DC charging

[Frenchmike]

Apologies if this has been asked previously.
I have just ordered my IV 80 and since, I have been gathering information for which this site has been invaluable.
Am I correct in thinking that, when travelling longer distances, charging at a DC point would be faster?
Can I do this with the connection/cables supplied or, do I have to do something more?

[RichR]

Charging from AC is generally slower because the available powers are lower: from about 2.6kW (domestic mains socket), 3.6kW or 7.2kW from a domestic charge point (eg PodPoint), and 11kW or 22kW from a public AC charge point (though I think the Enyaq can only use up to 11kW AC). This is because the car has to convert AC to DC.

DC chargers are commonly 50kW up to 350kW. Depending on what spec you've chosen the Enyaq can charge at up to 125kW if the battery is low and warm (the rate drops off as the battery becomes more charged, or is cold).

The Type 2 CCS socket on the car supports AC and DC charging (DC uses the two big pins below the main round socket). DC chargers have the cable attached, For AC it's either attached or you use the one that's provided with the car.

It is always cheaper to charge at home, so generally you should use a route planner like ZapMap or ABRP to plan your journey to make best use of the chargers near your route. Also remember you don't need to charge the battery fully every time. Just put in enough to get you to the next place you're planning to stop and charge. So maybe plan to stop for lunch and charge for 30 minutes then perhaps another break after 2-3 hours driving for another 30 minute charge.

[Frenchmike]

That's all extremely helpful Rich and I really appreciate the depth of your reply. Is there an option that I could have chosen to take a greater advantage of dc charging?

[RichR]

Yes, standard is Enyaq is 50kW maximum, but you can add an option to upgrade the battery management unit to take that to 100W (on 60 models) or 125kW (on 80 models). There are rumours that there might be a software update to increase that to 150kW or more at some point. But you do need the uprated battery management unit to take advantage of the higher rates and hence reduce the amount of time spent charging. Bear in mind that often higher rate chargers (eg Ionity and BP) tend to cost more than the lower power ones.

If you mainly charge at home this isn't a big deal. If you're doing longer trips it just means you'll maybe want to take longer breaks, or more frequent short ones. Driving an EV means a change to how you drive longer distances anyway (ie you need to plan where you might stop for lunch or coffee breaks to be where there is a charger), so you'll soon get used to planning how long you're going to stop each time.

For example, Skoda quote 50 minutes for a 20%-80% charge at 50kW and 30 minutes for 125kW. On a domestic 7.2kW AC charger it's more like 9 hours to 100%, but it's significantly cheaper and your car's usually doing nothing overnight anyway.

[Jesserice]

It seems that upgrading to 100kw charging raises the base price (rather than being considered an option). - and on some 60 models such as ecosuite it then pushes it over the £35k limit for the govt grant
Come on Skoda, 50kw is not enough for standard spec. Eg all the new Gridserve and Moto service station chargers planned for the next year are 350kw.
This is one of the reasons I’m hesitating on buying an Enyaq.

[Goaty]

It seems that upgrading to 100kw charging raises the base price (rather than being considered an option). - and on some 60 models such as ecosuite it then pushes it over the £35k limit for the govt grant
Come on Skoda, 50kw is not enough for standard spec. Eg all the new Gridserve and Moto service station chargers planned for the next year are 350kw.
This is one of the reasons I’m hesitating on buying an Enyaq.

I think the grant still applies, if the base price is below £35k. The first Enyaq I ordered through Arval (company car) was an IV60, but loaded up to about £44k and the £2500 govt. grant still applied (I ended up changing the order to a lower spec iV80 as I decided range was more important than leather electric seats and fancy lights).

[Jesserice]

It seems that upgrading to 100kw charging raises the base price (rather than being considered an option). - and on some 60 models such as ecosuite it then pushes it over the £35k limit for the govt grant
Come on Skoda, 50kw is not enough for standard spec. Eg all the new Gridserve and Moto service station chargers planned for the next year are 350kw.
This is one of the reasons I’m hesitating on buying an Enyaq.

I think the grant still applies, if the base price is below £35k. The first Enyaq I ordered through Arval (company car) was an IV60, but loaded up to about £44k and the £2500 govt. grant still applied (I ended up changing the order to a lower spec iV80 as I decided range was more important than leather electric seats and fancy lights).

Hopefully, will have to check.
I did Carwow quotes for 50 and 100..the 100 quotes came back without the grant.

[scratch113]

On the Enyaq configurator, if you click the "Legal disclaimer" bit at the bottom of the option page for the 100kW charger, the following pops up:

"A £2,500 Plug-In Vehicle Grant is currently offered for electric cars under the price cap of £35,000 by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) to eligible manufacturers to promote the purchase of zero emission vehicles. The grant eligibility is based on the final purchase price including discounts, number plates, VED and VAT but excluding options, delivery charge & first registration fee. Your ŠKODA Retailer will submit the details on your behalf online in order to claim the grant funding, if applicable. The grant is subject to full T&Cs and eligibility requirements. To find out more contact your ŠKODA Retailer or visit gov.uk.

The OZEV grants are subject to full T&Cs and eligibility criteria. Vehicle eligibility and grant figure correct as at 18th March 2021. UK sales only (excludes Channels Islands and Isle of Man). Grant scheme may be withdrawn and eligibility/amounts may change at any time without prior notice."

As it's definitively listed under the "Options" part of the configurator as opposed to a model choice in its own right, it shouldn't alter the base price of the car and therefore if the OTR price is under £35k (and all iV60 models are), then the Government grant should apply.

It does depend on your dealer applying for it on your behalf, so if the dealer advises you that you can't have it because of the 100kW charging option, then he's wrong and you need to either go to another dealer to order your car or else get them to confirm with Skoda UK.

Many dealers are a bit rubbish and will always take the path of least resistance/effort.

[Goaty]

Exactly - it's quite possible some of the dealers are not as 'intimately' aware of the options as we are : for example, I'm only interested in the Enyaq and researched the heck out of it !!!
I couldn't care less about any of the other Skodas, but the dealers have to try to learn about all the other cars as well.

I actually created a unique code in the Enyaq configurator; that way there was no ambiguity and when I was looking at the iV60 (before opting for an iV80 instead), the £2500 grant was clearly stated in the price summary. Even though I'd added over £11k in options taking the BIK price to £46.5 k, the actual car cost to reduced £44k after the government grant was applied. 100kW charging was one of my options.

[RichR]

Options that don't affect the performance are allowed, but anything that makes it handle, brake or accelerate better and take it over the threshold can make it ineligible. The problem is of course the way the UK government dropped the threshold without warning, and it's unfortunate it was at the point Skoda had already set their RRPs.