Electric car chargers

[pirate]

Just wondered if anyone has seen the advert for the new Fiat 500E...
If you read the small print at the bottom it says you can charge it enough in a few minutes to do 30 miles, using an 84kw charger...probably not a domestic installation then...
However, on a 13A plug it only takes 19 hours to charge...
There's a few questions in my mind about this, but please say what you think.

 

[pc1966]

Ah, the old Nokia phones that you could charge just once a month!

Realistically EV will need a lot of charging points due to the serious impracticalities of rapid charging on a grand scale. My issue just now is without them being provided by the council, etc, on public roads I have nowhere I can park & charge near my own home or at many of my family/friends, as they mostly lack their own driveway. Only occasionally do I need more than 100 miles in one go so daily EV range is not an issue for me, but for those longer trips I would definitely need charging points along the way I could rely on being accessible and in working condition.

 

[UNG]

I think that you're still trying to shoe-horn the day-to-day running of an EV into the same profile of weekly fill-ups with diesel. The two things are not the same.

Imagine if you ran your mobile phone in the same way... expecting to re-charge it once a week !

In reality... EV users will re-charge more frequently in a number of different places/ways. Home/Workplace/Kerbside/Destination/Hotels/Gym car park/Mistress/Pub etc... they will not ALL be reliant on a fixed 'service station' network such as we have for diesel/petrol.

It's all a big change... and constantly developing/improving.

Rose tinted glasses they work every time for some as they keep clutching at straws

Would that be the mobile phone that has an 80+Kw battery or the one that can be charged from a pocket sized boost pack if needed

The assumption that it will be so easy to pull into a car park and plug in to one those charge points that everyone else has beaten you to

Charging at home when you are a two or three car family will be really practical

They are suggesting power could be clawed back from EV's that are on charge at peak load times how will you know if you have been charging someone else's EV and your EV has not got that full battery that you need for the journey that day

 

[brianmoooore]

, but for those longer trips I would definitely need charging points along the way I could rely on being accessible and in working condition.

Presumably there will be apps. that tell you this, in the same way as I already use to find working LPG pumps for my car when away from my home area. Big difference is that I can also run on petrol if the need arises.

 

[littlespark]

Zap-map.com

Should give availability of public chargers, not quite in real-time

 

[brianmoooore]

Zap-map.com

Should give availability of public chargers, not quite in real-time

Forgot about that one - and it actually lists my charge point.

 

[telectrix]

we're doomed. back to gas bags on top of the van like in 1940.

 

[brianmoooore]

we're doomed. back to gas bags on top of the van like in 1940.

OK by me. Plenty of cowsh*t around here to make methane, and my car will run on it with no significant mods except to the fuel tank..

 

[littlespark]

OK by me. Plenty of cowsh*t around here to make methane, and my car will run on it with no significant mods except to the fuel tank..

Problem is there’s going to be less and less cows when we all go vegan

 

[telectrix]

Problem is there’s going to be less and less cows when we all go vegan

opposite. when loads go vegan, more for us carnivores. and should bring the price of a sirloin down if supply exceeds demand. suppose we could send a few of the extras to Africa, instead of having to watch the £3/month parasites.

 

[Intoelectrics]

I guess the obvious solution is to just have a s**t load of charging points at every available opportunity.

Either way, some fat cat will find a way to exploit it, and make a load of dosh. I suspect supermarkets and similar venues, will have pay and play points at every parking space, where you just plug in for the duration of your shopping experience and then get charged (pun intended) for the duration of your charging time.

Whatever is introduced, the younger generation will just accept it as the norm and adjust their lifestyles around it, while us lot will continue to moan about "progress" and talk about the old days with fondness and nostalgia.

 

[Zerax]

It'll be interesting to see what the government will do to recoup all that lost revenue from falling petrol/diesel sales. Tax on mileage with some sort of gizmo in each car ? Whack up the annual Road Fund Licence ? It's like 25 Billion a year right now !

 

[DPG]

It'll be interesting to see what the government will do to recoup all that lost revenue from falling petrol/diesel sales. Tax on mileage with some sort of gizmo in each car ? Whack up the annual Road Fund Licence ? It's like 25 Billion a year right now !

They'll have to start doing some sort of tax based on mileage I think yes. I know it's been spoken about a few times over recent years, and it be honest it makes sense.

 

[Intoelectrics]

They'll have to start doing some sort of tax based on mileage I think yes. I know it's been spoken about a few times over recent years, and it be honest it makes sense.

Yeah this is one that always bugs me, go out and buy a low emissions car @ £0 road tax, and do 15,000 miles a year. Buy a performance car and do 1500 miles a year @ £450 road tax. Its the government's way of making more cash and using "carbon reduction incentive" as a smoke screen.

Yes I know you can potentially do the same mileage in a performance car but -

Road tax should be abolished, we already pay massive amounts of tax on fuel and this easily equates to mileage and vehicle performance. The more miles or the bigger the engine, the more fuel used = the more tax already payed... Charging your electric vehicle should offer the same "fair" tax payment, more miles you do = the more your vehicle requires charging = the more tax you pay... simple.

 

[Zerax]

Yeah this is one that always bugs me, go out and buy a low emissions car @ £0 road tax, and do 15,000 miles a year. Buy a performance car and do 1500 miles a year @ £450 road tax. Its the government's way of making more cash and using "carbon reduction incentive" as a smoke screen.

Yes I know you can potentially do the same mileage in a performance car but -

Road tax should be abolished, we already pay massive amounts of tax on fuel and this easily equates to mileage and vehicle performance. The more miles or the bigger the engine, the more fuel used = the more tax already payed... Charging your electric vehicle should offer the same "fair" tax payment, more miles you do = the more your vehicle requires charging = the more tax you pay... simple.

I always grimace whenever I hear the word "fair" being used... mostly by politicians of course. It is, obviously, a totally utopian concept and highly subjective. What may seem fair to you, may not seen fair to me, and vice versa. Taxes are, by their very nature, vile and disgusting, however government need tax revenues to pay for managing the affairs of state, defence of the realm etc. etc.

I certainly agree that we should be matching the tax revenues against the costs... 'he who uses it, pays for it'. I guess the tricky part is actually administering the system, and anything run by the state is highly inefficient, prone to fraud and expensive.

 

[Intoelectrics]

I always grimace whenever I hear the word "fair" being used... mostly by politicians of course. It is, obviously, a totally utopian concept and highly subjective. What may seem fair to you, may not seen fair to me, and vice versa. Taxes are, by their very nature, vile and disgusting, however government need tax revenues to pay for managing the affairs of state, defence of the realm etc. etc.

I certainly agree that we should be matching the tax revenues against the costs... 'he who uses it, pays for it'. I guess the tricky part is actually administering the system, and anything run by the state is highly inefficient, prone to fraud and expensive.

I'm an idealist, though this is never achievable and does often frustrate me. As you say everyone has their own view on fairness.

Governments aren't about fair they are about money, always have been always will be. What ever the decision made on electric vehicles or any other major enterprise will inevitably result in some greedy corporation, government, individual... exploiting the masses and making a bucket load of cash, and selling it as "good for the environment", " for the future of our children" " saving the polar bears" blah blah blah...

I have nothing against doing any of these, I want a better future for my kids and the animals and the Earth and so on... I just don't like it when someone uses these as an excuse to make money off the poor folk who actually suffer in the long run.