EV general discussion

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Time of use tariffs and smart chargers should pretty much kill that problem.
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Exactly, yet National Grid neglected to mention that! The 'bait and switch' of smart meters was always about controlling our usage through financial penalty, EVs will simply play a rather large part of that load shifting.

The energy saving scheme sessions have shown that people will sit in the dark with their fridge switched off for the sake of saving 30p so the model has been proven out. The difference being that the "savings" will be gone and replaced with an additional peak time levy.

I did see that Gridserve at Braintree used battery storage but I don't think they applied the same methodology to their Norwich forecourt and it is clear that since these showcase "electric forecourts" their business model has gone far more in line with other EV charging providers.
 
lordrobs said:
Exactly, yet National Grid neglected to mention that! The 'bait and switch' of smart meters was always about controlling our usage through financial penalty, EVs will simply play a rather large part of that load shifting.

The energy saving scheme sessions have shown that people will sit in the dark with their fridge switched off for the sake of saving 30p so the model has been proven out. The difference being that the "savings" will be gone and replaced with an additional peak time levy.

I did see that Gridserve at Braintree used battery storage but I don't think they applied the same methodology to their Norwich forecourt and it is clear that since these showcase "electric forecourts" their business model has gone far more in line with other EV charging providers.
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Competition between companies should mean the levy is not real IMO.

Rates paid should equal the cost to the grid (plus uplifts of course) so that when energy is most expensive to produce it costs most.
Its the simplest way you will find to flatten the energy usage curve.

My smart meter saves me money its certainly not a penalty.
 
First "long" journey today. Fully charged overnight (well, to 98%), which was 298 miles on the range. Sat at 77mph when I could, average speed was 68mph to my destination which was 125miles away. When I arrived, I had 48% remaining and 121 miles on the range. Hmmm. Sub optimal. Never fear, I had planned for this. Off to InstaVolt where I signed up using the app, which didn't work. So I swiped my card and was charged £15, plugged in, and went to get a cuppa. Came back 10 mins later to find car not chargey. Nothing I tried worked, so I sacked it off and went to BP Pulse. Found that on Zap Map, however, it was in a BMW dealership so only for use by BMW / Mini owners. Fail. By this time, any possible chance of me getting home was fast vanishing (range down to 115miles), off to the 22Kw BP Pulse advertised on the car nav and Zap Map. Wasn't there. No worries, one on the other side of the road, wasn't there.

In the end, I stumbled upon a council car park with two charging points, not on the car nav or Zap Map. Plugged in, 22Kw, swiped my debit card, and it's charged. Phew.
 
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Django x2 said:
First "long" journey today. Fully charged overnight (well, to 98%), which was 298 miles on the range. Sat at 77mph when I could, average speed was 68mph to my destination which was 125miles away. When I arrived, I had 48% remaining and 121 miles on the range. Hmmm. Sub optimal. Never fear, I had planned for this. Off to InstaVolt where I signed up using the app, which didn't work. So I swiped my card and was charged £15, plugged in, and went to get a cuppa. Came back 10 mins later to find car not chargey. Nothing I tried worked, so I sacked it off and went to BP Pulse. Found that on Zap Map, however, it was in a BMW dealership so only for use by BMW / Mini owners. Fail. By this time, any possible chance of me getting home was fast vanishing (range down to 115miles), off to the 22Kw BP Pulse advertised on the car nav and Zap Map. Wasn't there. No worries, one on the other side of the road, wasn't there.

In the end, I stumbled upon a council car park with two charging points, not on the car nav or Zap Map. Plugged in, 22Kw, swiped my debit card, and it's charged. Phew.
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that sounds a horrible 1st experience. hopefully will get better from there.
do you know why it didnt charge at instavolt? did your car say it was charging before you left it only for it to shut off after?

also if there is 1 thing having an ev has done with it, it has stopped me speeding if i have a long journey to do. the difference between 70mph and 77 in an EV is significant in terms of efficiency.

btw is there a way to report missing chargepoints to an ap? if there is maybe you should and get them added or removed as required?
 
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bigmike20vt said:
that sounds a horrible 1st experience. hopefully will get better from there.
do you know why it didnt charge at instavolt? did your car say it was charging before you left it only for it to shut off after?

also if there is 1 thing having an ev has done with it, it has stopped me speeding if i have a long journey to do. the difference between 70mph and 77 in an EV is significant in terms of efficiency.

btw is there a way to report missing chargepoints to an ap? if there is maybe you should and get them added or removed as required?
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Bro's got to get places though. 77mph is a compromise over my 88mph I used to do in the SEAT :D

I didn't see anything in Zap Map. TBH, zap map feels a little bit poor, I was hoping for a "Waze"esq approach to life. Roll on when Google Maps start reporting charger locations and status. The main issue I've seen so far is the lack of consistency. Too many proviers, each with their own apps and sign up methods, 3 new apps, 3 shared card details later, and none of them worked anyway.

Car "started" to charge, but actually never did anything. Zero watts were transferred (but still £15 charged, hopefully as a pre-auth). The £15 was a contactless tap as the app didn't work.
 
Simon said:
77mph is too fast. Welcome to EV life where 70mph usually gets you there faster
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indeed...... i mean, the 90% of the time i am well within the range of my car i still often run it in dynamic (performance) mode........... but a long journey where i have to charge, it will be eco mode and adaptive cruise set to 70mph and a memory stick full of music.
 
bigmike20vt said:
There are some areas in the uk i do worry about. (as a none tesla owner.... if i had a tesla i would not give it a thought). Going down to cornwall is one such place (I have to go to Exeter later in the year and am weighing up train vs my car). there are some charge points, and exeter itself is getting a bunch of new infrastructure - but sadly i doubt i will get there on my initial charge. Also parts of wales i worry a bit about.
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Where are you coming from?

Exeter itself has some decent provision around J30 of the M5, and if you're coming from the North then there are loads of chargers around Cribbs Causeway
 
Haggisman said:
Where are you coming from?

Exeter itself has some decent provision around J30 of the M5, and if you're coming from the North then there are loads of chargers around Cribbs Causeway
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Cambridge...... my car wont have the range to make it to Exeter, so looking for a pitstop hopefully 2/3 - 3/4 of the way there ideally with multiple charge points so one will be free.

A303 way is shorter difference and slower roads so better for an EV but less charging....

but anyway its OT for this thread and anyway i dont need to worry about it yet :)
 
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Django x2 said:
Bro's got to get places though. 77mph is a compromise over my 88mph I used to do in the SEAT :D

I didn't see anything in Zap Map. TBH, zap map feels a little bit poor, I was hoping for a "Waze"esq approach to life. Roll on when Google Maps start reporting charger locations and status. The main issue I've seen so far is the lack of consistency. Too many proviers, each with their own apps and sign up methods, 3 new apps, 3 shared card details later, and none of them worked anyway.

Car "started" to charge, but actually never did anything. Zero watts were transferred (but still £15 charged, hopefully as a pre-auth). The £15 was a contactless tap as the app didn't work.
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Huh, just use contactless. The £15 hold will be refunded later anyway so don't worry about that.

Why are you faffing with apps at Instavolt etc. Surprised it didn't work either but with all you described not working reckon it's a setting on the car that's the issue like timed charging or something.
 
bigmike20vt said:
Cambridge...... my car wont have the range to make it to Exeter, so looking for a pitstop hopefully 2/3 - 3/4 of the way there ideally with multiple charge points so one will be free.

A303 way is shorter difference and slower roads so better for an EV but less charging....

but anyway its OT for this thread and anyway i dont need to worry about it yet :)
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A303 Solstice Park is amazing, loads of networks and loads of chargers
 
bigmike20vt said:
but anyway its OT for this thread and anyway i dont need to worry about it yet :)
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I don't think it's off-topic really. Had a quick look and yeah, the A303 is surprisingly sparse for decent charge sites. Wincanton seems the best bet with a couple of Instavolt and a couple of Osprey chargers right next to each other, but that's still only 4 in total.

Edit: Ignore the above, just seen @chanjy's post, no idea how I didn't spot Solstice Park, but loads of chargers there :)

A lot of mid/west Wales is pretty poor as well
 
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wales and cornwall were my 2 fears but this solstice park place looks the dogs danglies! (and for next year i think Exeter isself is getting a massive one)

regarding Solstice Park strangely i missed it too last night when having a nosey
 
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will be interesting to see if there is enough come the holiday rush in a month or sos time. hopefully i will get honest feedback on forums such as here or speakev (because the general media sure as hell wont report boring stuff like "EV charging infrastructure generally held up quite well in the summer holiday rush" not like when they gleefully reported on dire queues etc.
 
bigmike20vt said:
will be interesting to see if there is enough come the holiday rush in a month or sos time. hopefully i will get honest feedback on forums such as here or speakev (because the general media sure as hell wont report boring stuff like "EV charging infrastructure generally held up quite well in the summer holiday rush" not like when they gleefully reported on dire queues etc.
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That's certainly the big test - when everyone and their dog are on the move and want to use the chargers!
 
Exeter is getting another 12 bay expansion, construction has already started alongside a 16 bay supercharger expansion.

It will have 56 bays in total (32 250kw Tesla, 24 350kw Gridserve) - by far the biggest charging hub in the UK and hopefully in time for the summer holidays.

Rugby is also doubling in size at the same time.
 
Haggisman said:
That's certainly the big test - when everyone and their dog are on the move and want to use the chargers!
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I think california holiday get-away time has the answer to that - capacity comes up short, but like tesla they have punitive charge costs(or did they disallow it?) for the last 80-100% charge zone.
afaik Android automotive now has the next level journey charger scheduing apps from google/waze - google are trying to monopalize this technology and make themselves indispensable in the market
(charger reservation capability to follow)
 
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