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Anybody do a lot of weekly kms?

OUT24Q | 2024-07-22 21:47 | 7 views

I currently drive a petrol car from Wollongong to Sydney CBD each day for work, which totals around 800km for a 5 day week, in which is a mix of Freeway, steep incline/decline , CBD traffic....etc. Spending about $100 a week on fuel got me looking at EVs, and the Seal ticks all the boxes..... I think. Have solar at home, 3 phase, 11kw, no Battery so would probably have to invest in a Wall charger at home... Ocular to to have a few on offer. I read a lot of people mainly using their EVs for smaller trips, so really unsure if I should take the plunge, or not?

Comments (4)
xoskrad 2024-07-22 22:37

I do about 75km daily (m-f) and I'll recharge twice a week (~65% to 100%). I think you would likely need to do top ups every couple nights and full charge on the weekend to get best use of your solar or look to get a battery for your solar. I've enjoyed not having to stop at a service station and paying the $100 every fornight for petrol.

redfaern 2024-07-22 22:52

I don't have a Seal, but am seriously considering getting one. I currently have a PHEV with solar aware charger and 3-phase at home. This might be obvious, but assuming you work during the day, you're not going to be able to charge off your solar during the week. Getting a battery at home to charge your car to save on fuel isn't really a good idea given the cost of home batteries and your daily commute. At about 160 km a trip, you'll need to charge twice during the week minimum from the grid (at 7.2 kW) and then on the weekend you can use solar if you aren't going out early Saturday and it's sunny. The Seal can charge at a maximum of 7.2 kW and you'll need a 3-phase solar aware charger to be able to charge at that rate from solar only, even though the Seal only charges from one phase. Definitely don't rely on a 2.4 kW trickle charger with the KMs you are doing. Btw, 11 kW is maximum and you likely aren't getting that in Winter and certainly not near that outside of the middle of the day. Do not expect wonders from solar charging your car during winter. When on solar charging they will charge as fast as they can, but only from whatever amount is being exported once a minimum is exceeded. Mine kicks in at 1.5 kW. Basically, it's definitely doable. I'd switch to an electricity plan with a low off-peak rate and simply plug it into the home charger every night and schedule it to charge during those off-peak hours and when the solar is exporting if you go solar aware wall box. You shouldn't have to visit a public charger if you follow the routine which will save you the most money. And if you do charge it every night, you'll easily get it back to full every day so if you are concerned about battery longevity I'd also set it to charge to a max of 80% or 90% or whatever it is they recommend. 80% is about 320 km range so you just want to be sure you don't forget to plug it in. NOTE: You could get a single phase solar aware charger and put it on your least used phase to save a bit of money (<$1000), but you'll be limited to a maximum of 1/3 of your solar production of 3.66 kW which isn't that much more than "trickle charge" at 2.4 kW. You'll still do 7.2 kW from the grid with it though. A 3-phase charger will hopefully give you some future proofing. Any car that charges at more than 7.2 kW will require 3-phase. Eg, Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3 will do 11 kW off 3-phase.

Numerous-Implement47 2024-07-23 03:47

I don't do it often but I drove from Northern Beaches to Wollongong and back yesterday and it used just under 30% of battery. 10% or more of that would be city to Northern beaches so overall I think you'd be fine. I didn't drive slow, and that was in sport mode. May not exactly be the info you are after, but with Seal Premium atleast you do get plenty of range.

auspirate91 2024-07-23 19:56

I do 175kms round trip per day. I won't go back to an ICE vehicle. I charge every night from 60-100% for 0.08c per kw. Average daily trip is ~40kw x 0.08c so $3.20 vs 8.5L/100kms so roughly 15L per day at $1.85/L = $28 ish per day in after tax dollars. I can claim 4.2c per km back for charging or the actual cost. Everything for me on a novated lease is pre tax dollars which was my deciding factor. I was in a 1998 subaru liberty, never cared about what I drove. But fir what I was costing me just in petrol I'm in a brand new Seal performance, and it's been an absolute game changer in every way.

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