Monkhai

However that's terrible compared to a diesel, which for a long run on diesel will get 65MPG+ without doing much more than keeping it at or below 70 and looking ahead. I do agree that batteries are useful, but then if long journeys are rare, why not look at a short/long range EV for 99% of the journeys and renting an ICE vehicle for longer distance. The whole concept comes back to the same problem you currently have with all cars, which is too much weight. When on ICE you're carrying around an unused battery, if you're topping the battery up MPG tanks and if you're on battery you're carrying around a load of unused ICE and gearbox/transmission etc. The end story is poor MPG or poor range for a given amount of fuel/charge. If you look at it all, then you can find that people moving from great big heavy SUV with the aero/drag profiles approaching that of a brick to a normal car like an octy estate would make more difference than driving a hybrid SUV. Similarly people driving large cars who never need them would be better in a polo estate etc. Cars have got bigger and heavier and people have not looked at weight saving. It's huge alloys, big heavy brake calipers rather than lighter weight multi-piston designs, steel everywhere when plastic panels were used in the 80's and 90s (Citroen, Renault) and aluminium. The key issue should be weight and drag reduction to create more efficient cars, not greenwashing, by strapping a battery plus a glorified washing machine motor in an SUV then calling it self-charging hybrid technology (ICE powered you mean?). On an electric thread, it was suggested a mass based system of road tax would be a good replacement for the lost fuel duty, and I can see it would apply and help here too. I also posted this, which is food for thought... https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/opinion/354505/scrap-your-hybrid-diesel-campaign-might-just-happen I could be wrong, but I think the BIK advantage for hybrids is gone (or about to be). At which point a hybrid doesn't make sense as a company car driver any more vs an all electric ZEV.

Arlo was on a very good price, so that, a charger, solar panels and an extra large battery plus mounts cost far less than I’d seen just the cameras elsewhere. Playing with the trials for now and an SD card too, so come the end of the trials I can decide what to do. Obviously the cheap buy is offset by a subscription, which I imagine is what they’re counting on. As a medium term solution the Arlo is impressive, but we shall see what it’s like 6 months down the line. Pretty certain I will look to put proper wired cameras and an NVR, probably with a WiFi upgrade and some extra cabling in the not too distant future.

we have FTTP and I was debating if we needed a router in the way or if I could send the PON straight up… Be nice if that would just work… but I imagine some credentials checks might not be in the ubiquity box.

No worries, I put in patch panels when I did a couple of houses 😂👍 Are you fttp/fttc? If so what do you use for the POPoE/A or does the dream machine take the feed straight from the modem etc?

Currently the 800V battery systems are limited to 250kW charging (No idea if this will go up in the future with a software update).

Moved the yeti conversation to the yeti forum: https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/505186-converting-headlights-from-lhd-to-rhd/

So they charge a battery that drives to you and charges your battery… Add in transmission losses and you might as well just go fuel cell.

Stops are typically when you need the loo and that’s it, say once every 2 hours and it’s stop in and out so probably 5-10 minutes max. One customer site is just shy of 300 miles and as The didn’t know the car is at 80%… and it’s winter so let’s say remaining range is 200 miles. Assuming all chargers are free but I can only find a 100kW charger, it’s 45 minutes. The 6:00am start now becomes 5:00am Get there for 10am, then do the work and leave probably 6pm. Home at 10pm after another 80% charge. So a long day 6:00-9 now becomes 5:00-10pm. Too early for breakfast and too late for dinner at home so I better eat out all day. Imagine if there are only 50kW chargers… then it’s another 30 minutes added at each stop. If a charger doesn’t work or you have to queue you have a customer angry and asking for money back. Nobody I know in a similar role will put up with that extension of an already long dayand that’s assuming 300 mile range with 200 from 80% in winter on the motorway at 70. That is fundamentally why there is a desire for 500 mile cars, so you can get up, get there on 80% and make a single stop at the destination or on the way home. People don’t plan for expensive things breaking down at random and car manufacturers don’t design batteries to charge to 100% every day. Given lots of 350kW chargers, all unoccupied and an suitable 800V car, then stretching a break to 15 minutes and half a day on 7kW would indeed be fine. That’s the old chicken and egg though👍 But where do you cut off, 80kWh, 100kW… weight just seems fairer as 70kW battery in a steel car might not be lighter than an 85 in aluminium etc. I get your point on people needing the mass of a large battery, I just think it’s a hard cell Perhaps a per kW batter import tax. You say it’s wasteful but I’m not sure. Yes it’s less delivered energy but provided it’s from wasted low carbon or off peak who cares. On the flip side a fuel cell is simpler, uses less resources and is far easier to recycle than a battery at present. Whole life they’re probably similar, imho whatever wins wins as it’s still cleaner than ICE.

I figure the more the merrier in terms of wind, tidal and solar etc 👍

It is quite common for quite a few jobs to have to visit a site 200+ miles away at short notice. As it's short notice, you are highly unlikely to be able to get a room for the night. My diesel has often and recently got 600 miles from a tank, which enabled me to get to site, fix the issue and get home before filling up. With destination (and most) charging being in such a state, there is no way 200 miles is sufficient. That is before you take into account that a 300 miles summer range is a 200 mile winter range. If they make a car with a 60-80kWh battery, which can do 450-500 miles (or more), then you're onto a winner. That will only happen by making them low drag, lower mass (reduce body weight and also minimise the battery). If you restrict battery cars to 200 or even 300 miles, then a reasonably large chunk of drivers (those who need a diesel for range), will need an alternative to a BEV, such as hydrogen. Personally I'd be very happy with a 250-300 mile BEV and a longer range Hydrogen car. You're correct you don't need to make it solar for new builds, but I can imagine a fair few flats in build up areas adding a wind turbine might annoy the residents New build however if the land is big enough, you could stick wind in a corner, solar on the roof (PV or heat) and be in a much better place than today.

A three pack whilst charging is dangerous...

Like many other countries in Europe, you pay to use Motorways... Car tax being zero goes away and is based on some other factor (Such as weight - which after all does the damage). Use of non-motorway roads are included in your car tax Why limit it to the flat? A central battery system would also help and if you're dumping excess to a central heating system, then everyone benefits also. Electric wise you could have each flat with their own import meter, how you deal with the generation could be as simple as discounts on the service charges or and just have a single generation meter that is divided equally by the number of flats and offset from each bill. This latter option would require a government scheme, just like SEG, so it is standardised, but it's not beyond a fairly simple fix. As you say destination charging is cheap/easy and you are as you say parked up. My point was more that if people are already paying a higher rate (60p) to rapid charge and compared to ICE/hydrogen refill times are very slow, then effectively it has the effect of putting people off EV. Of course once the infreastructure was there so that every bay had 7kW+ charging, it's a different story, but until then... As for the up front purchase of battery tax, to me that is a complete no go. Battery EV are so expensive as it is that you would effectively price most people out of a car. I'd rather see a tax on miles per kW efficiency where it reflects it all.

I've seen quite a few places state 1 hour wifi per drink and hand out pieces of paper to allow it. Influences are unbelieveable in many places and are often just freeloaders ruining places for everyone else.

I'd suggest a well proven technology... ANPR and toll tags for motorways, those who do the long journeys pay the most. I think ther per mile tax is a non-starter. The rapid charger tax is possible, but I think it would be very unpopular when you already have a time penalty for using an EV long range. I think solar panels on flats is a great idea and is pretty easy to impliment. Flats have roof space, taxes are paid by the freeholders on the value of the land. - If they have solar panels on the roof to feed power to the residents and a central battery or heating system then they pay the current rate. - If they don't have solar panels on the roof then they pay a higher rate which is 5-10% higher. Watch as all the freeholders fight to get solar on the roof to avoid taxes.

Yes, I do hear you.... but then you could just pick up a cheaper ICE car also, such as a focus/fiesta or even some of the MG models. Fundamentally more than 8 years in to the great experiment the infrastructure is still way way behind where it needs to be. Why should a company and company car driver save on BIK and other taxes if both have not invested in charging infrastructure? If you don't have a charger but are claiming relief on taxes, then sorry but you keep paying them (Maybe at a lower rate) with that money invested in public charging. To be honest, if the infrastructure was there, such that there were any Plugin Electric bays at 7kW and 22+ was reserved for full BEV i'd be ok as they're a battery car with a 40kWh battery. It sadly comes down to there needing to be a big hit for idle charging when there are small number of chargers in dedicated bays. In the nordics my understanding is that there used to be (or maybe still is), a lot of power connectors in public car parks for pre-heating in the winter. If such a system could deliver 10-16A and was on most bays, then that would be ideal for the hybrids.

I think the i3 RE is one of the few hybrids that got it more right than most in terms of how to use the engine. The engine as a generator model could even use an LPG/CNG generator to recharge the battery, which would have the bonus of being cleaner at point of use in terms of particulate matter etc.

£600 is 300L of derv or approximately 3000 miles assuming a very poor 10MPL/45MPG. If you go up to a more realistic 12MPL/approx 54MPG then you're at 3600 miles per month before you have paid just the cost of leasing an EV. By the time you add in say 10 charges of 50kWh@60p per kWH then it's another £300 (for 1500 miles assuming 3 miles/kWh ) or if it's only 5 public rapid charges then £150 (for 750 miles). Obviously you have cheaper home charging, but if you use the range you are getting hit on time, availability of chargers and cost. That spend is another 75-150L of derv @£2/l, which is another 750-1800 miles depending on what MPG you get and if EV what public charging you do. Like you I really want an electric, to the point I have one on order, however with the lack of infrastructure to charge an EV away from home, then actually it gets really hard to justify throwing that much money per month at one. I can actually see why people go on about hydrogen, because in theory it's a drop in replacement for peoples current habits and time. Of course the infrastructure for that is beyond useless anhd it's not as efficient. It's quite sad, because the cars cost the earth, the infrastructure is terrible, hybrids are a big con and even the economics don't actually stack up vs a diesel with fuel prices at this very high level. I mean even if you put £400 lease on a new diesel, then you're looking at a minimum of £250 extra for an EV every month, which is still 125L/1250 miles.

@Mort From my understanding the fream machine SE has 8 PoE ports and a 10GbE uplink. Assuming you don't need PoE to every port, was there any reason to add a 24 port PoE switch as I have an existing dumb 1GbE switch with an SFP+ port.

Step one is I'm writing to some of them to see if they have plans to improve infrastructure or to stop hybrid hogging. If the responses are essentially no, then it will be another few years with a diesel.

Currently it's a case of what you can get in stock. I'd look for something with a long battery life, 8-16GB RAM and a reasonably sized SSD. I'd also chuck in a portable USB HDD for your daughter to backup onto and put somewhere safe. The number of people who don't back up the essentials then the laptop gets dropped, soaked, nicked with their data gone is shocking.

To be honest, seeing this at the places I regularly visit is bad. It means for a hybrid driver to save a little fuel a BEV driver has to add a 30+ minute stop and diversion to get home. That assumes public chargers are fast and available. That really makes a BEV much less useful for regular journeys. I am seriously considering cancelling the on order BEV and staying with diesel. Hybrids are terrible for the environment in every way and a general fear of lack of charging or long waits is already putting people off BEV which isn’t a good thing. I found this interesting too: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/opinion/354505/scrap-your-hybrid-diesel-campaign-might-just-happen

I agree not all BEV have green plates, but I’m sure we all get the principle. Hybrids do not need the charge and will make it home, a BEV might not. Even if they do charge it’ll be full in not long. If chargers are at normal bays sure, but when they are EV only parking bays next to chargers it’s just nuts.

Buy cheap buy twice….

Another day another trip where all 8 chargers (mix of 7 and 22kW) were hogged for at least 3 hours by hybrids. Genuinely they need to ban hybrids from dedicated EV charging bays. No green plate, no use of the bays. In itself that would help with charging availability. I didn’t have an EV to charge or I’d have been hopping mad. Clearly one driver was as one of the hybrids had a charger card message under the window. Van wise, it should be mandatory for a business to install at least one >50kW or multiple slower chargers at each major site if they want to get the tax benefits vs diesel.

If I've adding ubiquity wifi access points, then I'll be buying a controller, so would buy one with the NVR in it and the rest. Hence if I'm going to do it I'd do it with the wifi system as I'd be changing all those parts anyway...