Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Here is a little map to play around with.

Shows the electric charging infrastructure across the UK, as at October 2019. It colour codes Local Authority Areas into bands, based on numbers of chargers.

Norhumberland is in the dark blue range in the top 20%. for both chargers/100,000 population, rapid chargers, and total devices.

The lighter colours show where provision is more sparse.
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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by mickthemaverick »

That map brings home a reality which affects my conversion plan. It seems that Northumberland has just over twice our population but 5 times the number of chargers. Thus useage is more practicle in the north than my local area. It would be interesting to overlay current electricity consumption in each area to determine if network capacity availability has any influence on the siting of chargers. I suspect that the more rural areas have similar capacity but less demand and therefore more spare capacity to install chargers without the additional cost of grid bolstering. Only a theory but what do you think? :)
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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by Gibbo2286 »

I see the Forest of Dean is in the pale yellow area. :cry:

Is the map showing just officially provided chargers or are privately owned ones included?

I know that the Wyndham Inn at my old village of Clearwell has one in the car park.
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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Ev Infrastructure is no doubt being incentivised, but evolving without any coherent plan even now. The piecemeal development probably reflected a "grant-getting" approach particularly on Local Authority sponsored schemes. Northumberland County Council installed 20 Rapid Chargers in partnership with ABB, and the scheme was supported by a 75% grant at the time from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).

The pattern of provision probably reflects putting together schemes sourcing partners and putting bids up for funding. The combined authority approach is happening in West Yorks and also continuing on Tyneside as chargers expand. The link with LOcal authorities extends to planning conditions and approval. eg in Alnwick the new retail development with car park Marks & Sparks etc has a couple of rapid charging points, no doubt a condition of development.

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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Vive la France.

Électricité de France (at the last count 85% owned by the French State) are helping the Royal Mail turn Green, and out front one of PSA-FCA's finest, just for good measure, a Peugeot Mail Van which is literally "green"
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Post by Mandrake »

Blasphemy. Mail vans should be Red. :)
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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

Mandrake wrote: 20 Feb 2020, 18:19 Blasphemy. Mail vans should be Red. :)
What about femail vans?

I am watching (a repeat) "Secrets of the Railways". The Kiruna to Narvik railways carries 75,000 tonnes of iron ore a day. On the downhill run into Narvik the electric locomotives use regenerative braking. This gives them so much power that (once it is empty) the train can get back to the Swedish border on the stored/recovered power.
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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by white exec »

Royal-Mail BYD.jpg
Better?
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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

From a significant new player in the UK Automotive industry.

viewtopic.php?p=636424#p636424
white exec wrote: 21 Feb 2020, 10:19 Image
Better?
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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by Mandrake »

A good example of how much more work is needed on public charging:

https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/202 ... ng-points/

The usual story - chargers that are blocked by ICE vehicles, chargers that have been out of action for months without repair, chargers that needed signing up or an app to use, and best of all, chargers that are shown on maps but no longer exist! :roll:

None of these problems are insolvable, it's just that nobody seems to want to take responsibility for the situation and do something about it...it's disheartening to see the ball fumbled and dropped for something that really shouldn't be this difficult.
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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Lots of players pulling in different directions, and on a global basis.
Germany according to Cleantechnic are trying this....

Germany Creating A “National Control Center” For EV Charging


Right now I am not sure a national control centre in the UK would know what to do for the best.
There is a private charging network......people plugging in at home but the "no off street parking" or "blocks of flats" problems need resolution.
and

a Public charging free for all....I hesitate to call it a network...although so far so good in Northumberland.

I am sure there is an expectation from the driving public that an electric vehicle charging network should retain some of the features of the petrol/diesel network they are familiar with including....
To be able to get and pay for on a PAYG basis, electricity from any supplier without having to join a club, or sign a contract.

To have a mandatory price/unit which is advertised boldly at the charging station so the driver has a choice whether to get their electricity from that station or go elsewhere.

To be able to recharge their vehicle at any and every public charging station throughout the UK with no regard for what kind of plug is fitted to their vehicle eg for an EV to satisfy construction and use regulations, and be sold in the UK, it must provide a means of recharging from the UK's charging network.
So all petrol and diesel vehicles have regulations re fuel tanks/filler necks etc to enable them to all use, without exception, every publicly available filling station in the UK. The pumps are also required to meet a specification for dispensing the fuel. Obvious really.

Is electricity that different? Specify the cable size and flow rate, or a range of cable sizes and flow rates which must be provided at every charging station receiving planning approval in the UK. Even specify AC "pumps" and DC "pumps".

Let the fancy "connector" bit be the problem of the vehicle manufacturer. If they want to have their own particular bespoke connector fine, but if it doesn't accept a standard dispensation of electricity from a standard UK charging point "pump", then they provide an adaptor so it does.

Random thoughts not guaranteed to be either coherent or accurate :-D

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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by white exec »

Would be good to see the same sort of central planning for the UK that Germany seems to be creating.
In the UK now, laissez-faire is this government's default position, in the belief that 'the market' will meet the need. It hasn't worked for a shoal of public services, so I don't think it's a good idea to hold one's breath on this one.

You can look back at post-war reconstruction and planning open-mouthed, with its wholesale rebuilding of infrastructure for electricity supply, water, gas, road, rail and air transport, education, health . . . and all at a time of actual austerity. It's not the cash that's missing now, but the belief that any of this actually needs to be done.

I know we're not allowed to get political here (quite rightly), but some things are just a matter of common sense, where reality collides with dogma.
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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by Gibbo2286 »

white exec wrote: 21 Feb 2020, 18:26 Would be good to see the same sort of central planning for the UK that Germany seems to be creating.
In the UK now, laissez-faire is this government's default position, in the belief that 'the market' will meet the need. It hasn't worked for a shoal of public services, so I don't think it's a good idea to hold one's breath on this one.

You can look back at post-war reconstruction and planning open-mouthed, with its wholesale rebuilding of infrastructure for electricity supply, water, gas, road, rail and air transport, education, health . . . and all at a time of actual austerity. It's not the cash that's missing now, but the belief that any of this actually needs to be done.

I know we're not allowed to get political here (quite rightly), but some things are just a matter of common sense, where reality collides with dogma.
I'm sure our WW2 servicemen would agree :evil: and if our EU membership had continued for much longer you would probably had your wish fulfilled.
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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Bit of Spanish News on the infrastructure front. Large Energy Company at the forefront.


Endesa To Install 8,500 Public Charging Points In Spain
Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endesa
Endesa, S.A. (Spanish pronunciation: [enˈdesa], originally an initialism for Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A.) is the largest electric utility company in Spain. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, has 10 million customers in Spain

Image
Sede de Endesa (Madrid) 01
Luis García / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

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Re: Electric Vehicles-Infrastructure

Post by white exec »

Urban pollution in Madrid, Granada, Malaga and other cities is an ongoing problem.
This is a good start.
Spain manages nearly half its electricity from renewables on a regular basis, at the moment.
Endesa is huge, and hugely profitable. Spain's electricity prices are some of the highest in Europe.
Infrastructure projects (road, rail, air, energy...) are well co-ordinated here, and tend to get planning and construction matters dealt with rapidly. High unemployment and large open spaces help!
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