5 Must-Have Items for First Time Electric Car Drivers
i’m a brand new EV driver and I just bought this one on a budget In this video I’m going to explain everything that I needed to buy to make it work for my situation and what essential items you need to get when you first switch to an electric car So straight away I’ve got a charging problem and as I’m on a really tight budget I’m not going to invest in a home wallbox charger If you have a driveway a garage or somewhere in front of your house to park your car then investing in a wallbox charger might be a good option at the start especially if your electric car has a bigger battery as it will take longer to charge than mine would be on a three pin plug For me I cannot afford to spend £900 on a new home wallbox charger but I have a driveway and garage ready with power for me to install one one day It was something I made sure to factor in when I first bought my electric car The other option for anyone who is a trained electrician or wants to hire one you can actually buy a separate home wallbox charger on say Amazon and you can have someone professional install it for you I actually use the website hot UK deals for most things that I buy to be honest And occasionally there are offers on there for home wallbox chargers that are 300 or 400 So what did I do Well the car came with a charger but I had a problem with my garage setup which I’ll show you later in the video But first let’s explain the different types of EV chargers and charger plugs so you know exactly what to look out for and how they work As the whole world was developing electric cars at the same time no one could agree on the specific type of plug they should use Plus each country has their own voltage measurements and maximum currents and things like that So they needed to build something that worked for their country and region of the world And of course they have different safety regulations as well So back in the day Nissan which is what I drive decided to use a Japanese system of course which is called Chado It’s quite chunky and it’s DC which means it’s direct current and it’s much higher rate of charge than a smaller plug It was actually one of the first of its kind and it works relatively well but it’s quite chunky as I said So most manufacturers have moved over to a different system now a system that allowed faster charging and even smaller design Now the world has settled on a few key plug types and here is a breakdown of what you need to know Type one Now this type 1 charger was a standard used in North America and Japan It’s for AC charging and what you’d find on older electric cars such as my first generation Nissan Leaf Type 1 plugs are singlephase electricity which means that they can be used from home without any kind of modifications to your electrical systems and they’re a bit slower but they are good at getting the job done Type two is the plug that’s used in the UK here and across Europe It’s used for AC charging just like type one but it’s also compatible with three-phase which is a much more advanced and higher power system that you can use to charge your car Therefore it can charge much faster than type 1 using things like the wallbox chargers at home or at workspace charging Most electric cars use this as well to charge So it’s very very common over here Chado Now as I mentioned earlier this is what Nissan used for DC rapid charging and what I’ve got in my car It was Japan’s answer to fast charging and it’s becoming less common now It’s been phased out in favor of the next one CCS or combined charging system is now the most widely adopted charging for DC fast charging especially in Europe It combines the type 2 plug with two extra pins at the bottom to allow for much more greater charging speeds allowing both AC and DC charging in one socket So yeah not all electric cars are created equally Be sure to check out which charging plug your car has before you buy it especially if you’re on a budget like me and want to save some costs on buying adapters and plugs Now we’ve covered the basics let’s go into the essential items you might need when you first switch to an electric car If you’ve got a Nissan Leaf or any other car with a type one plug you need an adapter to make it work in most UK charging stations So I recommend you get this which is an adapter which I’ll show you now It’s a type one adapter that fits type two on the other side So I’ve plugged this into the car and any type two plug I can use to plug it in Unfortunately the car didn’t come with a type 1 to type two charging cable So I can’t show you it in action Unfortunately I can’t charge in public now without that cable because some chargers are just untethered which means they don’t have any cables attached to them and you have to bring your own cable from your boot to plug it in I will only need this in an emergency though when the public type 1 cables aren’t available and I’m not charging at home or using a rapid charger But there is a solution to all of this If you’re on a tight budget either only charge at home with a three pin plug which is what I’ve been doing so far or only rapid charge it if you’ve not got a home charger and want to be out and about charging it on your journeys Rapid charging a Nissan Leaf like mine would involve finding a chat charger Again though this is specific to only my Nissan Leafs and lots of Japanese cars at the time as other electric cars have different systems Yours might have the CCS which is what I mentioned earlier or a different system But anyway you might be thinking what’s the best way to find a charger when you’re out and about I’ll do a separate video on this but it’s so important to know that there are lots of different charging apps you can use to find suitable public chargers So my next item that’s essential to any new EV driver is a charging app where you can find out where chargers are and how much they cost Now the biggest player in this space is called Zap Map who have literally thousands across the UK of charging locations located on their app They show you what kind of chargers are expected at each public charging station what kind of plugs they have and also their availability Most of the time they sometimes have pictures too to show what you’re kind of expecting when you turn up and what to look out for And also the status of them You can work out their reliability as well The app does have its limitations and it’s not 100% accurate either where you might sometimes unfortunately turn up at a charger and it’s not working I have heard this from previous clients who are heavily involved in that industry So do take your research on Zap Map with a pinch of salt So make sure you check out whether the app was updated recently of the charger that you’re actually going to visit In fact I’m going to go on a road trip soon to test out public charging and test out the app’s features So be sure to check that one out by hitting the subscribe button and being notified when I do that because it’s going to be a road trip with a bit of a twist The other app you can use is called Octopus Electroverse and it shows you the many chargers and charging companies that Octopus have partnered with that you can use on the app It also gives a charger rating out of five so you can work out how reliable a charger is The app allows you to link your payment method too So you can work out with one card that you get delivered through the app or on the phone uh you can use just that to charge your car when you turn up to it But this feature is a bit defunct and useless nowadays because all electric car chargers are now required to have contactless payment just by tapping your card and paying without any apps as of late last year So you don’t have to sign to sign up to any app These apps are ideal for planning journeys and looking at the reliability of a charger but also they’re very good for determining the best price for a charger nearby You could save a lot of money For example if your battery is low and you find a charger at 60p per kilowatt hour where nearby there might be one that’s 80p per kilowatt hour So the savings do add up a lot All you need to do is just spend a little bit more time researching on the app There is a feature on Zap Map which actually shows you which chargers are completely free to use Although this is quite rare now and only really applicable for when you’re staying in a hotel or perhaps visiting a pub where they offer customers free charging for a couple of hours But if you’re always someone that’s going to charge at home on a budget without a wallbox charger the next item is essential for you Now my only option when I want to charge at home is to use my three pin plug and cable that came with the car That’s fine but my garage plug sockets are 3 to four 5 m even in from the garage door Unless I drive up really close to the garage it won’t reach Now unfortunately it’s also not the biggest garage so fitting the car inside the garage is not so easy and me having to squeeze out is far from ideal Plus I’d have to move all of my stuff out the way So I bought this This is an industrial-grade extension lead Now I say this industrial is because it needs to withstand the maximum current passing through it at all times when the car is charging Generic extension cables like like this one have only 1.25 25 square mm cable And this will get hot and eventually melt if you use it with a high current maximum charging all the time in your EV as it’s designed for lower powered products like this light that I’m using right now The industrial one means it has 1.5 mm cable and is tested to properly handle the maximum current that you need to pass through every time you want to charge a car The one I found online was properly tested to industry standards And I’ll share the link to this and links to all the products that I mentioned today down in the description So do check them out So hopefully it will help you save some time on researching the right products to use when you first buy your electric car So this solved my charging problem but there’s one more item I needed to make the whole process smooth and easy to use Now this is my most recent purchase as I realized getting home turning up I had to open the garage retrieve the charging plug on the floor and then plug it in close the garage lock up And for me being so efficient that’s way too much effort So I did some research and I found this really cool hook that I can plug into my charger and hang the cable on It was under10 as well and it solved any effort of me opening the garage and plugging it in my car every time I want to charge at night or when I come home This was a type one charger which I talked about earlier the bracket So make sure you research and buy the one that’s suitable for your electric car If you drive any leaf I I suggest this one but there’s other ones available like type two charger plugs Now before I get on to my last item I really appreciate if you hit the subscribe button as I’m a new creator just starting out and it really means a lot to me Thanks to everyone doing it so far I really appreciate it too Okay have you done Good Let’s get on to my next item If you saw my previous video you would have seen that there is a slow puncture in my front left tire I did have an air pump before but it wasn’t very powerful and it was battery powered And I feel over time if you keep using it then it just wears out I did have a air pump before It was a tiny battery powered one And because my old van also had a slow puncture it didn’t actually work very well and it failed after about a year Battery powered pumps don’t really work great in my opinion They’re designed good for some things Like batteries should be used in some things but not for blowing up tires and having air pumps So I bought this This is a compact air compressor that I can just keep in the car It’s suitable for cars bikes uh for pumping up your blow up mattress or whatever it might be and it shows you the inflation pressures and you can plug it in to the 12vt socket or you can plug it into the mains which is down here So yeah uh it’s got a light and it also stops whenever it reaches the target pressures So I really recommend this item Again link in the description I also thought it’d be useful around the house to check tire pressures and stuff like that So that’s it Thanks for watching Check out my next video up
I wanted to share what it’s been like owning one of the cheapest electric cars in the UK.
These are the top 5 items I used to elevate my beginner EV journey and make things a whole lot easier!
🍿 WATCH NEXT
Buying The Cheapest Electric Car in the UK Under £3,000! https://youtu.be/jOtB4QK9W-c
🔗 ITEMS
1. Type 1 to Type 2 Adapter: https://amzn.to/4nsBKW8
2. Octopus Electroverse: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/octopus-electroverse/id1535444463
ZapMap: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/zapmap-ev-charging-points-map/id964082746
3. ‘Industrial’ Extension Cable: https://amzn.to/43Ue6dx
4. EV Charger Holder Bracket: https://amzn.to/4lfnkXC
5. Portable Air Compressor: https://amzn.to/4lqaJ3Y
+ FREE £50 For Switching to Octopus Energy: https://share.octopus.energy/brave-eland-597
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Camera: https://amzn.to/3T75nhU
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👋 WHO AM I?
I’m Alex, a British guy sharing all of my experiences in my 30s.
I was an automotive engineer, turned digital nomad and traveller. I want to share with you the different car industries across the world, combine them with the best travel advice from real-world experience, and teach you how to live a financially responsible life.
I’m just starting out, so please do hit the SUBSCRIBE button to learn more about living with a budget electric car.
⌚️Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:13 Home Charging Dilemma
01:12 EV Plug Types
03:35 Item 1
04:53 Item 2
07:20 Item 3
08:40 Item 4
09:32 Item 5
🎵 Music
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mountaineer/concrete-jungle
License code: ULVUECFFIUEEBFML
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/blue-wednesday/lefty
License code: WGHPCK7V1PPMW2YF
PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜
