Free Charging - No such thing as a free lunch...

 
Today I've been reading post on Facebook on the UK Electric Vehicle Owners Club group...

The topic was about free chargers at Tesco - and that 4 free 7kw  chargers were utilised - and the rapid 50kw (with a cost to use) was empty...

A lot of comments were "we need more chargers" as people "need" to charge...

My thoughts on this are thus :-

People are using the free chargers - because they are free. Not because they "need" to charge.

If someone "needed" to charge - in order to get home - they'd spend £5 on the rapid charger and be on their merry way...

Would people with home charging be using the 7kw if they had to pay say 20p per kwh? I suspect not... And then there would be "enough" chargers for those who "need" it....

Yes, free is nice - nobody will turn away from free stuff...  But it's a distraction from the bigger picture of having the right chargers in the right places...


My view is :-

Anywhere where you're likely to be parked for over 2-3 hours - needs a bank of slower 3-7kw chargers (with no concerns about hogging).

Places like - multi storey/long stay car parks. park and ride sites, Hotels. Theme parks. Airports. Train Stations.
These should have 7kw chargers - no rapid chargers (and the increased costs of installation) are needed..
Supermarkets (if they want to give away free electric...) should do as they're doing currently - slower free ones.. with chargeable rapids for those who need more of a boost but are willing to pay...


For shorter stay places then Rapid chargers should be set up (with an overstay charge to prevent all day hogging)

These should be at places like :-

KFC/McDonalds/Starbucks etc, retail parks with 90-120 minute parking limits... 

Short stay council car parks..Gyms, Leisure Centres, Motorway Services

The state of public charging (and how to fix it).

As a newbie to EV's (with no actual experience of living with public charging) I've been watching various discussions with interest and the following is my thoughts on the state of public charging in the UK and what I think can be done to improve matters..

 

Types of chargers

I think that although numbers of fast (7kw+) and rapid (50kw+) chargers are improving across the nation, many are the wrong type in the wrong location...

Hotels - shouldn't have rapid chargers in my opinion, as many people get to a hotel, plug in and then go to bed for 8-10 hours. No point having a rapid if it's hogged all night by a car that's fully charged before the resident has finished checking in... Hotels should be a bank of 6 or more 7kw chargers so people can plug in and leave... Hotel Rapids are no good for non residents as they usually involve a trip to reception to put your registration on the list to avoid getting a parking charge in the post...

Talking of parking charges - places that have a 2 hour parking limit (supermarkets/on street parking) with 3kw chargers are pretty pointless unless you're a serious penny pincher looking to get 6kw in your battery for free whilst spending 2 hours at the supermarket...

Similarly - having chargers in a pay and display car park - having to pay to park and pay to charge is a double whammy.  Perhaps a surcharge through the machines (slight increase per kw/h) that covers the charge and parking whilst charging...  

Rapid chargers need to all have an overstay charge on them -  say 15 mins free after a 100% charge before charging £10 an hour on top. Either that or ANPR parking set-up.

Also rapids need to be in places such as supermarkets/retail parks/short stay car parks where the parking time isn't much longer than the longest charging time of current EV's. Ideally the time will come where petrol stations with an attached Costa/Starbucks will have the pumps replaced with rapid chargers..

I'm going to appreciate getting a free charge where available but I'm being realistic with my thoughts (I think!) as I know chargers (especially rapid) don't come cheap when it comes to installing and maintaining...

Working Chargers

I've read various reports of people having charging issues - I think these are overly reported as people don't report the many successful charges in comparison..

People need to contact the charging company as many times they can either reset it remotely, or put it on free-vend... Or worst case they add it to the list for fixing.. If they don't know about it then they can't sort it. Just driving off and finding another one doesn't help anyone. All new chargers should (imo) be network connected and report back to base... This also helps with live maps showing availablity..

Research - most areas now have an abundance of chargers - people need to familiarise themselves with the ones in their local area - store the customer service phone numbers in your phone, find out the facilities and plan when you charge - if you've got a supermarket nearby with a rapid charger - fit it in with your weekly shop - it'll take the stress out of the remainder of the week depending on your mileage obviously!

Lastly people need to educate themselves on ev-etiquette. 

Reliance on public charging - brave or stupid?

I've gone for an EV without the ability to charge at home..  Now some say this is brave/stupid...

Often get comments of "how you gonna charge it if  you can't charge it at home?" - "what if the charger isn't working" - "what if there's a queue"...

a) rapid chargers at multiple locations both on route to work and around either end of my commute.
b) use the next one - as I won't be running on empty...
c) see b) - but from observing local charge points - it's not an issue - as most people charge at home - and if people start to queue then the demand will be there to install more chargers.. Plus I tend to commute at silly times - so coming home from work at 4am, I can hardly see myself having issues queuing... 

2 of the chargers I plan to use are at Morrisons stores - which I tend to visit 2-3 times a week anyway for packed lunch etc, and/or a cafe visit...   That half hour to an hour is enough to get my car to 80-90% on most occasions without any excess sitting and waiting...

Reliability is supposedly an issue - but there's at least 3 different   rapid charger suppliers around me - so always a backup....

The choice of car

The choice of car was interesting...  I could have got something cheaper and petrol - but saved nothing on fuel... 

The main limitation to EV's for me was range - cheaper ones had ranges of 120 miles or so.. And with a 70 mile round trip and no home charging - this wasn't feasible..

What is feasible is 300 mile range.. Which is what I've gone for in the car I've chosen..

Which is....

The Hyundai Kona Premium, 64kw with heat pump.

Effective range allows 3 days of commutes to/from work without having to find a charger....

Hyundai Kona EV

The Sums

So, doing the sums as to whether an EV would benefit me - largely came down to the car I chose (for its range) and the monthly cost because of the mileage...

Luckily my work do a salary sacrifice scheme, which covers everything bar screen wash and electric - so the calculations on that side were quite easy...

The monthly payment (net) is £470...

But that includes insurance, road tax, servicing, tyres, breakdown cover.. Everything needed to get on the road. No deposit, and after 4 years I can return the car to them and go for another.. or purchase it outright..

My current Volvo whilst I already own it has to be insured, taxed, MOT'd, serviced, and regularly repaired as part of the service.

Plus fueled using diesel which is currently ridiculously expensive....

Adding up what I spent on it over the last 12 months - and doing a fuel calculation (based on me using the most expensive public chargers) - I'd be saving £120+ a month on fuel. And overall for £50 a month extra I'll have a brand new car...  For me that's a no brainer. If I get cheaper/free charging then it'll be better than that. 

Why don't you charge at home I hear you say? Because it's physically impossible... (Separate post on public charging and why will be coming...).

Sums wise :-
Volvo costs exc fuel (per month average) - £240
Volvo fuel Costs - per month - £260 

New Car costs exc fuel - £470

New Car fuel costs (max £128 - min £0*)

Volvo total £500 
New Car total £600 (or less)

Work are planning to install EV charging points - yet to be seen how much cost to us as yet - but ideally free..   
So marginally more - but to get a new car vice a 16 year old one that's a moneypit.... I think it's worth it...

The Pondering...

My EV journey involved a lot of thought.. And wondering if I'm doing the right thing...  Of course any EV enthusiast will say without doubt that I am.. But I did have several doubts..   I'm hoping that in reading this blog you might understand why - and I'll hopefully convince you that I've done the right thing - and maybe encourage you to do so to.....

I'm going to try and write it down in an order that makes sense, and apologise if anything is out of sequence...


Firstly I'll explain my vehicle usage case...

My Commute and other regular journeys.

I travel from Shrewsbury to Crewe and back daily - a 70 mile round trip.
Once or twice a month I do Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and back - 160 miles round trip.
Once every couple of months or so I travel down to Bristol. 240 mile round trip..
Once every couple of months or so I travel to my parents in Hull. 165 mile one way trip..

That is my basic usage pattern with the usual shopping and leisure trips mingled in..

I'm currently using a 2005 Volvo S40 diesel, which I purchased in October 2019 - with 109k on the clock.
At the time of writing at the beginning of August 2021 - it's now got 145k on the clock and starting to show signs of wear despite the regular servicing during which it's had everything it's needed done to it (which I'll discuss in a separate post on costs..)..... Because of this  - and also after a discussion with a work colleague - I decided to ponder my options which ultimately ended up with me ordering an EV...   I shall explain why I chose the vehicle in a separate post too.