Category Archives: Charging

High-power EV chargers rolled out at all Extra MSA Group motorway sites in IONITY deal

May 2, 2022Away From Home, Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, Ionity, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

High-power electric vehicle (EV) charging is now available at all Extra MSA Group motorway service areas (MSAs) across the country.

IONITY has installed 38 charging points with a high-speed charging capacity of up to 30kW across all eight of Extra MSA Group’s MSA locations.

More are to follow at existing and proposed new MSA developments, according to the company, stating that IONITY is on track to deliver six high-powered chargers at each of Extra MSA Group’s sites ahead of the government’s 2023 target.

This government target of installing six high-power chargers at all MSAs by 2023 is being supported by the £950 million Rapid Charging Fund, which was first announced in the 2020 Budget.

The government’s goals extend to enabling the installation of 6,000 high-powered chargers across England’s motorways and major A-roads by 2035.

The new IONITY charging stations are geographically spread from Cullompton in the south to Leeds Skelton Lake in the north. All electricity supplied to the chargers is from 100% renewable sources, while all of Extra MSA Group’s locations have the capacity to increase the number of EV charging points as customer demand increases.

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InstaVolt launches ‘one of the UK’s largest’ EV charging hubs with Banbury expansion

April 20, 2022Away From Home, Charging, Charging, InstaVolt, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

InstaVolt has said its electric vehicle (EV) charging hub in Banbury, Oxfordshire is now one of the UK’s largest following the installation of eight new 150kW chargers.

The Alpitronic chargers have been installed alongside an existing eight 125kW chargers at the site, with work on the new chargers beginning in January 2022.

InstaVolt said this is in response to increased demand for rapid, easy to use chargepoints across the country, with the company aiming to grow its network to 10,000 rapid chargers by 2032. By this summer, it is hoping to have 1,000 rapid chargers on its network.

The company said that in the 12 months to March 2022, it has grown its network by 45%, with deals for EV charging rollouts with companies such as Costa Coffee, McDonald’s, Bannatyne Health Clubs and Booths Supermarkets forming part of its “active efforts” to improve EV charging infrastructure.

Alongside the new chargers, the overall services at the hub have also been upgraded, with additional lighting, wider access spaces and two longer spaces to accommodate the increasing number of electric vans and fleet vehicles.

There are also plans for seating on site and a small wildflower meadow to increase biodiversity and create a habitat for pollinating insects.

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Britons buy more electric cars in March than in whole of 2019

April 15, 2022Buying/Leasing, Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, Model 3, News, Reviews and Comment, Tesla, UncategorizedRepost

Overall new car sales slump as petrol and diesel prices soar in Ukraine crisis

British drivers bought more electric cars in March alone than in the whole of 2019 even as the broader market slumped, according to figures that underline the accelerating pace of the UK’s transition away from internal combustion engines.

There were 39,315 new battery electric vehicle registrations during the month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group. In 2019 there were 37,850 electric sales.

Evidence of soaring demand for battery electric cars – which will become the most popular fuel type as soon as 2025 according to some analysts – has provided a bright spot for the car industry at a time when it has struggled for more than a year with computer chip supply bottlenecks.

Across electric and fossil fuel cars in total, the number of sales in the UK in March was the lowest for the month in 24 years.

March is an important month for the UK car industry, when buyers queue up for the latest number plates – a status symbol that can also help sustain secondhand values for a few months longer.

The slump in new car registrations, down 14% compared with March 2021, follows two months of year-on-year sales increases. The industry is concerned that it has missed a period of strong demand – buoyed up by household savings during pandemic lockdowns – and will be under pressure as household finances are squeezed by rising prices across the economy.

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More battery electric vehicles sold in March than entirety of 2019 – SMMT

April 14, 2022Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

March 2022 was the best ever month for sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

In the month, there were 39,315 sales of new BEVs, a 78.7% increase on March 2021, when there were 22,003. This represented a 16.1% market share compared to 7.7%.

These figures mean that in March 2022 there were more BEVs sold than during the entirety of 2019, the SMMT said.

To date this year, there have been 64,165 sales of new BEVs, compared to 31,779 for the same period in 2021- a change of 101.9%.

The SMMT said that with grants for BEVs ongoing until at least next March, with interest rates being low and EVs benefitting from lower running costs, there are “significant benefits” for drivers who order new vehicles now.

“With increasing household and business costs, government must do all it can to support consumers so that the growth of electric vehicles can be sustained and the UK’s ambitious net zero timetable delivered,” Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said.

Earlier this year, the SMMT called for VAT on electricity used for public chargepoints be cut to match that for home use, as well as for binding targets for the rollout of public chargepoints to help meet demand in light of surging BEV sales.

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Government EV charging plan a ‘missed opportunity’ for drivers

April 13, 2022Away From Home, Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

The Department for Transport (DfT) has published plans outlining how it seeks to significantly increase the UK’s electric vehicle charging capacity.

Funding for the £1.6 billion Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy has previously been announced. The DfT has now detailed exactly how the allocated money will be used.

At its core is the aim to have 300,000 public charging devices available by 2030. This represents a tenfold increase from the 30,000 currently installed across the country.

Rapid-charging roll-out

Tackling electric vehicle charging for the millions without access to off-street parking is a key part of the strategy.

Some £450 million will be used by the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure fund. This allows for local authorities to apply for money to deliver EV hubs and innovative on-street charging solutions.

An existing £950 million Rapid Charging Fund is intended to support the installation of fast-charging devices at motorway services. It expects to deliver 2,500 rapid-charging points by 2030, and 6,000 by 2035.

Charging operators will be mandated to provide customers with real-time data about the status of charge points. A 99 percent reliability rate for charging devices will also be expected.

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Tesco to make big change to car parks at 500 of its branches

April 12, 2022Away From Home, Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

Supermarket giant Tesco has announced a ‘big change’ is coming to 500 stores across the United Kingdom. The retailer revealed plans to bring electric charging points to its branches.

The giant expanded the UK’s largest free electric vehicle charging network after usage of the points surged by 300% over the past year, reports the Echo. It unveiled its 500th charging point at Tesco Extra in Inverness.

POD Point Rollout at Tesco Stores (Image: Tesco/POD Point)

Other areas that have benefitted from improved charging access include Southend-on-Sea, Bolton, Wirral and Port Talbot. Since the network was launched in 2019 by Tesco, Volkswagen and Pod Point, the charging points have provided more than 41 million miles of free electric driving.

The network uses renewable energy and, since it launched, has saved 8,786 tonnes of CO2 compared with travelling the same distance in a typical car with an internal combustion engine. Designed to offer Tesco customers a secure, reliable and accessible way to top up their electric cars, the network of more than 1,000 chargers at 500 Tesco supermarkets in the UK also now includes 100 rapid chargers.

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Electric cars: Positive news for EV owners as plan to boost number of public charge points unveiled

April 7, 2022Away From Home, Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, Milton Keynes, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

Electric vehicle owners will have access to 300,000 public charge points by the end of the decade, the government has said.

Some £500m will be invested to hit the target, according to the Department for Transport, which represents a 10-fold increase on the current 30,000 public charge points across the UK.

The 2030 deadline is the same date the government aims to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles, as motorists are encouraged to go electric to help the UK hit net zero by 2050.

Helping drivers without access to off-street parking will be a focus when rolling out the new charge points.

The plan, part of the government’s wider Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, also highlights the need to ensure readily accessible fast charging for longer journeys.

At least 6,000 superfast charge points will be installed across England’s motorways by 2035 as part of an existing £950m commitment.

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Petrol prices are driving us to electric cars, and surging utility bills are no deterrent

April 6, 2022Buying/Leasing, Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

EV sales are rising way beyond forecasts, indicating that most of us are more than ready to make the switch

The net zero transition is really a big invest-to-save plan. Saving the planet is obviously the main goal, but there are purely financial savings too if you take the long view: we pay upfront in the next few decades for the infrastructure for lower carbon travel, heating and production, which saves us money over time because it’s cheaper to run.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are where the big savings come from. A year’s petrol or diesel typically costs well over £1,000, but if you can charge an electric car at your home overnight the annual fuel cost can be under £150.

Making the EV switch is a big job – we’ve got 32m cars to replace. But the turnover has recently gone up several gears, with EV sales outpacing all forecasts: they now account for one in five new car purchases.

Interesting new research digs into how sensitive are drivers pondering the switch to the savings that come from moving from petrol to electric vehicles. Using data from California, it shows the obvious: EV sales respond both to electricity prices (falling as they rise) and to petrol prices (rising as pump prices increase).

The interesting bit is that sales respond to petrol prices at around four to six times the rate of electricity prices. Why? Consumers are just less aware of electricity prices than petrol prices. I definitely am, having watched petrol pump prices rise by 40p a litre over the past year.

So if you want a (small) silver lining to today’s catastrophic energy price surge, it’s that bonkers pump prices should encourage more people to buy electric vehicles while nuts electricity prices won’t put them off much.

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2022 World Car of the Year – top 3 finalists are all EVs

April 5, 2022Buying/Leasing, Charging, Electric Cars, Hyundai, IONIQ Electric, News, Reviews and Comment, Sales, UncategorizedRepost

The top three finalists in the running to be named as the 2022 World Car of the Year have been announced, and all are electric vehicles, rather symbolic of where things are heading. Whittled down from the previous round, the final showdown will see the Ford Mustang Mach-E duking it out with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, the 2022 European Car of the Year winner, for the coveted title.

The Ioniq 5 is also in contention to grab wins in two other categories, the first being in the World Electric Vehicle of the Year segment, which is a new addition to the awards this year. Here, the Korean offering is going up against the Audi e-tron GT and the Mercedes-Benz EQS.

Hyundai IONIQ Electric 2020 (Image: Hyundai)

It’s also in the running to bag the World Car Design of the Year award, although it will have to edge out another two EVs, the Audi e-tron GT and Kia EV6, for the gong. Now, if you’re thinking that the tentacles of electrification end there, think again, because two of the three final competitors in the World Luxury Car category are also electrics – will either the BMW iX and Mercedes-Benz EQS edge out the Genesis GV70 for that particular crown?

It doesn’t end there, because the Audi e-tron GT appears once more, this time in the World Performance Car category – challenging it for the win will be the BMW M3/M4 and Toyota GR86 / Subaru BRZ twins. As for the final three competing for the World Urban Car title, they are the Opel Mokka, Toyota Yaris Cross and Volkswagen Taigun.

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Smart charge point regulations explained

April 1, 2022Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

EV charging is changing in June 2022

On 30th June 2022 the way we charge electric vehicles is going to change. That’s when The Electric Vehicles Smart Charge Point Regulations 2021 come into force (catchy title isn’t it!).

Charging with an Ohme smart charging cable

Hang on. Don’t you just plug in and charge?

Well in theory, yes. Charging your EV at home or work is really simple – although you can charge from a standard (13A) socket – you ideally need to have a suitable charge point installed for topping up your battery.

Currently charge points simply need to be ‘internet connected’ – which often means some nice visual tools in a mobile app – with some charge points also allowing you to set schedules so that you charge overnight when the electricity prices from some energy suppliers are lower.

Great for EV drivers, but what happens if every EV starts charging at the same time?

There are lots of people who enjoy spreading doom and gloom about EV’s and the electricity supply. According to the National Grid who manage the electricity transmission network, there’s plenty of capacity to meet the future electricity demand – but not if everyone charges at the same time. That’s the what the new smart charge point regulations are aiming to solve.

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