Electric Charger Points

[westfalia]

I had the fridge and heater on last time I was away but not sure if this was on hook up. I will try starting the engine and putting on the fridge and heater in the morning and report back on this post. Thank you.

Don't start the engine.
Just try running the fridge and the heater and then leave one
of them on - probably the fridge - all day.

 

[DavidPB]

Thank you. I will try that tomorrow.

 

[DavidPB]

I ran the fridge all day yesterday without starting the engine and the voltage dropped from 12.4v to 12.3v. HOwever, as soon as I put on the heater it dropped to 12.2v even though I only had the heater on for a matter of moments. I will try running the heater for longer today and see what that does to the voltage.

 

[andyinluton]

If you've got no way of charging up the leisure batteries, the last thing I would be doing is turning on the fridge & heater. All you are going to achieve is flat batteries & leaving them flat is not good for them. To recharge them substantially you will need to be driving for hours, not just popping to the shops.

 

[DavidPB]

I have to admit I had grave reservations myself about trying this out so will leave things as they are until I can put in some miles and get to the garage. Thank you.

 

[Marc Oldman]

Sounds like it may be worth considering solar panels to keep your leisure batteries topped up between uses

 

[DavidPB]

Yes I’ve been thinking about that but I don’t know how effective they are or whether they are easy to fit. If they will help keep the electrics charged up It seems the most sensible thing to do especially at the current time.

 

[westfalia]

If you've got no way of charging up the leisure batteries, the last thing I would be doing is turning on the fridge & heater. All you are going to achieve is flat batteries & leaving them flat is not good for them. To recharge them substantially you will need to be driving for hours, not just popping to the shops.

But this a new-ish van and still under warranty, i didn't realise it couldn't be
hooked up.

I thought it was an exercise to establish if the batteries are knackered and
need changing.
Just to establish a few facts so that when he can go to Vw he has a bit of
knowledge about how the batteries are performing.

 

[DavidPB]

Sorry Westfalia I appreciate you were trying to help and yes my Cali just a year old. But this thread started because it parked some yards away from house and I’ve no way of charging it on hook up. The issue was more to do with whether the leisure batteries should hold their charge if not using electrics or whether need to run van to keep them charged.

 

[westfalia]

Sorry Westfalia I appreciate you were trying to help and yes my Cali just a year old. But this thread started because it parked some yards away from house and I’ve no way of charging it on hook up. The issue was more to do with whether the leisure batteries should hold their charge if not using electrics or whether need to run van to keep them charged.

I would think that on a 1 year old van the leisure batteries should hold
their charge, and the fridge should run constantly for 3 days before showing
60 0r 50 percent life.

 

[mogfor]

This is probably a very stupid question but does anybody know whether you can plug your van into the public (car) charging points that are popping up everywhere? - to recharge the leisure batteries if not staying on a campsite.

 

[Martin12bar]

I believe that the charging points for electric cars and vans have a very specific type of plug in (2 different ones depending upon type of electric vehicle) which are not the same as the 3 pin hook up connectors used to connect to a Cali on a campsite. I think the charging rates also differ to conventional domestic connections. The video by Cali Chris is quite informative

 

[WelshGas]

This is probably a very stupid question but does anybody know whether you can plug your van into the public (car) charging points that are popping up everywhere? - to recharge the leisure batteries if not staying on a campsite.

The simple answer is NO. They do not charge 12v AGM batteries which is the type you have in the California.

 

[mogfor]

The simple answer is NO. They do not charge 12v AGM batteries which is the type you have in the California.

Thanks, haven’t taken delivery yet so was just wondering what the connection was. We have a hybrid charging point at home and would have been good if both were compatible - maybe in the future...

 

[mogfor]

I believe that the charging points for electric cars and vans have a very specific type of plug in (2 different ones depending upon type of electric vehicle) which are not the same as the 3 pin hook up connectors used to connect to a Cali on a campsite. I think the charging rates also differ to conventional domestic connections. The video by Cali Chris is quite informative

Thanks

 

[Loz]

Some locations like the Cabot Circus shopping centre supply the Blue Commando style socket the same as a campsite.
Technically you could use these but you will be extremely unpopular as they are provided for charging buggies and invalid carriages etc.

 

[andyinluton]

Most multi-storey car parks have cleaners sockets which are domestic 240v under flaps around the stairwells. If you are feeling lucky you could try that.
You can’t at our local railwa station though as that’s where the “homeless” beggars plug their iPhone 11pro phones into charge after they’ve parked the Range Rover.

 

[johnyboy]

Would you want an EV driver to park in front of the diesel pump while they did their shopping?

 

[andyinluton]

Not really but its what they do at our local BP / M&S

 

[westfalia]

Would you want an EV driver to park in front of the diesel pump while they did their shopping?

That might not bug me as much as waiting until
someone has filled in their milage book and noted the
number of litres bought.

 

[TripleBee]

Would you want an EV driver to park in front of the diesel pump while they did their shopping?

If I remember correctly, the diesel pump is not placed on/near a parking spot, but a terrain specially built for that purpose.
Chargers for electrical verhicles are placed on/near parking spots, and taking away available parking spots for other vehicles.

That might not bug me as much as waiting until
someone has filled in their milage book and noted the
number of litres bought.

Not as worse as a Dutch family (The Netherlands) at a highway fuel pump in Mamer, Luxemburg.
I drove up in the queue (<- ?), one car in front of me refuelling. So I had to wait a little while. Then I refuelled my van for 56 liters. Filled out my Mileage log. Drove away.
At the time I drove up to the fuel pump, the Dutch father was holding the roof bars of his Touran in one hand, gently shaking the car with the passengers inside, the other hand on the fuel nozzle. When I drove away from the aire, that man was still shaking his Touran, trying to get at least yet that half a drop of fuel in his tank.
Who does the same?

 

[johnyboy]

Chargers for electrical verhicles are placed on/near parking spots, and taking away available parking spots for other vehicles.

Poor marking and signage are a bane - some EV drivers even think they can park there without charging

 

[Milo4]

Some EV charging points are actually normal 3 pin plug sockets so could be used to top up leisure batteries. You can check on zapmap.com and filter by socket type

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Some EV charging points are actually normal 3 pin plug sockets so could be used to top up leisure batteries. You can check on zapmap.com and filter by socket type

But why would you? How long would you sit around waiting for any worthwhile charge? Might as well charge by continuing to drive.

 

[Milo4]

But why would you? How long would you sit around waiting for any worthwhile charge? Might as well charge by continuing to drive.

I don’t think it is compulsory to sit in your van while it charges. You can get on with the rest of your life if you want eg go to shops etc. Personally I just leave mine plugged into my garage but I know everyone is not as fortunate and might like the option