Help please Eletre issues

[Pdunny]

Hi all. 

A new user here.  I have been reading the chats about Eletre and some interesting conversations. 

I need some help please.  I got my electre r in November and pointed out my home charging was only getting 12 to 14 mph.  Also 3 pin plug wasn't working attall. 

I was told by Lotus I needed to use a lotus cable.  I had a tethered cable which had worked for teslas and various other cars no issue.  

After a struggle I ended up paying for a second non tethered charger to my house costing well over 1k. This did not work and same issue.  Lotus Bradford took the car in and sent a video showing me it charges fine on a 11kw charger in their dealership.  Had to explain again no you need to test on a 7kw charger. Showed them where a tesco 7kw charger near them was.  It took 2 weeks for them to do this. The technician went to the tesco and it was full so he then went to a 50kw charger to fill up.  Magic thanks lotus. I called them to ask what the hell they were doing and they said technician didn't listen oh and he has reversed into a post.  Wow brilliant.  Over 30k of damage and potential months of waiting for a carbon fibre splitter is not great. 

It took another week of me telling a manager how to check 2 eletres with a 7kw and also 3 pin and let's see the difference. Basic but it worked. Both electres did not work on a 3 pin.  Both had charging capability between 12mph and 14mph.  I have asked lotus to buy the car off me and taken to Escalations and 1 higher  and their final answer by email is no and the car has been tested and nothing wrong with it.  I now have a car that I cannot get to work and back in and charge at home. I cannot also use a 3 pin charger when in rural Wales at a lodge nor rural Ireland when visiting family.  I enquired about trading in once accident damage repaired and got offered 100k and they didn't know about damage. Purchase mid November 148k. I am a little bit stuck.  

Please can anyone advise about the charging issues.  Is this standard to get appx 15mph and a 3 pin not work or is it my car.  

Thank you for any help from a very distressed lotus cllustomer.  

 

Ps. I agree with a lot of the issues on this forum and have same issues but my charging puts them into perspective.  

Edited March 2 by Pdunny
Spelling.

[aquiss]

I'm sorry to read this sorry tale, to which I hope you get things resolved.

With regards to charging speed on your 7kW charger, can you go into Settings. Scroll down and make sure the Max Current for AC Charging is set to Max.

[exeterjeep]

@DarrylV8 bought a 13A cable for his Eletre according to this thread, but don't know if he has tried it out.    

 

 

[Pdunny]

I now have 2 chargers both Rolec - both charge teslas at appx 30 mph 

both chargers charge the eletre at 10 to 14.  So i wouldnt imagine any settings are an issue.

3 Tesco 7kw chargers also charge the car at the same rate 15 ish.

I have 2 3 pin plug chargers  - 1 tesla and 1 from halfords - all work on Teslas and none work on Lotus

Lotus Bradford also had a 3 pin charger that didn't work.

Any Eletre owners out there please can you let me know what you get from a home charger and also a 3 pin charger if you have tried.

I honestly think its not been thought about - there is no mention of any charging on lotus website bar 22kw charger.

Thanks

 

[C8RKH]

@Pdunny - how is the dealer fixing the damage and has this been declared to any insurance co, as, if your car has a marker for damage I hate to think how you will sell it in the future, given current woes.

Also, wtf has the dealer been up to? - technicians so dense that they don't listen then crash the car. Fook me, I think I'd have ripped the roof off the dealership to be honest. And I'd expect the dealership to be doing some major sucking up to repair their reputation over this.

[Pdunny]

I don't think it will be a disclosed repair as they have a bodyshop and repairing through that.  However I don't think an option not to disclose when trying to sell or trade in.  Not sure what person would buy a car 3 months old with 30k repair done. Just buy a different car.  There is potential to issue a claim for reduced value but messy through solicitors.  

I tried to sell via a trade in for an urus (ruin the world but no charging issues haha) didn't disclose the damage and best they could get me was 100k.  So 3 months old last 3 weeks in lotus and 48k loss.  Add the damage maybe another 10k reduction. Its not a good story.  

Thanks for the message.  

[Bibs]

9 minutes ago, Pdunny said:

However I don't think an option not to disclose when trying to sell or trade in.

If it's not on the insurance hit list as a cat damaged car I don't believe there's any legal requirement to disclose any repairs.

[Pdunny]

I think the trade in value seems to be an issue damage or no damage. I would like to say I would keep the car for a couple of years but cant get to work every day on the home charger. 

[Rover1875]

8 hours ago, Pdunny said:

Hi all. 

A new user here.  I have been reading the chats about Eletre and some interesting conversations. 

I need some help please.  I got my electre r in November and pointed out my home charging was only getting 12 to 14 mph.  Also 3 pin plug wasn't working attall. 

I was told by Lotus I needed to use a lotus cable.  I had a tethered cable which had worked for teslas and various other cars no issue.  

After a struggle I ended up paying for a second non tethered charger to my house costing well over 1k. This did not work and same issue.  Lotus Bradford took the car in and sent a video showing me it charges fine on a 11kw charger in their dealership.  Had to explain again no you need to test on a 7kw charger. Showed them where a tesco 7kw charger near them was.  It took 2 weeks for them to do this. The technician went to the tesco and it was full so he then went to a 50kw charger to fill up.  Magic thanks lotus. I called them to ask what the hell they were doing and they said technician didn't listen oh and he has reversed into a post.  Wow brilliant.  Over 30k of damage and potential months of waiting for a carbon fibre splitter is not great. 

It took another week of me telling a manager how to check 2 eletres with a 7kw and also 3 pin and let's see the difference. Basic but it worked. Both electres did not work on a 3 pin.  Both had charging capability between 12mph and 14mph.  I have asked lotus to buy the car off me and taken to Escalations and 1 higher  and their final answer by email is no and the car has been tested and nothing wrong with it.  I now have a car that I cannot get to work and back in and charge at home. I cannot also use a 3 pin charger when in rural Wales at a lodge nor rural Ireland when visiting family.  I enquired about trading in once accident damage repaired and got offered 100k and they didn't know about damage. Purchase mid November 148k. I am a little bit stuck.  

Please can anyone advise about the charging issues.  Is this standard to get appx 15mph and a 3 pin not work or is it my car.  

Thank you for any help from a very distressed lotus cllustomer.  

 

Ps. I agree with a lot of the issues on this forum and have same issues but my charging puts them into perspective.  

Wow, that is quite unfortunate!

I have just gone to see an Electre myself and have been keeping an eye on the forums and joined after seeing this post.

I currently have an X5 hybrid and was hoping to take the plunge and go fully electric, however the above has concerned me a little.

Is everyone else facing the same slow charging rates on their Electre on a 7kWH charger and how many miles are people getting per hour on a 7kWH? 

 

 

[MPx]

2 hours ago, Pdunny said:

I now have 2 chargers both Rolec - both charge teslas at appx 30 mph 

both chargers charge the eletre at 10 to 14.  So i wouldnt imagine any settings are an issue.

3 Tesco 7kw chargers also charge the car at the same rate 15 ish.

 

I think you're looking at this the wrong way around.  All so called "chargers" don't have any smart input to how quickly the car charges.  All they do is to present a source of electrikery.  Some are AC, some DC, and they will have different capacities.  Your Rolec will be an AC "fast" charger.  But in reality the "charger" capability is built into each EV not the wallbox.  It is the car that decides how quickly to charge based on what supply it detects.  So if you're charging too slowly on 7kw chargers, there will be a setting somewhere in the car charging programme limiting how much it draws.  In the early days most manufacturers defaulted their setting on delivery to the lowest/slowest charge rate as that's safest if you dont know what its going to be plugged into.  I've no idea if they still do that.  But I think its very unlikely that there won't be a setting in the car's charging software somewhere to allow you to charge at different rates.  Seems very likely to me that this is set for 3.6kW instead of 7kW in your car.

[Pdunny]

Maybe I am.  I just want to be able to charge my car at a rate i can live with.  I have had managers at lotus bradford and managers from lotus Sharon in Escalations and her boss Brenna all dealing with and they say there are no issues with the car.  After trying to charge at 6 different locations and getting 15 mph. 

What can you do. 

I would like to know what charge other eletre owners get on their home chargers.  Anyone out there please let me know.

 

Appreciate the time mpx. 

 

[C8RKH]

2 hours ago, Pdunny said:

I don't think it will be a disclosed repair as they have a bodyshop and repairing through that.

This is "dodgy" ground. If the dealer did buy the car from you, then tried to resell it without disclosing the accident damage to the new owner then they could be in serious shit as below. Of course, if you sell it to a different dealer I don' think you are "obliged" to declare anything unless you are specifically asked. EV's are a "tough" 2nd hand sale. Damaged/repaired ones, even tougher.

 

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations May 2008 (CPRs) incorporate The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 and contain a general prohibition against unfair commercial practices and, in particular prohibitions against misleading actions, misleading omissions and aggressive commercial practices. The Regulations are enforceable through the civil and criminal courts. These create an offence of misleading omissions which would not previously have been an offence if the consumer had not asked the right questions. So if a salesman knows a car has, for example, been badly damaged and repaired and does not tell the customer, he could later be held liable if the customer subsequently discovered that the car had been damaged and repaired

[exeterjeep]

Not 'yet' into electric cars but looking at the battery / charging details on Autotrader etc and the details for the Eletre R,

They say a full charge takes 16.75 hours on a 7.4kwh charger, with a supposed  max range of 279 miles, then my maths reckons that 279 miles/16.75 hours is a max rate of 16.6 mph? Suppose there may also be some time/charging losses???

There are no details mentioned on Autotrader about a lower rate - eg  granny/13A socket.

Was looking up the same sort of home charging info for the jaguar I-pace for a similar mph analysis...found this....

https://evbox.com/uk-en/electric-cars/jaguar/jaguar-i-pace

[Barrykearley]

1 hour ago, Rover1875 said:

Is everyone else facing the same slow charging rates on their Electre on a 7kWH charger and how many miles are people getting per hour on a 7kWH

You folks need to stop looking at the mph charge rate - that’s a software thing on the car - not the real world. You need to see what kW in being consumed by the car - that’s the charge rate.

[mik]

Mrs mik’s original E-Tron 55 charges at around 15 miles per hour on a std 7kw charger.

After losses the car is probably charging at around 6.5kw, so after an hour you’ve increased your charge by (ta-dah) 6.5kw.

If your car is providing an efficiency of around 2.4 miles per kWh (perfectly feasible in this colder weather) then that  6.5kw charge will carry you 15.6 miles, so - everything adds up.

A smaller, lighter, more efficient EV can drive further on that same 6.5kw, so will report a higher mph figure when charging.

So nothing wrong with your car or 7kw charger.
 

No idea why it’s not working on a 13a trickle charge though. 

[exeterjeep]

This would indicate that 3 pin charging should be possible...

https://www.lotuscars.com/en-GB/lotus-charging

Can I also charge my Lotus at home with a regular 230V connection?-

It is possible but the charging capacity is reduced to 2.3 kW. Bear in mind that it will take around 55 hours to completely charge an empty Lotus Eletre battery.

 

https://www.electriccarlease.co.uk/evc-certificate/lotus/eletre/estate-450kw-112kwh-5dr-auto    ( this may not be the R model)

https://electrly.com/ev-charging-guide/lotus/lotus-eletre

 

 

 

[Pdunny]

Thanks exeterjeep

Lotus bradford state the car doesn't charge on a 3 pin.  They have tried. lotus themselves say there are no issues with the car.  I will have to accept that lotus charges appx half the speer of a tesla x and y and 3.  But I will push for them to sort the 3 pin charger.  This way I can maybe charge at work and home.  20 hours charging a day to get to work haha. Brilliant. 

Thanks. 

[exeterjeep]

7 minutes ago, Pdunny said:

Lotus bradford state the car doesn't charge on a 3 pin.

I think that all the dealers are learning about this new car and new tech for Lotus.

 

[C8RKH]

Which is a fundamentally flawed way of working as all dealers should have "PROPER TRAINING AND AWARENESS BEFORE" they have cars in the show room.

It beggars belief that Lotus has been selling cars for over 75 years but somehow, it seems to have forgotten all about the basics, practically overnight.

The car is a product. Products have features and technical specifications. Agents, dealers and technicians get informed and trained on them. That way the public gets the right info and a great buying experience. Hard it is not. Unless it seems, you're lotus!

Edited March 3 by Bravo73

[mik]

49 minutes ago, Pdunny said:

I will have to accept that lotus charges appx half the speer of a tesla x and y and 3. 

It’s not true though.

Its like having two ICE cars :

Car A does 50mpg and has a 10 gallon tank. Range is 500 miles

Car B does only 10mpg and also has a 10 gallon tank. Range is 100 miles.

Both cars take 6 minutes to fill up at the petrol station. The pump fill rate is 100 gallons per hour.

The fact that car A gets 500 miles of range in 6 minutes (a fill rate of 5000 miles per hour), whereas car B gets 100 miles of range in the same timeframe (a full rate of 1000 miles per hour) has absolutely nothing to do with the fill rate, and absolutely everything to do with the efficiency of the vehicle once the tank is filled.

[Bibs]

I understand that 1.4.0 introduces much better battery heat management therefore range so these figures will all be changing for the better very soon! 

[aquiss]

19 hours ago, aquiss said:

With regards to charging speed on your 7kW charger, can you go into Settings. Scroll down and make sure the Max Current for AC Charging is set to Max.

I note that my question above is still unanswered @Pdunny

[Pdunny]

sorry aquiss

i have 2 chargers now at home. 1 that i can look into the settings and 1 i cant as old bit if kit.

i have tried both over the weekend on my standard eletre courtesy car and both charge the same and the settings in the new suggest it is charging at the max.

I will wait till my car is repaired and try it all again -  

the 3 pin charger actually worked on the courtesy car - obviously slow but this is fine so hopefully will work on mine fingers crossed.

[Bibs]

7 minutes ago, Pdunny said:

i have 2 chargers now at home. 1 that i can look into the settings and 1 i cant as old bit if kit.

@aquiss is referring to the settings in the car. You can set a max current for the car and it could be that yours is set to a lower setting.

[Pdunny]

the car settings are at max also 

thanks for all your help guys.