EV general discussion

Sounds a bit harsh to me to be honest.

The legislation looks a bit of a mess online, in that it's hard to find a complete 'current' copy of the full regulations, so you have to piece together the various amendments but I still can't see anything amongst it that suggests it's illegal to use the device when not hand held.

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2003

These regulations amend the Construction and Use Regulations 1986 by inserting a new regulation 110.
www.legislation.gov.uk www.legislation.gov.uk

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2022

Regulation 110 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (S.I. 1986/1078), (“the 1986 Regulations”) prohibit the use, while driving a motor vehicle of hand-held mobile telephones or other interactive communication devices, when performing an interactive communication function.
www.legislation.gov.uk www.legislation.gov.uk

Some relevant bits below:

“Mobile telephones​

110.—(1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a road if he is using—

(a)a hand-held mobile telephone; or

(b)a hand-held device of a kind specified in paragraph (4).
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(4) A device referred to in paragraphs (1)(b), (2)(b) and (3)(b) is a device, other than a two-way radio, which performs an interactive communication function by transmitting and receiving data.
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(a)in paragraph (4), from “performs” to the end, substitute “is capable of transmitting and receiving data, whether or not those capabilities are enabled.”;
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(6) For the purposes of this regulation—

(a)a mobile telephone or other device is to be treated as hand-held if it is, or must be, held at some point during the course of making or receiving a call or performing any other interactive communication function;
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(c)in paragraph (6)(a), from “during the course of” to the end, substitute “while being used.”;
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(c)“interactive communication function” includes the following:

(i)sending or receiving oral or written messages;

(ii)sending or receiving facsimile documents;

(iii)sending or receiving still or moving images; and

(iv)providing access to the internet;
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(d)for paragraph (6)(c), substitute—


“(c)in paragraphs (1) to (3) the word “using” includes the following—

(i)illuminating the screen;

(ii)checking the time;

(iii)checking notifications;

(iv)unlocking the device;

(v)making, receiving, or rejecting a telephone or internet based call;

(vi)sending, receiving or uploading oral or written content;

(vii)sending, receiving or uploading a photo or video;

(viii)utilising camera, video, or sound recording functionality;

(ix)drafting any text;

(x)accessing any stored data such as documents, books, audio files, photos, videos, films, playlists, notes or messages;

(xi)accessing an application;

(xii)accessing the internet.”.
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Note the references to 'hand held' and the definition of hand held to be "a mobile telephone or other device is to be treated as hand-held if it is, or must be, held at some point while being used."

I can't see anything amongst it that forbids touching the screen of a mounted device.

Edit - and IMO this is only reinforced by the language used on the simplified site too:

www.gov.uk

Using a phone, sat nav or other device when driving

It’s illegal to hold a phone or a sat nav while driving - you'll get penalty points, a fine and can be banned from driving.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

It’s illegal to hold and use a phone, sat nav, tablet, or any device that can send or receive data, while driving or riding a motorcycle.

This means you must not use a device in your hand for any reason, whether online or offline.
Click to expand...

You can use devices with hands-free access, as long as you do not hold them at any time during usage. Hands-free access means using, for example:

  • a Bluetooth headset
  • voice command
  • a dashboard holder or mat
  • a windscreen mount
  • a built-in sat nav
Click to expand...

You can get 6 penalty points and a £200 fine if you hold and use a phone, sat nav, tablet, or any device that can send and receive data while driving or riding a motorcycle.
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Got my I Pace back today.

A sensor/solenoid where the charge fap opens had failed so car didn't realise when flap was open hence cable getting stuck.

Nothing to pay which was nice and although it was a shame having to hand back the Defender, it's good to have the IPace back.
 
Current Polestar 2 owner - the satnav system on the centre ‘iPad’ screen is just Google maps, and is the best satnav I’ve ever used. Being able to use it as a touchscreen works infinitely better than having a controller or wheel-thing where you cycle through menus and options to select something.

When it comes to the climate though, I will always favour actual buttons. The Polestar has some Volvo ones in the middle for the hazards and rear window, and they’re god dam awful to use - I’ve no idea how someone thought they were a good design.
 
Penfold101 said:
Current Polestar 2 owner - the satnav system on the centre ‘iPad’ screen is just Google maps, and is the best satnav I’ve ever used. Being able to use it as a touchscreen works infinitely better than having a controller or wheel-thing where you cycle through menus and options to select something.

When it comes to the climate though, I will always favour actual buttons. The Polestar has some Volvo ones in the middle for the hazards and rear window, and they’re god dam awful to use - I’ve no idea how someone thought they were a good design.
Click to expand...

Test drive one of these today and was impressed with the drive and infotainment system.

The driver dash is great! Especially the nav function, my Audi does the same but it’s rubbish in comparison.

Just a shame they have the transmission hump and lots of scratchy plastic below the waist. The Tesla feels a lot more premium and is quite a bit cheeper in single motor trim.
 
crazyDAJT said:
Test drive one of these today and was impressed with the drive and infotainment system.

The driver dash is great! Especially the nav function, my Audi does the same but it’s rubbish in comparison.

Just a shame they have the transmission hump and lots of scratchy plastic below the waist. The Tesla feels a lot more premium and is quite a bit cheeper in single motor trim.
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Look at the polestar 4
 
Penfold101 said:
Current Polestar 2 owner - the satnav system on the centre ‘iPad’ screen is just Google maps, and is the best satnav I’ve ever used. Being able to use it as a touchscreen works infinitely better than having a controller or wheel-thing where you cycle through menus and options to select something.

When it comes to the climate though, I will always favour actual buttons. The Polestar has some Volvo ones in the middle for the hazards and rear window, and they’re god dam awful to use - I’ve no idea how someone thought they were a good design.
Click to expand...
Polestar 2 - I would plan the route on my Desktop computer and it would transfer to the car automatically. The Google maps range prediction was spot on too, even providing the return journey battery SOC, which was useful.
I used voice control to turn on the heated seats, heated steering wheel and change music playlists on Spotify - I barely ever had to touch the screen !

Pretty much the same for my iX, but I use the BMW app for route planning instead of Google.
 
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Don't want to have to talk over she who must be obeyed, or, interrupt music
- there is case for voice control - maybe when you can't find or use the remote control in the house
but the whole Alexa fad - Amazon didn't sell more crap like they planned - people don't want to order by voice.

p4 big tablet and wider industry input on optimization of android automotive should make it efficient with minimum driver distraction,
but voice input shouldn't be there to try and compensate for what would be safer dedicated buttons.
Have Mazda now u-turned on their abhorrence of touch screens derived partly from Japanese research on it's safety implications.

Yes - P4 has that quattro'esque look though
 
First week with the Kona facelift, loving it! Unlimited powa!! (7.9 sec 0-60 warm hatch? :)) Lost some traction while flooring it a bit too early while still on a roundabout, had to wait for tyres to get traction again, live and learn. I'll check what tyres they are and maybe get them replaced.. or just drive sensibly hmm. I like having many drive modes and regen options, settled on normal mode, level 2 regen, I can nearly stop the car by just lifting off the accelerator.

Did second charge ever, first time using Tesla supercharger, first one stopped after 10 mins, then that charger was unavailable on the app so parked to another and that was fine.

A known issue with charging non-Teslas at the superchargers (that support it) is the cable is short as it's just designed for Teslas with rear left charge port, some EVs might not even reach, in fact mine doesn't unless I park really weird, so I use the wrong charger and take up 2 charge spots.. not a problem when it's not busy, but bad charging etiquette.

Not sure if CCS extension cables are a thing, 1-1.5 meter would do it, but if they do they would be expensive. These superchargers can give up to 250kw for cars that support it.

Other downsides are this gen Kona charge rate is pretty slow compared to others, most of the time going at 45kw and wasn't until around 50% mark that it ramped to 77kw and that wasn't for all that long. At around 75% it went down to 24kw, this is just the charge curve for this car. Most of the time I'm only charging to 80%, unless I'm travelling to Cornwall. Maybe colder weather takes longer to warm the battery up to optimum - the battery management system was making some pump and fan noise for time to time.

Was looking at phone holders but I think the better option is just use android auto, not even tried that yet, tons of menu options.
 
You can’t extend type 2 or CCS cables, they are specifically designed not to be able to be extended for safety.

For example the highest powered CCS chargers have water cooled cables.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
You can’t extend type 2 or CCS cables, they are specifically designed not to be able to be extended for safety.

For example the highest powered CCS chargers have water cooled cables.
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Yeah I think as power goes up so does the cable thickness which become more cumbersome so to keep the cables thinner are using water cooled cables.

You can technically buy CCS cables although not exactly off the shelf and only has one end with the socket and a bunch of cables on the other. This might be safe for the rating of the cable, like this link to one at 1000V 200A 80KW (calculated to the 400 volts in my EV), but over that it would start to get warm/hot/melt the plastic and not stop until the charger or car is told to stop. As the temperature of a cable goes up so does it's resistance and you may get a runway problem.

https://evse.com.au/product/ccs-type-2-w-6m-cable-200-amp/

I don't know if the cars internal CCS cables are water cooled as part of the BMS, or they just use massively thick cables.

www.businessinsider.com

Early photos of Tesla's new Supercharger suggest it fixes a common complaint for non-Tesla EV owners

Earlier this month, a YouTuber charged a non-Tesla EV at a Supercharger and said it "descended into chaos" because the cables were too short.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com
 
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They are thick cables but don’t have to be a high multi strand cable for flexibility, the connector end is the hot spot so usually a thermistor there to Monitor and derate if needed. The thick cable actually acts as a heat sink for the busbars on the connectors usually.

Extension on any cables are frankly frightening idea as the HVIL isn’t correctly managed.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
They are thick cables but don’t have to be a high multi strand cable for flexibility, the connector end is the hot spot so usually a thermistor there to Monitor and derate if needed. The thick cable actually acts as a heat sink for the busbars on the connectors usually.

Extension on any cables are frankly frightening idea as the HVIL isn’t correctly managed.
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Well that's a relative term because my car isn't rated to handle 250kw, if it got that much it would explode or something, but it can be charged at one, it's all managed between the car and charger over the CCS communication. So it would be safe up to the rating of what the cars charging power rating is. But probably to eliminate the human factor no such cables exists.
 
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400V will kill you regardless of the power. Human resistance of skin anything over ~60V is a problem even milli-amps.

How’s that for “relative” what ever that meant.
 
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