Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

[NewcastleFalcon]

Dont worry Mick, just let it happen! Get in early before they dig your street up, give it a try. Do a gibbo go for a bargain basement, try it, and if you dont like it move it on. No regrets for me, in fact I enjoy it Not worried about infrastructure or its development in the slightest.

Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

No regrets for me either so far, had another dose of Mr Tesco's free electricity this morning on the 22Kwh charger for about twenty minutes while I shopped charged from 20% to 96%.
The car seems to be learning too, when I got it fully charged the range came up as 78 miles, with my driving style which is steady but not really 'old duffer' it now gives the range as 97 miles.

[NewcastleFalcon]

New ones on me...on the street

and the simple instruction...
Download the Connected Kerb app to start using our charging points

Having an electric car without a smartphone cuts down your options...

...but the one round the one round the back of some craft workshops/gallery/cafe has far better instructions

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

It was going to happen but at least we enjoyed our 18 months of EV ownership with Free Charging from Northumberland's Chargers, and now 2½ years of free charging over the border in all of the border towns.

Didn't know it was imminent, but today on our trip up to Kelso and Selkirk, these notices were on the Chargeplace Scotland chargers.

Free charging at Chargeplace Scotland Chargers endeth on May 1st 2022!

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Gridserve just one of the players expanding the UK charging infrastructure. 350kW chargers.

First Gridserve Electric Super Hub open at all-new site at Moto Thurrock.

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/latest ... 05/05/2022

Gridserve Electric Hubs have been designed to feature both CCS and CHAdeMO connectors, accept contactless payment and provide real-time status updates to EV charging maps.

It will happen soon enough, and tales of "nightmare journeys" and out of order charge points will become as obsolete as the 2 gallon tin of motor spirit from the hardware store in the pioneering days of of the motor car before/and after the first roadside refuelling stations started to appear.

https://nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/ufaq ... c19f0034f6

Roadside petrol pumps were first installed in Britain in 1913, though they did not enter into general use until 1921. In 1920, the Automobile Association opened the first roadside petrol station (solely for the purpose of supplying fuel as opposed to being a garage) at Aldermaston, Berkshire. A number of similar stations were established around the country. They were operated by AA Patrolmen and exclusively for the use of AA members. They established the modern pattern of vehicles pulling off the public road and drawing up alongside petrol pumps rather than being filled at the kerbside as at garages.

Who would have thought it you had to be a member of a club to access petrol for your car in the early days. The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself only the clubs all have apps these days

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

[NewcastleFalcon]

Providing chargepoints and selling electricity is a business exactly the same as providing petrol pumps and selling petrol. If there is a demand the market will meet it, and make a profit out of it. Tesla built out their own charging infrastructure to sell their cars, and all the energy companies and others currently vying to grab their share of the developing market will do it, and are doing it. This thread could be filled with a constant stream of new developments.

I am totally unconcerned about the development of EV infrastructure in the United Kingdom. It gets better, if more expensive than it used to be, all the time. No first hand experience outside of Northumberland/Scottish Borders/Durham/Yorkshire but the infrastructure is probably ahead of the EV numbers round here.

REgards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

I would describe the lady as a silly wench, comparisons were really not worth the time taken to spell them out.
About 5.6 million vehicles of all types in Norway for example, then look at the UK statistics for cars alone.
https://review42.com/uk/resources/car-o ... stics-uk/

[NewcastleFalcon]

One interesting point was the home charger bit, "AirBNB for home chargers". Another example of underused "assets" with a potential to monetise, to join renting your underused car via Turo and the like, or renting your parking space or drive. Course you need a smart phone

At the moment manufacturers can sell every single electric vehicle they can churn out and there are supply delays on many. Don't think they are worried about the supposed large numbers of people who are put off putting their names down for an electric car by "tales of infrastructure woe", or their inability to have a "fuel pump" at their own home because they live in a block of flats. Believe me if that becomes a factor which chokes demand (which they currently cant meet anyway), they will not wait around for Governments to subsidise chargepoints, but do a proper Tesla put their own investment in, and take that problem away. (virtually all of the major manufacturers are doing it anyway in partnerships with the big players in the Chargepiont infrastructure business).

I would question whether the likes of Shell Recharge, or BP Pulse need a single penny of Government investment/subsidy to make their own network of charging hubs a reality.

REgards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

One interesting point was the home charger bit, "AirBNB for home chargers". Another example of underused "assets" with a potential to monetise, to join renting your underused car via Turo and the like, or renting your parking space or drive. Course you need a smart phone

Regards Neil

I thought about that Neil but having been in retail for a long long time I see the problems that could arise for what would essentially be a bit of pocket money.

[mickthemaverick]

I would question whether the likes of Shell Recharge, or BP Pulse need a single penny of Government investment/subsidy to make their own network of charging hubs a reality.

REgards Neil

I have to agree there Neil, having seen their profit announcements for the last quarter I am sure they could fund it themselves!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

In these pioneering days of the transition, a bit of planning ahead is a good policy.

The first place to go for many EV Drivers is Zap-map. Our go to chargers in the Borders, on a day out or a longer trip are Kelso/Coldstream/Duns/Eyemouth/Jedburgh all run by Chargepoint Scotland are all showing out of service or issues reported on Zap Map.

Best not to plan the route relying on those then......Not so. Zap-map relies on user reports for the Chargeplace Scotland network, and is out-of date. Quick call to ChargeplaceScotland (yes if I had the ChargeplaceScotland app and a smart phone I wouldn't have had to speak to anyone) and they confirmed all were fully operational.

Yes its a bit faffy, and its Chargeplacescotland's network of chargers and they have their full management systems with the most up to date information as you might expect. Their "data" why should they share it real time with zap-map, and as of now they don't.

Experience in the pioneering days tells you that it is never a good idea to assume that every charger will be working , or vacant and both to have alternatives, and to do a little checking ahead.

REgards Neil

[myglaren]

[mickthemaverick]

Having seen how complex the charging is likely to become, not to mention big brother controlled, I thought about how to become independant of the rules and regulations as well as the internet interferance. I've come up with this plan as my first draft of a fully renewable energy charging setup for my electric car when I finally take the plunge. As yet not a clue about the running costs, basically purchase of veggie oil, but hey this is theoretical thinking!!

Own work

[myglaren]

Or one of these, as demonstrated in Soylent Green