All posts by Trevor Larkum

People’s Climate March – Part 2

November 27, 2014Blog, Energy and Climate ChangeTrevor Larkum

[Continued from Part 1]

The exit from Temple station was severely congested with crowds of people trying to move slowly out. We were herded to the right and towards the Thames and embankment where apparently the back end of the march crowd would be found.

London Climate March - a quick selfie near Embankment (Image: T. Larkum) — London Climate March – a quick selfie near Embankment (Image: T. Larkum)

There was still some time to go before the march began so I used it to make my way through the crowd to get somewhere nearer the front, though after half an hour I was back again at Temple Station (about where I would have been if I’d turned left on leaving it – I’ll know that next time!). By the time the march started I had got perhaps halfway through the long crowd.

London Climate March - a carnival atmosphere (Image: T. Larkum) — London Climate March – a carnival atmosphere (Image: T. Larkum)

The crowd was very good-natured, there was something of a gentle carnival spirit around. I saw representatives from many different organisations including Greenpeace UK, Avaaz, the Green Party, Friends of the Earth, Socialist Workers, and various trade unions, to name just a few. Plus, of course, thousands of individuals like myself who had decided to ‘stand up and be counted’ even though we don’t belong to any political organisations.

London Climate March - passing the Palace of Westminster (Image: T. Larkum) — London Climate March – passing the Palace of Westminster (Image: T. Larkum)

We marched from Temple, past Embankment and then the Palace of Westminster to Abington Street Gardens. There we congregated – people standing around or picnicking on the grass – for a mass rally. Various organisers and celebrities gave speeches from a parked open-top bus. I particular concurred with the heartfelt talk from Emma Thompson.

London Climate March - the Rally (Image: T. Larkum) — London Climate March – the Rally (Image: T. Larkum)

Despite the subdued talks and the bad news they contained I felt that the overall mood of the march was very buoyant. I think for most people it will not be the end of their campaigning but more likely a beginning. I enjoyed my time there and felt it was time well spent. I will certainly be looking for further opportunities to get involved in these sorts of actions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4D19mbhNGU

Of course, the London Climate March – which has been estimated to have involved 40000 people – was not the only one in the UK; there were others in Manchester, Edinburgh and Sheffild. These were just a few of many around the world. There were big marches in Australia, Germany, Canada, India, Italy and elsewhere. The biggest was in New York, with some 400,000 people attending.

People’s Climate March – Part 1

November 17, 2014Blog, Charging, Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, Model S, Renault, Tesla, ZOETrevor Larkum

Fast Charging the ZOE at Toddington (Image: T. Larkum)

On 21 September I had a bit of an adventure, travelling down to London to attend the People’s Climate March – my first ever protest march.

I have been concerned about climate change for about three years, and have blogged about climate and energy for the last two. Wanting to know more about the scientific understanding of it I completed an online educational course ‘Climate Change in 4 Dimensions’ earlier this year. While I would highly recommend the course, learning more about the subject has only reinforced my concerns. The scientific conclusions are clear – the climate is changing fast, it’s caused by human carbon dioxide emissions, and it’s going to have major impacts on our lives and especially on the lives of our children and grandchildren.

Having made many changes in my lifestyle to reflect my concerns – including installing solar panels on our house, switching to a renewable energy supplier, and buying and blogging about my Renault ZOE electric car – it seemed to me that the next natural step was to become more active politically. I’m not sure what direction that will take long-term, but I felt it was necessary to start by ‘standing up to be counted’ and attending the first ever Climate March.

Slow Charging the ZOE at Highgate (Image: T. Larkum)

I toyed with the idea of going by train but somehow it seemed most appropriate to go by electric car. I therefore headed out along my regular and familiar route down the M1 towards London, stopping as usual at the Toddington Services fast charger on the way. I then drove into north London and parked up at a slow charger in Highgate (the same one I had used previously when attending a rock concert in Kentish Town).

Tesla Model S in Highgate (Image: T. Larkum)

I walked south from where I parked to Kentish Town underground station so I could take the tube down into central London. On the way I was surprised to pass two electric cars – clearly they are more popular in London than in Northampton – and I took that to be a good omen.

The first was a navy blue Tesla Model S parked on Highgate Road, in a bus lane outside a restaurant. It’s a big, good-looking car – though I don’t imagine that most people can tell it’s electric.

Renault ZOE in Highgate (Image: T. Larkum)

Then a few minutes later I saw a ZOE, much like mine apart from being white. It was just parked in a side road, probably in front of the owner’s house, looking perfectly natural.

Climate March poster on the Underground (Image: T. Larkum)

The trip on the underground was uneventful, heading to Temple for the start of the march. I was encouraged on the way to see a couple of posters by the escalators publicising the event. I anticipated that would mean the march would be well-attended, and so it transpired.

[Part 2]

Northampton e-Car Club Nissan Leafs

November 15, 2014Blog, Electric Cars, Leaf, NissanTrevor Larkum

A few weeks ago I spotted a set of electric cars parked up near the town centre in Northampton. Today I parked up nearby on my way to picking up my girls from choir and had the opportunity to investigate further.

There are three 2014 Nissan Leafs in a row, all black and marked ‘www.e-carclub.org‘ on the boot. They are parked in specially marked bays by the Derngate theatre, and just next to a recently installed pair of EVlink fast chargers.

Clearly they belong to the E-Car organisation, but I have not yet learned anything more about them. There is a passing reference in a news release from another company, but clear there has not yet been an official launch of this E-Car site.

I’ll post more news as I get it.

Update: there has since been a press release about it.

My Longest Trip in the Renault ZOE – Part 2

September 26, 2014Blog, BYD, Charging, E6, Electric Cars, Renault, ZOETrevor Larkum

Packing up the ZOE in Brighton ready to go home (Image: T. Larkum)

Once our Brighton trip was over, after lunch we packed up and headed north out of town. We charged up at Cobham services again without incident, and then headed into London to visit family.

An EV Queue at Cobham (Image: T. Larkum)

Late in the evening after our visit was over we went to Cobham again. This new opportunity to charge (Cobham has only been open a few months) has been a real boon to us as a family. Previously there had been no chargers in this area, and so we’ve had to visit family by driving through London and using the Scratchwood/London Gateway services, with all the potential delays that entails. Now we can just stay on the M25 and charge ‘as we go past’.

A BYD E6 electric car at Cobham (Image: T. Larkum)

Anyway, things didn’t go quite as smoothly as we’d hoped this time. There was a small queue of other EVs waiting to charge – two Nissan Leafs were ahead of us. By this time it was pouring with rain and we needed to eat so we decided to just wait anyway and have dinner. In fact less than an hour later we were charging up so it wasn’t a huge delay. Another EV turned up before we left, a Chinese BYD E6 – a type I have seen a couple of times charging at Cobham.

364 Miles: A new ZOE trip range record (Image: T. Larkum)

The rest of the journey home was uneventful – just another top-up and loo stop at Toddington, and we were home. The final tally for the trip was 364 miles to Brighton and back in the weekend. It had been very straightforward, indicating that an EV is practical as a primary family car, even for cross-country trips.

My Longest Trip in the Renault ZOE

September 25, 2014Blog, Charging, Electric Cars, Mitsubishi, Outlander PHEV, Renault, ZOETrevor Larkum

Mitsubishi Outlander fast charging at Rothersthorpe Services (Image: T. Larkum)

During the summer we took our longest ever single trip in the ZOE, from our home in Northampton down to Brighton and back in a weekend. We went down for a gymnastics competition on the Saturday in which my daughter was taking part. After the event was over, we had a good time walking around the town on the Saturday and lazing on the beach on the Sunday.

My Renault ZOE fast charging at Rothersthorpe Services (Image: T. Larkum)

We started out Friday evening. I had been at work in Milton Keynes as usual that day so by the time I got back to Northampton I was already 40 miles down on range. I therefore went home via the Northampton Rothersthorpe motorway services to top up at an Ecotricity rapid charger. I initially tried the northbound side but the chargepoint there was occupied by a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Instead I hopped over to the southbound side, and filled up without incident so getting home (about 10 miles further on) nearly full. I plugged in the ZOE while we packed to leave so it would be 100% full on leaving.

Fast charging at Toddington Services (Image: T. Larkum)

We left home a little before 8pm and headed down the M1. We pulled in at Toddington to recharge only to find the charge point broken. Not a major emergency, however, as we had had this occur before and knew what to do. I got permission from the service station manager and drove across the service road to the northbound side. There we plugged in, charged up and had some food.

Taking a break at Cobham Services (Image: T. Larkum)

We continued our journey down the M1 and then around the M25 to the new services at Cobham. There we had our second charge, after which we headed down the M23 towards Brighton. This was the longest leg of the journey and although we had just about enough charge to get to Brighton, I wasn’t confident that we could easily get a charge once we arrived. We therefore popped into the Pease Pottage services as we went past and just had a five minute top-up (enough for an extra 15 miles driving) while sitting in the car.

A brief top-up in a rather dark corner of Pease Pottage Services (Image: T. Larkum)

We needn’t have worried though, as we didn’t use the car much once we were in Brighton. It had comfortably enough charge to get us to the gymnastics venue and back. The competition went well, and my daughter was awarded a gold medal in her category.

Gymnastics medal event (Image: T. Larkum) — Gymnastics medal ceremony (Image: T. Larkum)

After the event we spent Saturday afternoon walking along the promenade and around the town. On the Sunday we had a great time on the beach, and then it was time to head home.

Renault ZOE Range Record: 142 Miles

September 11, 2014Blog, Electric Cars, Renault, ZOETrevor Larkum

Renault ZOE Dashboard after range record (Image: T. Larkum)

It’s a year since I managed to persuade my ZOE to go 122 miles on one charge so, with the weather being mild, it seemed like a good time to try for another range record. Previously I had aimed for driving to work and back (typically 38 miles round trip) twice, and then driving around locally to make up the distance. This time I was more confident so I charged up last Tuesday night then drove to work and back on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

This time I chose a more convoluted route (about 42 miles round trip) so I could avoid long stretches with speeds above 40mph, instead travelling mostly on back roads, through villages and an industrial estate, to keep my average speed down. I had prepared by inflating the tyres to 38psi, but otherwise the car was unmodified in any way. The air conditioning was on but since I was in Eco mode it was pretty feeble as usual.