Electric Bus Stranded

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Original Poster:

7,277 posts

136 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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Flat battery after "five charging points in Cornwall which could not be used to charge the vehicle there were another five on the journey from London to Cornwall which could not be used"


https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/to...

andyeds1234

2,277 posts

170 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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In other news… I ran out of petrol once.

SWoll

18,359 posts

258 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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Link already dead. This one works for now.

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/to...

Teddy Lop

8,294 posts

67 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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Has it got a towbar?


Pica-Pica

13,774 posts

84 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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Probably making a point about charging points.
Did it have £350m for charging points on the side?

anonymous-user

54 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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The (sort of) irony being that electric buses are much loved by bus operators precisely because they actually are much more reliable than ICE buses.

You probably don't realise it, but the UK is covered by a network of heavy recovery services that spend a huge amount of time and effort recovering buses when they have broken!



Because 'lecy buses are much simpler, and critically, don't have multispeed gearboxes, clutches (or torque converters), exhaust systems, and complex high performance cooling systems, they are more reliable in the field.

But yes, you do have to charge them for them to work........

HTP99

22,543 posts

140 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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How much do these electric busses cost, I've always wondered as I see my local ones driving about?

Evanivitch

20,066 posts

122 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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I'm amazed the bus even fitted anywhere near most of those charge points. Sometimes the cable doesn't even reach a charge port on a car!

Pica-Pica

13,774 posts

84 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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I remember Essex had some Volvo hybrid double-deckers. The trouble was, Basildon, like most new towns, had many roundabouts. So these buses would pull out onto a roundabout running on electric power, then halfway across the roundabout they would be a hesitation as the diesel motor kicked in. Quite unnerving, both as a passenger on the bus, and as a car driver entering the roundabout and having an almost stationary bus in front of you.

Boxbrownie

172 posts

115 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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It’s is interesting that three of the points recognised the coach but the coach did not charge….maybe more fault with the coach software than the points?

Evanivitch

20,066 posts

122 months

Monday 14th June 2021
quotequote all
Boxbrownie said:
It’s is interesting that three of the points recognised the coach but the coach did not charge….maybe more fault with the coach software than the points?
Bit of both. CCS standard is poorly defined, too many automotive companies have poorly interrupted it and left it upto the charging company to resolve with a workaround.

It's classic day 1 issue with new EVs on the market.

Richard-D

756 posts

64 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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andyeds1234 said:
In other news… I ran out of petrol once.
Before you ran out did you go to half a dozen petrol stations that all had fuel but couldn't get it from their tank into your car?

anonymous-user

54 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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i don't get how electric cars are carbon neutral?

Carlososos

976 posts

96 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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The Spruce Goose said:
i don't get how electric cars are carbon neutral?
laugh


leef44

4,387 posts

153 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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The Spruce Goose said:
i don't get how electric cars are carbon neutral?
If you go for the carbon option on the centre console trim then go for wood finish on the door cards to offset it. This way, you will be carbon neutral. Job done. thumbup

georgeyboy12345

3,513 posts

35 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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Really, this is an inappropriate use for an electric bus. Electric buses make most sense in cities with many stops and stop-start traffic, where they can easily get to the depot at the end of the shift and be charged overnight. Certainly not a long distance coach.

The ideal fuel type for a long distance coach would be a diesel-electric hybrid with the wheels solely driven with electric drive and the diesel engine acting as an electricity generator for the electric motors, just like with diesel-electric trains. That way you are mitigating reliability issues thrown up with drivetrains and gearboxes, etc.

Chris32345

2,086 posts

62 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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You have thought the roof of a coach would be able to havee a good ammount of solar pannels the flexible type bonded to then would easily provide 1kwh+ on a Sunnny day


Now obviously wouldn't provide a huge range given the weight but certainly a ammount worth having

anonymous-user

54 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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https://pelicanyutong.co.uk/coaches/tce12-electric...

Says: It can be charged with either a 60Kwh, 90Kwh or 120Kwh DC charger making a full charge possible in less than two hours.

Trying to charge at 50Kwh and 170Kwh chargers didn't work you say? Mmmmmmm. Does this bus even talk properly to "normal" UK chargers?

Does feel like a bit of a publicity stunt. Oh noes, we got stranded at the extremely picturesque Eden Project and now would like to talk about the need for investment in UK charging infrastructure as shown by us being unable to charge our bus at public charging points. Just all very odd.

gangzoom

6,294 posts

215 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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Chris32345 said:
You have thought the roof of a coach would be able to havee a good ammount of solar pannels the flexible type bonded to then would easily provide 1kwh+ on a Sunnny day


Now obviously wouldn't provide a huge range given the weight but certainly a ammount worth having
1kWh will probably run that bus for 1 mile if that, so even on perfect sunshine 1KW of PV panels is essentially useless for anything but keeping the HVAC system going.

Just seen that bus has a 280kWh pack, so assuming 12hrs a day of perfect sun shine and 1KW of PV panels it would take 23 days to charge that pack assuming 100% charging efficiency.

Edited by gangzoom on Monday 14th June 22:23

silentbrown

8,827 posts

116 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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Max_Torque said:
You probably don't realise it, but the UK is covered by a network of heavy recovery services that spend a huge amount of time and effort recovering buses when they have broken!
Can you tow an EV, though?