Electric vehicles-Conversions

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mickeymoon

Re: Electric cars/vans/bikes-Conversions/Secondhand..etc

Post by mickeymoon »

I'm becoming more and more tempted by an EV every day, though at the moment I'd probably spend a bit more for the bit of extra range I'd get from a Leaf.

I'd save £1100 a year just driving one to work according to the price calculator on his website.
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Post by Gibbo2286 »

On the subject of charging points in nice locales I wonder if they would be seriously misused by the dodgy end of community, would they for instance become a nice power supply for an illegal traveller's camp?

I recall years ago on our estate a cable trailing across the footpath for a very long time from the streetlamp and it wasn't until an old girl complained to the council that it was a trip hazard that it was found to be supplying power to some guys council house and workshop.
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Re: Electric cars/vans/bikes-Conversions/Secondhand..etc

Post by white exec »

If recharge points were intelligent/secure, like ATMs (take that smile off your face!) and recognised the vehicle down the connecting cable, the problem might be avoided.

I've heard of a couple of instances where householders became alarmed at the size of their electricity bills, only to find they were running batch of street lamps, after some idiot cabling. One was in Rickmansworth in the 1960s; the other in Nerja about three years ago, and involving a whole section of the town's seafront walkway!
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Post by Mandrake »

Theft of electricity from EV charging points is not an issue - they're all "intelligent". Whilst you can also charge an EV from a "dumb" socket like a standard 13A house socket, a quick charge socket installed at your own house, or a higher current socket at a carvan park, (in which case the overall use electricity meter in the property is the only thing recording what was used) all public EV specific charging points are "intelligent".

Here is an example of using an "EVolt" charger:



As you can see you use a swipe card to identify yourself for billing purposes at both the start and end of the charge - also making it impossible for anyone to disconnect you car while charging. (At least without pressing the emergency button!)

Ecotricity charge points work in a very similar way. Tesla have their own "supercharger" points which will only charge Tesla's - when a Tesla is plugged into one of those they automatically communicate to identify to the charger who you are, so no swipe card needed, although up until the start of this year all supercharging came bundled free for life on the Model S and X anyway. Tesla's will also charge at any other EV charging point but typically a lot more slowly as most standard charge points only go up to 40kW while Superchargers are 100kW.
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Post by NewcastleFalcon »

NewcastleFalcon wrote:
CitroJim wrote:Yes, a long trip in an EV would be the perfect excuse to enjoy the journey in slow time and not rush... That I see as a definite benefit just as long as the charging points are in some lovely places rather than the skanky end of hideous service areas as many seem to be now...
Now I like the idea of that, an alternative charging network for the connoisseur or bon viveur. I wonder what is the most scenic charging point in the UK?
In a casual effort to answer my own curiosity, I thought there would be a map of charging locations in the UK (excluding people's own houses). There may be others but first up was Zap-Map . Zoom out to see that the coverage for the UK and Ireland is already comprehensive enough not to be a problem for an EV user, and its only going to expand. Even the North of Scotland 500 looks covered as well as the Hebrides and Orkney and Shetland. The only bits of unchartered territory are in the middle of the highlands where a stout pair of brogues and the highland pony have the edge over the Citroen C-Zero :-D

and the most scenic charging point so far.....haven't got that far yet!

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Post by NewcastleFalcon »

.....continued.....in a random fashion I selected a remote location in Skye which had one of the charging point symbols on the Zap-Map and discovered the Stein Inn, appropriately the oldest on Skye.

http://www.stein-inn.co.uk/

Can't fail to be scenic in that part of the world, but a nice link with the past when wayside Inns were an important part of the transport network.
http://www.stein-inn.co.uk/green-story/
When we needed to change our vehicle recently we assessed that the majority of our journeys were under 20 miles, i.e. return journeys to Dunvegan. We therefore decided on a Mitsubishi PHEV which allows us to do short journeys using electrical charge and still use fuel for longer journeys around the Highlands where there are limited (although increasing number) of charge points. While we can charge our vehicle using a standard 13 amp point we installed a fast charge point for the use of our guests, so that if you are staying with us or having meal, you can plug in! I am delighted to say that there is a super fast one in a car park in Portree – an excuse to go for a coffee!
Looks good to me!

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Post by Gibbo2286 »

I think the bad boys wouldn't be too bothered about the 'intelligent' bit they're more likely to steal from the input than the output like the by-pass the meter lot.

I was watching one of the cop shows the other day, cable theft from the railways, hitting a 400v live cable with an axe to chop out a couple of metres of copper. :shock:
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Post by myglaren »

^ Darwin awards contenders
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Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Zap-Map is a site with plenty of info and news about electric vehicles.

Article here about using lighting columns for a trial in Kensington and Chelsea as charging points.
The trial attempts to combat the problem found in inner city areas with a lack of off-street parking available, a significant factor in potential EV ownership. One third of households in outer London have no access to off-street parking though this number rises to 46 per cent in central London, in boroughs such as Kensington and Chelsea
https://www.zap-map.com/london-street-l ... for-trial/

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Post by CitroJim »

myglaren wrote:^ Darwin awards contenders
Definitely.... :lol:
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Post by white exec »

Using street lighting columns is a good idea, but the rather naive remark about no need for additional cabling is a bit worrying. Many street lights are now LED, using minuscule amounts of current, with even the ancient discharge lamps only pulling 100W or so. Methinks some better cabling will be needed. (And surely the billing widget isn't just in the cable.... 8-[ )
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Post by CitroJim »

white exec wrote:Using street lighting columns is a good idea, but the rather naive remark about no need for additional cabling is a bit worrying. Many street lights are now LED, using minuscule amounts of current, with even the ancient discharge lamps only pulling 100W or so. Methinks some better cabling will be needed. (And surely the billing widget isn't just in the cable.... 8-[ )
Yes, all the streetlamp access covers I've seen open display some very thin and dodgy wiring indeed...

It will be a massive job to upgrade it all...
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Post by Mandrake »

CitroJim wrote:
white exec wrote:Using street lighting columns is a good idea, but the rather naive remark about no need for additional cabling is a bit worrying. Many street lights are now LED, using minuscule amounts of current, with even the ancient discharge lamps only pulling 100W or so. Methinks some better cabling will be needed. (And surely the billing widget isn't just in the cable.... 8-[ )
Yes, all the streetlamp access covers I've seen open display some very thin and dodgy wiring indeed...

It will be a massive job to upgrade it all...
Indeed. However I'm sure it was also a massive job for the likes of ntlworld to rip up thousands of miles of pavement to install fibre/coax cable just so that people could watch pay TV - a luxury good at best. (Although you could argue the internet connectivity it now provides has become an essential service like electricity)

Being able to charge EV's is probably just as important in the long run so I think it will happen. Ubiquitous charge points is a lot more likely to happen than ubiquitous hydrogen refuelling stations that's for sure!
Last edited by Mandrake on 14 Feb 2017, 09:19, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Mandrake »

Found a nice little documentary video inside the Mitsubishi factory going into a lot of technical detail about the I miev (aka Peugeot Ion/Citroen C-Zero) and how it is built:



Quite good to see how it all fits together and the layout of the battery, inverter, motor, gearbox etc... one puzzling thing though is it says the battery is forced air cooled and heated, while other sources say it has liquid cooling for the battery - will need to look into that!
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Post by Mandrake »

And here's a review which shows something I haven't seen before - you can lift up the flooring in the boot, remove a panel with what looks like a few wing nuts and get full access to the top of the inverter and charger units: =D>



(Jump to about 8:50 in the video) So access to the main power electronic units at the rear is very good indeed.
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