Ecotricity Electric Highway

[Kevin Sharpe]

I knew the fun police would get involved...

Yeh, just took longer than I expected :wink:

 

[fraccy]

Hi guys,

Sorry bit late to this party, please could someone tell me what I need to buy and where, in order to do what you're doing?? Am most jealous!!! What is this cable with a white plug you've all got? I see Kevin seems to have a very short adaptor plugging into it and P4EV you're using... well what is that?

Please let me know!

 

[seanp]

Hi guys,

Sorry bit late to this party, please could someone tell me what I need to buy and where, in order to do what you're doing?? Am most jealous!!! What is this cable with a white plug you've all got? I see Kevin seems to have a very short adaptor plugging into it and P4EV you're using... well what is that?

Please let me know!

Seconded! Kevin, what is that cable and where do we get it?

cheers
Sean

 

[Alexandersims]

Hey guys,
This is a really simple modification.
You need to trim 14mm off the end of a type 2 plug and then it sits fully on the tethered cable on type 2 rapid chargers.
It will render the plug 'unlock able' at all further charging stations but that's your call whether you continue using it or buy an additional lead. I have continued and had no issues yet.
Quite nice to know that if the post fails you can still get your cable back actually!
Check out 'Speak EV' forum and view the Tesla thread for more info...

- - - Updated - - -

I should also mention that you will need to have a good quality cable, the zero Carbon world one is spot on and use Henry Sharp's CAN adaptor. The cable does get warm but I have not noticed it dropping the voltage much at all so really is within tolerance.

 

[seanp]

Aha! Thanks Alexander. I have a Tesla J1772, but I'll probably leave that unmodified and get The CAN and an extension cable. The cable is a Type 2, Male-to-Female, I assume.

Zerocarbonworld doesn't sell cables any more, but evconnectors.com looks like a good source.

cheers
Sean

 

[arg]

Aha! Thanks Alexander. I have a Tesla J1772, but I'll probably leave that unmodified and get The CAN and an extension cable. The cable is a Type 2, Male-to-Female, I assume.

Zerocarbonworld doesn't sell cables any more, but evconnectors.com looks like a good source.

Note that the (ITT) cables formerly sold by ZCW are now available from http://www.nuworldenergy.co.uk/shop/nucharge

I don't have personal knowledge of the CAN, but I believe you want a Type2->Type1 cable to use with it, not Type2->Type2.

 

[zag2me]

Are ecotricty charges still free at the moment?

I know they are going to start charging at some point soon.

I'm an ecotricity home customer so wonder if they will do any discounts.

 

[arg]

Are ecotricty charges still free at the moment?

I know they are going to start charging at some point soon.

I'm an ecotricity home customer so wonder if they will do any discounts.

They are certainly free at the moment.

Ecotricity have hinted in the past that they might charge for the RFID cards for people who aren't customers of their electricity/gas supply business, but I haven't heard of any concrete plans for charging.

Have you heard anything specific?

 

[zag2me]

They are certainly free at the moment.

Ecotricity have hinted in the past that they might charge for the RFID cards for people who aren't customers of their electricity/gas supply business, but I haven't heard of any concrete plans for charging.

Have you heard anything specific?

Yes i'm a customer and they sent a letter out a while ago saying it would be early next year. Its growing exponentially apparently.

 

[martinwinlow]

You need to trim 14mm off the end of a type 2 plug and then it sits fully on the tethered cable on type 2 rapid chargers.
It will render the plug 'unlock able' at all further charging stations but that's your call whether you continue using it or buy an additional lead. I have continued and had no issues yet.

Forgive me for making what alexandersims a bit clearer (perhaps it is clear enough already) but what he means is that the mod to the T2 plug removes the indents that the EVSE (charger point) uses to lock the plug into the EVSE socket when charging 'normally' thus rendering the plugs locking mechanism unusable. Ie, the plug can be removed in the middle of a charge (by some ghastly oik, for example). It won't cause any problems with the charger or car as one of the signal pins is shorter than the rest of the pins and so disconnects first when the plug is pulled away from the socket, immediately shutting down the EVSE and preventing arcing on the main power pins and other undesirable issues. This is why the plug won't work as it comes; because the shorter pin doesn't reach its mate even when fully 'plugged in'. MW