Ubitricity introduces smart charging tariff

[dan_b]

This seems a good idea.

https://ubitricity.com/en/press-release ... k-network/

[John_S]

A good idea, but there maybe unintended consequences.

It allows someone to plug in at 12 noon and postpone the start of charging until after the 4pm to 7pm peak period.

Thus it ties up the charge point unnecessarily for 7 hours. Enough time for someone else to charge up with around 50kWhs. Thus reducing the availability of chargers.

[Yuff]

A good idea, but there maybe unintended consequences.

It allows someone to plug in at 12 noon and postpone the start of charging until after the 4pm to 7pm peak period.

Thus it ties up the charge point unnecessarily for 7 hours. Enough time for someone else to charge up with around 50kWhs. Thus reducing the availability of chargers.

They need many more chargers for this to work imo

[dan_b]

Hmm good point, hadn't thought of that.

A good idea, but there maybe unintended consequences.

It allows someone to plug in at 12 noon and postpone the start of charging until after the 4pm to 7pm peak period.

Thus it ties up the charge point unnecessarily for 7 hours. Enough time for someone else to charge up with around 50kWhs. Thus reducing the availability of chargers.

[AGT]

The problem is, it isn’t just that easy to add more chargers onto existing infrastructure not designed for this loading..

Lack of investment since it was privatised

[Mr Gus]

"The software was originally trialled on 300 charge points in Westminster. Westminster currently have over 1,500 ubitricity lamppost and bollard charge points across the borough" (which they are taking up to 2000 in the borough)

Another scheme which couldn't get any heavier on the "London Bias" (probably pronounced "bus" by local mockney's)

Meanwhile out in the Fen wastelands, war is about to break out as to who gets to use the only charger within the towns locale...


This happened on a day when I'd run out of mazola oil to grease myself up for a body building competition & ran across these folk camped out & hogging our only 2 working chargers within a 5 mile radius

[AGT]

Tonight’s my first octopus go charge, no problems until the yearly subscription for the car app ran out…. And wouldn’t renew at VW’s end for some reason.

So car charger will be switched on manually at 12:30 and then I will look at hacking a Shelley into the EV point when i get around to it.

[dan_b]

The thing is, it is relatively easy to add low power chargers into the existing low voltage network, and it would seem the lamp post local loops were all heavily over-designed for power when they were all running sodium lamps. Therefore when the lamp posts are converted to LED, there's plenty of spare capacity in the system. Lamppost chargers tend to draw 4-5kW max.

The problem is, it isn’t just that easy to add more chargers onto existing infrastructure not designed for this loading..

Lack of investment since it was privatised

[dan_b]

I suppose you could argue that the boroughs who have the greatest need for public on-street charge while you park solutions are those in highly populated cities where off-street parking is minimal/impossible.

Can't blame Westminster for leading on this - other councils/boroughs should be following their lead?

"The software was originally trialled on 300 charge points in Westminster. Westminster currently have over 1,500 ubitricity lamppost and bollard charge points across the borough" (which they are taking up to 2000 in the borough)

Another scheme which couldn't get any heavier on the "London Bias" (probably pronounced "bus" by local mockney's)

Meanwhile out in the Fen wastelands, war is about to break out as to who gets to use the only charger within the towns locale...


This happened on a day when I'd run out of mazola oil to grease myself up for a body building competition & ran across these folk camped out & hogging our only 2 working chargers within a 5 mile radius

[Mr Gus]

NOpe, sorry dan,

There is a problem with chips & the likes, so really planning needs to be better than flood Londinium with chargers, to do that creates a big problem elsewhere.

If the ratio for EV as new car purchases was 1 in 3 (apparently, off top of head) up to Dec 2022, then how many were London based vehicles who travelled to that borough with clockwork like regularity?

Imbalance created, which affects everyone elsewhere (though parking not likely to be such an issue, still a big issue in terms of connectivity) ..I see it myself here when we run into people who have run out of E-juice on their way places & have to sit for hours to get to a fast charger because they don't have enough in the tank to get them to a properly fast charger.

If that tw@t Giles Coren from london kicks up a fuss about going down to devon / Cornwall to his holiday home, there is going to be more reportage on the failure of charging distribution, taken more seriously because of aforementioned twat celeb.

So distribution needs some designation by govt or else it highlights the disparity & the lack of ability to drive in times expected of drivers.

In these areas there is enough locals under a deluge of grockles, if problems are only deemed to be solve for the invading masses then it doesn't say much as to the value of the populace living 365 in these areas as perceived by the powers that be, & there is enough of that in many tourist areas as is, (butted heads with angsty locals in Aviemore myself for instance)

Whilst the tesla charger network is lacking all along the south coast it is further up, allowing reach & slow charging (brighton especially) start moving across & you hit a dead area with "hotel guests only" (non tesla, shell unit I think) for a high rate charge (as wife found & had to negotiate just the other week with a bottle of wine) ..also her forays to brighton & bournemouth for work weren't great, as the brighton chargers were orientated to locals not so much visitors spending a day, or maybe two & driving whilst visiting, ..all that was clear.

To use that she paid a bottle of wine for the receptionist on top of the charge fee's ..it was hobson's choice.

Wife & daughter experienced this also elsewhere on the busy south coast when having a few days away the other year, either there were no chargers at hotels, no option to run a 13 amp cable & slow charge on the premises, & you jam up a promenade with a slow charge parked overnight & a 15-20 minute walk each way, scrape some slow miles into your tank in order to get to a fast charger elsewhere.

Plymouth has very few chargers in 2023 considering again a naval city which is on the south coast, which gets hit up for the peninsular leg of devon / cornwall.


Redistribution would help rather than one charger per 30-40,000 head of population, ...how much of the set up is via grants to aid the system, that we all end up paying for, regardless of use & location.

Planning on trips is always necessary, you would have thought the silverstone fully charged charging scenario on the network would have been worked on & planned around, instead we will have seasonal influx & bad press because it went to London in the main, god forbid "they only fixed it for the second home owning londoners" does the rounds.

Completely detrimental to making let alone achieving "the switch"

If hotels are part of the reason for seasonal influx then sorting out some at places that fill eases the strain elsewhere in the system, especially during the day.
...

How many pure EV's are in the big "city" boroughs dan, (for broader context) any idea? ..with all the other modes of transport available to the masses, (compared to so many other areas of the country) ..it's a bit like the parliment E-scooter debate was banging on about rental schemes (only in high populace areas, so countryside scheme legality is damned restrictive) & no thoughts for anyone else other than city folk & the partially sighted (they have a major point but the demonisation without context of other hazards was so tilted it was farce bar for one clearly regular user on the committee who said , the hire schemes are ridiculously expensive, not a word on slashed bus routes, crap roads, & high speed drivers on roads elsewhere & the threat posed of non car user on a fast country road doing 60, 70mph (& beyond)

If this is how the rolling out of a uk network of chargers is going then the people elsewhere will be rightly pissed off and throw out getting a BEV as the next car further down the road.

There is a big newish housing estate in peterborough (city countryside) built to rat run, streets with CARS & VANS parked down one side because of being tightly packed, ..the countryside does not guarantee a driveway to charge on & the estates are built more as fast road access by fast road links, so if no car then problem, taking your life in your hands if you access the logical fast route without deviation as a bike user.

The race to spawn chargers in London is a race to the bottom elsewhere & has a big knock on effect on first time ev purchasing.

"IF" Nissan had not told most dealerships to smile & allow leafs to charge regardless of how it made them run around, then take up would be years behind, we relied on "get us there, get us home boosts" for many years. & even then a charge was not guaranteed.