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Electric vehicles
jacko - 14/2/21 at 04:33 PM

I’m just been nosy
but what I would like to know is If a electric car has been plugged into a public charging socket will the charger let the car owner know say my text when it’s fully charged so they can move it
I ask this because I see cars left on charge all day and night especially on weekends and other people may /need them
And as more electric vehicles are taking over the world people will need these chargers
Graham

hobbsy - 14/2/21 at 05:14 PM

Not the charger but the car itself via its app

David Jenkins - 14/2/21 at 06:17 PM

I have seen ignorant people park up and leave their cars plugged in for most of the day - Ipswich Park and Ride is one example. It's rude and the authorities should set time limits.

Many of the companies that run the fast public chargers set a time limit where you pay a steep premium if you exceed it. For example, Polar (now BP Chargemaster) let you stay on the charger for about an hour, where you're going to pay a set amount per kWh. However, if you exceed that time you end up paying a minimum of £10 per hour - steep, if you plug in and wander off for a few hours. In some places you also have to pay a parking fee, so that's another incentive to not hang around too long.

On the other hand, we often stop off in the centre of Milton Keynes if we're travelling from Ipswich to Gloucester (it's a convenient place to stop). MK has a huge number of 7kWh on-street chargers where you can plug in and stay for quite an extended period. This is a reasonable arrangement as you're not going to get much range at that rate, so need to stay a while - there's also not a huge demand for them, so you're not inconveniencing anyone by staying a while. MK also has some fast chargers where you're limited to just 30 minutes - which is a PITA for someone like me, but I do understand why they do it.

In future I think charging hubs will be the way - MK has one at the coach station, and that has about 11 or 12 fast chargers (with a time limit). You drive up, plug in and maybe eat your sandwiches, or wander over to the bus station cafe (which is rubbish!). There's a major new hub in Braintree with many chargers and a whole host of facilities to drag the money out of your wallet...

The other hosts for fast chargers seem to be supermarkets - many now have a fast charger in the corner of their car park, and many of those companies (such as Genie) also have a time limit supported by penalties for staying over time.

Also, I can see many petrol stations fitting chargers (there are already a huge number) as the big oil companies try to protect themselves from the drop in fuel sales. BP and Shell are investing a huge amount of money at the moment, and I've seen quite a few Esso stations that have fast chargers provided by Genie.

I'm not sure how this is going to work in Scotland, where there are a large number of chargers in public car parks - I guess people will plug in and wander off for a few hours...

To answer the other part of the question - I have an app on my smartphone that allows me to monitor the charge - if I park at a fast charger in the middle of MK we can wander off for a coffee and get back to the car just as it's reaching the level of charge I require.

Mr Whippy - 14/2/21 at 07:10 PM

There are huge amounts of chargers already, download an app like Zap Map. However the vast majority of people charge their cars at home and only use 3rd party chargers on long journeys. The cars are all Internet enabled and at any time you can check the status or switch on the charge cycle.

harmchar - 14/2/21 at 07:54 PM

Because rudeness and selfish people seem to be on the increase, I see the future of you return to your EV to find it's been unplugged cause the guy that pulled up reckons he's more important and needs to be charging more than you. Don't have that issue with ICE.

coyoteboy - 15/2/21 at 09:28 AM

quote:
Originally posted by harmchar
Because rudeness and selfish people seem to be on the increase, I see the future of you return to your EV to find it's been unplugged cause the guy that pulled up reckons he's more important and needs to be charging more than you. Don't have that issue with ICE.


This currently happens all the time. My friends suffer it a lot and the usual culprit seems to be taxi drivers.

It works two ways though, people can be unplugged early and people can hog a space. And since most of these folk don't have house chargers because they're in the city, they now have to actively go and move the car to and fro when charging is done.

[Edited on 15/2/21 by coyoteboy]

David Jenkins - 15/2/21 at 09:59 AM

The cable is locked into my car when charging - I can choose whether it should stay locked after completion, or be unlocked so someone else can use it.

On many fast chargers it's the charger itself that decides whether the car can be unplugged, usually after the owner has re-tapped their RFID card (or credit/debit card) to indicate that they want to finish. It does vary though - the older chargers may just require that the button on the connection plug is pushed.

coyoteboy - 15/2/21 at 04:00 PM

I'm not sure why so many of my friends using EV rental cars end up getting to a charger to find they've been prematurely unplugged then.

[Edited on 15/2/21 by coyoteboy]

jacko - 15/2/21 at 04:55 PM

What does it cost to charge a car
As you can guess I don’t have a EV car and don’t know if I ever will it will take a bit of persuasion before I do
Graham

myke pocock - 15/2/21 at 05:42 PM

Electric cars should be used as landfill or targets for the MOD.

coyoteboy - 15/2/21 at 06:52 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jacko
What does it cost to charge a car
As you can guess I don’t have a EV car and don’t know if I ever will it will take a bit of persuasion before I do
Graham


Based on something like a 62kwh leaf, about 8 quid for a 250 mile range. More if you charge at a fast charger instead of at home.

[Edited on 15/2/21 by coyoteboy]

Mr Whippy - 15/2/21 at 07:51 PM

In rough terms, my tiny VW Up with its 1ltr petrol engine costs 12p per mile, the Leaf costs just 3p per mile while generally having very low ownership costs, despite the high initial price.

It's funny hearing peoples opinions on EVs as it reminds me of the rants we had on this forum when they banned incandescent light bulbs and how awful it all was being forced to give them up. But really would you go back to them? Same applies to EVs. I bet that 20 years from now ICE cars will look rather absurd and things only old people like. Kids will be whats that noisy piece of crap?

I just wonder what will happen to the value of the classic super cars such as the Countach for example. Who's going to be impressed by something their mums shopping trolley Tesla can leave in the dust and has like wow a radio and nothing else? LOL.

David Jenkins - 15/2/21 at 07:54 PM

quote:
Originally posted by myke pocock
Electric cars should be used as landfill or targets for the MOD.


Best get used to the idea, as petrol and diesel cars now have a finite useable life because of government policies. But that's not the reason why I drive electric - it's pleasant and easy to drive in modern traffic, cost per mile is very low, and they are not slow by any means. However I still enjoy driving my locost when weather allows, and I plan to continue doing so for a while yet.