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I also thought this was the entire point of destination chargers.
EV general discussion
- Thread starter Ricochet J
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I also thought this was the entire point of destination chargers.
Soldato
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Rapids at a motorway services darling.
AC charging full during a meal? That’s a big dinner
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It is, sort of but you shouldn’t unnecessarily block them. I don’t think the issue is really destination chargers, it’s rapids.
That said destination chargers probably also need some disincentives to use them so those who don’t actually need to use them don’t (e.g. not making them free to use).
As for rapids, loads of people sit on rapids for their cars to charge from 90-100% which takes about the same time to do 10-80%. Or worse, the cars stopped charging and they don’t move it. I can see why that could be distracting when there is a limited number available.
But what if you are in the toilets doing a big ****? Are you meant to leave to move your car and then go back to continue where you left of? Or you have just sat down to your KFC?
The only way this is going to work is widespread use of destination chargers where plugging in becomes what you do when you're using whatever facility it's at. Anything else makes it hassle that non EV enthusiasts don't want. The car isn't the purpose of the journey it facilitates it.
Soldato
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They don’t charge that fast and it’s not the end of the world. Life goes on.
I get you are being pedantic to make a point but in the real world, it would have to be a pretty big dump and a particularly large line at KFC which take the 30-40 mins the vast majority of cars actually need to get back to 80%.
But in other words, yes if your car is done after 15 mins but plan to spend an hour at an MSA where there might be a handful of plugs if your lucky then the considerate thing to do would be to move it once you no longer need it.
Who spends an hour in the services? I had assumed with these super fast chargers we were talking about people who had only been on the charge for 10 minutes and hadnt come back to move their cars.
The car will only charge what it can. 150kW doesn’t give every car 150kW. It won’t even be at the max rate the car can take for the full charge. 1 hour could be possible if someone arrives nearly empty
Which is what I’ve said all along, there is so much focus on rapid charging but in the real world, the key to unlocking EVs to the masses is the mass proliferation of 7kw charge posts. They are comparatively very cheap to deploy as well.
The charger might be fast but the vast majority of cars can’t utilise them.
What people are talking about is the kind of people who use places like the electric highway where there might be only two plugs like a destination charger.
You’ll regularly see cars plugged in for upwards of an hour which literally trickle at less than 7kw above 90% all the way to 100%.
Hardly any cars are worth charging above 70% on a rapid because it takes so long compared to just getting on with your journey and going to the next charger if there is one en route. There are a few exceptions though like the etron which charges very quickly at a high state of charge.
All this can do this, cant do this, is one thing that would really wind me up about BEV ownership and can see me getting into a load of arguments with people. I was getting wound up just watching that charging etiquette video linked to on the other page. As someone that would rely solely on public charging due to a lack of a driveway, the whole BEV ownership would be more hassle than its worth, or thats the conclusion I'm coming to. No problem with the cars themselves but as the infrastructure is inadequate it becoming a hard no from me
Could it be (I have no idea) that they might know but wanted to charge slowly so they can go about their day doing their shopping or whatever without the possibility of sitting at 100% and annoying the hell out of everyone?
In all my encounters or conversations, I've found it is usually lack of knowledge as opposed to people being idiots/greedy/mean. I've even helped people when I have no intention of charging in order to try and educate them better or help them save time in the future. Some people get a car and have no clue about what plugs do what, and how the battery charging curve works, heck some people don't know what AC/DC means, and probably think they get to listen to some rock music while charging.
I wouldn’t own one right now if I couldn’t charge at home and I wouldn’t recommend someone else does either.
There is nothing inherently wrong with charging to full in public, it’s just all about the context and doing what you would expect others to do.
You wouldn’t go to an MSA, fill up and then go and get a KFC without moving your car. Likewise you shouldn’t park your car in an EV charging bay at an MSA for longer than you need to, particularly when capacity isn’t exactly ubiquitous.
Exactly, there was an interesting series in Fully Charged where Maddie Moat got her first EV and made this exact mistake. She plugged in her Kona on Type 2 on the electric highway and went in to get something to eat. When she came out half an hour later the car obviously hadn’t charged. She certainly knows the difference between AC and DC but still got it wrong.
The charging networks nor the manufacturers do much to educate their customers, they just assume you know and leave you to get on with it which obviously isn’t the case.
Have you ever stopped for food at services with a 5 year old?
I was seriously considering getting a BEV at one point even though I dont have a driveway, as I thought I could make it work. At the weekend I go on a bike ride early in the morning at sun up, so I thought I could put my bike in the boot, drive to a public charger (barely a mile or two as there are options) and go ride my bike for a few hours and if Im out and about during the day I would stick it on a charger just to keep it topped up, so I wont have to go out of my way to charge it when it needed it. If that sort of usage then becomes hassle to other people and end up with people griping then it would probably end up an argument sooner than later then its more hassle than its worth
You'll have no choice as the intention is to eventually force you unless you want to drive around in an old petrol car for ever.
At least when diesel was the flavour of the month we didn't ban petrol...
Its a hard no from me with the current infrastructure, if it improves then hopefully it won’t be a problem (remains to be seen with the increase in BEV ownership). Doesn’t the rules say no petrol/diesels by 2030 but it still allows hybrids till 2035? If that’s the case then I can get a hybrid which would probably see my days out if BEVs remain unviable for people that have to rely solely on public charging