camelot-forum.co.uk

in the news: https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... hree-years

£1bn fund to expand EV charging network still not open after three years
Rishi Sunak unveiled funding pot for expanding charging facilities at motorway services in 2020 but it is not yet accepting bids...

and also something saying range anxiety is not really a major problem - will post it when I find it again!

The facilities at most motorway service stations are pretty dire.

2 Gridserve chargers only. They may be advertised as 4 on electroverse but that ignores that a CCS and Chademo cannot be used at the same time.

Gridserve are becoming as bad as Ecotricity.

Zap map stats show that the number of chargers in the UK has tripled in the last four years, and yet I can't help feeling progress on 100kW+ charging stations is too slow. That EVs are the future is a settled debate. That far more ultra fast charging stations are needed, especially to help those without off street parking, I think is also not particularly controversial, but they don't seem to be proliferating fast enough. I'd certainly not buy an EV other than a Tesla as the charging provision remains a fraction as good.

Its not the chargers, we just need more EVs to use them.

We already have enough chargers.

In England and Wales there is c7000 petrol stations with 50,000 pumps.
If people on AVERAGE use rapids for 5% of their charging then that equates in petrol pumps/chargers to 2500
There is already c10,000 RAPID chargers and 26000 over 7kw chargers.

There are more Rapid charger locations than petrol stations, there are more rapid chargers than petrol pumps

The problem with every charging station is, IMO, competition (or lack of it).

The Tesla system is now being opened ip to other marques. I stopped at Banbury, a couple months ago, but had to charge on another, much more expensive charger, because we had a bit of bother with the app (gone to cloud on my wife’s i-phone fue to inactivity). Cost nearly twice as much (but I only needed c.20kWh to get home)

Tesla charging for the general EV market is far better than the over-priced, profiteering(?) by some of the others. We need a choice to bring the high-priced chargers down to something sensible!

Ken said ” There are more Rapid charger locations than petrol stations, there are more rapid chargers than petrol pumps”. We have to understand that rather more cars can be filled at the pump during the time needed to charge oneEV. I can, if I can find a Tesla or equivalent DC, charge in less than 20 mins - but a lot of cars (with smaller batteries) can take much longer even if connected to a high capacity charger.

Overnight chargers on lamp posts, parking spots, etc, are the real requirement for most who have no off-road charging facilities. Cheaper rated than DC and adequate mileage for a large percentage of users. I know I could easily survive with a 2.2kW ‘granny’ lead charging on E7 rates - only needing DC charging very occasionally.

Range anxiety is down to PPP, none at all, or it’s people with a naturally nervous disposition (or complete numpties). I know one ICE driver who never lets her tank fall below half way before range anxiety rises its head and she adds fuel at the next filling station (and likely still does not fill the tank anywhere near full)!! Go figure - what would she be like with a small range EV?

Are we mixing up slow, fast, rapid and ultra-rapid? 90%+ of my mileage is catered for by my fast(7kW) charger.

Are most motorway service stations really serviced by only two EV chargers? I’ve not yet charged at a motorway service area, but all those I have called in at have more than two - but they may be sited a bit ‘out of the way’.

Obviously the Tesla supercharger network will be stressed because elon knows exactly how many are going to call in - and almost exactly when, too. Non Teslas won’t, at least initially, be ‘booked in’ on the computer system by the drivers as to intention to charge and distance from the station.

I expect that eventually the rest will follow (a long way) behind the Tesla system. I’m not awaiting it with bated breath, mind, but it may eventually happen when the others either fall by the way-side or gang up tp present a decent alternative.

Taking a EV with a 50kwh batt,100kw chargeing rate and importantly only using rapids for 5% of the mileage then assuming 10K miles per yr, what you find is that if the ICE takes on enough fuel for 500miles every time and the EV charges for 150miles each time then the total time "filling up" is more or less the same. Furthermore most people fill up in much smaller amounts when they buy the fags or lottery tickets and tilts in favour of EVs. Again if the Petrol station has shopping facilities then the pump can be occupied for longer.