UK Wasting electricity with electric cars?

[Bob Geldoff1234]

So over the past few years we have seen the demise of 8 foot fluorescent tubes,50 watt halogen bulbs,500 watt floodlights and making tv standby power even more tiny.
This seems to pale into insignificance when electric cars are needing at least 7kw for 8 hours.
Now I don't know about you but when I'm in the shower for 10 minutes I'm thinking this is costing me a bit at 8.5 kw.So to leave 7kw on for 8 hours is madness.It makes a joke of all the energy savings over the past few years.What do you guys think?

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[Zerax]

Having never owned an electric car , but how long would it hold a full charge for ...?

If you don't use it.. I'd guess at years... are you thinking of buying one and not using it ???

 

[Zerax]

Another answer might be to have a standardised replaceable slide in battery system

That's not needed anymore... fast charging would be almost as quick... and there are LTO chemistry cells now... that can charge in like 10 mins !... In any case... this whole range myth has now been largely busted.

 

[pc1966]

That's not needed anymore... fast charging would be almost as quick... and there are LTO chemistry cells now... that can charge in like 10 mins !... In any case... this whole range myth has now been largely busted.

It is not the range, it is the lack of charging for folk like myself in blocks of flats without designated parking places, etc.

A quick-change battery would allow a 5 min stop at a "petrol station" to get replenished, and also no worries about battery life/cost as that would be factored in to the cost of a "refuel".

Putting changers in lampposts is not going to be a great solution. Not just the cost to change cables, etc, but the percentage that can use them UK wide. Typically you can get 4 cars parked between posts but only 2 at most connected, and many streets have only posts on alternating sides, etc. It would cost far more to upgrade 10/20M lampposts UK-wide than to have 10k petrol stations upgraded.

 

[snowhead]

Another answer might be to have a standardised replaceable slide in battery system

They've got a drive through battery swop in China

 

[Rockingit]

They've already solved that one... with on-street chargers... https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/oct/05/electric-car-ways-to-charge

Not sure about that! The technology might exist, but the infrastructure still doesn't. Take the lampost idea, for example, that's roughly one point per every dozen cars down most streets. So that's 11 people unlucky and a fight about to break out. If the battle to find a parking space close to your home wasn't bad enough already, it's now been made twice as hard again. Also - who pay's for this??

Don't get me wrong - I'm ALL for striving towards zero carbon and pollution, I just don't think this is the way to do it. The sceptic in me just says this is yet another dodgy back-hander by the Govt.

Hydrogen cells - now THERE's an idea!

 

[Zerax]

It is not the range, it is the lack of charging for folk like myself in blocks of flats without designated parking places, etc.

A quick-change battery would allow a 5 min stop at a "petrol station" to get replenished, and also no worries about battery life/cost as that would be factored in to the cost of a "refuel".

Putting changers in lampposts is not going to be a great solution. Not just the cost to change cables, etc, but the percentage that can use them UK wide. Typically you can get 4 cars parked between posts but only 2 at most connected, and many streets have only posts on alternating sides, etc. It would cost far more to upgrade 10/20M lampposts UK-wide than to have 10k petrol stations upgraded.

I'm not saying that there are no charging issues everyone... of course, you'll always find examples of people that cannot use any of say 30 different options.... BUT... things are changing.... woefully slowly... but changing. In the future, they'll be solutions that we haven't even dreamt of yet...

 

[Zerax]

The sceptic in me just says this is yet another dodgy back-hander by the Govt.

Well... there's no doubt that the government are reacting to what the media (and hence the general public) demand... the media across the world are screaming about greenhouse gases, pollution and destroying the planet ! (quite why the same media support colonising (and then destroying) another planet (Mars) just shows how misguided they are) So the government are trying to please the media with the EV revolution.

Of course... there are going to be some shocks (no pun intended) ahead... like when EV owners get hit with taxes to make up for the loss of taxes on ICE vehicles.

 

[Wilko]

Hydrogen cells - now THERE's an idea!

I will have way tooo much fun with these

 

[Zerax]

Hydrogen cells - now THERE's an idea!

Agreed ! I think that's definitely part of a proper solution. The clue is that Elon Musk has totally rubbished the idea !

 

[OnlQQker]

Yo Pirate, we need those nukes!!
Going a bit off topic here. Wind power is increasing BUT, like solar, it's also not steady. A drop in wind here, clouds there and output drops. Look what happened last year (was it last year?) when Little Barford CCGT came offline just as a big wind farm (can't remember which) tripped out. There was a major blackout. To try and compensate for these sudden drops in production there are at least two sites that I have worked at that are converting old closed CCGT sites into 'flywheels'. Basically the turbines are being replaced by huge flywheels. When everything is running these sites consume electricity, the generators acting as motors spinning these flywheels. If there's a sudden drop in wind or solar then they change arround, the flywheel turning the generator and put power onto the grid. We never needed that with coal.
As for salmon, I do enjoy a nice bit of smoked salmon or a nice chunk of salmon wrapped in foil with some butter, chucked in the oven then served with a fresh salad while looking out at Hinkley Point power station from my chalet at Dunster Beach near Minehead

Oh, and JW has got a really boring voice!

The Dunster Christmas lights are something else aren't they?

I usually jump on the free bus from Minehead to Dunster to visit at Xmas.
My sister lives up the mountain end of Minehead, I've fell down that mountain many a time whilst trying to make my way back up it after consuming to much alcohol in The Old Ship Aground based below!

 

[Moley]

I haven't been down there yet. The site is in lock down so we can't get on. I'm hoping to get down to check things out next week. I can't even do the falling down bit on the bike. The most exciting ride I get these days is from Dunster beach along the seafront to Blueanchor and back

 

[snowhead]

Rockingit​

Take the lampost idea, for example, that's roughly one point per every dozen cars down most streets. Also - who pay's for this??

The Rent a roof P.V mob have now moved on to rent a lamp post, rent a piece of pavement and rent the right to install in private, public and supermarket car parks.
The electricity is paid for by the user presumably with a mark up.

 

[OnlQQker]

I haven't been down there yet. The site is in lock down so we can't get on. I'm hoping to get down to check things out next week. I can't even do the falling down bit on the bike. The most exciting ride I get these days is from Dunster beach along the seafront to Blueanchor and back

The other direction is very scenic, especially Porlock Weir and beyond. Minehead to Combe Martin - South West Coast Path

 

[plugsandsparks]

I think this is the way forward, solves all problems.

 

[Markyd]

So you live in the city,plug your car into a lampost and a load of stupid little ----s come along and unplug all the cars.....gonna happen