This discussion is locked.
You cannot post a reply to this discussion. If you have a question start a new discussion

EV Viability. Queuing for chargers.

Type of car?  The main issue to me is queuing and waiting to charge in 'remote' areas, especially in busy tourist periods. Is this a real problem? 


I am drawn to EVs on principle, but I am about to go conventional or a hybrid (perhaps plug in). Maybe you can persuade me otherwise?. My requirement is not so onerous, 2 people minimum, plus luggage, about 8000 miles pa, I looked at the journey mix and about 150 journeys pa are 40 to 50 miles round trip. 15 trips average at 200 miles but several, ie 5 of those are above 250 miles and so at least 5 would require charging away from home, perhaps 15-20 full charge cycles.


On a purely economical basis EVs are more expensive overall  because of the high up front cost and the the issue that range reduces with every charge discharge cycle so range reduces over the years. I can probably live with that because the simplicity of EV appeals as well as the green credentials. However the issue that kills it for me is the potential queuing problem due to lengthy charge times measured in hours. So if I go on holiday to say the Welsh or Yorkshire coast, (both at least 300 mile round trip for me) how do you deal with the issues of very few rapid charge points on the Welsh coast?. I can see summer breaks becoming a stressful hunt for an available charge point. and huge queuing times, fights between EV motorists?


It seems to me that pure EVs currently make sense only if you can A) charge from home and do journeys within the (declining) range of your EV or B) A mix of charge at home and public charge points if your journey is near major cities or motorways, not remote holiday destinations.


A possible solution would be if all hotels, B&Bs, camp sites etc had lots of overnight charging, bookable with a room, at least 7.4KW but that is wishful thinking. ie Charge while you sleep.


I saw recent news releases, including from the IET, reporting battery charging in 10 minutes. That is excellent but is perhaps a year or two away (Calculate the current drawn to fill a 64KW battery in 10 minutes) but it would help solve the queue problem, if the charger infrastructure could cope. I did think of getting a hire car for the longer journeys but that makes the EV equation even less attractive financially. 


EVs are good for some people right now, but I am coming to the conclusion it will be a few more years before the rapid charging batteries and infrastructure make EVs viable for me and many others.



  • Single public charging points positioned in tourist spots might not be feasible due to security issues. Its not as though we have single petrol pumps spread all over for obvious reasons.

    We have a single charging point in the village but on privately owned ground and used soley for the use of the airb&b associated with the property.

    Fast charging stations set up next to established petrol stations as an interim method would probably work.

    Legh
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    I recently bought a VW passat GTE (plug-in hybrid). we do mostly short trips (shops, school runs, dog walks ) so in the few months I've had it we've run it on pure electric most of the time - plugged in and charged at home. I've only put petrol in a couple of times, which is a big saving compared to every other week for our previous Petrol Golf.

    Full EV's don't make economical sense for me, plus I wanted something with a large boot for the dogs so the VW Passat estate ticks most of the boxes.

    I dont bother charging in public spaces mainly because they tend to cost way more than petrol and the 5p/kWh i can charge for overnight at home.







  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    It probably doesn't help with the remote locations issue, but I was wondering to myself if something like the parking app that lets you rent out your drive for parking could be made to rent out your home charging point to people. They would say pay by the hour with the charger set to cut out after the allotted time.