Ecotricity Electric Highway

[Kevin Sharpe]

I'm glad this is finally in the public domain...

"Later this year we expect to install the first of a new breed of very fast chargers – from flat to full in 20 minutes"

http://zerocarbonista.com/2012/01/31/2012-the-year-of-the-electric-car/

[Kevin Sharpe]

Ecotricity are installing both 43kW 3 Phase AC and 50kW CHAdeMO DC this year... anyone at Tesla listening to what's happening in Europe?

[Mycroft]

Very cool! But where are x, y, and z?

[Kevin Sharpe]

Very cool! But where are x, y, and z?they have updated the website to say "London, Exeter and Manchester"

[AndrewBissell]

Game-changer for EVs in the UK

[jcstp]

There will be a battle going on between free & not free charging!

Membercard or not

A battle for customers is going on, and ev-users will benefit!

[Lloyd]

There will be a battle going on between free & not free charging!

Membercard or not

I battle for customers is going on, and ev-users will benefit!

As a business owner I am all for allowing my clients and employees to charge for free. Those that are not clients or employees should pay a nominal amount for the parking, use of the EVSE, and electrons used.

[jcstp]

As a business owner I am all for allowing my clients and employees to charge for free. Those that are not clients or employees should pay a nominal amount for the parking, use of the EVSE, and electrons used.

I agree.
But for a restaurant or hotel offering free charging can be a way of marketing and getting clients.

[Kevin Sharpe]

for a restaurant or hotel offering free charging can be a way of marketing and getting clients.Absolutely... the UK is really waking up to this and I have no doubt that we will have massive Charging Station deployment at Hotels within a few years.

[doug]

As a business owner I am all for allowing my clients and employees to charge for free. Those that are not clients or employees should pay a nominal amount for the parking, use of the EVSE, and electrons used.
Kind of like validated parking.

[Kevin Sharpe]

Those that are not clients or employees should pay a nominal amount for the parking, use of the EVSE, and electrons used.I'm sure that everyone would be happy with that... the issue for me is how we pay... in the UK today we have 22 different RFID cards and numerous monthly subscription services and that's just lunacy :crying:

[Lloyd]

I'm sure that everyone would be happy with that... the issue for me is how we pay... in the UK today we have 22 different RFID cards and numerous monthly subscription services and that's just lunacy :crying:

I am looking for a Point of Sale that will accept a plain credit card swipe.

[Kevin Sharpe]

Now that Dale at Ecotricity is a Leaf owner I suspect we will see more action on fast chargers :wink:

"Actually we have super fast chargers coming soon – empty to full in just 20 minutes, more on that later"

Fuel Crisis, What Fuel Crisis? | Transport | Zerocarbonista (http://zerocarbonista.com/2012/04/04/fuel-crisis-what-fuel-crisis/)

[dpeilow]

Noticed this in the comments there:


Dale Vince
April 5, 2012 at 12:49 pm

Fair guess, but the Tesla never really did it for me.

Was offered the last (new) right hand drive roadster in the world last week (by Tesla), tempted for a split second, but it’s no Nemesis…:)

Air car sounds interesting. I’ll keep an eye out.

Cheers.

[Kevin Sharpe]

Noticed this in the comments there:very funny... it's true the roadster is no Nemesis... it works :wink:

[jkirkebo]

I am looking for a Point of Sale that will accept a plain credit card swipe.

We have charging posts in Norway that open only after you send an SMS. If it's post #22 I send "Start 22" to a special number and the post open and activates. It is free for now, but the system can be used to charge via the phone bill if they want to later. I send "stop 22" to stop charging and open the post again to free my EVSE cable. That SMS can be charged to the phone bill for the amount of time used to charge. Very simple, everybody has a cellphone.

[VolkerP]

First impression: clever solution! But is there a prevention for other phones to send "stop 22"? e.g. phone number serving as authorization? or a code number in a message sent in return for "start 22" that is required to authorize the stop command? Otherwise, anybody can abort your charging process and remove your charging cable. If it is not locked at the vehicle side, it can be stolen.

[Lloyd]

We have charging posts in Norway that open only after you send an SMS. If it's post #22 I send "Start 22" to a special number and the post open and activates. It is free for now, but the system can be used to charge via the phone bill if they want to later. I send "stop 22" to stop charging and open the post again to free my EVSE cable. That SMS can be charged to the phone bill for the amount of time used to charge. Very simple, everybody has a cellphone.

Clipper Creek uses this solution for POS now, and is workable. The only problem, it is time consuming for the user to enter all the payment information ie credit card. I have not seen the ability to have it added to your phone bill here yet. Additionally as a merchant you are then billed for a non-swiped transaction (3%) versus an non-swiped transaction (1%) as a merchant fee.

[Kevin Sharpe]

Not a great day for Ecotricty :-(

I did manage to charge at 32A at Oxford M40 South despite 12" water in the parking bay and an ICE...

55765575

But Membury M4 West was 'dead' once again...

55775578

[fraccy]

That one at Oxford, I've used that before.... Have they moved the post? I could have sworn it was in front of the two green bays with the big puddle in your first picture and next to the main walkway.

[Kevin Sharpe]

That one at Oxford, I've used that before.... Have they moved the post?No obvious signs of recent ground works but I've no idea. This is South bound could you be thinking about the North bound location?

[Kevin Sharpe]

It's being suggested that some of the reliability problems are the result of the pilot signal generator in the Charging Station being subjected to 100V because "it is the non std Tesla leads (made up and used on a Tesla) that have caused the issues" and these "poor quality leads come from Holland & are available off the web (I have been told they are sold in kit form)" and that "The fault can appear up to 4 charge sessions later".

I personally don't give any credence to this at all but it would help me push back if I had some idea how many Type 2 ("mennekes") leads are in use in the UK and Germany (where they claim the issue also exists) and what problems (if any) people have experienced.

Many thanks!

[dpeilow]

I'm struggling to think of where 100V is going to appear from.

[Talkredius]

It's being suggested that some of the reliability problems are the result of the pilot signal generator in the Charging Station being subjected to 100V because "it is the non std Tesla leads (made up and used on a Tesla) that have caused the issues" and these "poor quality leads come from Holland & are available off the web (I have been told they are sold in kit form)" and that "The fault can appear up to 4 charge sessions later".

I personally don't give any credence to this at all but it would help me push back if I had some idea how many Type 2 ("mennekes") leads are in use in the UK and Germany (where they claim the issue also exists) and what problems (if any) people have experienced.

Many thanks!

Never heard of this problems, most Tesla drivers I know got their lead from Tesla, I got one cable ( Mennekes connector on one side, open end on the other side) from a Holland source, which was originally produced by Mennekes) and one cable from Menneles directly.. But my cables are connected to a CEE red socket, I switch the resistor (s) manually..So only my resistors + diode could be blown up.

And as Kevin I love the dumb sockets, but they have a big disadvantage : They are so dumb that they only do what they should do, charging.

No adventures, no box which refuses to give you your lead back, no touch panel which does not work at -10C°, no...., they are really, really boring:biggrin::biggrin:

[Kevin Sharpe]

Green Park and Membury Services (M4 West) did not work today...

5959596059635964

[Kevin Sharpe]

another driver is reporting a similar problem at South Mimms http://www.leaftalk.co.uk/showthread.php/3332-Ecotricity-launches-the-Electric-Highway?p=16551&viewfull=1#post16551

[fraccy]

Membury Westbound wasn't working for us yesterday. Didn't get that message in the photo above, just nothin happened at all after was plugged in.

[Kevin Sharpe]

Ecotricty Michaelwood Services Southbound, 5 June 2012. The 13A socket was not working (no LED's and no response to card). Type 2 socket opened when card swiped but was not tested further. Fault reported to Welcome Break site manager when he appeared to photograph the Tesla. Also tweeted @ecotricity and #ukcharge a link to following video;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=K1jsDgmSTRc

[Talkredius]

Ecotricty Michaelwood Services Southbound, 5 June 2012. The 13A socket was not working (no LED's and no response to card). Type 2 socket opened when card swiped but was not tested further. Fault reported to Welcome Break site manager when he appeared to photograph the Tesla. Also tweeted @ecotricity and #ukcharge a link to following video;


my suggestion : "buendig absaegen und fachgerecht entsorgen" I try to translate, I hope some native speaker will help/correct me :

saw it off shortly and dispose of professionally

[fraccy]

Another failed attempt to charge at the Ecotricity point at Michael Woods, Southbound m5.

Every time I tried to enable charging the light would flash yellow twice and then nothing. The Roadster never seems to see a signal. Now I'm starting to wonder if its me, though same equipment has worked many times before... :confused:

[Kevin Sharpe]

Another failed attempt to charge at the Ecotricity point at Michael Woods, Southbound m5.I had problems with the 13A at this location on the 19th June but didn't try Type 2.

It would be great if you could video the problem and upload to http://www.youtube.com/user/evchargewatch (I can give you the account details) and then tweet using the hashtag #ukcharge (http://twitter.com/#!/search/ukcharge) so that all drivers are aware :smile:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtSig46RElU

[fraccy]

I have a video, but my youtube/twittering is non-existent. How do I upload it to that page?

[Edit: Here it is]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N15U23ZZ9aU

[Kevin Sharpe]

I have a video, but my youtube/twittering is non-existent. How do I upload it to that page?have sent you PM with account details... once uploaded I'm happy to tweet link for you.

Unfortunately, Ecotricity seem to have given up communicating with EV drivers :confused:

[ecotricity]

Another failed attempt to charge at the Ecotricity point at Michael Woods, Southbound m5.

Every time I tried to enable charging the light would flash yellow twice and then nothing. The Roadster never seems to see a signal. Now I'm starting to wonder if its me, though same equipment has worked many times before... :confused:

Hi Fraccy,

Sorry to hear you've had a problem charging, we're very keen to get these issues sorted. I've mentioned it to Kevin previously, but I don't think it has been shared on here;

We have a dedicated support email address for our Electric Highway: fortheroad@ecotricity.co.uk monitored by a dedicated team of people who respond to telephone and email enquiries.

Unfortunately it's not currently possible for them to check our @ecotricity twitter feed or monitor EV forums or Youtube for fault reports or suggestions. They also need to know RFID card number in order to follow up the issue/suggestion and to try to spot patterns, match up with log files etc...

If you haven't already - could I ask if you could please drop them a line with your full name, RFID number and/or Reg details & they'll be able to help you out. It is possible that you're doing something that is causing the fault (a Leaf driver recently reported that once they tried plugging the car in first that the charging started to work!).

Thanks
Paul

[ecotricity]

Only you Kevin ;)

I've mentioned to you that dropping our team an email on fortheroad@ecotricity.co.uk is the best way for people to get faults resolved, but still you seem to prefer tweeting and youtube... strange that...

[Kevin Sharpe]

Only you Kevin ;)

I've mentioned to you that dropping our team an email on fortheroad@ecotricity.co.uk is the best way for people to get faults resolved, but still you seem to prefer tweeting and youtube... strange that...Nothing strange at all... the EV community wish to notify one another about the status of EV Charging Stations using twitter and youtube. I did not start these efforts, I simply support them. Personally, I wish you'd just deliver a reliable network so that we can charge our cars and not spend time talking about why we can't :confused:

For the record, when historically I reported faults to you by email I only ever received one response and that was actually for a different recipient regarding a different Charging Station!

Final point... it's no good just dipping into EV forums and then disappearing for weeks. Can you please post some responses to the faults posted on LeafTalk (http://www.leaftalk.co.uk/showthread.php/3332-Ecotricity-launches-the-Electric-Highway/) because the last Ecotricity post was on the 21st May.

[ecotricity]

Kevin - your input is the main reason for my 'dipping in and out' - I've been told to ignore you. I've also been ill lots in the past couple of months - another good reason not to rely on social media and forums as a way to 'help us deliver a reliable network'.

This is the first and last time I address you on this forum, and just to reiterate the reasons for everyone else's benefit:

As I posted on Leaftalk (http://www.leaftalk.co.uk/showthread.php/3332-Ecotricity-launches-the-Electric-Highway?p=16904&viewfull=1#post16904) - you've previously stated that you:

1. Don't need or want to use our network (you believe yours is far superior)
2. Are not interested in helping us 'debug compatibility problems' with your car or cables.
3. Have a personal issue with Ecotricity founder Dale Vince

In which case, please refrain from trying to provoke a reaction from me, and for the sake of our customers (whom you claim to represent the interests of), please refrain from participating in any threads or discussions that you would like us to respond to.

You aren't helping - you are making things worse. I also have better things to do with my time & energy than to be trolled by you on multiple platforms.

Cheers
Paul

[Kevin Sharpe]

1. Don't need or want to use our network (you believe yours is far superior)You have conveniently taken this out of context.... what I was saying is that I don't *need* to use your network because I have the range to continue when your Charging Stations are not working. That does not mean that I would not like to use it from time to time.

Clearly Zero:Net is superior in terms of reliability if we have 120 locations today and 200 working Charging Stations (100% working).


2. Are not interested in helping us 'debug compatibility problems' with your car or cablesAgain, conveniently out of context.... I was talking about your supplier who I was unwilling to help further because I had already spent a great deal of time disproving the claim that it was Tesla drivers using unapproved cables in Europe that damaged your Charging Stations.


3. Have a personal issue with Ecotricity founder Dale VinceI have said to Dale a number of times that I think he is wrong to dismiss the work of David Peilow, Andrew Bissell, Tesla, and others when they founded the first national charging station network.


In which case, please refrain from trying to provoke a reaction from me, and for the sake of our customers (whom you claim to represent the interests of), please refrain from participating in any threads or discussions that you would like us to respond to.When your customers (my friends) get dumped on the side of the road because of the failure of your Charging Station then I take an interest in their welfare. I actually campaign at all levels for improved public charging. If you participate in public forums then the moderators will ensure that you get treated fairly. I suggest that it's in Ecotricity's best interests to respond to the concerns that customers raise whether through twitter, forums, or email.


You aren't helping - you are making things worse. I also have better things to do with my time & energy than to be trolled by you on multiple platforms.What I suggest is that you deliver a reliable network.... I also have better things to do with my time.

[dpeilow]

I'm not sure anyone comes out of this cross-forum spat looking good, guys. Sure, the original point (namely there are some ecotricity sites not working) needed to be raised, but there isn't a need for name calling and you both represent professional organisations.

We have to remember that these are not closed fora, that the public do read them and that infighting between prominant EV proponents may have a (totally unfounded) negative influence on their purchasing decisions...

[Kevin Sharpe]

Vauxhall Ampera Southbound M6 Charnock services 28 June 2012 (Note similarity to error reported by fraccy above when using his Tesla and Tesla Type 2 cable)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu62SVGJYXc&feature=plcp

[Kevin Sharpe]

twitter @ZCWmarketing "#ukcharge @ecotricity M6 Charnock Richard Services M6 Southbound 13Amp working #ev #electriccar Type 2 still not"

[Kevin Sharpe]

twitter @ZCWmarketing "#ukcharge after some fiddling about & witchcraft the 13Amp @ecotricity M6 northbound Charnock richard is working :-)"

[Kevin Sharpe]

twitter @ZCWmarketing "#ukcharge @ecotricity Welcome Break M6 southbound - post turned off at mains due to stealing my #EV cable. No charging available any type"

[ecotricity]

Hiya all,

This is a plea from us to you to help us get it right.

We acknowledge there are still some issues with our network that fall short of our aspirations, but in order to get to where we want to be – we need the help of you pioneers. We’ve had some great assistance from a lot of you already, thanks!

We take this very seriously, and no matter how issues are reported or by whom – we want to deal with them as quickly as possible so that our Electric Highway becomes the useful and reliable service we all want it to be. We’re on the same side.

Could I ask Electric Highway customers to continue to call us on 08000 302 302 or email us at fortheroad@ecotricity.co.uk with any issues? That would be really helpful and will give us the chance to actually see any faults through to a resolution, plus put support in place via Twitter etc.

This is new to us – we’re in the business of generating and supplying renewable energy. And there’s much for us to learn about getting that energy from the grid and into EVs.

Here’s what we’re going to do in the short-term:
Next week we’re sending engineers to each of our Charge Points to give them a thorough shakedown, identify any issues and fix them
We’re also producing clear instructions to be displayed on all our Charge Points
And, we’ve speeded up the investigation of how we can support our customers better – (inc via social media) and how quickly and effectively we can respond via other channels.
Please also bear with us while we investigate reported faults and modify the way we work – so that our Electric Highway can live up to all of our expectations and aspirations.

In the long-term, we plan to have things sorted so that there are no issues to be reported!

As a company campaigning for a better, cleaner world – this is part of our vision for the present – not just the future – a vision I think we all share.

I’m pretty sure that together we can fix this.

Thanks again
Paul

[fraccy]

yeh looks very similar, though the colours are different.

I never knew about that button, whats that do, a sort of reset? I was getting the same effect sliding the switch on the tesla connector.

[fraccy]

Have heard back from ecotricity. They suspect either my connector wasn't pushed in sufficiently, or that the post hadn't "reset" since the last user, recommending I should have pushed that button.

I'm pretty sure the connector was in fine, I did reconnect it several times. I repeated everything more than once, and the door was definitely closed when I arrived so I don't see how it wasn't reset..

... but anyway, will try pushing that button next time, will update here if I do.. but very interested to know if anyone else manages to use michael wood southbound or membury m4 westbound in the meantime? still half wondering if its something up with my mennekes cable or something.

[ecotricity]

I'm not sure anyone comes out of this cross-forum spat looking good, guys. Sure, the original point (namely there are some ecotricity sites not working) needed to be raised, but there isn't a need for name calling and you both represent professional organisations.

We have to remember that these are not closed fora, that the public do read them and that infighting between prominant EV proponents may have a (totally unfounded) negative influence on their purchasing decisions...

Hiya David - yes we're very aware of this. I actually came on here to help our customers. As I said - I won't be responding any more to Kevin - I had to make that clear otherwise people might think we were just ignoring the 'issues'. It's actually quite difficult to start, never mind maintain a conversation with anyone else though... I only saw your post by chance just now!

Cheers
Paul

[Kevin Sharpe]

I'm pretty sure the connector was in fine, I did reconnect it several times. I repeated everything more than once, and the door was definitely closed when I arrived so I don't see how it wasn't reset.If I understand correctly the theory is that it was the previous user who upset the Charging Station and therefore it required a reset prior to your arrival. I suspect a reset means a site visit by the supplier based on the fact that a Type 2 cable got stuck in a Charging Station yesterday and they couldn't release it remotely for the Ampera driver.

Personally, I don't think it's possible for the connector to not seat in properly.... these things are pretty foolproof IMO.


but anyway, will try pushing that button next time, will update here if I do.. but very interested to know if anyone else manages to use michael wood southbound or membury m4 westbound in the meantime? still half wondering if its something up with my mennekes cable or something.I've tried pushing this button at Green Park without success... unfortunately, this was before we started videoing the problem so can't provide any useful context.

When I approached Tesla about these issues they were adamant that they have not seen any problems in Europe with their Type 2 ("mennekes") cable.

I know that some Leaf drivers had problems and success with a Dostar cable and the Ampera driver yesterday was using an ITT cable and experienced both success and failure. Personally, I've had both success and failure with both the hcsharp and ITT Type 2 cables with my Tesla.

ZCW have invested a great deal of time and energy debugging these issues (especially with the supplier behind the scenes) and we are currently reviewing our commitment to this going forward. I think it's up to the EV community to decide how best to resource this effort.

[Kevin Sharpe]

yeh looks very similar, though the colours are different.One thought.... when you plug in the Type 2 connector into the Charging Station is the slide switch on the Roadster connector in the "on" position?

[Kevin Sharpe]

For completeness here are the videos of charging success and failure at M6 Keele Services (where the Ampera cable got 'stuck'). As I'm sure you can imagine, documenting these failures is a time consuming task and I'm not sure how much resource ZCW will commit to this in future...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF-aINqmxcE&feature=youtu.be


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25FpbUDXgEY&feature=youtu.be


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ4Kf3dj3qs&feature=youtu.be

[fraccy]

One thought.... when you plug in the Type 2 connector into the Charging Station is the slide switch on the Roadster connector in the "on" position?

Yeh good point I was thinking about that. The last time I tried I'm sure it was off the first time I plugged it in, thats my normal habit - its the last thing I switch on. I repeated a few times and I'm pretty sure I'd have tried it with it in the on position, but is a variable I'll try changing next time. When I slid it on and off having plugged in, it would appear to "reset" and again flash twice before doing nothing. The thing that makes me suspicious there was a fault with the post (or my equipment of course) is that on previous occasions, I've just plugged in and charged, no thought or fiddling about.

If I get time I'm going to tour 3 or 4 of these points one evening, including a chargemaster little chef one I know to have worked previously. I need to resolve this at least for myself, as the next time I take a longer trip I'm not going to know what to trust. I never previously appreciated reliability as being the awful problem it really is with electric car charging points - as soon as you lose trust that its going to work, life gets a lot more difficult. Its worrying - I'm technically skilled, and passionate for electric cars, and more than happy to put up with problems - but how this could ever go mainstream with people who just want to go from A to B without thinking or engaging with the technology... well, currently it can't, that much is obvious.

I really appreciate ecotricity's charging posts, they're a reassuring presence in useful public locations with 24 hour access, but with question marks over reliability they instantly become useless in terms of planning a journey. When they work they're pretty cool and a lot better than chargemaster's irritating interface on their upright posts, but when they fail they immediately appear hugely over-complex and over-engineered. I'm loathe to comment on what I know is a long running divisive issue and frankly I don't care - I just want to charge my car - but from my perspective as a consumer, I guess the simplicity of ZC's approach scores a major point here. At the moment I certainly trust ZC points the most, despite having only used them a couple of times so far.

[Kevin Sharpe]

"As I was leaving I saw a White Van Man pulling into the reserved EV spaces - sneaky little ICE'r. What did I do? I confronted him, that's what.

'Funny looking electric car you have there, mate.' I said, loud and proud. Ish.

But it all turned out for the best. He was there to start the process of installing a DC rapid charging station. Apparently 27 Welcome Break locations are having them installed by the end of the year.

With that good news I was off on my travels to my next stop."

1000 miles in an Ampera: Day 1 (http://www.zerocarbonworld.org/environmental/1000-miles-in-an-ampera-day-1)

[dpeilow]

Just received in my email from Ecotricity:


We're really excited to announce new DC fast charge technology {CHAdeMO} for our Electric Highway.

We’ve teamed up with Nissan to roll out fast charge technology at 40 Welcome Break motorway service stations.

Hopwood Park, South Mimms and Oxford Welcome Break Service Stations are up and running. This means you'll be able to charge a Nissan Leaf or Mitsubishi iMiev in under 30 minutes.
The first phase of installation will match that of our existing Electric Highway charge points, view the map online for which ones have been installed already and those coming next.

Use of our charging network is currently free - we want to encourage the take-up of electric vehicles and being able to recharge quickly is a big part of this.

Your existing swipe card will give you access to these new DC fast charge points.

[Alexandersims]

Hi all,

Being a relatively new Tesla owner, I have no where near the experience of Kevin, David and others and reading through this forum I can understand the frustration at times, but on how many occasions has anyone actually been 'stranded' (except for the guy whos cable was stuck!)?

I get the feeling that we are blowing this up to be bigger than it needs to be. If we find a fault, report it and try and work with who ever the provider is to eradicate the issue. I can understand it may be difficult when there is competition between providers but we must surely support each other and get the charging network improved so these issues do not occur again.

Then when members of the public who want to use an EV for general use without wanting to support the technology, it will work and fewer disaster stories will be told.
Lets surely work together on this and put aside our differences to keep working for a better EV network.

Alexander

[Kevin Sharpe]

but on how many occasions has anyone actually been 'stranded' (except for the guy whos cable was stuck!)?I know several drivers who had to use a flat bed to get home following these failures. One in particular gave up driving the Leaf long distances after the third time and Nissan suggested they might not get any further assistance.

Ecotricty are now replacing the old 'green' Charging Stations with 'white' versions that seem a lot less prone to failure in the few times I have used them with my Roadster. You'll have to decide for yourself whether they had a genuine fault with the 'green' hardware.

The issue with ICE cars parking in Ecotricity charging spaces has not gone away... several people have reported this issue in the last week and on Friday I found all three spaces ICE'd including the DC charger (one car did eventually move so that I could get to the Charging Station);

10399

- - - Updated - - -


I get the feeling that we are blowing this up to be bigger than it needs to be. If we find a fault, report it and try and work with who ever the provider is to eradicate the issue.The only way you will know that is to try using the network and report your experiences here and on twitter (use hashtag #ukcharge). My suggestion is that you always have a second charging location that you can reach because the public infrastructure will let you down at some point. Many Leaf drivers are about to start traveling for the first time following the recent deployment of DC chargers... only time will tell whether this second phase of deployments is better than the first.

[Talkredius]

Hi all,

Being a relatively new Tesla owner,


congrats to your new car :biggrin:



I have no where near the experience of Kevin, David and others and reading through this forum I can understand the frustration at times, but on how many occasions has anyone actually been 'stranded' (except for the guy whos cable was stuck!)?

......
Alexander

I can't say anything about the UK ( but will be there for the first time June next year :smile: ) so I'm talking mainly about Germany.
The Roadster is my only car now and I'm driving about 60.000 km /year , Odometer = 118.121 km now. I have learned never ever to rely on this Smartcard / Panel driven charging stations, I always have a plan B and C often also D :wink:
My experience is , 30 % of these charging stations are not working for different reasons : they are not there where they should be, or not connected to the grid ( just used for advertisement) or never been tested with an EV before or.......long list :biggrin:
Keep in mind usually you have only one charging station at one place. As Roadster owners we have the luxury of big a battery, if one charging station isn't operating we can drive 50 km more to the next charging station, other EV drivers don't have this luxury.

I only rely on "community" operated charging station networks. like Kevin's Zerocarbonworld or Park & Charge in DACH (Germany, Austria, Swiss) or Drehstrometzwerk in Germany.

[Alexandersims]

I apologise Kevin. HAving never been stranded myself and having spoken to relatively few EV owners, never known them to get stranded I thought it was perhaps very uncommon.
For these posts to fail once or twice is still not acceptable but we must try and help the industry improve constructively.

Regarding the ICE vehicles taking up the spaces I agree it is a very real issue. Have you any suggestions on how to improve this?
If we put up barriers or bollards then you might need smart card access or a code which many may not have, plus adds another obstacle to ease of EVs.

Perhaps just needs to be clearer that it is an EV zone, not Disabled or normal parking. The lime green paint is quite similar to the yellow and I have found disabled cars parking in the EV spaces.

[Kevin Sharpe]

I apologise Kevin.No apology necessary :smile:


For these posts to fail once or twice is still not acceptable but we must try and help the industry improve constructively.I completely agree... my response is to try and build a reliable network Zero:Net (http://www.zerocarbonworld.org/zero-net)... I think it falls to the EV driver community to help the other networks improve :wink:


Regarding the ICE vehicles taking up the spaces I agree it is a very real issue. Have you any suggestions on how to improve this?I suspect this is where these deployments will fail. The problem is that this is controlled by Welcomebreak who no longer even patrol the car parks (they rely on outsourced camera surveillance and are only interested in parking time violations). My suggestion is that drivers get together and 'encourage' Welcomebreak to improve signage further but I'm not sure that will help much...

[dpeilow]

Updated map from Ecotricity

Our Electric Highway - For The Road - Ecotricity (http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/for-the-road/our-electric-highway)

[Kevin Sharpe]

Updated map from EcotricityDo you know what's changed? I thought it was 40 sites :confused:

[PV4EV]

Updated map from Ecotricity

Our Electric Highway - For The Road - Ecotricity (http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/for-the-road/our-electric-highway)

The instructions on the Ecotricity site imply you are filling up your EV with a liquid fuel !!





To Start Charging :-

Step 1 - Press green button to start charging process

Step 2 - Swipe your card

Step 3 - Choose charging option: Green button for standard charge

Step 4 - Connect nozzle to car, use the safety catch to keep the handle depressed.

Step 6 - Press ‘tick’ button to start charge.


Once charging is complete:-

Swipe your card (must be same card that started session)
Disconnect nozzle – pull back safety catch at rear of handle, press black button to release handle and remove nozzle



Charging Your Vehicle - For The Road - Ecotricity (http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/for-the-road/charging-your-vehicle)

[dpeilow]

Reports that the new Ecotricity/Nissan CHAdeMO charger at South Mimms is already broken...

[doug]

Game-changing moment for electric cars - News - Ecotricity (http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/news/news-archive/2012/game-changing-moment-for-electric-cars)


The easy-to-use chargers are situated in designated parking bays at Welcome Break motorway services in South Mimms (M25/A1), Oxford (M40) and Hopwood Park (M42).
And at a time when petrol prices are spiralling upwards, the charging won’t just be convenient – it will be free too!

[rolosrevenge]

Game-changing moment for electric cars - News - Ecotricity (http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/news/news-archive/2012/game-changing-moment-for-electric-cars) Hmm, where have I seen this concept before? :rolleyes:

[Alexandersims]

Does any one know when the next phase of 20 or so sites on the ecotricity network will get the charge points installed?

[dpeilow]

I suspect only ecotricity, and on past performance I wouldn't even be sure about that.

[Alexandersims]

I suspect only ecotricity, and on past performance I wouldn't even be sure about that.

They've got some way to go I think! If they claim the new white boxes are more reliable then they may need another different colour... Both eastbound and westbound at Membury services on M4 were not working today. On one the light turned blue after plugging in and the was no current, and on my return the charge point stayed white the whole time and the door stayed open.

I have informed them about it and hope they are able to sort it out. I mentioned to them that although its lovely to have a free network, it is pointless if it is not reliable. I would actually far prefer to pay an annual fee or usage fee if it was a given that they would work.

Also I have hassled the Celtic manor again and have mobile numbers of their VP of facilities so I shall try and get an answer out of them on installing charge points.

Kevin - not sure if you will see this but I tried emailing you and perhaps it didn't get through, but are we ok to approach hotels like Celtic Manor and point them in your direction if they are interested? I will always make sure they know I do not represent ZCW but hopefully we can encourage some uptake in South Wales that way!

[Kevin Sharpe]

Kevin - not sure if you will see this but I tried emailing you and perhaps it didn't get through, but are we ok to approach hotels like Celtic Manor and point them in your direction if they are interested? I will always make sure they know I do not represent ZCW but hopefully we can encourage some uptake in South Wales that way!Sorry, I missed your email, been busy with pub group who plan to install 1600 Charging Stations across the UK :smile:

Yes, please contact every location where you would like charging and we will be happy to donate the hardware. IMO charging needs to be located at sites who really care about customer service... they have an incentive to keep the systems working and ICE free :smile:

Free Charging Stations - Zero Carbon World (http://www.zerocarbonworld.org/free-charging-stations)