Extender Test Drive - Ecotricity Charge

[958SSR]

Hi all,

I have an extended demo drive booked next week in an i3 REX and am planning on taking the car on a 140 miles round trip to see how it fares. This is the furthest I will generally commute for work based meetings.

I was planning on recharging at Corley services on the m6, but I am concerned that ecotricity's website says something about swiping a card to use their charger?

Is this currently necessary as I don't have a card yet. I thought these chargers were free to use at the moment too.

Thanks

 

[jackt]

You do require a RFID access card, usually on extended test drives the dealer tends to provide a chargeNow and Ecotricity card.

ChargeYourCar and Polar both have smartphone apps that allow you to initiate a charge via the app (depending on signal) unfortunately ecotricity are card only.

 

[958SSR]

Thanks jackt. So I need to ask for the cards.

Cheers

 

[PhilH]

I'm assuming you're planning on using rapid DC charge? If so, do check with the dealer that the loaner Rex supports it: the general assumption is that people who buy the Rex won;t go for the rapid charge option.

 

[958SSR]

Good point. I have specified it on my Rex because the dealer said it is a must. The demo car is a late 13 model too so may not have it?

I think fast charge is a must, even for Rex drivers because if your charging from the range extender you will only be getting 35mpg, which defeats the object. I will be trying to reserve the extender for those times I simply cannot get to a dc charger in time.

Thanks for the advice. There is a lot to learn.

 

[uktechie]

The demo I borrowed did not have DC option and had only Polar card so I could not test Ecotricity station.

 

[MikeS]

When I specified my car I considered the choice to be REX or DC rapid charge as I did not see the point in both. That is what I have kept with. The REX gives me the flexibility for the rare longer trip and its available all of the time and can be topped up in a lot less than 30 mins in a lot more locations. I would expect my next electric car to have a longer base range and there to be far more places where a rapid charge could be used. In which case I would expect to opt for the BEV equivalent.