That strategy when going to events like I go to, could mean that 10 minutes translates to over an hour longer gaining entry to the event. 

People are different. Whatever works for you.

 

Another strategy is to start driving back and take a comfort break half way home. 300 miles EV can do 240 miles in any weather, that translates to ~4 hours of motorway/A road driving. So will only need charging if return trip is over 2 hours on motorway/A roads. 2 hours outbound in early hours will be more like 3 hours on return due to traffic. Break up a 3 hour drive into two 1.5 hours + comfort break is perfectly reasonable thing to do TBH.

 

But as the saying goes, early bird catches the worm. I like to be the early bird to avoid Greater London traffic.

When I go to these events, gates open normally at 8:00am and there will already be about a mile queue waiting for them to open, parking on the airfield and then going through security checking and being searched, and your camera equipment examined etc can also take up to an hour, through 4 separate gateways across the airfield, with up to around 5 queues at each security gate, can you gauge just how many people and cars turn up at these events. Then you have about 1 to 2 mile walking once past security to reach a decent spot on the crowd line for photography purposes.

 

Flying starts at 10:00am and even when arriving at the gates about 7:00am after a 2-hour drive, you can still be clearing the security checks at 9:30. So is a 5;00am an early enough start for you? I already am an early bird in order to catch that worm

 

Flying stops at about 5:30pm, and then you have to return to your car, and it can then take an hour or more to exit the airfield. So by the time you get on the road, rush hour traffic has gone, so you normally take the same 2-hour drive home. So I take a comfort break on the airfield and let the others fight their way out of the jams.

 

Now if they could somehow set up about a thousand destination chargers on the airfield, then EV's could be charging while the show is on. Trying to get onto a charger on the way home, from the event is going to be difficult within a large radius of the event as many others will desperate to also charge.

 

Until they can either greatly enhance the range from an EV, or the infrastructure is significantly expanded and enhanced, EVs will struggle.

 

To give you a flavour of the size of these events, RIAT attracts over 200,000 spectators and these are only the officially counted one who brought tickets. There are many locations dotted around the edge of these airfields that become temporary camping sites and loads of people camp there and view through the fence, or just rock up, park on these campsites and view the display without going onto the airfield, so there could be many more thousands trying to get home.

Edited 6 December, 20232 yr by Graham Butcher

The RIAT, held at Fairford Gloucester, I worked there for a few years as a customs officer based at Gloucester as the RIAT asked us to attend to do clearance work.

Saw two Mig 29s hit each other and pilots eject, cool. Lucky no one in the crowd was killed that day.

Stopped one European air force selling wine out of the back of a C130 making some extra money, naughty, naughty,  

Examples of portable charging station used by Audi at events to charge cars below vid. 

Even better one available now there must be as the tech improves about 10% per year.........

 

 

Queues can be bad. Quite possible to have charging trucks to top up EVs, seen them used https://electrek.co/2020/05/06/audi-crazy-container-electric-car-charging-system-with-batteries/

Audi lists some numbers about the charging system:

• 4,500 second life li-ion battery cells
• 1,200kW total charging power
• 1,000kWh storage capacity
• 20 charging points
• 15 minutes ultra-fast charging

 

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by lol-lol

Yes I know about those Audi chargers, they won't use them because they will reduce parking space and force even more pressure on parking off site in adjoining fields which flood when it rains.

Yes that crash was bad, Farnborough had a nasty one in 1952.

 

My friend has done some commenting at RIAT in between his usual football commentaries. 

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by Graham Butcher

 

 

McMaster might have learned the lesson the hard way.  Depreciation.  

 

Stupid to talk about RRP & taxes now and depreciation from that.

It is what you paid and what you can get.

Keep it 10 years and it is cheap Premium Car motoring. 

Much as with any car. Keep it 15 years and even better.

 

 

 

 

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by Rooted

"Best electric car charging stations 2024: UK's top charger networks rated by EV owners"

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/features/352089/best-electric-car-charging-stations-2024-uks-top-charger-networks-rated-ev-owners

Unsurprisingly, Tesla got 1 spot for every metric except location of chargers. They are at back of hotel car park in some locations. 

 

Also came across this site for those interested. Public charging per-mile and per-kWh summarised:

https://leccy.net/charging/public#mile

Ridiculous talking about Charge Place Scotland as a Network and no way is it owned by the Scottish Government.

 

There are 32 Local Authorities in Scotland. 

There are chargers used from various manufacturers owned or on land from many owners not just councils.

There is maintenance done by various companies.

Currently SWARCO manage CPS on behalf of the Scottish Government, Tax Payers, Road Users. 

The Scottish Government throw money Transport Scotland,s way. A Government Agency.

 

The give funding and grants for Hubs and Chargers, they do not own them. 

 

It is a horlicks.  It is lots of millions going the way of some.

SWARCO have a bit of a monopoly a BIG bit (Too much & needs investigating.) with the CPS contract just renewed, and then the e-Volt charger manufacturing and SWARCO Maintenance contracts.

But Local Authorities can use Architects, then the Consultants & the contractors / Builders, Installers, Equipment Providers & Maintenance from wherever, If there are choices which there are not that many of.

..........................

This is pretty much correct.    & if Scotland had a good Mobile phone Network then SWARCO / CPS might have good communications with chargers compatible to LIVE In use, available, out of service. But they do not.

Actually the Call Centre / Handlers are pretty useless when there is Communication issues between Broughty Ferry and a Charging Hub, 

even for a Customer / Drivers Mobile phone and Broughty Ferry.  There are Charging Hubs / Chargers in locations with crap mobile reception.

Then the blame the Car.   These cars and bad for getting connected.  All the guff gets given out.  Shut the windows, lock the doors etc.

Well it is P!ssing down, there are people in the car and and if the charger is not communicating say so and say move on.

Or if the chargers has been reported day after day and week after week do not allow the Host to allow the maintenance to take the P!ss or not even contact maintenance.

?

Who did back shop for BP Pulse (Polar) while they had the Contract, would that have been SWARCO?  Yes.

 

*** RFID cards cost £12.00,  you can buy more than 1.***

 

 

 

 

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by Rooted

38 minutes ago, Rooted said:

Ridiculous talking about Charge Place Scotland as a Network and no way is it owned by the Scottish Government.

There are 32 Local Authorities in Scotland. 

There are chargers used from various manufacturers owned or on land from many owners not just councils.

There is maintenance done by various companies.

Currently SWARCO manage CPS on behalf of the Scottish Government, Tax Payers, Road Users. 

The Scottish Government throw money Transport Scotland,s way. A Government Agency.

The give funding and grants for Hubs and Chargers, they do not own them. 

It is a horlicks.  It is lots of millions going the way of some.

SWARCO have a bit of a monopoly a BIG bit (Too much & needs investigating.) with the CPS contract just renewed, and then the e-Volt charger manufacturing and SWARCO Maintenance contracts.

But Local Authorities can use Architects, then the Consultants & the contractors / Builders, Installers, Equipment Providers & Maintenance from wherever, If there are choices which there are not that many of.

This is pretty much correct.

 

Swarco are the company who have just put in about 100 charge points at the Worcester University just across the severn in the western part of Worcester, it is where MuckMaster and Geoff nice but dim went to a few days ago, never have so many youtube minutes been filmed with so little actual worthwhile content though the Columbian coffee shop did look nice and more worth a trip over to see.

 

Big question unanswered is do the charge points take contactless, American Express preferably ?

I have one RFID card and that is the Electroverse/Octopus one.  Do not want to get another one for any network.  One card to rule them all (until I get a TESLA card of course).

   

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by lol-lol

@lol-lol I think you are talking more about the waitress than the coffee 😉

6 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

@lol-lol I think you are talking more about the waitress than the coffee 😉

 

They serve coffee ?

My side of the river.

Must pop in there for a look around and try the fare.

 

Consider a liaison customs post in Bogata one time, free armoured car with the job !!

 

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by lol-lol

Electroverse card certainly seems like one card to rule them all, including travelling in mainland Europe. Their cards are free and I've got 2, one for each car's glovebox. 

Also worth having the Tesla app if not driving a Tesla vehicle, for those older V2 and V3 locations. V4 location takes contactless directly. 

Only exception around here are Podpoint, BP Pulse and Gridserve. All those rapid charger takes contactless. (unsure if take Amex, sorry) 

 

I really can't see the need for any membership complexity these days. Everything is now miles better than a few years ago. 

 

Except if going to Scotland, CPS card seems would be useful, from the look of things mentioned above about mobile signals.  

Just yesterday, I've created CPS account because it now says cost of the card will be charged in the first invoice. I didn't add bank card, requested the RFID card. But now it's asking me to add a bank card to being using the network. 🙄  We shall see if my RFID get delivered. 

@wyx087 It is £12,  why would they send it if no way of getting the £12?

They need the bank account for taking the payment from using the RFID card or the App. Direct Debit by invoice.

 

If you do not want a card you can Tap & Pay but many many many chargers do not have Tap & Pay including not that old ones no matter the spin they put out or have others doing.

 

Payment is from as much as about 6 weeks after the usage sometimes.   

Where you can tap and go for payments with Debit or Credit it can be quick sometimes.  I do that in Edinburgh if the hopeless BP Pulse chargers at Park & Rides are to not mess about too much.

 

I like the CPS Account for the errors.  errors my way like not getting recognised as due money.

Also if there is a connection charge of £1 or £1.50 and it does not connect i ask to get that removed.

 

Not been able to get back into my CPS account since the night they suspended us all. Must have been a hack attack.   

Not caring as on my phone i have a record of what i used where and they tell me 2 weeks ahead how much they are taking for the previous month.

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by Rooted

I just want the RFID in my collection in case I venture up there. I don't want to pay until I actually do go, hence haven't added bank card yet. Physical card delivery takes a few weeks, adding a bank card online can be done the night before I travel, or even when I get there. 

 

Electroverse sends out cards for free. 

Chargemaster/Polar used to send out cards for free with their free membership trial. I have a few  

There's also 2 other cards, I forgot the company, used during early days. 

 

It's always useful to have the cards than not have them when needed. 

1 hour ago, wyx087 said:

Just yesterday, I've created CPS account because it now says cost of the card will be charged in the first invoice. I didn't add bank card, requested the RFID card. But now it's asking me to add a bank card to being using the network. 🙄  We shall see if my RFID get delivered. 

I did this in 2021. I set up the direct debit and was not charged for the card. The card will be charged for on first invoice after charging. As it turns out, I was not charged for the card on my first invoice, I have no idea why. My theory is first invoice was more than 12 months after setting it up, so had a free card renewal at some point. Getting the card is a good idea, if you never use it you most likely will not be charged for it.

I have an Electroverse card, 2 x CPS cards, Shell Recharge, a BP Pulse that will not work & they will not replace and i am not chasing them anymore. I will tell Motability again how useless they are.

 

I have the Card from Motability that allows me to use all those they partnered with and they will invoice me. So that includes those above.

I have a few key ring cards including LiFe EV.  All just sitting in a Sun Visor card holder. 

 

Apps.

Tesla non Tesla.

BP Pulse.

CPS.

Charge Master.

Electroverse.

EV Charging.

evyve.

LiFe EV.

Osprey.   to be continued.   InstaVolt, MGF Connect. PodPoint. Vend Electric.

 

Then. ABRP. PlugShare, ZapMap, MINI. WAZE. 

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by Rooted

That is way over complicated, they all need to get behind the simplest system, normal debit and credit cards, miles better. 

Not complicated.

That was just stuff handy to download at different times 4 years back

CPS card & App or tap credit or Debit.     But just incase the Apps are there.  Check prices as were, as are.

Now the card from Motability can pull it altogether. 

 

Mobile is not reliable in lots of areas,

27 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

That is way over complicated, they all need to get behind the simplest system, normal debit and credit cards, miles better. 

In GB (no idea about Ireland), you only need contactless. Regulations for this have been in place for many months. 

 

It's quite simple: 

All rapids take contactless. But that need mobile coverage, so RFID cards are known to be more reliable. 

 

Get Electroverse card if you want a small discount on most networks, also works with many in mainland Europe. No pre-auth. 

Get Tesla app if you want to charge on their network with their older V2 and V3, they are cheapest most reliable network. Works across the world. 

Get CPS card if going to Scotland. 😅 They do take contactless as per regs, but Scotland is huge and mobile signals don't reach everywhere. 

 

For apps, I only have 2 for finding EV charge points: 

Electroverse  (to quickly find rapid charger hubs using my filter with min chargers per location) 

Zapmap  (I use it to find destination chargers, no filter) 

 

I use ABRP website on computer the same way I use Google maps when checking out somewhere new. 

Some people like WattsApp, replacing ABRP and Electroverse apps. There's also PlugShare, that's more US and Europe focused. 

 

 

 

Thanks very much Lucky, I'll add in payment card and re-request RFID next year, if nothing turns up over Xmas. It was £10 up front last time I checked, which was in 2017/2018 when I was requesting every single card I may possibly ever need. 

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by wyx087

This is a quite interesting discussion that is taking place in Australia at the highest level, and it is one that I have thought about before, in areas of sparse population and subjected to wildfires, putting lives at a greater risk than is necessary, any solutions out there?

 

 

How do petrol stations operate without electricity or refineries etc etc  

Australians beware. 

 

Grangemouth Refinery has it,s own power station and uses the electricity of a large town or even a city.

It uses oil and gas to generate electricity to operating the cracking plant to process oil. 

 

 

I had not seen this before.

Lots of work needing doing and Main Dealerships to be avoided like the plague. 

 

 

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by Rooted

1 hour ago, @Lee said:

How do petrol stations operate without electricity or refineries etc etc  

 

1 hour ago, @Lee said:

How do petrol stations operate without electricity or refineries etc etc  

What has petrol stations or refineries got to with ranchers etc living in the outback of Australia?

 

Has nobody been on or worked on farms, I have done lots of times, and it is indeed very common for our local UK farmers to have tanks for diesel mounted high enough to allow the flow of fuel by gravity as per the photo, and that is what the lady in the video is actually saying. With the worldwide push for EV cars to be the norm everywhere, even in the outback of Oz, and especially in the areas prone to wildfires, an EV car could be a death sentence if you need to escape a bush fire and your EV has too little charge to make it to safety 🙄

 

It only takes a little bit of thought to understand the reason for their concern, surely?

 

 

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by Graham Butcher

How long do you think those tanks will keep a farm working?

In the outback you say? So plenty of sunlight or wind available in Australia

 

40 minutes ago, Rooted said:

Australians beware. 

 

Grangemouth Refinery has it,s own power station and uses the electricity of a large town or even a city.

It uses oil and gas to generate electricity to operating the cracking plant to process oil. 

 

 

I had not seen this before.

Lots of work needing doing and Main Dealerships to be avoided like the plaque. 

 

 

I have been following James & Kate for some time now, and it is shocking what some dealerships try to get away with.