EV general discussion

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
I think the midset of I have to charge at home needs to shift and a key pat of that and IMO the one the government should be doing is funding far more public chargers. (just give grants to local authorities and businesses)
Right now the mindset is probably right, I will probably need to charge at home, they need to get that to, its inconvenient that I cant take advantage of charging at home, but its no biggie as public charging is just everywhere.
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The charger companies will not only install a 50kW charger for free, they will pay the site owner a monthly rental fee to host it. There really is nothing stopping any business or public site getting a fast charger.

What we might have to get our heads around is that there will be fuel price inequality between those who can have charging at home for 4p-16p/kW and those who have to pay 25p-69p/kW at a public charger. Even then, most Tesco, J Sainsbury's and other supermarkets either have now or very soon will have free 7.4kW per hour chargers that can be used.
 
Charging isn't only a one way street for a car owner though, with mass BEV adaption and the roll out of better V2H and V2G (possibly incentivised initially) it will be the best option for a great deal of people to charge at home, much like how embedded solar currently helps relief on the grid and reduction of your reliance on it.
I foresee it being a big deal for workplaces with large amounts of cars left parked up all day as well, potential incentives with tax and reduced utility bills if the staff plug in and let the grid store excess energy, or indeed take a some if/when it needs to, this may actually be even more useful for those who commute large distances, then park up again at peak period at home and they can dump the charge they've had back into their domestic supply or the grid.
 
We now have 9 visitor EV charging parking spaces to go alongside the 65 staff charging spaces - National Grid in Warwick.

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I see BEV sales for Jan 2021 were up 54.4% over last year, and we are in 'full' lockdown, where as Petrol was down 50.6% and diesel down a whopping 62.1%, with the overall car market down 39.5%. The other big winner was PHEV with an increase of 28%, and the weird world of MHEV Petrol which were also up, but only really matched the full BEV's in terms of numbers sold.

I'm predicting a total (minimum) increase of 150% over last year, which would mean 162,307+ BEV's being sold this year '21, or to put it another way 10% of the total market that was 2020.
 
He works at the National Grid in Warwick...as he says in his post and as written all over the charger :p

(Nice setup provided there SDK)
 
Hyburnate said:
@SDK^ is that free staff charging?
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Sadly not free, it would be a BIK and difficult to monitor & track the business and personal usage. They are charged at 20p per kWh and business miles claimed back at 45p per mile. (4p per mile for EV company cars)
 
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interesting video
impressive - only 20% range loss w/o heat pump
inefficiency in the charge scheduling algorithm is interesting - should ensure you are re-charging in most efficient soc zone, to minimize charging/journey time (is that a general lesson?)
.. didn't see him mention tyres used (e:Michelin x-ice snow)

How Miserable Is A Winter Tesla Road Trip? -18°C
 
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SDK^ said:
Sadly not free, it would be a BIK and difficult to monitor & track the business and personal usage. They are charged at 20p per kWh and business miles claimed back at 45p per mile. (4p per mile for EV company cars)
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I'd never really thought about the BIK element. Ours at work are free to use, presumably because they have no way of tracking who's using them (guests or staff).
 
I'm sorry to bring up about home chargers as I am sure it has been covered a fair bit but just looking for advice and recommendations on what to go for.

It seems that prices are very much the same across manufacturers/installers. Is it a matter of choosing one that looks the best?!
 
Basher said:
I'd never really thought about the BIK element. Ours at work are free to use, presumably because they have no way of tracking who's using them (guests or staff).
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They are free at a place i just stopped working at, too. They were located in a carpark which was also open to the public (staff on an ANPR system for access, public pay at barrier) as free chargers. I didn't consider BIK implications, it does sound valid.
 
SDK^ said:
Sadly not free, it would be a BIK and difficult to monitor & track the business and personal usage. They are charged at 20p per kWh and business miles claimed back at 45p per mile. (4p per mile for EV company cars)
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Where an employer provides facilities for charging their employees’ all-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles at the workplace, this is currently treated as a taxable benefit in kind subject to income tax for employees and employer Class 1A National Insurance contributions.

The government announced in Autumn Budget 2017 that it would introduce an exemption to remove any income tax or National Insurance contributions liability for charging electric vehicles at work with effect from 6 April 2018.
 
Didn’t the government confirm that it’s incidental (for now).

Edit:too slow!

I have no doubt that will change in time though and I expect employers will want to limit, monitor or charge for it anyway in time.

It’s fine now, but when most cars are electric, I can see policies changing.
 
GinG said:
It seems that prices are very much the same across manufacturers/installers. Is it a matter of choosing one that looks the best?!
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Looks were at the bottom of my list, the important factors for me were the 'smartness' of the charger, the company behind it supporting the charger moving forward, e.g. does it have a good app that can be/and is upgraded with newer features and integration with many vehicles, and will I be able to link in solar PV array for power diversion, to the car when the house won't be using it. The other consideration was cost, but as you say they are pretty much of a muchness now my install was ~£400 after the OLEV grant and required a reasonably long run of cable and the new regs meant I needed an earthing rod as well.

I'd hope the charge will last at least 10 years, and as such the cost shouldn't be too much of a big issue over that time frame, and I think that if you want to buy something more expensive because it looks better then that is a valid reason, if keeping it for that long. It may also impact how saleable your house is should you move, since some folk may look at an untidy install/charger as a big negative.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Didn’t the government confirm that it’s incidental (for now).

Edit:too slow!

I have no doubt that will change in time though and I expect employers will want to limit, monitor or charge for it anyway in time.

It’s fine now, but when most cars are electric, I can see policies changing.
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I fully expect the government will want the money far quicker than companies.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Didn’t the government confirm that it’s incidental (for now).

Edit:too slow!

I have no doubt that will change in time though and I expect employers will want to limit, monitor or charge for it anyway in time.

It’s fine now, but when most cars are electric, I can see policies changing.
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Work place charging BIK is mentioned in a recent Fully Charged Video

https://youtu.be/8H6HoFMGgnk?t=1221

In terms of tax requirements - It's no different to having a free fuel pump at your workplace.
 
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