the future /quote]

Smart meters give the electricity providers a lot of info, but I’m not sure they can tell what you’re using the electricity for (not yet anyway).

Had I decided to go EV I’d planned to have solar panels fitted to my home with large battery storage and go onto Octopus’ 7.5p EV night tariff. The idea was to not only charge my car, but top up the house battery pack at the same time. Washing machine and dishwasher programmed to be on at night, rarely having to pay full price for electricity again. Sound too good to be true? Yep.

The financial outlay just didn’t make sense in my situation. The PV system alone was coming in at £18.5k (you can get smaller solar systems at around half that price). However, if your leasing your car, have a long commute, and are eligible for the Octopus EV tariff, it makes a lot of sense. Enjoy it while you can.
MY22 XC40 Inscription B4P, Auto, FWD, Denim blue, Blond Leather, Climate, Versatility, Sunroof, Tints.
eugen61
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Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 7:33 am

Post by eugen61 »

KeithR56 wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 11:50 am [Charging at home might also be taxed in the future]

Smart meters give the electricity providers a lot of info, but I’m not sure they can tell what you’re using the electricity for (not yet anyway).
Some EU countries have already implemented variable electricity prices based on consumption caps. For example, lower price for the first 150 kW/month, higher price between 150-300 kW/month and a much higher price for anything above 300 kW/month. The same logic might be used in the future for introducing a tax on anything above xxx kW/month taking into consideration that a household charging an EV could easily double or triple its usual monthly electricity consumption. Taxing electricity at charging stations is very easy to implement, no question there what’s the kW being used for.
Deleted User 3629

Post by Deleted User 3629 »

You won't see the fuel-duty loss pass to electricity usage charges, its replacement will stay solely with the vehicle type and its usage and that will be a mileage tax, which will be model dependent and is how we pay today, though indirectly - i.e. the more mileage we do the more tax we pay due to the more fuel we use - so for example, a Bentley may have a tax per mile of say 28p and a Fiesta 14p - which is approx what you pay today via added fuel-duty v's usage.
KeithR56
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Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:16 pm

Post by KeithR56 »

Some EU countries have already implemented variable electricity prices based on consumption caps
Yes, and I believe they are very keen to introduce variable tariffs in the UK, but first they need everyone on smart meters.

The electricity tariffs could get very complicated if you have a PV system in your house. I guess that's why smart meters need to be smart. The PV system I wanted had batteries that equated to my homes maximum daily usage and the solar panels were almost double that (we have a bungalow with a large south facing roof). The extra electricity I would use by charging an EV at home would have been greatly offset by the electricity I could have generated myself.

In the summer, I would have had plenty of excess electricity to sell back to the grid on a variable rate. On most days in the winter I'd have had enough to see me through the day, but probably not fully charge the house batteries and an EV as well. That's where the cheap EV night tariff comes into play. However, with my typical mileage being very low, I would only need a small top a couple of times a week. The key to making all of this work is the 7.5p EV tariff which you can't have without being the registered keeper of an EV. However, there's no saying they won't scrap the EV tariff in the future.
MY22 XC40 Inscription B4P, Auto, FWD, Denim blue, Blond Leather, Climate, Versatility, Sunroof, Tints.
qrt31
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Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:30 am

Post by qrt31 »

KeithR56 wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 10:04 am
Clicking on the i brings up a box showing charging limited to 11 kWh. This is very disappointing and means that a short stop at one of these charges isn't really worth it on longer journeys
@qrt31, Had you known this beforehand, would you still have chosen a Volvo EV?
Yes, I think so. As someone noted above, most EVs can't use 22kWh chargers to their full capacity, so I wouldn't necessarily have a whole of options if that was a key criteria. But it's not. I do most charging at home. When I am further afield, rapid chargers work fine for me. It would be nice to have 22kWh instead of 11kWh on these chargers to get a bit more intermediate top up if I am stopped at one of these, but doesn't fundamentally change anything.
qrt31
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Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:30 am

Post by qrt31 »

KeithR56 wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 3:09 pm
Some EU countries have already implemented variable electricity prices based on consumption caps
Yes, and I believe they are very keen to introduce variable tariffs in the UK, but first they need everyone on smart meters.

The electricity tariffs could get very complicated if you have a PV system in your house. I guess that's why smart meters need to be smart. The PV system I wanted had batteries that equated to my homes maximum daily usage and the solar panels were almost double that (we have a bungalow with a large south facing roof). The extra electricity I would use by charging an EV at home would have been greatly offset by the electricity I could have generated myself.

In the summer, I would have had plenty of excess electricity to sell back to the grid on a variable rate. On most days in the winter I'd have had enough to see me through the day, but probably not fully charge the house batteries and an EV as well. That's where the cheap EV night tariff comes into play. However, with my typical mileage being very low, I would only need a small top a couple of times a week. The key to making all of this work is the 7.5p EV tariff which you can't have without being the registered keeper of an EV. However, there's no saying they won't scrap the EV tariff in the future.
It's also rather difficult to get on one of these tariffs right now, given the state of the energy market. And the increased peak prices make it financially unviable for me. I am installing a PV system. It likely won't cover all of our needs, but if I do generate more than I need on any particular day, after filling the battery I can direct extra electricity to the car - or car first and then battery - so don't need to worry about selling back to the grid at ridiculously low prices. May mean that on a regular basis I will be running the car on lower SoC so that there is always capacity to absorb electricity from the PV system.
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