An hour later when i went back he was leaving the car park and i have no idea when he had got back to the car but a Blue Tesla had got on the charger but at least the driver was with the car.

I got 8 kWh at Tesco which will do me until i get a free charge in Perthshire.   I really am being tight.  

 

The past 600 miles has cost me nothing in charging. 

 

It has been a bit of a PITA with chargers that will not start or cut out early. 

 

Edited 11 April, 20224 yr by roottoot

22 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

CHADEMO does this (on completion of rapid charging) because the locking mechanism is controlled by the charger. I've been able to start my charge a handful of times this way. It was mostly at Ikea in early days when people plug in and dispensary inside the store for over an hour. There were every reason to plug in and charge to get £6 off but typical dwell time at Ikea is incompatible with concept of rapid charging.

 

Pretty bad this didn't make it into the CCS chargers though if it didn't.

Even if it was something that only worked for tethered chargers due to a missing wire to allow charger controll on your own cables.

 

22 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

 

Totally agree with idle/overstay fees. People need to treat rapid chargers like petrol station pumps, DO NOT go far from the car, it's not a parking spot.

But to be fair, rapids chargers also shouldn't be installed in hour-long car parks....... Need forecourt-styled setup like at Gridserve Braintree. Only car park that is suitable for rapid chargers is at services.

 

I don't mind having a couple of rapids in a car park, as long as they are very very expensive after a suitably short time period.

The better solution would be to have a couple of fast bays which give 20 minutes of electric @50-100kW and if you're gone within that 20-30 minute window, then you can fill it up for "free" in the parking bay on a 7Kw.

 

Edited 11 April, 20224 yr by cheezemonkhai

So just had Arnold Clark on the phone.

I called to see about getting 2 Recall Actions carried out.

Also the Service Indicator says i am 150 miles over the Service due even though the Service is not due until August by time or miles even if i do 1,000 miles a month between now and then.

 

But the car dash has lost 12,500 miles off the milometer which it did a few weeks back. 

Arnold Clark's failed last time to reset the Service Indicator, or complete the service as they had no EV Tech in the morning they got the car.

Planned date 3 weeks in advance.

 

So i told them i need a car for a minimum of 4 days even though it should be serviced and the recall actions should be only 4 hours.

No problem as the lady knows sometimes they never get the Updates done as the systems can shut down and they then need to have Proper People with proper knowledge sort things out.

 

I said i need an Automatic. 

Well that is a problem, Arnold Clark Scotlands biggest car group has no Automatic Courtesy cars.

 

So i said not really a problem as they will have to get a hire car so that they can service a Motability owned Vauxhall EV. 

 

It might be May before the car can go in and she will talk with Motability and see if they will hire a car.

 

I will talk with Motability and ask why any customer should get a EV that needs serviced at Arnold Clark.

I will ask Vauxhall UK why their EV cars and after sales are so crap. 

 

EDIT,

actually the car has lost 12,500 miles off it as it should be over 25,000 miles and the phone app has no idea what the car has done in term of miles since new, this year or even this week. 

I can no longer sit with the radio on charging or not as the car goes into ECO mode and shuts down. 

 

 

Edited 11 April, 20224 yr by roottoot

This is the new real world for some with Tesla & Tesla Supercharging in the UK.

 

 

9 hours ago, roottoot said:

This is the new real world for some with Tesla & Tesla Supercharging in the UK.

 

 

 

Some very good points, the massive growth ie doubling of the Model 3 in about 6 months and no real increase in the Tesla Supercharger network I reckon will cause EV drivers to look more favourably at non Tesla purchases.

 

The new GRIDSERVE station at Exeter Services have made me think that the near 200 mile journey from Worcester to Plymouth is on in the little Zoe though at holiday times it could get rammed I expect.  Hope they keep the 22 kW AC charge posts if all the CCSs are being used.

 

GRIDSERVE a bit rubbish in Scotland for some reason.

 

The Gridserve competition or indeed gridserv themselves need to put something big in around somerset, so not everyone is going for a charge at exeter.

Whilst taunton dean has space and north/south or sedgemore a little further north could make sense, another good option could be bridgwater services. Bridgwater is on a roundabout serving both directions and close enough to hinkley point to get a fairly direct supply of large volumes of eletricity without long runs.

MFG already have some hubs handy for the motorway around Bristol. Image below filtered for MFG EV-Power and 100+ CCS chargers.

 

 

Instavolt are installing something down there (I forget where) and Gridserve are currently building a hub at Cornwall Services. Gridserve's stated aim is to have a hub at all MSA, but of course that will take time. In the meanwhile I guess they will be building out where there is power available and busy MSA first. 
 

 

 

Exeter will not be the only hub for the West country.

19 hours ago, roottoot said:

This is the new real world for some with Tesla & Tesla Supercharging in the UK.

 

 

Double charging on v2 superchargers is exactly as designed. I don't see any problem extending charging time by 10-20min. The key is it has been plugged in and it is charging. No need to sit in the car queue for the next available spot. Though mind you it will still be charging at around 50kW.

 

Gridserve are now doing the same thing. I saw 2 CCS cars charging at the same time at Ikea last Sunday. They are sharing the capability of the charger and when one tapers the other one speeds up. Maximising the charger capability. But the physical charging spaces for Gridserve are sometimes not allocated correctly for 2 spaces per charger.

 

Another benefit of Tesla cars is the ease of use across Europe. Want to drive to Italy? Just jump in and drive like every other car. No need to plan for charging and get the right apps/RFID/membership.

Although perhaps European charging networks like a Ionity membership can achieve same thing? Ionity is certainly bigger in Europe.

2 hours ago, Luckypants said:

Exeter will not be the only hub for the West country.

From living nearby I can from personal experience say that the priority for the next hub should be Taunton Deane - that gets busiest of all the M5 MSA in the West Country as people seem to like to get well past Bristol before stopping.

The next services along at Cullompton has an Ionity Hub 4x350kW chargers and one Gridserve 50kW. You may see EV distribution being different to traditional ICE cars, they are going to go where there are chargers.

I posted a comment on that Tesla drivers video i put up.

It is so simple the way he is going not to go to Dundee to the Tesla SuperCharger which can be busy when he can cut across from Forfar to Perth and to the SuperCharger which i have yet to see more than 2 Tesla charging at at one time in the past 2 years. 

Maybe he prefers the slower route of dual carriageways and average speed cameras and going through Dundee & to Perth & the average speed cameras. 

 

Tesla SuperChargers.

Edited 12 April, 20224 yr by roottoot

1 hour ago, PetrolDave said:

From living nearby I can from personal experience say that the priority for the next hub should be Taunton Deane - that gets busiest of all the M5 MSA in the West Country as people seem to like to get well past Bristol before stopping.

 

Living nearby, we avoid the M5 like the plague when it's holiday season, but on the off chance you have to that always seems packed.

In some respects I agree with you, it's just that the distance isn't far between there and Exeter.

 

 - Taunton Dean to Exeter Services = 30 miles

 - Bridgwater to Exeter Services = 40 miles

 - Sedgemoor to Exeter Services = 50 miles

 - Bristol to Sedgemoor = 33 miles

 - Bristol to Bridgewater = 40 miles

 - Bristol to Taunton Dean = 55 miles

 

It's actually quite a tough one to be honest, as bridgwater is the half way house, taunton dean is busy and sedgemoor is a good break point if you're coming down the M5 from the midlands, can get past the M4/M5 junction then fill up.

 

At the moment the stuff I see around Cribbs is tesla, slow or a customer only type thing, although I might not be seeing them all.

Of course the farm services on the M5 are always a favourite of mine if you do need to stop and sit for a bit.

 

 

Also remember these chargers are for motorway journeys. Like many ICE drivers, EV drivers may choose to charge off the motorway before or after using the motorway. The likes of Osprey, MfG EV-Power and Instavolt are putting in chargers left and right on trunk roads. Instavolt installed 65 new 50+kW chargers in March alone. Even Shell are starting to get in on the act with it's forecourt in London and new charger locations. If they ever power up the hub at Northop, they will double the number of chargers on the A55. Gridserve announced a partnership with Dobbies garden centres to install hubs at their locations which are meant to be high speed - but I'll believe that when they arrive - a bank of 22kW chargers is not high speed. These are meant to be rolled out this year....
https://www.gridserve.com/2021/12/20/dobbies-garden-centres-rolls-out-ev-charging-with-gridserve/?LeadSourceCode=crm1017

Edited 12 April, 20224 yr by Luckypants

For a destination charge, 22kW isn't bad, although 50Kw-100kW DC would be much better as most cars can't actually charge at 22kW and most are much slower.

Disagree. Destination chargers are ones where you are at 'your destination' and your car will be parked up for several hours (work, hotels, restaurants, retail parks, theme parks, the zoo, cinemas etc) while charging. If you plug in to 50kW your car will be charged in an hour and the rest of the time would be blocking a valuable resource. 22kW for a destination charge is great, it adds 40 miles an hour to my car (11kW max AC) so adds really useful amounts of range over several hours. If you are at a destination for an hour or so, then a rapid charge may be appropriate, but only if you NEED the charge to get to your next destination, in which case on route charging via rapids is equally effective.

For EV drivers, the concept of 'grazing' charge is well known. Getting a bit here and a bit there while doing other things. A big single charge is thinking like an ICE driver. By grazing for charge when you can, it makes the 'need' to charge much smaller. It also means that if no charger is available, you are not stuck. For instance last weekend I was able to do 200 miles over the weekend on free electric by grazing small charges while doing other things. (supermarket shopping, lunch, shopping for lighting). The fact it was free is irrelevant, its that I got 200 miles of range without trying while doing other activities.

1 hour ago, Luckypants said:

Disagree. Destination chargers are ones where you are at 'your destination' and your car will be parked up for several hours (work, hotels, restaurants, retail parks, theme parks, the zoo, cinemas etc) while charging. If you plug in to 50kW your car will be charged in an hour and the rest of the time would be blocking a valuable resource. 22kW for a destination charge is great, it adds 40 miles an hour to my car (11kW max AC) so adds really useful amounts of range over several hours. If you are at a destination for an hour or so, then a rapid charge may be appropriate, but only if you NEED the charge to get to your next destination, in which case on route charging via rapids is equally effective.

For EV drivers, the concept of 'grazing' charge is well known. Getting a bit here and a bit there while doing other things. A big single charge is thinking like an ICE driver. By grazing for charge when you can, it makes the 'need' to charge much smaller. It also means that if no charger is available, you are not stuck. For instance last weekend I was able to do 200 miles over the weekend on free electric by grazing small charges while doing other things. (supermarket shopping, lunch, shopping for lighting). The fact it was free is irrelevant, its that I got 200 miles of range without trying while doing other activities.

 

I guess I'm not driving EV yet, but my logic was that garden centres etc are likely to have a 1 hour stay, hence a 50kW DC would fill most cars in 1-2 hours, which would be plenty for a normal stay. You are of course correct an en route charger would do just as well, bar you spending some money whilst charging.

 

If you consider it to be say 3+ hours, then yes 22kW is plenty, although what I really think you need is a car park where at least 50% of the bays have chargers.

Perhaps a singe supply that can do 3 phase 22/11 with 1 car (or if you're lucky 2@16Amp 3Ph) or 3 cars each at 7kW.

 

It's a difficult one in my mind, because if every bay has it and there's a small risk of not being able to graze at the next stop, then lots of 7kW is better.

As things stand though there are not that many bays, so a small number of 50kW will help more people.

 

I think I said above, I'd like to see a small number of fast on each floor for a very short boost at higher cost and then most/all bays have 7kW which are included in the parking charge/cheap as chips.

Those driving an EV that needs to get on a 22 / 45 kW AC charger to get charged @ public charger and on their way get fed up of those that sit parked on them for hours that could just Rapid charge on a CCS or Type 2 7 kW charger.

 

All these hoping about 'grazing' and trying out chargers are a total PITA, as are crappy chargers ans Apps and Not Spots.

 

No idea if this car has a 11 kW on board AC charger or just a 7kW.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 13 April, 20224 yr by roottoot

24 minutes ago, cheezemonkhai said:

 

I guess I'm not driving EV yet, but my logic was that garden centres etc are likely to have a 1 hour stay, hence a 50kW DC would fill most cars in 1-2 hours, which would be plenty for a normal stay. You are of course correct an en route charger would do just as well, bar you spending some money whilst charging.

 

If you consider it to be say 3+ hours, then yes 22kW is plenty, although what I really think you need is a car park where at least 50% of the bays have chargers.

Perhaps a singe supply that can do 3 phase 22/11 with 1 car (or if you're lucky 2@16Amp 3Ph) or 3 cars each at 7kW.

 

It's a difficult one in my mind, because if every bay has it and there's a small risk of not being able to graze at the next stop, then lots of 7kW is better.

As things stand though there are not that many bays, so a small number of 50kW will help more people.

 

I think I said above, I'd like to see a small number of fast on each floor for a very short boost at higher cost and then most/all bays have 7kW which are included in the parking charge/cheap as chips.

Look at how Ikea rapid chargers are abused due to 1-2 hours of dwell time.

 

The goal of destination charger at these locations, where the car's owner is not available to move the vehicle, is more for adding a few miles.

 

Think of it this way, for every £ spend on infrastructure, is it better to fully charge 1 vehicle? or to continuously feed miles into 6 vehicles?

(50 kW can be split into two 22kW or six 7kW charging posts. Also remember 50kW DC rapid chargers are a lot more expensive to install than 7kW AC posts)

 

It's very simple really:

- Put rapid chargers at anywhere that will operate like petrol station, where the owner is actively monitoring and will move the vehicle on completion. Charging comes first here.

- Put destination chargers at destinations where there is no expectation to move the vehicle. Owner wonders off and charging is secondary here.

- If you are not able to charge or didn't charge enough at destination, fall back to rapid charging network en-route. This is why readily available hugely over-built rapid charging hubs are important on trunk roads.

 

I'm not sure any supermarket/gym/garden centre visitor will drop what they are doing to move their EV........

34 minutes ago, roottoot said:

Those driving an EV that needs to get on a 22 / 45 kW AC charger to get charged @ public charger and on their way get fed up of those that sit parked on them for hours that could just Rapid charge on a CCS or Type 2 7 kW charger.

 

All these hoping about 'grazing' and trying out chargers are a total PITA, as are crappy chargers ans Apps and Not Spots.

 

<snip>

Fed up or not, destination chargers are designed for cars to be parked up CHARGING for hours. It may be a PITA to you, but they are not doing anything wrong. There is no reason why anyone shouldn't use a Type 2 charger if it is appropriate. Especially if by doing so they are not blocking a rapid charger.

If there are 40 odd 7kW, 8 22 kW posts and only 4 CCS and 45 kW tethered AC and a lazy driver just parks their small or big battery car for hours on the AC charger it is easy to see why angry charger police hit the emergency stop button on them.      CHARGER RAGE / full on going mental is a thing.. 

 

 

It takes someone that does not give a damn or is clueless to put their car on the AC for hours on the only 4 chargers that are tethered when they have a huge choice of bays, but that would require some effort to use their own cable. 

 

Part of the issue is the cards not reading and no numbers on the chargers so starting by the app is an issue.  

 

Edited 13 April, 20224 yr by roottoot

So you are complaining about a very specific case, when everyone else is speaking in general terms.  👍

Channel 5 tonight at 7pm there's a doc titled 'Should I Buy an Electric Car?'

 

Might be worth a watch for those interested.

Given that C5 were casting around on twitter for people with bad experiences of charging, I expect a hatchet job.

@Luckypants  I am talking about the issue others have with muppets that could not care less.

This is an issue affecting others i see and at many locations now.  eg Larger Hubs which generally are @ Park & Rides.

 

I have no wish to be getting on an AC charger when travelling places and just pulling in to charge,

i just need to sometimes go on them while waiting for a CCS to be available.

That gives plenty time to check around and see just how long other vehicles have sat on chargers.

 

It will obviously not be the same for those not in Scotland or even in Scotland where there are overstay charges or the need to pay to charge. 

 

Sometimes i am charging & that might be where there are only a couple of Rapid chargers and someone arrives, starts charging and gets collected.

They do not go to the Slow chargers,

Hours later or even the next day i am back charging and the car is still plugged in maybe with the charger cut out, or the car having taken very little of a charge.

This is only too common in Scotland.

Edited 13 April, 20224 yr by roottoot

10 minutes ago, Luckypants said:

Given that C5 were casting around on twitter for people with bad experiences of charging, I expect a hatchet job.

I don't follow them so had no idea but thanks