A bright future for driving electric

[Robbie260]

You won't recognise the place or the roads now!

Really oh thats a big change. They shut the Warsash campus soon after I left and moved all the cadets into the main solent uni campus. Dont think it has done them any good but hey ho and must have been a huge loss for Warsash and the surrounding area.

 

[cheb]

I'm scared to leave the house now knowing that the grid is literally on a knife edge. I don't want to killed by an overbalancing pylon.

 

[Gareth J]

The reality of climate change is that it's highly unlikely we can buy or build our way out of it. That means our lifestyles have to change too.

Renewables are not always on. Changes to the way we do stuff will likely have to alter to accommodate.

That could mean lots of things, but essentially disincentives for using energy when it's in short supply and incentives for when it's abundant. Already exists to a degree. Won't be universally popular

 

[Nick DV]

Really oh thats a big change. They shut the Warsash campus soon after I left and moved all the cadets into the main solent uni campus. Dont think it has done them any good but hey ho and must have been a huge loss for Warsash and the surrounding area.

There's still a campus at Warsash - I think Solent Uni spent a fortune revamping it - but much of the city centre has been 'rebuilt' so I doubt you'd recognise it!

 

[hotponyshoes]

My idea of the day.
Smart sockets.
Internet over power cables already exists.

Regular sockets but with a 3-way switch Off-Eco-On
I plug whatever I want into them, the kettle will be left in the on position.
My laptop that's left plugged in 24hrs a day can be in the eco position.
Electric companies simply tell the smart meter when they want me to use less power. All the sockets in eco mode switch off.
I get 2 charges on my bill, normal electric and discounted eco electric.

The electric car in the garage could have the same sort of thing, I tell it I want a minimum of 40mile charge, once it's hit that it switches into eco mode and only charges more when the power is freely available. In fact most things could be controlled by the devices themselves. Phones/laptops/immersion heaters etc. should be able to demand power until they hit 20% charge (or 60deg water temp) and then turn over to eco mode.

That would push the majority of the installation and mantainance costs onto the consumers, the reduced price of the eco rates would be the incentive for them to do it. There would be no downsides for anybody who did not buy into the system either.

 

[piman]

Hello Johnser,

the reality of climate change is the amount of hyperbole by the main stream media.
There is now so much scientific evidence that show the IPCC's view is greatly overstated, then the media amplify that. Since the politicians (globally) have got hold of it for their own agenda, (Build back better, great reset). Just listen to the U.N., (but don't believe them); this was started over forty years back by Maurice Strong who felt that industrialisation was wrong and he had such influence he was able to get the U.N. to see his views. (Funnily he made his fortune in oil!). There is no crisis.

The other reality is that we are not capable of doing anything about it, certainly the push for unreliables will take a lot of our money and fail to do anything, they can't work.

The amount of warming is small and begnign and easily handled by adaption, as we have done in the past, especially as the startimg temperature datum they use is an era not long from the end of the little ice age.

Alec

 

[piman]

Hotponyshoes,

good idea, it's a pity that it is another misconception. There is no eco period, and the simple fact is that it doesn't matter when you use your devices as to the quantity of CO2 from generation, or that you can affect it.
What is going to happen is that a large increase in electric vehicles will increase CO2 emissions, the amount being dependant on how many people buy elecric cars (And heat pumps, the same applies).

The grid is not decarbonising, or is likley to do so in the next ten years as most of our nuclear stations are due to close as they reach the end of their life. That is quicker than the building of wind farms, which are only partially effective.

Alec

 

[hotponyshoes]

I know there is no eco period as such,
But there are peaks in demand.
Ideally you want a system that has a constant demand so you can create the most efficient way to supply it.

Obviously as more wind & solar comes on line it makes it worst as the supply is then fluctuating as well as the demand.
If enough end-users were controlled the demand could be dropped/increased as the input varies.

Stuff like the mass surge when all the kettles get switched on at the end of a football game should realistically be manageable, either a battery fitted to each house that then recharges when the grid decides or smart kettles, if in the eco mode they could go up to 80deg during the game. That's reduced the post game surge to 20%.

 

[zzr1200]

Think that is bad? You should try crossing London.

I actually miss driving in London at times, I know it's a race track and theres all the congestion, but I generally find that the drivers know where they need to be and get there.

Not like this lot in North Derbyshire that have to refer to the Highway Code before setting off each time.....seat belt mirror signal handbrake manoeuvre 1st 2nd 3rd maybe 4th...London....Amber blast off....and they know how long their car is, for the gaps.

Must get back down there for some track day practice hopefully soon...

PS. I was a service engineer driving in London and the South East for 25+ years.

 

[imagedude]

Perhaps the banning of gas and oil boilers and solid fuel stoves was a bit premature, they should have waited until the electricity capacity was increased...

 

[Morrisman]

They don't work for everyone at the moment, but for a lot of people an electric vehicle is perfect. For me an electric van would be spot on, I just can't afford one, I'd get rid of my diesel van tomorrow for an electric if I could.

90% of my driving is to town, 3 miles away, so a small electric car would be perfect. Other than that, longest round trip is to Nottingham, taking the daughter to uni occasionally. 120 miles or so.,

Currently I have a 47mpg diseasel Mondeo, which I won’t be getting rid of this side of a major parts failure.

 

[Gareth J]

My idea of the day.
Smart sockets.
Internet over power cables already exists.

Regular sockets but with a 3-way switch Off-Eco-On
I plug whatever I want into them, the kettle will be left in the on position.
My laptop that's left plugged in 24hrs a day can be in the eco position.
Electric companies simply tell the smart meter when they want me to use less power. All the sockets in eco mode switch off.
I get 2 charges on my bill, normal electric and discounted eco electric.

The electric car in the garage could have the same sort of thing, I tell it I want a minimum of 40mile charge, once it's hit that it switches into eco mode and only charges more when the power is freely available. In fact most things could be controlled by the devices themselves. Phones/laptops/immersion heaters etc. should be able to demand power until they hit 20% charge (or 60deg water temp) and then turn over to eco mode.

That would push the majority of the installation and mantainance costs onto the consumers, the reduced price of the eco rates would be the incentive for them to do it. There would be no downsides for anybody who did not buy into the system either.

Pretty sure they exist to some degree. Not fully integrated with the national grid but if you're with a supplier like octopus agile, your pricing is live adjusted based on national grid wholesale cost. Pretty sure that gadgets exist to tap into cheap, or even negative cost electric.

 

[Gareth J]

Hello Johnser,

the reality of climate change is the amount of hyperbole by the main stream media.
There is now so much scientific evidence that show the IPCC's view is greatly overstated, then the media amplify that. Since the politicians (globally) have got hold of it for their own agenda, (Build back better, great reset). Just listen to the U.N., (but don't believe them); this was started over forty years back by Maurice Strong who felt that industrialisation was wrong and he had such influence he was able to get the U.N. to see his views. (Funnily he made his fortune in oil!). There is no crisis.

The other reality is that we are not capable of doing anything about it, certainly the push for unreliables will take a lot of our money and fail to do anything, they can't work.

The amount of warming is small and begnign and easily handled by adaption, as we have done in the past, especially as the startimg temperature datum they use is an era not long from the end of the little ice age.

Alec

Think the weight of evidence is against you there. Worth listening to a series the BBC produced called "how they made us doubt everything". See if you feel any differently.

Even if you don't think man made climate change is a thing, humanity is burning burried stuff at a rate that's much faster than its being deposited. Exploring more efficient options and alternatives isn't a bad idea.

 

[maz0]

Worth listening to a series the BBC produced called "how they made us doubt everything".

Directed by Jimmy Savile

 

[Mr Fro]

Ranges now are fine for most people. Drive to work, plug in and charge, drive home plug in and charge or even drive to work and drive home and charge over night.

Plug it in where?

Have a look at an EV charging point map and you'll see the Kensington area has by far the highest number of charging points per capita. Suffolk (where I live) on the other hand has the lowest.

There's probably a thousand or so parking spaces on the science park I work at with a colossal... 3 charging points. What do we do? Take turns?

 

[jimbo84]

Plug it in where?

Have a look at an EV charging point map and you'll see the Kensington area has by far the highest number of charging points per capita. Suffolk (where I live) on the other hand has the lowest.

There's probably a thousand or so parking spaces on the science park I work at with a colossal... 3 charging points. What do we do? Take turns?

Chicken and egg, why install a load of charge points when they're not needed yet. Car parks like the one you mention are going to need a huge number of charge points.

Charging infrastructure needs improving. As does peoples use, do I really need to stick it on charge when I get to town or have I got enough charge to do me till tomorrow etc.

There is a major issue of where people are going to charge at home. Round me and all the surrounding towns have a huge number of terraced streets, rammed with cars every night. They can't have cables across the pavement to each car. Maybe workplaces like yours are the answer and they charge at work rather than overnight, obviously with more chargers. Mentioned earlier in the thread by somebody else it would need some smart monitoring to manage required charge levels and demand.

 

[Mr Fro]

Chicken and egg, why install a load of charge points when they're not needed yet. Car parks like the one you mention are going to need a huge number of charge points.

Charging infrastructure needs improving. As does peoples use, do I really need to stick it on charge when I get to town or have I got enough charge to do me till tomorrow etc.

There is a major issue of where people are going to charge at home. Round me and all the surrounding towns have a huge number of terraced streets, rammed with cars every night. They can't have cables across the pavement to each car. Maybe workplaces like yours are the answer and they charge at work rather than overnight, obviously with more chargers. Mentioned earlier in the thread by somebody else it would need some smart monitoring to manage required charge levels and demand.

Therein lies some of the problem; the grid can't handle the amount of power through it to charge enough vehicles to make it viable. On top of that, we don't have capacity to produce that much power in the first place!

 

[maz0]

What do we do? Take turns?

That is pretty much what we do. There is an etiquette.

 

[jimbo84]

Therein lies some of the problem; the grid can't handle the amount of power through it to charge enough vehicles to make it viable. On top of that, we don't have capacity to produce that much power in the first place!

Over the last year we averaged a demand of 30GW, the UK has 75GW generating capacity Well managed timing to avoid peaks and that's a lot of spare capacity.

 

[Gareth J]

Directed by Jimmy Savile

It's a radio show. So, no "director" and produced in 2020 so doubt he was involved at all somehow.

Strange reply!