Of interest to most of us, Tebay services has started work on upgrading/ adding to the chargers on site. Northbound will get 3 new chargers and southbound 2 new chargers, all dual head so 6 and 4 bays. 300kW chargers or split to 150kW/head if both sides in use. I believe these are being assisted by a battery in a container to supply peak power as the grid connection is not up to this yet (https://nationalhighways.co.uk/about-us/new-charging-systems-to-help-electric-vehicle-drivers-on-our-motorways/). Westmoreland are also installing more chargers at their other sites, details here https://westmorlandfamily.com/charging/

Gridserve have started work on 12 new 350kW chargers at Chester services, scheduled to be live this summer. Hopefully in time for school holidays as the M56 is a major tourist route.

MFG opened their latest charging hub at a completely new service station near Thirsk known as Sowerby services. 8x150kW chargers. 

Be nice if the a303 got better charging as whilst there e are re a few fast chargers the facilities are rubbish.

 

m5 j25, cartgate, solstice and some services towards the m3 either have nothing or have something but not enough or poor facilities.

 

I’m expecting long waits when the summer holidays hit.

The biggest problem with EV's is that as most people seems to travel at around similar times, clogging up the roads, most EV's will need charging at around similar distances. So for example queues at around 200 miles away from London.

 

For me, I try to do opposite of what other people do. For example, people say charge before going to bed due to warm battery, I charge first thing in the morning and spend a bit energy for the car to pre-heating the battery to get a good charge rate. Have yet to need to queue at any Tesla chargers and it's just ~40p/kWh due to off-peak.

 

 

South West England makes a leap forward foward, sounds fishy ? Here Tis, with human comfort facilities too.....

With my Octopus Electroverse discount It can be as low as 63 p per kWh.  Probably just get 10 kWh, or 16 kWh ie tenner's worth as I have that as credit as a freebie upon joining Electroverse thru Octopus Energy.         https://www.ospreycharging.co.uk/post/osprey-ev-super-hub-opens-in-south-west#

 

• Osprey Charging brings 16 ultra-rapid charge points to the busy A38 Devon Expressway
• The purpose-built site at Salmon’s Leap in Buckfastleigh is the biggest hub of its kind in the South West
• It’s designed for all types of vehicle and driver with two extra-long and two extra-wide bays and on-site facilities from a local provider
• Chargers are compatible with every EV on the market and can add 100 miles of range in less than 20 minutes

 

Edited 6 June, 20233 yr by lol-lol

My counting skill isn't as good as my 5 year old, but I only count 14 charging space? 

 

Great to see more Kempower stalls though. They give you a QR code that shows live charging stats including the charging curve. Very informative for people to learn when to move the car from rapid chargers. 

2 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

My counting skill isn't as good as my 5 year old, but I only count 14 charging space?  

14 in the central island plus two towing charging spots, one below the island and one to the left looking at the photo. The Osprey press release has better shots of the towing bays or go to zap-map and see a photo of one in action (model X towing a caravan)

3 hours ago, Luckypants said:

14 in the central island plus two towing charging spots, one below the island and one to the left looking at the photo. The Osprey press release has better shots of the towing bays or go to zap-map and see a photo of one in action (model X towing a caravan)

 

Yes lots of towing done down to Devun, Xecketer and beyond, getting up Holden/Telegraph and the numerous other hills, Rattery etc, on the A38 and A30, need a well cooled EV motor, not a Mustang which reportedly can overheat in over 5 seconds of max power even when not towing.  Many ICE cars that have not had a proper engine work out for 11 months with their cooling systems boiling over, busy time for the recovery people. 

 

Charge up, maybe pop over to Buckfast Abbey (its a relative new build but in the traditional style), buy some Buckfast tonic wine and get on your way to South Devon or Cornwall.    

Very large hub coming for Tesla: 

https://www.speakev.com/threads/some-very-large-tesla-supercharger-sites-in-the-uk-on-the-way.178195/

• Exeter will soon be the biggest UK site with 32 stalls, followed by Rugby with 28 stalls. Both these will be larger than the current largest sites (24 stalls) at Heathrow and Westfield White City.
• Work has begun on a new 10 stall site on the A303, to be open by end of summer
• Seven new Moto sites and 2 expansions underway with more to come

 

I'm hoping it will be V4 chargers with longer cables and enabled for charging all EV's. 

Edited 16 June, 20232 yr by wyx087

On 06/06/2023 at 04:52, lol-lol said:

South West England makes a leap forward foward, sounds fishy ? Here Tis, with human comfort facilities too.....

With my Octopus Electroverse discount It can be as low as 63 p per kWh.  Probably just get 10 kWh, or 16 kWh ie tenner's worth as I have that as credit as a freebie upon joining Electroverse thru Octopus Energy.         https://www.ospreycharging.co.uk/post/osprey-ev-super-hub-opens-in-south-west#

 

• Osprey Charging brings 16 ultra-rapid charge points to the busy A38 Devon Expressway
• The purpose-built site at Salmon’s Leap in Buckfastleigh is the biggest hub of its kind in the South West
• It’s designed for all types of vehicle and driver with two extra-long and two extra-wide bays and on-site facilities from a local provider
• Chargers are compatible with every EV on the market and can add 100 miles of range in less than 20 minutes

 

But since it’s near to the abbey will it stock/sell Bucky too 😂

On 10/07/2023 at 00:33, cheezemonkhai said:

But since it’s near to the abbey will it stock/sell Bucky too 😂

OT slightly but I did read this last week ...

 

https://www.glasgowworld.com/lifestyle/food-and-drink/american-wine-expert-reviews-buckfast-send-an-exorcist-4204275

 

 

On 09/07/2023 at 23:33, cheezemonkhai said:

But since it’s near to the abbey will it stock/sell Bucky too 😂

 

Its a tonic Officer,

15% Alcohol by Volume, really, fortified wine you say. 

Nice new setup at Tothill on the A34, just south of Newbury but on the Northbound side but easily accessed by Southbound as well.......

 

 

Nine 150 kw CCS-UK chargers plus Chademo on each but only one car can charge per charger unit.

 

Zoe sucked up the lecky at it peak rate, a stellar 46 kW, took 14 minutes to get 10 kWh of charge, was tailing off to below 40 kw despite being only 55 % ful so called it a day, only needed 45 miles more of range to give me a big margin and use up some of my free £10 of Octopus credit.  Cost me £8, with my 5% Octopus discount and it goes on to my house lecky bill I gather

 

So first time DC charging, after 14k miles of AC charging.  Pleasant experience, big Shell shop there and Maccy Ds few yards away. N ot so much for the Jaaag who could not get his charge flap open.  If you buy British / Indian / Slovakian cars one should expect some problems I suppose.   

 

First UK Tesla V4 supercharger open to all just went online, new stall with contactless payment terminals and long cable to reach all cars.

 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-tesla-supercharger-v4-open-all-electric-cars-uk

 

It's not far from me. Might check it out on Monday.

On 06/07/2022 at 15:41, Luckypants said:

Fastned at Redbridge Park and Ride, Oxford

Was in Oxford today for a day-out. Used 35 kWh, at 7.5p/kWh, trip costs less than £3. +£5 for park and ride including 2 adult bus tickets. Just wish with so many park and ride around the city, they'd put more bus lanes so buses aren't stuck in traffic.

 

It's park and ride, need to go to ticket machine to register for 1 hour free parking, probably designed for rapid charging or picking people up.

 

12 Tesla-only 250 kW superchargers. Currently 37p off peak, 43p peak 4-8pm.

About 10 Fastned parking spaces, 1 300 kW charger shared across 2 bays.  63p/kWh using Electroverse.

About 14 destination chargers.

 

Toilet facility is pretty bad, only 3 for this high footfall area. Also no shops, just a bus terminal.

 

16 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

Was in Oxford today for a day-out. Used 35 kWh, at 7.5p/kWh, trip costs less than £3. +£5 for park and ride including 2 adult bus tickets. Just wish with so many park and ride around the city, they'd put more bus lanes so buses aren't stuck in traffic.

 

It's park and ride, need to go to ticket machine to register for 1 hour free parking, probably designed for rapid charging or picking people up.

 

12 Tesla-only 250 kW superchargers. Currently 37p off peak, 43p peak 4-8pm.

About 10 Fastned parking spaces, 1 300 kW charger shared across 2 bays.  63p/kWh using Electroverse.

About 14 destination chargers.

 

Toilet facility is pretty bad, only 3 for this high footfall area. Also no shops, just a bus terminal.

 

 

 

Good to know, also an Electroverse ie Octopus customer.  It is a multi-role site, ie for those use park and ride and those just passing around Oxford looking for a boost charge to get one home travelling West-East on the A roads or North - South on the A34.

 

European sales of EV continue to grow strongly as diesels diminish quickly and petrols are roughtly static ........

 

 

16 hours ago, lol-lol said:

European sales of EV continue to grow strongly as diesels diminish quickly and petrols are roughtly static ........

 

 

Sorry posted in wrong section.

 

Sounds like the new Cornwall Service, only place in that country with a dozen or more chargers, is still having problems, despite being launched at the beginning of the English school holidays on the last week in July 2023, as drivers are still only getting around 20 kWh charging rates. 

 

Gridserve need to update their articles and news and not rely on ZAP MAP to do so.  In the article it says that Cornwall Services welcomes over 1,000 cars a month.  Good God I would hope they see that a day in Summer time.  Who checks these articles to accuracy?

Maybe in the depths of winter they might only get 100 cars a day but even that sounds very low.   

 

https://www.gridserve.com/2023/07/24/latest-electric-super-hub-opens-at-cornwall-services/

 

 

Got to the new Tottenham V4 supercharger site earlier.
 

After having had hands on test, I don’t feel the V4 cable is long enough for all cars. It doesn’t feel like it’s long enough for charge port on the right. 
 

There is a new screen for public charging though. 
 

That looks like it will be fine to reach my ID.4 port on the right. New sites will have the charge posts in the centre of the bay, like the ones widely publicised in The Netherlands. These in the photo ls replaced some existing Superchargers which were placed optimally for left rear charge ports. 

2 hours ago, wyx087 said:

Got to the new Tottenham V4 supercharger site earlier.  After having had hands on test, I don’t feel the V4 cable is long enough for all cars. It doesn’t feel like it’s long enough for charge port on the right.   There is a new screen for public charging though. 

 

As Bjorn (Nyland) said:     Right side is the wrong side and Left side is the right side.

 

Or Tom Robinson said..... Better decided what side your one. 

 

 You better decide which side you're on
This ship goes down before too long
If Left is right then Right is Wrong
You better decide which side you're on

 

As a Zoe driver I find it on the nose is just fine.

 

 

 

5 hours ago, Luckypants said:

That looks like it will be fine to reach my ID.4 port on the right. New sites will have the charge posts in the centre of the bay, like the ones widely publicised in The Netherlands. These in the photo ls replaced some existing Superchargers which were placed optimally for left rear charge ports. 

I can't work out how it can reach any port on the right.

 

You are right about placement though. It didn't need to reach this much to the front of the car, it only needs to reach half of a car on either side and placing it central will solve the problem.

 

There wasn't any supercharger in this location before, it was Mothercare. I suspect V3 stalls were planned originally.

4 hours ago, wyx087 said:

I can't work out how it can reach any port on the right.

 

You are right about placement though. It didn't need to reach this much to the front of the car, it only needs to reach half of a car on either side and placing it central will solve the problem.

 

There wasn't any supercharger in this location before, it was Mothercare. I suspect V3 stalls were planned originally.

 

Probably a silly point but would you not just drive in forward rather than reverse in, like I would have to with the Zoe ?  Not illegal is it, then left becomes right etc ?

 

9 hours ago, wyx087 said:

Got to the new Tottenham V4 supercharger site earlier.
After having had hands on test, I don’t feel the V4 cable is long enough for all cars. It doesn’t feel like it’s long enough for charge port on the right. 
There is a new screen for public charging though. 

 

No good for Arsenal fans as the only reason they would go to Tottenham would is to watch The Arsenal beat Spurs at their stadium.

 

TELSA going to have to come up with charging station for the Gooners.   

Most Arsenal fans going to watch Spurs would use the tube or overground and vice versa.