Electric car chargers

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Jonathan
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Electric car chargers

Post by Jonathan »

We have just bought an electric car and are in the process of trying to get a charger installed. We were thinking of offering it to guests but have been wondering how to charge (we live on site). We see the possibilities being a flat fee per charge (burdomesome to monitor and collect) or a (possibly smaller) charge per night regardless of use. Most of our guests do go out during the day.

Any experience or reccommendations?

Thanks
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Post by e-richard »

I remember not so very long ago getting into a debate here on LMH regarding charges for Internet usage.

My argument then was that you do not charge for electricity to watch TV or switch on lights, you don't charge for water to shower, bath or brush your teeth, so treat Internet just as another Utility that is built into your costs of renting out.

I heartily applaud your move to EV as I am about to take that plunge too, and my thoughts remain the same. Charging EVs is becoming a normal part of everyday living with an ongoing cost built into your holiday rental charges.

Obviously with low incidence, you can afford to initially increase your rental by an infinitesimal amount, but as time goes on, it will become the norm. Lets get used to it gradually.
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Cymraes
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Post by Cymraes »

We don't charge extra for it at the moment but it's factored into next years pricing tariff as another overhead.

Guests really like it when such things appear "free" although in practice of course everyone is paying for it whether or not they use it. On the same premise we don't charge extra for dogs or children but the rental cost factors in that we may have to replace things more often than we would have otherwise.
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

you do not charge for electricity to watch TV or switch on lights, you don't charge for water to shower, bath or brush your teeth, so treat Internet just as another Utility that is built into your costs of renting out.
That argument is good, but the question remains, do you presently pay for the fuel used by guests transportation whilst on vacation? If not why not?
Question yourself should a guest, who has an ICE, be subsidising the sporadic use of the facility by other guests. That is what increasing your prices to cover a charging point is.

It would be advantageous let the guest use your charger. But they should not "block" your usage and I would suggest T&Cs apply. What happens if there is a power cut or the unit fails?
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
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Post by newtimber »

CSE wrote: That argument is good, but the question remains, do you presently pay for the fuel used by guests transportation whilst on vacation? If not why not?
The same argument was used about internet access before that became universal. Just because you don't currently pay for fuel used by guest's transportation, doesn't mean it won't be expected to be provided in the future.
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

I have never ever paid a phone bill of a guest either.


We could take this to a silly level, how about food? :lol:
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Post by Martha »

I don't feel that argument holds water, there's an enormous difference in price between charging an EV and filling up a conventional SUV. I agree it will soon be thought of as a utility.

I imagine pretty soon there will be a booming little industry in installing them with metering. My ideal would be to have a reasonable amount factored into the price and then charge it at cost if you got someone staying who was doing colossal road trips every day.
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Sunbeam
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Post by Sunbeam »

Does anyone know "generally" how much is costs to charge an electric car - I know it depends on how much electricity costs and whether night/day electricity. But for example - if electricity costs on average 15 cent/pence per kw - how much does an electric car cost to charge?
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Post by Nuthatch »

Our electric car (a BMW i3) takes 30 kWh to charge fully from completely empty (so that would be an absolute maximum of £4.50 at 15p per kWh from a completely flat battery). On a typical home car charger that might take around 4-6 hours, or on a standard socket it might take 12 hours or longer (new rapid chargers at public sites might take as little as 20 minutes for a decent level of charge).

Realistically, when we stay away from home we probably would arrive with quite a low battery and need a big charge overnight. After that, we would probably only use a small amount of charge every day. Our car tells us how many kWh we've charged so we can calculate easily how much we owe, and we always offer to pay - for a few days stay it's probably in the region of £10-£15.

It's worth noting that it's virtually impossible to use vast amounts of electricity by charging multiple times per day - it's just not possible due to the time it takes to charge a vehicle.

Our car can also be set up to only charge on economy 7, which we have, so we're paying around 5-6p per kWh (equating to less than £2 for a full charge).

Hope that helps!
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

To put it into some kind of perspective, charging an EV uses roughly the same amount of electricity (probably slightly more) as running a tumble dryer.

It’s down to individual owners to decide whether a guest running the tumble dryer non-stop overnight is taking the piss or not.
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Nuthatch wrote:Hope that helps!
Yes, very helpful - thanks :D
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

In Spain all things electric are different to some other countries.
Here is some information in Spanish (naturally).
https://www.motorpasion.com/coches-hibr ... spana-2020
You have to be aware that you may have to change the potential of the supply. If you intend members outside of the household to use a charge point there are some regulations to be looked into.
https://www.creara.es/uncategorized/fig ... co?lang=en
The above article does not reflect the possible price variations, as recently been experienced. This one sates that prices will rise another 16% this year.
https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/bus ... 4_102.html
Details of cost for supplying a charging point, in a house. https://cargacar.com/noticias/cuanto-cu ... e-privado/ and this one
https://www.race.es/instalar-punto-reca ... -electrico
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

Martha wrote:I don't feel that argument holds water, there's an enormous difference in price between charging an EV and filling up a conventional SUV. I agree it will soon be thought of as a utility.

I imagine pretty soon there will be a booming little industry in installing them with metering. My ideal would be to have a reasonable amount factored into the price and then charge it at cost if you got someone staying who was doing colossal road trips every day.
My argument is not about actual cost of filling a vehicle to run for a day. It is what are the owners going to include in the price of a stay.
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

This is a UK based website and gives you information on how long it will take to charge a particular make and model of vehicle. You can also add in the cost per KWH of teh home charger (in pence) to calculate the cost of charge.
https://www.zap-map.com/tools/home-charging-calculator/
It is surprising just how long some vehicles have to be plugged in before being full charged. I am not talking from nearly empty back up to 100% either.
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Post by zebedee »

CSE wrote:This is a UK based website and gives you information on how long it will take to charge a particular make and model of vehicle. You can also add in the cost per KWH of teh home charger (in pence) to calculate the cost of charge.
https://www.zap-map.com/tools/home-charging-calculator/
It is surprising just how long some vehicles have to be plugged in before being full charged. I am not talking from nearly empty back up to 100% either.
You are correct CSE. What a lot of people don’t realise is that rapid charging considerably shortens the life of the battery....and the battery can be half the cost if the car :shock:
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