Rugby services, J1 on the M6, have a seemingly large EV charging area. Guessing there might be 50 or more EV chargers. Moto describe it as an EV Superhub.. The services are relatively new, and have quite a refreshing atmosphere about them. The urinals have no advertising above them....yet!Just got back from a round trip to Bristol and back from near Burnley in the EV. The eldest is at uni in Bristol and was feeling a bit ill so I saved her a coach trip as she's coming home for reading week. It came in around 440 miles in total.
Although this is our 5th EV, the other 4 are/were the wife's. So going from a Ranger to the EV is relatively new, especially long distances.
I could have made it to Bristol in one hit, but my bladder gave out before the battery did.A quick 20 minute charge on a Gridserve fast charger gave me another 120 miles or so while I grabbed a sarnie and coffee. There were 6 Gridserve fast chargers at Southbound Strensham services on the M5. Two were illuminated green (working) but four were red (faulty). For some strange reason, all four faulty ones were populated and people were pressing buttons and on their phones to Gridserve. The two green ones were empty so just pulled up and plugged it in! Bloody expensive, 89p per kWh but motorway services are notorious for expensive fuel so electricity is no exception.
Because I stopped early for a partial charge on the way there, I needed to stop on the way back for a top up. So stopped at Hilton Park on the northbound M6 where there were loads of fast chargers and all seemed to working and only a few taken. On both occasions I got more than 130kW, so a 15 minute charge gave about 40 to 45% charge. Again, 89p a kWh,
Lessons learned
I must look into the various discount schemes as the jump from 16p a kWh to 89p is a bit steep. The medium fast chargers are cheaper and I'm rarely in a hurry, so may use them next time.
Regen settings. There are 5 settings on the Kia including zero. 1 is best for motorways, feels like normal engine braking and allows the car to coast on downhill stretches. Two is better in medium/heavy motorway traffic, less use of brakes. Three best around the Pennines with the hills and four, which is also called one pedal, is best in town, never need to use the brakes and the car stops completely when you release the throttle and holds on inclines etc.
Finally, M5 - M6 junction is a PITA on a Friday afternoon, as is M6 near the M60.
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brewdexta
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I could get 8p per unit for night rate but chose a different tarrif to get cheaper gas too as the pellet boiler is screwed, or rather not screwed as the auger packed in
What's the latest with the fault? An ICCU swap should be a couple of days or so now they are no longer on back order.
AVI_8
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I could get 8p per unit for night rate but chose a different tarrif to get cheaper gas too as the pellet boiler is screwed, or rather not screwed as the auger packed in
What's the latest with the fault? An ICCU swap should be a couple of days or so now they are no longer on back order.
Well the leasing company have been great, I can’t fault them, they‘ve opened a case with the Manufacturers, who have assured them that they’re on the issue in order to get to a speedy resolution.
However these modern cars are just too clever which can disprove that claim.
For example my Hyundai App is linked to the car, I can see they had it in the workshop on the Friday last week when it was delivered to them, it was powered up for 32 minutes, then on the Monday it was powered for 21 minutes, probably to get it out of the workshop, since then it’s been parked up, no one has opened the doors and the car hadn’t moved, I have been getting the car to send me selfies of itself every day, it unfolds it’s mirrors and using the mirror cams and front and rear cams to show a 360 degree picture of itself to me, also it tells me if it’s been powered up or moved.
So they‘ve just parked it up and done nothing, when I Phone the stealership I get the same story, they’re working on it with Hyundai Tech, Bullshyte.
I’ve passed this information onto the leasing company and they’re going to be making a decision soon as to where to go next, to be honest I’d rather they just fix the car, get it in and prioritise it, but have the impression the non supplying dealership thinks of it as not their problem and they’re already having trouble with the work schedule they have already, so it’s just parked up and is at the back of their minds.
It is what it is, if it gets rejected it’ll be 6 weeks before I can get another, if not it’s likely to be longer to get them to prioritise it, Arnold Clark Dealership network is beyond bad, I’m talking worse than Scottish Power levels of uselessness. And that takes some level of beating.
And the staff are so rude as well, they’re obviously used to customers who are not happy, though I’ve always been very courteous to them, they’ve got a dry defence mechanism way of speaking to you as soon as they speak to you.
And still point blank REFUSE to tell me what’s wrong with it.
willie.macleod
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On the oil thing back in the late 70s early 80s the bodyshop manager at the local vauxhall dealers never changed the oil in his viva/Chevettes, reckoned it leaked out or got used so quick he just kept topping them up
A decent number of BMW Prince engines that are still running will be burning way more oil in top ups than will be changed during an annual service, official line is a litre of oil per 1000 miles is fine.
Ubique
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Ahhh... there's the bulk of your problem - Arnold Shark.
Related to me from people that (briefly) worked for them...
Used car prep will use second-hand parts, including braking components to achieve their listed minimum standards.
They only recognise Scottish statutory holidays - so you won't get 'English' bank holidays - and you can't book them off if your scheduled work day falls on one.
They share diag/master tech's across dealerships, sounds OK in theory but it is often by phone to non-brand trained techs - this may be the crux of your problem, no-one with sufficient brand knowledge has looked at your car.
All of the above means that any tech worth his pay won't stay there for long or just won't bother at all once they see the T's & C's in their contract.
AVI_8
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Couldn’t agree more to be honest, my son started with them 5 years ago in car sales, lasted one week, totally toxic workplace as he described, salesmen were actually having fights out the back as they were actually trying to steal potential customers from each other.
They are the Ryanair of the car industry, a constant slide to the bottom with regards to T’s and C’s
We have Electroverse , Pod point & Grid serve
We have cards for Elecroverse , Pod point and Gridserve. Even for motorway trips we rarely ever recharge at motorway stops , as like you say they are very expensive. We found some Tesco charging point ( we got points if we used them ) were difficult to use but I gather they are having a major upgrades so they might be better .Just got back from a round trip to Bristol and back from near Burnley in the EV. The eldest is at uni in Bristol and was feeling a bit ill so I saved her a coach trip as she's coming home for reading week. It came in around 440 miles in total.
Although this is our 5th EV, the other 4 are/were the wife's. So going from a Ranger to the EV is relatively new, especially long distances.
I could have made it to Bristol in one hit, but my bladder gave out before the battery did.
Because I stopped early for a partial charge on the way there, I needed to stop on the way back for a top up. So stopped at Hilton Park on the northbound M6 where there were loads of fast chargers and all seemed to working and only a few taken. On both occasions I got more than 130kW, so a 15 minute charge gave about 40 to 45% charge. Again, 89p a kWh,
Lessons learned
I must look into the various discount schemes as the jump from 16p a kWh to 89p is a bit steep. The medium fast chargers are cheaper and I'm rarely in a hurry, so may use them next time.
Regen settings. There are 5 settings on the Kia including zero. 1 is best for motorways, feels like normal engine braking and allows the car to coast on downhill stretches. Two is better in medium/heavy motorway traffic, less use of brakes. Three best around the Pennines with the hills and four, which is also called one pedal, is best in town, never need to use the brakes and the car stops completely when you release the throttle and holds on inclines etc.
Finally, M5 - M6 junction is a PITA on a Friday afternoon, as is M6 near the M60.
One card we got with our first EV allowed us free charging for a year ..we made the most of that .
Usually there are charging points within 6 -10 miles of a motorway and more often than not with reasonable toilets facilities , tea or sit down eating stops .
We have found some lovely places by using them , getting off a boring crazy motorway is a refreshing change in driving and scenery .
willie.macleod
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I was on a course with an Arnold Clarke master tech a few months back, they're keeping him because he's on track for a c. £10k bonus payable every 3 years. Don't know what the carrot will be once that arrives in the account though, got to get the timing right for moving.
premmington
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Lady Philomena Clark - ranked 18th top tax payer in the UK.
The car sales chain is earning - it may not be the best place to work at - but the owners are doing OK.
addjunkie
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But does her money all come from car sales or are they into other stuff too. Good or bad place to work comes down to management style, not the owners wealth!
premmington
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Googled it...
"Lady Philomena Clark and her family are estimated to be worth £1.656 billion as of May 2025, according to The Sunday Times Rich List. As the chair of Arnold Clark Automobiles, she oversees one of the UK's largest car dealership groups, holding a position as one of the wealthiest individuals in Scotland and the UK."
Erie Fred
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Blobber
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Needs a slap that does...
Probaably a Helicopter. Or that's what I'd have if I had a spare billion.I wonder what she drives ?
premmington
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Ubique
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I was offered a similar
Vertu class 'long service' as 12 months or more, says a lot about their ability to retain staff.
Ubique
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If you mean the cooling systems, then there generally are specific checks at service - brand dependent of course. If you're 'lucky' enough to have an Audi e-tron, then you really should have the rear motor coolant trap replaced every year, despite what the service interval says. I've seen more than a few rear motors and differentials destroyed due to it becoming full and backing up until it fills up the driveshaft chamber after the differential and then onwards into the motor....
Here you go, emulsified differential oil, smells like a gas leak!
That's from the OSR, you won't get it from the NSR as the flange is directly into the differential, the OSR flange is not so well sealed
Greeves246
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If she wants a toy boy I’m available
