Just arrived at the Cenex LCV 2017 event and having a first look around. There are lots of interesting innovations on show, here are just a few examples.
Alcraft’s electric car (model):
Ubitricity’s lamp post charge point:
Claytex driving simulator:
Roborace driverless racing car:
Electric JCB digger:
MagTec electric/hybrid garbage truck:
Electric buses:
[Update: Part 2]
We are currently holidaying in the Devon Cliffs Holiday Park at Sandy Bay, Exmouth. We arrived last week from Northampton, having charged on the M4 at Chieveley and on the M5 at Sedgemoor.
On arrival we found a pleasant surprise – a solar powered charging bay in the main reception car park. I have since learned that it was installed about a year ago in a joint venture with Bourne Leisure (owners of the park), Solarplicity and POD Point.
Having last charged at Sedgemoor, about 60 miles back, we didn’t need to charge again for the first few days. Then I started looking into how to start a charge – doing some Googling, searching on the POD Point online map (which didn’t show the charge point), installing the POD Point app, etc.
However, it all turned out to be unnecessary – I called POD Point and they explained that it was a private charge point – hence not on the public map – and that it was free to use. In hindsight I should have just plugged in and tried it!
We have since made good use of the charge point, leaving the car on charge overnight most days. It is marked as a 7kW point which should charge our i3 in about 4 hours. In fact I am seeing charge times significantly longer than that so I would guess it is actually running at about half that, 3.5kW. Perhaps that has something to do with being solar powered, e.g. a reduced charge outside sunny hours, I don’t know. Anyway, the car is fully charged every morning so it doesn’t really matter.
The charge point has been a real boon – allowing us to go on long trips out most days without needing to find anywhere else to charge.
And all our holiday motoring for free.
After four years of driving electric I would much prefer to take an electric car on a long journey than a piston car. Most people wouldn’t expect that, except those experienced with driving long distances in an electric vehicle.
Some of the benefits are obvious, of course, such as the cheap fuelling costs and reduced environmental impacts (both local pollution and reduced greenhouse gases). However, it’s worth looking at the other aspects as they aren’t often spelled out.
An electric car is much better to drive for a number of reasons. The electric motor itself is quiet and smooth so you don’t have to put up with the noise and vibration of a combustion engine. As well as being less stressful, this also means it’s more enjoyable listening to music, radio, audiobooks, etc.
Further, the lack of a gearbox is a big benefit. Compared to a manual gearbox, there is no need to operate a clutch or gear lever – this is a particular advantage in stop-and-go traffic. Compared to an automatic gearbox, there is smooth acceleration from zero to full speed without the annoying jumps as the gearbox changes its gear or the sound of the gear changes.
Best of all, electric cars have braking regeneration, meaning the motor can act as a brake (and in so doing recharge the battery). This feels like ‘engine braking’ but can be considerably stronger. Electric vehicles with strong ‘regen’, like the Tesla Model S and BMW i3, are best of all as they allow for ‘one-pedal driving’.
Releasing the accelerator pedal causes the car to slow down all the way to a stop. This means it isn’t necessary to use the brake pedal at all, except in an emergency. Using the accelerator alone for speed control makes the driving very easy and relaxing. This is such a benefit that Nissan are promoting it heavily, as the e-Pedal, for the next version of their Leaf.
Of course, if the electric car isn’t a Tesla then it will have less range than most piston cars and this has to be taken into account as there will be a need to charge on a long journey. However, as the range of all electric cars increases, and the infrastructure improves, charging isn’t the issue it used to be.
Even in going from the 80 mile range of my previous Renault ZOE to the 120 mile range of my current BMW i3 I have found charging to become much easier. I now have to stop to charge only after about 2 hours of driving, which is as long as my family is prepared to go without a break anyway.
We’re currently holidaying in Devon, having driven from Northampton. On the way down we stopped twice to charge. The first time we stopped for lunch, so the car just charged while we ate. The second time we stopped for a comfort break, and then just waited an extra 15 minutes or so for the charge to complete.
Quarter of an hour is a small time cost in a journey of 7-8 hours. It would have been quicker if it hadn’t been for some terrible Friday afternoon traffic around Bristol, and the one-pedal driving and other benefits outlined above more than made up for small time spent charging.
The charging itself went really easily both times. The first time we had just a brief delay (although we saw a queue as we left). The second time we were the only EV there and just started and stopped charging as we wanted. And each charge cost me less than £5.
Overall the benefits of driving an EV on a long journey far outweigh the minor inconveniences of charging, so I personally could not go back to driving a piston car. As EV ranges continue to increase, the benefits will become obvious to all drivers.
As sales of electric cars keep increasing we are seeing more and more of them on the road. That simply reflects the rising demand as everyone now knows they will be transitioning away from fossil-fuel cars.
We saw one result of that today. We’re on our way to Devon on holiday in our i3, and called in at Chieveley Services to charge.
On arriving, there was a Tesla Model S charging at one of the Ecotricity pumps, the one with the CCS connector that the i3 needs. After a brief discussion he kindly agreed to move to the other pump so we could charge.
Once we were charging we went inside for lunch, and I monitored the charging on my phone. As it approached 100% we headed back to it only to find a charging queue for the first time ever!
The Tesla had gone and been replaced by a Nissan Leaf. Waiting to charge were a second Leaf and a Renault ZOE. We moved out of the way for the second Leaf, but the ZOE probably had a half hour wait ahead of it.
This type of situation will probably become increasingly common as more EVs hit the road, at least in the short term. Eventually it is hoped that we’ll see all petrol stations, and perhaps most parking spaces, changed over to be charging points.
Here is the third eBook in our series, and gives a clear overview of the grant and tax benefits of an electric car:
If you are considering an electric car and you want to understand the various grants and tax incentives that the government offer to encourage electric cars, then this is the guide for you.
Click on the image, enter your details, and download your free guide.
Previous titles were:
If it leaves any questions unanswered, just get in touch (contact details here and in the eBook).
Jason Tisdall
FuelIncluded.com
Following the success of our first eBook we have decided to do another one. The first one was a guide to charging your electric car at home. This one is specific to the Milton Keynes area, where we are based (though of course we deliver nationwide). Milton Keynes is the best city in the world for giving incentives to electric car drivers.
If you are considering an electric car and you live near, work in or visit Milton Keynes, then this is the guide for you.
This eBook tells you all you need to know about the benefits of an electric car in Milton Keynes:
Click on the image, enter your name and email, and download your free guide.
If it leaves any questions unanswered, just get in touch (contact details here and in the eBook).
Dr Trevor Larkum
FuelIncluded.com
MyRenaultZOE.com
In January 2016, Milton Keynes was awarded Go Ultra Low City status alongside Bristol, London and Nottingham and secured multi-million pound investment from the UK Government. The cities and regions each received a share of £40 million funding by proposing innovative ideas to encourage drivers to choose an electric car.
Milton Keynes Council received £9 million funding to further its work developing modern vehicles to tackle harmful emissions, reduce its carbon footprint, and continue to make Milton Keynes one of the most sustainable cities in Europe.
The Green Parking Permit scheme was the first proposal from any winning bid to be delivered using Go Ultra Low Cities funding. The Electric Vehicle Experience Centre is the latest proposal to be delivered.
Future plans for the funding in Milton Keynes include:
With regard to the Charging Hubs, this project will see Chargemaster supply its latest charging infrastructure to set up two filling-station-style EV rapid charging hubs and 50 destination chargers across the town.
We have written at length about the new Electric Vehicle Experience Centre (EVEC) that has just been opened in Milton Keynes by Chargemaster. It provides help and advice on electric cars, and provides the opportunity to test drive a range of vehicles.
In association with the EVEC, the AA has launched an electric car driving course. In an AA-Populus Survey of 16,000 drivers, one third said they want to start learning to drive again – but in an electric car.
AA Driving School and Drive Tech trainers have developed the Drive Electric experience in conjunction with Chargemaster. It provides a free one-hour electric driving lesson and it is aimed at showing people how to get the best out of an electric car.
It may eventually go nationwide but is being trialled initially in the Milton Keynes area. More information is available here: AA Trust Launches Drive Electric.
In addition to the generous incentives the UK Government provides for electric cars, there are additional incentives in Scotland. Primarily these are a loan towards purchasing an electric car and a grant towards the cost of a charge point.
The interest-free Electric Vehicle Loan, funded by Transport Scotland (an agency of the Scottish Government), currently offers drivers in Scotland loans of:
The loan has a repayment term of up to six years. The purchased electric vehicle, motorcycle or scooter should be the only plug-in vehicle owned by the applicant and must be eligible for the ‘plug-in car, motorcycle and van grants’ funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). Second hand vehicles are not eligible.
With the exception of an initial deposit, applicants must not have made any other payment towards the purchase of the vehicle before receiving a loan offer under this programme as funding is not provided retrospectively.
The program is administered by the Energy Saving Trust, and expires at the end of March 2018. For more details see Electric Vehicle Loan.
Energy Saving Trust can provide £500 funding towards the cost of a 32 amp home charge point installation. This is on top of the £500 provided by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).
The typical cost for a home charge point and installation is approximately £1000. As part of its Electric Vehicle Homecharge scheme, OLEV currently offers applicants £500 towards this cost. EST will provide up to £500 further funding on top of this. For the cost covered by OLEV you will not need to make any payment to your supplier, as they will receive this money from OLEV directly. For the costs above what OLEV cover, you will have to pay your supplier and the Energy Saving Trust will then provide you with your (up to £500) reimbursement. Any remaining costs above the £500 provided by OLEV and the £500 provided by the Energy Saving Trust you would need to pay for yourself.
For more details see Domestic Charge Point Funding.
Milton Keynes isn’t just the best place in the world for electric car charging, it also has a remarkably friendly parking policy for electric cars. This allows for free parking with a parking permit, and also at designated charge points without a permit.
The bulk of parking spaces around Central Milton Keynes are Standard Tariff (so-called ‘purple’) bays – and electric cars can park in these spaces for free with a Green Parking Permit (GPP). There are an impressive 15,000 of these parking spaces in CMK. Applications for the GPP are made through the Milton Keynes Council website.
Purple bays are arranged around the outside of most of the Milton Keynes blocks, with the exception of the main shopping centre blocks which are Premium Tariff (‘red’).
In addition, the GPP allows for free parking in Off Street Standard Tariff Car Parks (there is one of these off Avebury Boulevard) and in Premium Tariff and Peak Permit Parking (‘black/red stripes’). These latter are typically at the ends of blocks close to the shopping areas.
The Council provides a handy Milton Keynes Parking Map (PDF) with a colour key which indicates the different tariff locations.
Furthermore, electric cars can park at charging points for free, independent of any Permit, even though many of these locations are actually in the expensive Premium areas. It can therefore become a little complicated determining the exact restrictions that apply. The Council website states:
All rapid chargers (currently available for 2 hours only) and electric vehicle spaces with ‘Electric Vehicle Charging Only‘ marked on the signage, can only be used by electric vehicles that are plugged in and charging. Electric vehicle motorists do not need to pay to park if parking in these spaces whilst they are plugged in and charging.
We also operate dual restriction bays which are reserved for electric vehicles only during 7am – 10am and 4pm – 6pm. During the core hours of 10am – 4pm any vehicle can use the spaces, subject to the surrounding parking restriction. Electric vehicles do not have to pay to park in these bays.
A simpler way to understand this, as it was explained to me by a council official, is that there are no restrictions on an electric vehicle parking in a charge point bay for free, except that if the charge point has “RESERVED” painted down its side then the EV must be plugged in.
Milton Keynes is a major commuter town with many people driving to MK Station to take the train to London. The parking at the station is not included in the Council scheme. However, it also provides free parking for electric cars under a scheme provided by London Midland, the operators of the rail line (this scheme also covers other stations along the line). I have detailed this scheme previously: Free Electric Car Parking at Milton Keynes Station.