lol-lol

My Octopus Go rate on my last bill was----- 04:30 to 00:30 14.90p per kWh + VAT = 15.645p per kWh 00:30 to 04:30 4.76p per kWh + VAT = 4.998p per kWh So both blooming cheap it seems to me. Is it not due to go in October 2021 so maybe my next bill will be a much higher rate. ie 24p.per kWh for the 20 hours but still 5p a kWh for the 4 hours when I program the EV to get its charge from the house. I shall be doing much more of the tumble drying in the cheap period I think. My heating is gas and I have a brand new 94% efficient Valient boiler fitted a couple of months ago which with its 40% improvement in efficiency and dropping my boiler cover package with British gas I am saving about £50 a month so the new boiler pays for itself in the 5 years. Electricity De France have some very big out-goings with their mass of nuclear power stations but they are going renewable as well. Just bought two dozen LED spot lights and candle bulbs to save on the lecky and one notice a huge amount of less incidental heat that would have come from the old halogen bulbs so the gas heating will have to work a bit harder but gas is effectively 3p a kWh so many times cheaper than electricity for heating of course. The new taxes on Employee and Employer National Insurance will cripple some people financially as well as no rise in tax allowances so ,many working people will have much less money and in the UK we will in April become more taxed as a percentage of earnings than ever before.

Well the electricity surplus during the midnight to 5am slot is clearly present today, so many nuclear power stations wanting to have its uptime as close to 100% as possible to pay back the huge capital cost, France more than an other European country has a massive nuclear base load it tried to sell all over Western Europe via the inter-connector. France is trying to blackmail the UK over the 3 GW France-UK interconnector supply over the Channel Island Fishing and handling the Channel migration issues but that is more difficult now the UK has just plugged in a 1.4 GW interconnector with Norwegian hydro. We will just have to see on electricity pricing. UK gov could up the VAT on electricity from its current 5% level but that would hurt everyone. UK gov could also start charging road tax, I would happily pay similar to the Fabia and Clio ie £35 a year, fair is fair. The Instavolt network of rapid DC chargers charge 40p a kWh so there is 2p of kWh of tax on that. Charging VAT at 20% on charger stations would be another tax raising power. There are ways but tax on charging at home is difficult when many of us EV owners can charge via a 3 pin plug. Electricity should get cheaper with more offshore wind and better more efficient, cheaper solar also being supplied. My next step will probably be home solar and my own separate battery storage.

Well it was just a test and without absolutely knowing I could drive 120 miles and still have more than half my charge left say at least 130 or 140 miles left was the tactic. So I achieved the phenomenal over 5 miles per kWh and had 140 miles still left on the range meter when I arrived at Heathrow. As I said the charging was traumatic not due to the charging but the cable removal but more valuable lessons learned on EV charge post functioning. I will get my office to service all the charge posts so it does not happen again. The return journey Heathrow to Worcester, probably 115 miles was done at higher speeds closer to the National Speed Limit. Use power at 4.8 KWh and got home with 100 miles of range showing. Plugged in to my 3.6 kWh charger, added 60 miles over night, Smart meter shows I have used about 15kWh since midnight so that is 75 pence of electricity so I am currently paying 1.25 pence per mile for energy to power the car. Overall success. Further tests will be for the colder weather but Zoe heating unit seemed fine coping with outside temperature of 7C in the morning and it only consumed 0.4 kWh of power there and back to Heathrow. So cruising in the low 60s mph with the ECO button pressed, occasional kickdown on the accelerator to unleash the 135 hp of instant power to find a quite cruising spot away from the intimidating crowds of trucks seems to work well in terms of economy, fun and safely.

First long trip. Worcester to Heathrow, about 120 miles if one uses the M5/40/25 route. Started with 245 miles range shown and arrived with 140 miles being shown. Consumption shown as 5.1 miles/kWh. A cruise with the trucks at 55 mph helped achieve this. Ten Rolec 16A chargers at my Heathrow office. Plugged in to one not realising most were single phase and only a couple were 3 phase. These chargers were fitted before we moved in in January 2017 and not used very much by either staff or visitors I was told. Monitored the charging on my smartphone MyRenault App and could see it was slowish and therefore I must have plugged in to a 16A single phase rather than a 16A 3 phase 11 kW charger, ahh well. Charged back to 90% so it showed 220 miles range. Went to remove my meaty Type 2 to Type 2 and the Rolec would not let it go. wiggled the post end of the cable after disconnecting from Zoe but no joy and getting the cable to release. Pulled harder and harder until, oops, the entire facia of the Rolec charger post pulled away too. Went back in to the office, said what happened. Fortunately we had two electricians on site doing a bunch of lecky stuff. Also they had just done a course on EV charging systems. After 15 minutes of dis-assembling managed to free the cable release pin which had got stuck through probably not have moved in 5 years and would not retract. Should this mechanical part of the charging station be routinely lubricated, annually, every other year I wonder ? A glance at the internet and this sounds quite a regular problem with charging boxes. Do not want to loose a £200 cable to one of these chargers. Thoughts/ideas ?

Thermal comfort, what terminology ! One Zoe report said that in ECO mode one had to wind the temperature control up up HI so it would just about give enough heat to be bearable. Hopefully going to be bearable most of the time in the English temperate weather conditions we have 99% of the time. Thinking of winding the clock back and going for the flack jacket styling as I think that as long as I keep the torso warm I will be fine, arms I do not mind being cooler as in true Miami vice tradition I usually have my sleeves rolled back to my elbows even on sweatshirts if it is over 10C. or.... OMG, the eighties.

What is spooky is the low amounts of load ie Corsa-e ..... Dimensions and Weight Length 4060 mm Width 1765 mm Width with mirrors No Data Height 1435 mm Wheelbase 2538 mm Weight Unladen (EU) 1530 kg Gross Vehicle Weight (GVWR) 1920 kg Max. Payload 465 kg Cargo Volume 309 L Cargo Volume Max 1118 L Cargo Volume Frunk No Data Roof Load 0 kg Tow Hitch Possible No Data Towing Weight Unbraked 0 kg Towing Weight Braked 0 kg Vertical Load Max No Data Zoe.... Dimensions and Weight Length 4087 mm Width 1787 mm Width with mirrors No Data Height 1562 mm Wheelbase 2588 mm Weight Unladen (EU) 1577 kg Gross Vehicle Weight (GVWR) 1988 kg Max. Payload 486 kg Cargo Volume 338 L Cargo Volume Max 1225 L Cargo Volume Frunk No Data Roof Load 0 kg Tow Hitch Possible No Data Towing Weight Unbraked 0 kg Towing Weight Braked 0 kg Vertical Load Max No Data

It is finding the sweet spot. Renault continue to put 36 psi for the front and 33 psi for the rear for the 16 inch tyres, no recommended inflation pressure if one was carrying 4 passengers and luggage oddly. What is does say though is a slightly cavalier statement....... "If the tyre pressures cannot be checked when the tyres are cold, increase the pressures from 0.2 to 0.3 bar (or 3 PSI)" When they say cold they of course mean ambient. Tyre could be warm because one has just come off a trip or parked in the sun and the tyres are at closer to body temperature ie 35C rather than ambient would is likely to be more like 15C. Air with a bit of moisture in it acts as a semi-perfect gas so roughly each 10C fall or rise in temperature adds or subtracts a PSI. Above 0.3 bar is 4.35 PSI so even Renault is a bit loose with their conversions, its only those English types who use that ancient measurement along with eels and the like. Hence every where one looks Zoe owners tell each other to run nearly 40 PSI all around. Yes I would not run the fronts far from the recommended ie where probably 2/3rds of the braking is done Zoe is already 60/40 front weight biased even without braking weight transfer. 40 PSI in the back gives the car an even more rigid in not slightly more hard ride but not really harsh. I am already starting to leave stuff in the boot ie both charge cables granny and 22 kw AC cable, God that is a thick jobby. I presume other cars that can only charge AC at 7 or 11 kw could run with a thinner and lighter cable as the 22 kw Zoe one is heavyish.

40 mph, virtually no aero resistance I suppose. I could do with those magic tyres that gave the zoe extra distance though I do not want to be limited to 40 and especially 20 mph which they did for the 475 miles on one charge but that is 9 miles per kwh, very impressive, but it did take a whole day. The ENSO tyres on the test helped get about 10% more range than the standard tyres (Michelin Primacy ((e or just XL like mine ?)). ENSO presenting at Blue Earth Summit tomorrow ie Wednesday 13th October 2021 at Bristol.... https://blueearthsummit.com/ But when will we able to buy them ???

God it is difficult to get the average energy usage up to 5 miles per kWh !!! Hovering around 4.7 to 4.8 and at the moment do not think I can get up to 5 without a very cunning plan. The worry has got to be with temperatures about to plunge it is more likely that the energy usage will the heading toward 4 rather than up to 5. Tyres at 38/39 PSI, usually rise a degree or two when driving the A road, bet interesting to see if the go higher on a long motorway journey as I expect. It will be fascinating to see if there is any improvement like with ICE cars ie do any EV components bed in, as the tread wears do the tyres absorb less energy and with a smaller rolling radius record more miles when actually do the same/less ? The colder weather and the EV achilles heal of less miles of range due to Lithium ion batteries giving less power in the cold and usually taking more juice through the colder air and powering other winter systems ie cabin and rear windscreen heater etc is a worry gnawing at my mind. Time will tell.

Had the Zoe a month. Did my first public charge at a Cafe in Gloucestershire, an 11 Kw charger, could not have been easier. Should have got the false boot floor added in to the buy I think. £175 is got to bad a shell out I suppose. Even though the Riviera is supposedly the top model available ie parking assistance as well as emergency braking and lane assistance etc, not including the false boot floor and the front arm rest is a bit tight. I suppose they have to be choosy to stay under the £35k rrp to get the £2.5k government grant. I will have to justify that it is part of the £2.5k going to pay for these nice extras. As I said in the Zoe initial impression I am managing to get 4.9 miles per KWh. A bit more tyres pressure in the back tyres should do it. I think going much beyond 40 PSI is not good for emergency braking or ride quality even if it is good for fuel consumption. Suspension on the Tesla must be good to run 45 psi pressure and still give a good ride for a £50k to £150k car, if it is that good, and its braking performance too. Very happy. Not too tempted to join the Zoe owners club, or Renault Zero emissions Owners Club , his videos are OK and add to the sum total knowledge but £20 for a cable boot hook is not great and his "style" seems to grate with me. https://www.rzoc.club/ The new EV Megane looks interesting. With the Renault 4 and 5 coming along maybe the Zoe is in its last year or so.

Been playing with Bjorn Nyland's hundreds of videos on EVs. He has a spreadsheet bringing together years of his test data and link to his and his colleagues EV videos. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r58c93M0JwdbJ1Gik_8QhyyeLjoPgCSe1JXR_u4DrPc/edit#gid=735351678 Whilst super interesting and general fair I would say he is only human and does not pick up on everything. (I am a big fan but nobody is perfect of course). He seems to zoom around in hust numerous Zoe tests, right through the 22, 41 and 52 Kwh versions but never brings up that he seems to run the Zoe at much lower tyre pressures than other EVs he drives ie Tesla running 45 PSI and the Zoe running as low as 33 PSI it looks like on one video. We all know tyres pressures, and tyre sizes massively affect EV range as well as aero and optimum driving range. It actual take this guy, who Bjorn references, Chris prepared this which may be useful to many EV drivers. Thanks hugely to Bjorn and Chris for all the work, those hundreds if noth thousands of mile of driving/testing. Congrats to Bjorn on going to be a Dad.

My first public charge and it was a great experience. A super pleasant country cafe/deli/restaurant in Gloucestershire just off the A38, parallel to the M5. They had two Rolec 11 kw charger, neither being used, purely for customers of course, but as they have fantastic food and drink, no problem. Beautiful grounds and a very pleasant place to spend an hour or two filling up body and car. Zoe Riviera running fantastically, getting nearly 4.9 miles per Kw, mostly on Eco but occasional kick down releases the 135 hp and scoots it along to find so clear running. Rolec charge points up where the two cars up left of the lake.

The total of electric vehicles was 77,000 with the Tesla Model 3 taking the top spot of any make of car. Clearly electric vans, trucks and motorcycle and selling well too... Tesla Model 3 UK's best selling car in September https://www.aol.co.uk/motoring/tesla-model-3-uks-best-093728866.html Overall, 71,566 new electric vehicles were registered in the month, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said, a 137% year-on-year increase. Of these, 6,879 were Tesla Model 3, making it the month's best seller........... September was the best month ever for new battery electric vehicle (BEV) uptake. With a market share of 15.2%, 32,721 BEVs joined the road, reflecting growing consumer appetite. Plug-in hybrid share also grew to 6.4%, meaning more than one in five new cars registered in September was zero-emission capable.

Massive month for EVs. 33,000 registered/sold. Rubbish for ICE - Only 215k cars sold of which 33k were EV and nearly 14k PHEVs. https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/105893/uk-new-car-sales-stagnate-september-33000-electric-cars-are-sold UK new car sales stagnate in September but 33,000 electric cars are sold

Something that only does 28 mph, is that properly classified as a car. Car is a broad word, derived from the Latin "Carrus", wheeled vehicle I gather. 28 mph is the speed Bolt runs at. A bit like the Velosolex bike in France in 4 wheel form........

Magic juice........ Available from Eurocar parts and other automotive part retailers. My local petrol station was out of E5 high octane when I went to fill up with wiesel on Sunday.

I do not like that the enthanol fire burns without the strong color of petrol and people have been burning and other do not realize. https://youtu.be/SmcPuPU-oVQ Renault / Dacia have heaps of experience running both E25 and the Ethanol fuel due to their massive sales in South and Central America. In the 2 litre Sandero VRS, non turbo, 145/150 hp, the fuel consumption must be pretty bad 30 to 40 mpg I would expect.

Ethanol has about two thirds the caloric value of petrol so each 5% increase of ethanol reduces the calorific value of the fuel we buy by 1.6% ie one twentieth of a third hence the 1.6%.

The 1.6% difference in calorific value is a scientific fact. When one is buying E10 one is buying a higher percentage of Oxygen in the fuel rather than hydrogen and carbon. Hydrogen and carbon provide the energy when their atomic bonds are broken, oxygen is the atom that gets added to the carbon and hydrogen to make the CO2 and water, effectively when one is buying E10 one is buying air/oxygen that would normally be free if one was just using pure petrol without ethanol. So in a perfectly set up engine one would get 1.6% less power or less fuel consumption with E10 over E5. If an engine is working perfectly this would be the result but if an engine was running a bit lean, for some engine management unit issue, one might get parity or even better mpg with E10 over E5 but the logical conclusion is 1.6% less mpg with E10 over E5 or 3.2% over pure petrol.

"Don't do Hitler salutes" ! Okay.

Yes even the Zoe is put around the Ring, did quite well.

Happy with the Regen "B" level of my new Riviera Zoe, it can amount to 30 kws going back in to the battery. I was keen to get a 64 kWh Leaf as they have similar range to the 52 kWh Zoe but I would had to wait at least 3 more months for it. Great deal on the Zoe with nearly £9k of the RRP with government grant, Renault contribution, Delear contribution and great trade in. Also £350 off the house charging box. Expect deals might not be as good now as a couple of weeks ago as EVs become in even more demand. Heat pump car heating and aircon seems to make that a not too painful thing to have on. Like all EVS, except the non SUV Teslas, the rate of energy consumption at indicated 75 mph seems to hurt the range a lot and I do not know a clever way round that except to trade for a model 3 or 100 one day.

Just talking to a colleague who I work with at Heathrow and he could not find fuel for a 10 mile radius around the Chelsea training ground then phoned and found some 15 miles away but they only let him have £20 worth. He drives a Land Rover Discovery so I dread to think how much that moved the dial.

Bought nearly £50 of diesel in Tescos Warndon Villages Worcester, small queues and no limit on how much one bought. We have the 4 laws of thermodynamics............ Love the fact there is a Zeroth law, like, oops, we need something before the 1st Law.......... https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Thermodynamics/The_Four_Laws_of_Thermodynamics 0th Law of Thermodynamics The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics states that if two systems are in thermodynamic equilibrium with a third system, the two original systems are in thermal equilibrium with each other. Basically, if system A is in thermal equilibrium with system C and system B is also in thermal equilibrium with system C, system A and system B are in thermal equilibrium with each other. 1st Law of Thermodynamics The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy can be converted from one form to another with the interaction of heat, work and internal energy, but it cannot be created nor destroyed, under any circumstances. Conservation of Energy First Law of Thermodynamics 2nd Law of Thermodynamics The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the state of entropy of the entire universe, as an isolated system, will always increase over time. The second law also states that the changes in the entropy in the universe can never be negative. 3rd Law of Thermodynamics The 3rd law of thermodynamics will essentially allow us to quantify the absolute amplitude of entropies. It says that when we are considering a totally perfect (100% pure) crystalline structure, at absolute zero (0 Kelvin), it will have no entropy (S). Note that if the structure in question were not totally crystalline, then although it would only have an extremely small disorder (entropy) in space, we could not precisely say it had no entropy.