[Technology] The In no way official Electric Car thread

[Driver8]

Do you need to be a qualified spark to do this?

I may have underestimated the normal charge rate as that 20 mph I noted before was during the freezing temps a couple of weeks ago. I'd expect this would be a bit higher now it's milder - I'll pay more attention to what I get next time I plug it in.

I’m certainly not qualified but my future son in law did most of it and works for BT and knows what he is doing.

The charger comes with full instructions and has to be connected on a separate circuit from the main fuse box with a specific fuse. We don’t have cavity walls so wired through external ducting to the charger box.

 

[Audax]

In practicality, when you put the kettle on, the lights dim so I wonder what would need to happen to allow a fast charger to be installed??

In Eco mode, the Zappi will draw a continuous 1.3 kW from the grid (and will pull from my solar panels instead if there's enough generation). When I ran the kettle this morning, that spiked up the draw by nearly the same amount.

Just run my kettle again for a mid afternoon cuppa. No other significant electricals running at the time, so got a really good read on the power draw. Background energy use was sitting at 0.28 kW draw. Turned the kettle on and it spiked up to 3.24 kW. Once kettle was done, it dropped back down to under 0.3 kW. Then put the dishwasher on - gone back up to over 3.3 kW draw again immediately. That'll come down pretty quick - I know with our dishwasher it spikes high power use initially, but then settles down once it's finished heating the water.

Suggests you might get away with an EV car charger as long as it is able to be set to draw low power, and can schedule the charge to run over night when you've not got anything else intensive running and don't particularly care or know if you get brownouts as a result. You won't get a full charge overnight at the 1.3kW rate, but depending on how often and how far you need to drive it might be enough to tip the scales in favour. Also: if you can afford it, go solar (assuming your roof faces the right direction). A 4 kW (or more*) generating solar set up would ease the burden significantly in all but the 4-5 months centred on Christmas.

*... not sure how the government grants work these days - when I got mine 4 kW was the max allowed to get the feed in tariff, but I know the system has changed a lot and it's not as lucrative as it was. But that may also mean the 4kW max is gone.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

In case anyone thinks 'clean diesels' are better:

 

[GOM]

Yeah, you can't put up a hedge round here without Snowdonia NPA having an interest!!

100 amp... There's 1 rapid charger (1 connection) within an hour of us, a handful of semi-fast ones, mostly at peoples houses! I think we'll have to wait a while.



Agreed - Oddly, we now have a gigabit broadband, which is nice. Massive effort to get it in but it's good to have.

!00amp is more than enough, if supply matches it. I only have 80amp and no problems.

 

[GOM]

.................. You might just be able to get away with it if you got a smart charger that allows you to set the charge rate and then run the charger over night when you aren't using any other electric. The charger will set you back more, though. .....

To get the grant you have to get a smart charger anyway, not many dumb ones around anymore.

Vastly overpriced, as the wallbox is only a 'sophisticated' switch to turn on and off the electricity. The charger is onboard the car for AC to DC fast charging.

 

[zefarelly]

Have any EV drivers, Tesla owners especially, had their cars shut down unexpectedly?

I've got a highly strung ( 22 BHP) 2 stroke engine in one of my Lambrettas. . . .fuel starvation made that shut down unexpectedly and abruptly. luckily I had my fingers on the clutch as I was doing 80 mph. battery was fine though.

 

[Rugrat]

To get the grant you have to get a smart charger anyway, not many dumb ones around anymore.

Vastly overpriced, as the wallbox is only a 'sophisticated' switch to turn on and off the electricity. The charger is onboard the car for AC to DC fast charging.

I've been thinking about EV and looked at the charging point installation.

Cynic in me says these 'OLEV' installers are just pocketing the extra £350. They don't wan't to be too precise on pricing without a 'survey' (LOL) but as best I can tell they're after about £900/1000 but then I get £350 off so, £600ish.

I can see the points selling on Amazon for £250-£300 and a local sparky could fit it in 2/3 hours I'd imagine

Am I missing something or are these OLEV approved installers just double glazing and alarm fellas moved on to the latest easy money?

Why wouldn't I 'DIY?'

 

[GOM]

I've been thinking about EV and looked at the charging point installation.

Cynic in me says these 'OLEV' installers are just pocketing the extra £350. They don't wan't to be too precise on pricing without a 'survey' (LOL) but as best I can tell they're after about £900/1000 but then I get £350 off so, £600ish.

I can see the points selling on Amazon for £250-£300 and a local sparky could fit it in 2/3 hours I'd imagine

Am I missing something or are these OLEV approved installers just double glazing and alarm fellas moved on to the latest easy money?

Why wouldn't I 'DIY?'

Some have gone the DIY route, buy a cheap second hand one and install.

 

[Driver8]

I've been thinking about EV and looked at the charging point installation.

Cynic in me says these 'OLEV' installers are just pocketing the extra £350. They don't wan't to be too precise on pricing without a 'survey' (LOL) but as best I can tell they're after about £900/1000 but then I get £350 off so, £600ish.

I can see the points selling on Amazon for £250-£300 and a local sparky could fit it in 2/3 hours I'd imagine

Am I missing something or are these OLEV approved installers just double glazing and alarm fellas moved on to the latest easy money?

Why wouldn't I 'DIY?'

As above I bought the Tesla charger (£460) and fitted it ourselves. As long as you have a spare slot in your fuse box it’s fairly straightforward.

 

[Audax]

I've got a highly strung ( 22 BHP) 2 stroke engine in one of my Lambrettas. . . .fuel starvation made that shut down unexpectedly and abruptly. luckily I had my fingers on the clutch as I was doing 80 mph. battery was fine though.

Not got any photos given it was over 20 years ago, but had a similar experience on my first motorcycle. Was a Kawasaki GPz250, early 80's model, had been through a few other learners first. By the time I got it, it had an unknown number of miles under the wheels. Anyway, at the time my parents used to take us out to motorcycle rallies on weekends a lot (this was in Australia, where weekend camping trips in the middle of nowhere are a common biker event). As a newly fully licenced rider, we decided that a good introduction for me would be to ride my own little bike all the way from Canberra to Bathurst and back again across a weekend. On arrival at the campground in Bathurst (after my first ever ride on dirt), I asked my dad about what he thought of the rattle coming from the engine. He said "nothing to worry about, but if on the way home you feel any tugging from the engine pull the clutch immediately". Sage advice - on the way home (after my first ever ride on a wet dirt road), as we started up a steep hill I had a sudden loss of power for a split second. Then again. Pulled the clutch, and the engine stopped. Immediately. End result: I climbed into the sidecar with my brother (which was a real squeeze by then!), we went home with my bike left chained to a strangers letterbox, then came back with car and trailer to get it.

After stripping back, it turned out the crank bearings had failed catastrophically.

 

[nwgull]

As above I bought the Tesla charger (£460) and fitted it ourselves. As long as you have a spare slot in your fuse box it’s fairly straightforward.

No independent earth rod required on the Tesla chargers?

 

[Driver8]

No independent earth rod required on the Tesla chargers?

I don’t think we needed one because of how the house is earthed or something.

 

[mikeyjh]

Sounds like you're marginal on electric supply and could easily suffer from "brownouts", especially if you had an EV charger installed. You might just be able to get away with it if you got a smart charger that allows you to set the charge rate and then run the charger over night when you aren't using any other electric. The charger will set you back more, though. FWIW, your kettle will be one of the highest drawing items in your house when it's being used. The app that comes with my Zappi (see below) tracks our total energy usage within the house as well as charging output to the car, and when the kettle is run it shows a massive spike in power draw. Quite a bit more (for a short period) than the Zappi itself is pulling when charging in "Eco" mode.

I got a myenergi Zappi, which is a pretty clever piece of kit. For me, it was the ideal choice given I have solar panels and it can be set up to only charge the car from the solar generation and has various other smart options. But even without solar, it'd be worth it's money potentially for someone like you as you can throttle the charge rate, schedule when and for how long to charge, etc. Also if/when you have access to smart tariffs from providers like Octopus, it's ready to go for them as well.

In Eco mode, the Zappi will draw a continuous 1.3 kW from the grid (and will pull from my solar panels instead if there's enough generation). When I ran the kettle this morning, that spiked up the draw by nearly the same amount.

Thanks for all the info, it's very useful. My next car will be petrol, I'm pretty sure of that - The geeky side of me loves the idea of having a smart charger and getting it all done overnight but the reality is that sometimes, one will need to charge during the day and like you say, the possibly of a brown out is always there with our limited supply (also confirmed with my spark last night). Extended power cuts are not exactly irregular round here as well cos trees and cables don't mix!

Regarding solar, we have considered it as well as hydro as we have streams with enough flow on our land. The power network in our valley, apparently, does not support us sending the electric back to the grid so hydro is definitely out as you couldn't make it pay. Solar - well a small part of our roof, probably 20 sq metres is south facing, maths to be done to see if that could be made to pay!

 

[dolphins]

I've ordered my Tesla Model 3 (through the missus's work scheme so through Zenith I think). Anyway... general Model 3 question - do they come with floor mats? And, this is probably a bit of a stretch for people to know, but is the front and rear storage the same size on the 2021 model as it is the 2020 (and earlier, I guess)? I tend to get boot liners for our cars as it really protects the space and makes things MUCH easier to keep clean and looking good, for a small outlay if you don't go for the manufacturers own.

Any help with the above most appreciated!

 

[Driver8]

I've ordered my Tesla Model 3 (through the missus's work scheme so through Zenith I think). Anyway... general Model 3 question - do they come with floor mats? And, this is probably a bit of a stretch for people to know, but is the front and rear storage the same size on the 2021 model as it is the 2020 (and earlier, I guess)? I tend to get boot liners for our cars as it really protects the space and makes things MUCH easier to keep clean and looking good, for a small outlay if you don't go for the manufacturers own.

Any help with the above most appreciated!

Mine came with floor mats. I’m pretty sure they haven’t changed the size of the car at all, it was just cosmetic changes and a new heat pump I believe.

I bought a carpet for the “frunk” from Tesla for about £30.

 

[dolphins]

Mine came with floor mats. I’m pretty sure they haven’t changed the size of the car at all, it was just cosmetic changes and a new heat pump I believe.

I bought a carpet for the “frunk” from Tesla for about £30.

Thanks [MENTION=3711]Driver8[/MENTION] - yeah, they've ditched the chrome for matt black/dark grey, the heat pump, and did some changes above the boot to improve water drainage if you open it when it is raining. Can't wait to get my hands on it, a bit of nervous anticipation, too.

 

[Driver8]

Thanks [MENTION=3711]Driver8[/MENTION] - yeah, they've ditched the chrome for matt black/dark grey, the heat pump, and did some changes above the boot to improve water drainage if you open it when it is raining. Can't wait to get my hands on it, a bit of nervous anticipation, too.

You won’t be disappointed!

 

[Dick Head]

Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)

A documentary that investigates the birth and death of the electric car, as well as the role of renewable energy and sustainable living in the future.



You can watch the whole thing for free on watchdocumentaries.com.

https://watchdocumentaries.com/who-killed-the-electric-car/

 

[LamieRobertson]

Technology is great until……

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59357306

 

[beorhthelm]

Technology is great until……

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59357306

things like this expose little recognised reliance on internet where there simply shouldnt be any. just because its electric, no need to be hooked into the cloud. not long ago cars had overrides in case the central locking didnt work, now you're dependent on phone coverage to get in.