Delivery lead times

[JonathanP]

When I ordered my BZ4X the 'build my bz4x online' was predicting a 33 week wait for delivery.
I was taking a look this week and it's now showing a 12 week wait, while it would be a lovely surprise to get the car this year instead of next it seems a huge change in lead times.
My order is still in the processing stage, so the dealer won't know the expected delivery date until it enters the build stage.

Do people think this huge change in lead time is likely, only I thought I had plenty of time to look at getting an EV charger installed.

[philip42h]

The delivery lead times shown on the website aren't entirely helpful. It could well be that there will be a 33 week wait for an order that starts life at the back of the queue - based on the number of orders outstanding. But a selection of cars may be available in less time as a result of queued and subsequently cancelled orders. The actual wait time in that case will depend on where a matching vehicle is in the build/delivery cycle.

Personally, I'd get work on the charger started right away - a charger but no car feels rather 'silly' whilea car but no charger would be rather 'annoying'! 😉 

[ChrisON]

When l first started looking at the bz4x in May this year it was an 18 month lead time; when it became clear to the salesman that my interest was more than casual that time dropped rapidly to 10 months.....hmmm. As it happened l got one with just 154 miles on it so the lead time was 5 days! I think lead times are a bit fluid - all you can do is keep a watch on it. In any event l agree with Philip - get the charger install underway - mine (A myenergi Zappi 2) took 2 months from order to commissioning but that was part of a complete solar system installation.

Chris

 

[JonathanP]

Thank's guys. Yeah I think I need to start looking at getting a charger sorted.
At the moment I've got the choices down to either the Zappi 2 or the Indra Smart Lux as both get good reviews for being able to take the feed from solar panels.
Yesturday I happened to be in the loft (where the inverter is for the panels) and on a fairly cloudy day it was reporting 1.3kw being generated, so on a much brighter day I should be able to charge mainly from the panels.

[Malop]

Not sure if you’re already aware of this or not but Solar PV systems need to be generating a minimum of 1.4kW above that required to power your home in order to charge your EV. 

https://wepoweryourcar.com/about/can-you-charge-an-electric-car-with-solar-panels/#:~:text=Minimum kW%3A Solar PV systems need to be,your home in order to charge your EV.

It’s something to do with the converter on the car side and a limitation set by the manufacturers rather than an issue with the solar panels or the charge point itself.

[JonathanP]

Yes I'm aware of this, as it was a very cloudly dull day I would expect my panels to be able to produce the required 1.4kW required on a sunny day 🙂

[JonathanP]

Lead times have vanished from the website completely now, so who knows what that means.
Either production is going better than expected, or they aren't sure when cars will be ready.

Oh well, we ensured that we swapped cars long before the PCP ran out on the Prius as we live in a time now where computer chips are still in short supply. I was told at work that if they need to order a new laptop it's at least 6 months before it will arrive.

I'll set the ball rolling with the charging point once I see it's moved into the build stage. 🙂

[Bilthehut]

On 7/26/2023 at 2:50 PM, Malop said:

Not sure if you’re already aware of this or not but Solar PV systems need to be generating a minimum of 1.4kW above that required to power your home in order to charge your EV. 

https://wepoweryourcar.com/about/can-you-charge-an-electric-car-with-solar-panels/#:~:text=Minimum kW%3A Solar PV systems need to be,your home in order to charge your EV.

It’s something to do with the converter on the car side and a limitation set by the manufacturers rather than an issue with the solar panels or the charge point itself.

I have a BG charger and 4.5kW solar panels (no Battery storage).  As the car will draw 7.5kW to start this will need energy from the grid.  I just plan my time around when the sun is out or make use of the peak save period on Sundays where electricity is half price.  

[JStead]

Dragging up an old thread here - has anyone ordered one in the last few months and got estimated delivery dates?

[cviclark]

Just been informed my new BZ4X is at dealer, although app says it is still at Portbury ( Bristol Docks) Order palced 30 Sept so 10 days lead time is magic.

Not so impressed with BG Hive installation for wall box though.

First they want pictures which I uploaded and included pics of Elctrical fuse box certification from Feb This year. now I have to wait for a video call from the tech team who will then give me an installation date. What a video will tell them that the pictures cannot  I have no idea.  Phone help line no help as they are not technical.  if it was a physical survey to test the street rating I could understand, or an old fuse box .  It appears BG areas incompetent on electrical stuff as they were with gas boilers,and I still have SID shares.

Anybody know how long it takes from a 13 A plug?

[philip42h]

10 minutes ago, cviclark said:

Anybody know how long it takes from a 13 A plug?

According to evdb 32h45 ... which sounds about right ... ~64 kWh / 2.3 kW = 28 hours

[adidev]

7 minutes ago, cviclark said:

Just been informed my new BZ4X is at dealer, although app says it is still at Portbury ( Bristol Docks) Order palced 30 Sept so 10 days lead time is magic.

Not so impressed with BG Hive installation for wall box though.

First they want pictures which I uploaded and included pics of Elctrical fuse box certification from Feb This year. now I have to wait for a video call from the tech team who will then give me an installation date. What a video will tell them that the pictures cannot  I have no idea.  Phone help line no help as they are not technical.  if it was a physical survey to test the street rating I could understand, or an old fuse box .  It appears BG areas incompetent on electrical stuff as they were with gas boilers,and I still have SID shares.

Anybody know how long it takes from a 13 A plug?

I ordered mine two months ago. At the same time, I contacted Hive. I've just been contacted by the centre that the car will be ready to collect this week 😃, although the vehicle tracker on MyToyota states the same as yours - it's still in Portbury 😲.
As per charger installation - it doesn't feel like it's going anywhere. Weeks of waiting before email arrived that I need to send photos, then again, weeks of nothingness, till last week, I had to arrange a video call, which is due mid-October 😱. It seems that it's quicker to make a car in Japan and ship it to England than install a wall charger. Hopefully the 13A will be enough, and luckily I have 8xDCFC right next door. Really not impressed with Hive (BG).

[adidev]

Just now, philip42h said:

According to evdb 32h45 ... which sounds about right ... ~64 kWh / 2.3 kW = 28 hours

That is only if you have to charge from 0%. From my estimate, I commute approx 10miles per day, assuming it's 3.5miles/kW, I would need approx. 3kWh per day of charge. Every second night of charging should fit me.

[philip42h]

7 minutes ago, adidev said:

That is only if you have to charge from 0%. From my estimate, I commute approx 10miles per day, assuming it's 3.5miles/kW, I would need approx. 3kWh per day of charge. Every second night of charging should fit me.

Quite so. Depending on exactly how long you define 'overnight' to be and what efficiency you assume one should be able to commute between 70 and 100 miles per day from just overnight charges via a 13A socket.

[adidev]

1 minute ago, philip42h said:

Quite so. Depending on exactly how long you define 'overnight' to be and what efficiency you assume one should be able to commute between 70 and 100 miles per day from just overnight charges via a 13A socket.

I'm sorry, you might have a problem here - 100 miles with 3.5m/kWh (we know this will drop in cold weather) is about 30kWh of charge. Charging with speed of 2.3kW is almost 14h charging.

[philip42h]

5 minutes ago, adidev said:

I'm sorry, you might have a problem here - 100 miles with 3.5m/kWh (we know this will drop in cold weather) is about 30kWh of charge. Charging with speed of 2.3kW is almost 14h charging.

100 miles @ 3.5 miles / kWh = 28.6 kWh @ 2.3 kW = 12.4 hours. Just have a bit of a lie-in and only travel on warm days ... 🙂 

10 hours overnight @ 2.3 kW = 23 kWh @ 3 miles / kWh = 69 miles.

What is possible / practical is somewhere within that range ... 😉 

And if you don't use it all up on a daily basis it will accumulate until you have the full range available - whatever you decide that is! The point / your point is that many folk would be able to survive on 13A charging for a while at least.

[cviclark]

Thanks for setting my mind at rest.  It is a whole new learning curve even after 20+ years of Toyota Hybrids.  I have always found TOC the best source of genuine information and reviews although have not always agreed with some of the opinions.  I have never agreed with Low profile tyres, but have always been an" Early Adopter" of technology.   It was this or a "mobilty scooter" neither will work if we go back to power strikes of the 70s and 80s but I live in hope.