EV recommendation

Why are we still muttering about high powers on domestic wiring?

Again:

Domestic EV chargers are mostly 7 kW designed for overnight charging.

In-journey chargers at service stations are 150 kW or more, often in groups of a dozen or more, and have industrial-scale power feeds in the multiple megawatt region.

nib

Re farm, does that mean any kind of 4 wheel drive capability is useful (muddy tracks etc)? 4WD is relatively straightforward on EVs but it bumps you towards bigger models.

Of the small/cheap EVs available new, some examples with list prices (probably deals available from dealers):

Dacia Spring, £15k:

MG4:

I'd not touch the Nissan Leaf (no battery thermal management which causes range loss over time), Teslas (touchscreens, lack of indicator stalks), anything Chinese (touchscreens, although some MGs are ok), VW ID.3/ID.4 (capacitive buttons). The Cupra Born might be a contender but I think it has the same buttons as the ID.3

If you're prepared to go older than 2023 then there are more models that come into budget. In particular your application is probably suitable for an older EV that has much less range (something like the BMW i3) at a much lower price point, although at this point you might want a newer model for the warranty and more range in hand for peace of mind about not needing to find a charger (if you avoid a few bad designs most EVs are pretty reliable, but with warranty you get somebody to moan at). You can get quite a lot of EV for £10-15k including some remaining warranty.

Re screens, most of them have some kind of screen for the reversing camera (a legal requirement in some places), but it depends whether the controls you need (heating, radio, etc) are on physical buttons or buried in menus. I can't remember what they all do, but if you watch some videos it should give you an idea. It's possible that they'll still need some degree of poking in touchscreen menus to configure various things which you don't need to use day to day.

(One thing to watch is that to get a EuroNCAP 5* safety rating cars must have various safety features like 'lane keeping assist' turned on every time you start the car, and if their beeps are annoying you have to turn that off each time. That may involve the touch screen, although there may be a physical button or a way to program one with that feature. This applies to all modern cars, EV or not)

A couple of Youtube channels worth watching are 'Fully Charged' (in links above) and 'Electrifying':

Re charging, you can likely install a 3 phase chargepoint on your farm, but if it's mostly going to be a shopping trolley there's not a lot of point as a single phase supply might charge fast enough. Unless you're likely to be using a bigger EV or electric farming vehicles then there might be.

(rough ballpark: a good EV does 4 miles per kWh, so for every kW of your charger you get 4 miles of added range per hour of charging. A 7kWh single-phase charger gives you 28 miles range added per hour, while a 22kW three-phase charger gets you 88 mph. If your longest road trip is 120 miles round trip then a 7 kWh charger will refill it in 5 hours. Done overnight you probably don't need anything faster, and not all cars can charge at 11 or 22kW)

Theo

You are confusing home charging - which has a 220V 30A supply and public points such as are found at Motorway service centres amongst other places.

My car doesn't pollute my drive with exhaust fumes. You're just biassed because you have been conned.

Probably o0ne manual in 20 different languages :(

One criticism I seen about some of the Tesla models is even the speedo is only on the central touch panel display and it's more than just a glance to read it.

Other weird Tesla user interface decisions ... No dashboard screen in front of driver, it's central in the car. No indicator, headlight or wiper stalks, just buttons on the steering wheel. Nothing resembling a gear lever for P/R/N/D just some weird swipy thing on the screen or buttons above the rear view mirror

Of course it does. You juust can't smell it.

In what way have I been conned? Since I bought it liquid fuel has gone up

The "gear lever" seems to be going walkabout in its new freedom. Mine has a switch like a mini gear lever in the right place, but others seem to have gone for another stalk, like a 1960s column change, a big knob stuck to the top right of the instrument cluster (BMw i3?), or buttons on the dashboard.

nib

We've both been conned - why else would we have bought cars that we like?

nib

There are a bay of 12 (usually unused) CCS2 250kW chargers a couple of miles from me.

That used to be a good dogging spot that Tesla have ruined.

Our EV has a specified range of 281m. I tried driving (end of May) at a steady 56mph, without the air-con and just cracking the windows or using the fan for a few minutes when the screen started to mist up. I actually got a range of 320m.

the shock!

So in other words, one can benefit from E7 tariff when using a granny charger....

If you want a higher charge rate, you have take your car to and to pay through the nose at a fast electron filling station with a GW or two national grid connection?

While many specify towing with the driven wheels off the ground, they usually state that they can be towed a short distance to a safe location without.

Lots seem to be limited to 99mph - which is more than sufficient unless you are driving on German autobahns.

Ah, Tesla only.

Far too many controls, in most cars, are touch screen - however almost all have stalk buttons for controlling the radio.

Try that speed on the motorways I use and often you will be stuck behind one HGV with another up inches away from your back bumper, and if on the inside lane be boxed in by other HGVs over taking at a differential speed of a few miles an hour faster :)

Radio maybe but other wise - AVOID!

A home charger is typically 7kW and will charge most EVs from flat to full overnight, while you sleep. Most electricity companies offer EV tariffs - mine give all my electricity at a standard 24.14p/kWh (no increases at peak times), but monitors car charging (I set when I need the car for and it sets a schedule that meets that while best suiting the company) and refunds 17.4p/kWh - so car charging cost just 7p/kWh.