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[w3526602]

Hi,

Program on BBC TV, about the future of charging your car will shown on BBC EAST tonight at 20.00hrs.

Not my problem, as I have room to park up to six cars in my front garden, all within reach of a house wall. The bloke two doors down, already charges his TESLA, while it stands in his drive. The charger is nailed to his house wall, next to his meter box. It looks an easy job, but you may be required to employ a professional.

Chargers are listed on Ebay.

602

PS.  Advice is, if you are using a public charger, do not try to squeeze extra Amps into your battery. The charging rate slows as your battery nears FULL, but you will still be charged by the hour. Can anybody here expand on that?

Thinks ... could this justify demanding the right to have a second dropped kerb? Plus another for the Carer's car(s)?

602

[LN11AAB498A]

Having watched the programme, all my beliefs about ev`s were confirmed. The presenter drove one on a long journey before ending up in Scotland where, ironically, he then lit an open fire of carbon rich logs 

Testing out various charging points on his way, and although in favour of ev`s, he was clearly annoyed by all the aggravation of finding chargers that worked, downloading an App & filling in pages of stuff just so he could pay, and then having to sit and wait while the charge completed.

One lady showed how she had to park across the pavement, completely blocking it, and passing a charging cable through her house window.

Someone in the industry, I think, appeared and bemoaned that Government hadn`t invested enough (hadn`t spent enough public money) in getting this all done.

An unbiased documentary, which failed to instil any confidence in this ev race and of course that wasn`t its purpose anyway.

[Ian F]

I agree Fred, and I did find the open fire on the beach very amusing. Surely that must have been deliberate, but what were they trying to say?

A further point which was ignored I think, was that all of the problems related to new vehicles? What additional grief when the batteries become a little old and tired, and how much do they cost to replace?

I guess EV makers are appealing to folk who pass their cars on after a few years, unlike most folk on this forum perhaps.

Ian F

[GlenAnderson]

Why this obsession with charging at home?

I can understand the convenience, and that there might be cost benefits long term, but nobody has a petrol station in their garden.

The beauty of EVs is that they can, potentially, be charged anywhere there’s an outlet; and they don’t rely on the huge amount of behind the scenes infrastructure that’s required to freight diesel and petrol around.

Like everything, it’s horses for courses. Most people, doing short runs, and looking for their next lease or PCP, would probably be significantly better off going electric. Individuals like myself, who buy a car outright and then keep it well beyond its design life, maybe not so much. I am, however, seriously considering a Citroen Ami for hopping around town, particularly as my lad will be able to drive it at 16 and gain valuable experience and roadsense with a lower risk profile than a moped.

[w3526602]

Hi,

Even now, filling with petrol is a PITA. I usually drive three miles to my most convenient filling station, usually late at night. OK, that's probably down to my Ludite tendencies, and being reluctant to suffer the tortures of walking to, and queuing at the kiosk.,

Very few of my journeys exceed 3 miles, so perhaps a taxi would be sensible, but taxis do not like dogs.

As for a 2CV/Diane, I have already pondered. New (galvanised I think) are available. I suspect that there are many already converted to battery power .... mainly in France .... so there are likely to be conversion kits available. The downside is the cost of project cars, AND the cost of tyres.

About forty years ago, a battery powered Triumph Herald was featured in a specialist magazine ... possibly CUSTOM CAR or CARS AND CONVERSIONS. I cannot remember what motor was fitted, nor what battery set-up, although there was an under-bonnet photograph. The builder seemed happy with the performance, and cost, when driving into town and back, every day.

I am aware of a source of 40hp battery powered motors, fitted with what looks like a flange that would bolt up to a standard Hardy Spicer unit. Circa £500, last time I looked.

Remember that the very early 80" Series Ones used a 46bhp petrol engine. What was the bhp of the early diesels?

Does anybody here aware of any caravan orientated forums that have discussed the towing limits of battery powered cars? Or even a 2CV?

602

Several menbers of the Hillman Imp club have claimed that they travelled several miles after running out of petrol, by abusing the starter motors, and the 12 volt batteries fitted. "Pinch of salt" time?

[w3526602]

Hi,

Correction.

I think the battery powered traction motor is about £5,000 (five thousand pounds).

Sorry.

Would anybody be able to comment on the realistic possibility of manufacturing a dummy "back end of an engine with a main bearing" that could be bolted to the front of a  gearbox, to support a drive-flange slid onto the the splines of the gearbox primary (clutch) shaft. Idle thoughts about putting an electric motor inside an IC/CI engine?

Similar guestion about making a front plate to fit direct to the transfer box?

602

[Bradfordseries2]

Why this obsession with charging at home?

I can understand the convenience, and that there might be cost benefits long term, but nobody has a petrol station in their garden.

I would imagine the home charging obsession is due to the fact that cars generally sit unused overnight, which is an ideal time to take advantage of this idle time by being able to plug it in and not be inconvenienced through the day, while trying to go about your business by the time taken to charge the batteries.

Nobody needs a petrol station in their garden, it’s a ridiculous comparison, which I’ve seen bandied around quite a lot.

[w3526602]

Nobody needs a petrol station in their garden,

Hi,

Agreed! But everybody needs a supply of "mobility" fuel readily available.

More and more people are converting to battery power, which takes time to load. I don't fancy queuing up while the bloke in front charges his car.

Asking out of curiosity .... what is to stop somebody yanking a public cable out of my car, and plugging it into his car. What is to stop a joker simply yanking the cable out of my car ... and walking away?

As mentioned previously, public meters charge by the hour (or so I'm informed). It seems that you are best running your battery low, then recharging to half full, to get the most "bangs for your buck".

602

[GlenAnderson]

I would imagine the home charging obsession is due to the fact that cars generally sit unused overnight, which is an ideal time to take advantage of this idle time by being able to plug it in and not be inconvenienced through the day, while trying to go about your business by the time taken to charge the batteries.

Nobody needs a petrol station in their garden, it’s a ridiculous comparison, which I’ve seen bandied around quite a lot.

They sit unused for most of their lives. Supermarket carparks, outside work etc, and that's as much an opportunity to charge them in their downtime as outside the owners' houses.

I don't think it's a ridiculous comparison, I think it's ridiculous that "I can't fill it up to do 300/400/500 miles in a few minutes" is used as a valid argument when most people seldom drive more than twenty or thirty miles at a time before leaving the car parked somewhere for hours.

I think, on a forum dedicated to vehicle enthusiasts, we're not really best placed to make decisions about what "normal" people do with their cars.

 

[Wittsend]

Nobody needs a petrol station in their garden,

Asking out of curiosity .... what is to stop somebody yanking a public cable out of my car, and plugging it into his car. What is to stop a joker simply yanking the cable out of my car ... and walking away?

As mentioned previously, public meters charge by the hour (or so I'm informed). It seems that you are best running your battery low, then recharging to half full, to get the most "bangs for your buck".

602

2 very good questions which need answering by the eco zealots, it's going to take years for the infra structure to catch up.

Nothing to stop "yobs" playing around with the charging cable - pulling the plug and dropping it in a bucket of water or putting an axe through the cable - general larking around and with viscous nasty neighbours
On street charging is a nightmare scenario - people tripping over cables and putting in accident claims.

2nd point - halfway down the motorway and you call in at the services for a top up.
It ain't going to happen. Not enough charging points.
It takes so long to charge up that you will exceed the parking time and get a £100 "fine" 

You couldn't make this rubbish up.

Commuting to work - yes - you charge up at work, you'll pay through the nose as some already have to pay to park at work.
But then that's not a problem as we are all working from home now 

Shopping trips - yes - you charge up back at home - assuming you have an off-road drive to do it.

Perhaps this is why sales of EVs are falling

[GHOBHW]

I'd like to see the terraced houses here try on street charging, first off you can't even park outside your own home 90% of the time, the streets are so small only half of the street can get their cars on anyway.

to me the whole electric car situation seems to be aimed at those with money and space. everyone else gets blown off.
good if you work in an office with good parking in city/town car parks all day.

an 'average' working man commuting in his van/car won't be parked on some main street, usually its in some back lot or a space on a site at work, used to run around carrying things back and forth all day long.

plus is there even an electric vehicle that can tow weight all day long yet?

[LN11AAB498A]

...... but nobody has a petrol station in their garden.....The beauty of EVs is that they can, potentially, be charged anywhere there’s an outlet; and they don’t rely on the huge amount of behind the scenes infrastructure that’s required to freight diesel and petrol around .......

Hi Glen,

You`ll have guessed I`m not in your camp on this one, but fair play, it`s worked for you.

The reason we don`t need a petrol station in the garden is because for the great majority of us, finding one is very easy and quick.

And when I get there, the probability is I won`t have to queue, the pump will work, I know I won`t have to download an App before I can pay, (as did that BBC presenter) and by using Pay at Pump, I`ll be fully charged   & out of there in about 5 minutes.

Your point about the huge amount of infrastructure to get fossil fuel to garages is sound. But you're forgetting, just like the wheel, it is already there, not so ev chargers.

Driving anything other than locally and looking for an ev charger reminds me of running a Disco V8 LPG and hoping to find an outlet without having to go miles out of my way, very stressful.

But it`s about much more than all the faffing about, my real concern is the environmental damage caused by lithium mining and all the associated costs of handling & disposing of old toxic batteries.

And lets not fool ourselves, this is never going to be a long term solution, science technology will develop much better fuels. And for those of us old enough to remember, VHS beat Betamax to the market even though Betamax was widely acknowledged to be the better product, but VHS didn`t last

And when that day comes we will have spent billions of public £ and effort just to make a substandard product work. Eyes need opening because we are all being pushed in one direction, (remember when they encouraged us to use Diesel) why else would they be using public money to subsidise the costs of these vehicles? A subsidy that one day, will have to be paid for - effectively you`re paying for your own discount 
And the reason, essentially it`s all about meeting a political target 

I need a nap 

[Wittsend]

I guess the paradox is a bit like in the old days when petrol powered vehicles were invented and sold to the populous.
In the early days you had to but your petrol from the chemists, in smallish bottles.

Supply & demand I guess, but knowing how sluggish we are in maintaining our infra structures - completing rail electrification. Motorways & bypasses, 40 new hospitals promised years ago, 3rd Heathrow runway, H2S (why not improve the whole rail system), building the extra power stations etc. etc. etc.
Putting in EV charging points everywhere just ain't going to happen in my lifetime.


 

[2286]

I understood that in statute.

Entering on to a motorway with insufficient fuel was an offence.

Is the same true of electric vehicles.

Additionally everything is or hopefully should be tip top when new, vehicle and charging but what happens years down the line when it is approaching sell by, have there been any instances of death or injury specific to electrification ?

[Wittsend]

I don't know ... I don't see having enough fuel on the blue signs at the start of a motorway - no horses & bicycles and mopeds etc. 

At least with conventionally fuelled vehicles you can put a can of fuel in.
EVs would have to be towed somewhere. And what with these so-called smart motorways running out of juice could be a death sentence. They may not be building any more smart motorways, but what about the hundreds (?) of miles we already have