Central London - about to take the plunge

[markymark]

Hi there

Is there anyone on the forum who can share the experience of living with an i3 as a City car in Central London? My worry is relying entirely on charging points either on the street or in NCP/Q-Parks. I would park the car out on the street and couldn't install a charger at home unless I run the lead across the pavement!

Are the charging points occupied when you need them, do they work reliably, is it a hassle? I think you can book, does that work? I understand currently there is no charge for electricity from SourceLondon but this will apparently change at year end, any ideas what they will be charging?

Test drove the i3 recently and was very impressed, particularly with the acceleration and the BMW quality. Seriously considering trading-in existing 6year old mini Cooper D for an i3 (without REX). Would lease as concerned about residuals with new technology. Existing car is used daily but rarely goes outside M25 so not too worried about longer drives as would be second car.

The i3 is exempt from Congestion Charge (currently costing me c£2,000pa), is free to park in Westminster (typically costs £4 an hour), has free residents parking permit, no road tax and almost no fuel costs....should more than balance the higher cost compared to new mini, methinks.

Thanks!

 

[jackt]

Source London is in the process of changing hands from TFL to some French company. So atm its a bit up in the air, I have never had trouble charging, but I have seen a fair few out of action. As I am not London based I don't really know how long it takes for them to be fixed although I do report when I see.

The new map on the website is really out of date in terms of reporting whats online or not. I know some underground/multi story sites have problems with phone signal and therefore the points do not work. I think Source London where starting a process of fixing that but atm I think its still hit and miss. For example only the end point of 4 in Baynard House works the others have signal issue, that said they have been reported completely offline for months by the website.

Also worth noting that in multi-story's some of the points have enforced time limits, the ones in Baynard House have a 4hr maximum in one session.

I would probably go and search out your nearest points to see if they are alive, most in Westminster are working at least in my experience.

I have never been ICE'd or EV'd when I have needed a charge in central, I suspect that might not be the case going forward (with more EV's on the road) but the reservation system that source are launching in the new year will probably sort that.

Also the crystal centre is about to (might already be online) commission a couple of rapid chargers and a bunch of 7kw points, and Tesla supercharger.

Don't skimp on the DC option, even though I have a REX i really regret not adding DC.

 

[markymark]

Good tips. Definitely will go for the DC option as the CCS(?) fast chargers are rolled out. New charging point installed nearby but was occupied by BMW X5 when last looked, they haven't painted the signs yet :roll: = ICE'd.

 

[jackt]

Also if you haven't looked at already:
https://www.zap-map.com
http://www.plugshare.com

Have pretty decent coverage across most charging networks, it usually easier to find a point on those and look at the website for the appropriate scheme to check status etc.

CCS is being rolled out way quicker than what I thought it would...

 

[BrianStanier]

Agree about the dc option even for Rex. I added it on a long term view, but CCS is appearing far quicker than Chademo did for the Leaf three years ago.

 

[mrsmith]

Least time I was in West London I used the Leinster Gardens and Artesian Road chargers.
They show on the Polar Instant map, but not on the BMW map (this was three weeks ago).

Both chargers were working but had no signs or road markings to keep the ICE at bay!