Another long tow with an EV

How much do you spend on coffee whist waiting at the charging point? 

Between 56 and 60. Typically closer to 56. My average was way down on Friday due to terrible traffic in a couple of spots on the M6.

I’m sure it'll be less than you spend on pies 😙😆

ChocT, I’m a bit puzzled because the handbook for our 3 months old 64kw Hyundai Kona EV clearly states that frequent/regular high speed charging will considerably shorten the battery's expected life span. It recommends a 7kw charge for regular charging to get the longest and most efficient battery life and also states that the granny charger should only be used when there is no alternative.

Surely people who drive long distances on a regular basis, perhaps for work, will have no option but to use high speed chargers most of the time. Is this an issue you have encountered or considered as it’s something I’ve hardly ever seen mentioned in EV discussions?

No more than we would have done in the old tow car. The whole point of stopping before was for a coffee and break. Now we happen to charge too. 
Buying coffee while you charge is definitely not mandatory, and is certainly not exclusive to EV drivers

Usually granny leads are only recommended for emergencies as they take ages and are subject to decent wiring. Nothing to do with damage to the car.

Generally batteries are only damaged through excess heat, being totally discharged for a long time or absolutely fully charged for a long time. The BMS in the car is designed to minimise that. Some may do a better job than others and some may have better thermal management than others. Certainly the only mention of degradation of battery on mine is that it may degrade slightly with age and use. There is no mention of types of charger being an issue. Indeed, I know that the Leaf actually benefits from the occasional rapid charge. 

The only other advice for mine is that the battery should not be left at 100% or 0% for any significant length of time, and for that reason it’s only recommended to charge to 90% unless you need the full range the next day. 
Certainly there are a lot of Tesla taxis that have only ever been rapid charged, and have covered over 200,000 or even 300,000 miles on the original battery.

BTW - welcome to the EV world! How are you finding the Kona? It’s a great car with excellent range by all accounts. Better than mine real world on a smaller battery I believe? 

Thanks, ChocT, and for the charging info as well. The granny charger is so slow and definitely only for emergencies. So far we’ve only charged at home on the 7kw charger. I have heard the advice about only charging to 90° but I don’t think it’s in our instructions.

The Kona does seem to be a good smallish car and we've found that with careful driving and making max use of the regen braking, we can extend its range of 300mls to something like 350. We're currently getting 5.3mls to the kw but we have only used it locally as yet. Long trips are done in the MH. We deliberately chose the 64kw model to give ourselves a good range using the theory that bigger is better.

My goodness what a learning curve it was getting used to it! It was almost like learning to drive all over again. All made good, though, when the price of filling the 'tank' is worked out.

5.3 m/kWh is excellent territory! Hyundai and Kia have a well deserved reputation for building extremely efficient EVs. 350 miles on one charge (of £5 for octopus go) is fantastic!

It kind of is like learning to drive all over again, obviously not from a road sense perspective, but just how to get the best from the car. Glad you are enjoying it!

Cheers! It's still early days but we're getting there.

Btw, servicing costs of about £100 per year are good too👍