Does charging need to be faster then a cup of tea?
Discussion
bp1000 said:
Having ordered a tesla and currently waiting I have spent a lot of time thinking about scenarios presented.
First things first, I never drive 200 miles regularly. In fact I drive that distance once a year I suppose, maybe twice.
However, I may do 100 miles a year a handful of times, so these journeys I make in a day and it's a 200 mile round trip.
Just a point, but for the 100 mile trips (200 mile round trip), would it not be easier to just stick the car on charge at your destination? Even with just an S60, you will have an easy 180 mile range, so you only need an hour or two on a 3-pin plug to top up the 20 miles. In an 85 you probably don't even need to bother. First things first, I never drive 200 miles regularly. In fact I drive that distance once a year I suppose, maybe twice.
However, I may do 100 miles a year a handful of times, so these journeys I make in a day and it's a 200 mile round trip.
What put me off a little bit, was two separate trips to Ikea in Nottingham
Both times, the two charging points were in use when i went into the store. When i came out an hour (and a hotdog) later, those same two cars were still parked in the charging spaces.
The second time, there was a third EV car hanging around the spaces no doubt waiting his turn - he was also still there an hour later.
Being that the cars were no doubt charged by this point, can there be charging 'etiquette'? Should the owners of the charged cars come and move their cars so somebody else could have a turn?
I'd be pretty naffed if i'd used 50% of my range to get there, only to find i couldn't recharge for the return journey.
Both times, the two charging points were in use when i went into the store. When i came out an hour (and a hotdog) later, those same two cars were still parked in the charging spaces.
The second time, there was a third EV car hanging around the spaces no doubt waiting his turn - he was also still there an hour later.
Being that the cars were no doubt charged by this point, can there be charging 'etiquette'? Should the owners of the charged cars come and move their cars so somebody else could have a turn?
I'd be pretty naffed if i'd used 50% of my range to get there, only to find i couldn't recharge for the return journey.
Do any of these ev cars have apps which text you or otherwise inform when the charging is complete? So people should go back, but then people are selfish idiots.
It's not beyond the wit of man to organise charging stations to infer from the delivery rate when charging has ended and thus arrange an indicator on the point. So if there was a phone number left on the car then again a quick text. But then people are selfish idiots.
Until the charging infrastructure is sufficiently developed in access points to rapid charging facilities, and normal 3pin 13A or similar sockets don't count, then electric cars will gain no traction outside the almost exclusively short distance from base shuttle work.
It's not beyond the wit of man to organise charging stations to infer from the delivery rate when charging has ended and thus arrange an indicator on the point. So if there was a phone number left on the car then again a quick text. But then people are selfish idiots.
Until the charging infrastructure is sufficiently developed in access points to rapid charging facilities, and normal 3pin 13A or similar sockets don't count, then electric cars will gain no traction outside the almost exclusively short distance from base shuttle work.
B3NNL said:
When induction charging is the norm and they're buried in the road surface so you're charging as you drive, for all intents and purposes you'll drive from the induction power when on motorways and the battery when off them. Yes I know, huge disruption and cost to get it all laid, but thats when I believe they will be truly embraced by the masses.
I like it, can e have it in L1 only on a slow charge?FiF said:
s1962a said:
RichB said:
s1962a said:
I would be annoyed if there were a whole fleet of them when i can came in for a rapid charge. I'd actually ask them to let me go next, and create a fuss with the taxi firm if not. If the pumps are idle, then fair enough, but if a residential car turns up looking for a charge, that should take precedence over your waiting fleet.
I can't see the logic of that. Surely if there's a queue then you simply join the back and take a turn? 
Regarding the indicators - the chargers already show how full the car is. Some (e.g. the Leaf) have dashboard lights visible from outside which also show how full they are. But what you will find at Ikea is that people treat the charge point as a convenient parking space. Human nature.
Ikea is not the right place for a rapid charger, in my opinion. A bank of the slower chargers would be better (you can get a "slow" charger for £300, which takes 4 hours to fill the car. The "Rapid" charger costs £10000 to do it in half an hour.) So for one rapid you could have 33 "slow" chargers. No contention likely then, even if it did mean you'd only get a 50% charge while shopping.
As for the cost of the electricity. The deal was that Nissan paid for the chargers and Ecotricity provided the electricity for the first 3 years. After that Ecotricity gets to charge what it wants for the charger (and Nissan was hoping to have sold loads of Leafs).
So yes at the moment the electricity if free, paid for by Ecotricity's customers rather than the taxpayer.
Ikea is not the right place for a rapid charger, in my opinion. A bank of the slower chargers would be better (you can get a "slow" charger for £300, which takes 4 hours to fill the car. The "Rapid" charger costs £10000 to do it in half an hour.) So for one rapid you could have 33 "slow" chargers. No contention likely then, even if it did mean you'd only get a 50% charge while shopping.
As for the cost of the electricity. The deal was that Nissan paid for the chargers and Ecotricity provided the electricity for the first 3 years. After that Ecotricity gets to charge what it wants for the charger (and Nissan was hoping to have sold loads of Leafs).
So yes at the moment the electricity if free, paid for by Ecotricity's customers rather than the taxpayer.
Any manufacturer with the right sort of connector on their car. Couldn't tell you offhand exactly which ones they are, basically any Japanese or American marque as the German manufacturers decided to invent a new standard (presumably an attempt to lock out American and Japanese makes from the EU market). Unfortunately they haven't yet got it to work reliably. So I wouldn't take any German car to a Rapid charger yet.
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