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the_lincs_landies

Member Since: 29 May 2023
Location: Boston, Lincs
Posts: 230

It sure does sound a lot like Intelligent Octopus, RDR.

Before my Defender and Discovery I had a Model 3, when electric prices started shooting up I looked into Solar and ended up having it installed. The solar then ended up (on sunny days) charging the car for free, thanks to my smart charger (Hypervolt).

When set to "Super Eco" the Hypervolt would use its CT Clamp to identify when I was sending electricity to the grid, and if it were over 1.4kW (the minimum that most electric cars can charge at) it would start charging the car. If the solar was less than 1.4kW I could change to "Eco" which uses what solar is available and then tops up the difference with energy from the grid to make it 1.4kW, and it i needed it even quicker than that then you could set it to Boost which would charge at the full 7kW/h however it could get it.

There is a lot of reliance on the grid because of EVs, but actually Solar can both compact and alleviate the issue. I know plenty of people that charge their solar battery in the off-peak time frame during winter so as to not have to buy from the grid at peak prices (due to poor weather, weak solar generation, and short days). The flip side is that during the summer solar is helping out the grid (I've sold 1,700kWh to the grid so far this year), and with the right charger EV owners don't need to wait until the middle of the night to charge as they can charge when they get home without the need for the grid - there were days when I had my Model 3 where I could be charging it at 4kW/h.

EVs are likely not the long term solution that they are being touted as, and the infrastructure may not be ideal, but change is never easy - even less so when the old solution has been in place for so long. (Try working in IT and telling someone that the system they've used for 15 years is being replaced with an alternative!!)

8th Sep 2023 10:50am

Farmerben

Member Since: 16 Jan 2017
Location: Herefordshire
Posts: 604

2015 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Keswick Green

LR Nuts wrote:
when did you last go to a fuel filling station and have to wait for an hour before you could fill up the tank.

All this EV is a CON. I will never have an EV ........EVer !!

I've been to plenty of filling stations where there's been no fuel at all and you must have a very short memory if you can't remember the fuel shortages and panic buying last year.

If there was an electric pickup/4x4 in the UK that I could use on the farm I'd have bought one by now. If I could charge up at the farm overnight and reduce the faff of going to a filling station every week (which is always out of my way) I would probably reclaim a whole day per year in wasted time. https://instagram.com/bentheoandrews

8th Sep 2023 11:03am

RDR

Member Since: 27 Apr 2018
Location: Derbyshire
Posts: 575

The whole time to fill up debate doesn't click with me, EV only works well for certain people who are able to charge at home and have an average journey well within the EVs range. If you can charge at your home then you need to treat it like a Mobile phone and plug it in when you get home or go to bed. With this mindset you totally forget about range or "filling up" it just works for you where every morning you're full up again. 110 MY23.5 X Dynamic HSE
RR MY23 HSE PHEV
D5 MY19 HSE - Now Sold
D4 MY16 HSE Luxury - Now Sold
D4 MY12 HSE - Gone
D3 MY06 S - Gone but not forgotten

8th Sep 2023 11:30am

jpboost

Member Since: 13 Apr 2021
Location: Gatwick
Posts: 375

2014 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 SW Keswick Green

I agree with the above,

For people who don't frequently drive long distances, and can charge them easily at home (which lets face it, is probably a large proportion of the population), I think lots of the practical limitations of EV don't really impact at all.

My regular commute is under 20miles, and the furthest journey I frequently make is around a 120mile round trip. This is about once a month. If I was to simply plug in when I get home, and started each day fully charged, I think I'd only need 'public' charging a handful of times a year.

I still greatly enjoy my Defender and have no immediate plans to change, but from a practicality point of view, I'm already at the point where an EV would work for me and probably make a lot of sense in the round.

Of course they're expensive to buy so that is a consideration, but I (with my family usage) wouldn't be remotely concerned about the charging infrastructure not being sufficient for my family life.

8th Sep 2023 3:24pm

blackwolf

Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 16941

2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey

I think you will find that there is a significant proportion of the population which fits the "no long journey" classification which cannot charge at home since it doesn't have off-street parking.

Round my way (a reasonably nice, fairly modern, suburban neighbourhood, where every house has access to a driveway (usually shared) and a garage) the pavements on both sides of every road are lined with cars every night. For every car on a drive there are at least five which don't fit and which are on the street, and no-one (except me) has a vehicle in their garage.

I am sure that this is partly do to the fact that most houses remain in multi-generational occupancy much longer than they used to since youngsters cannot afford houses, but whatever the reason it knocks the idea of charging EVs into a cocked hat. Perhaps the idea is that, like houses, EVs will be too expensive to own so there will be fewer of them.

I am sure that there are solutions, but I see no sign whatsoever of any solutions being implemented round here.

However admirable the intentions we seem to be being led at speed down an ill-conceived path to disaster.

8th Sep 2023 4:33pm

the_lincs_landies

Member Since: 29 May 2023
Location: Boston, Lincs
Posts: 230

blackwolf wrote:
Round my way (a reasonably nice, fairly modern, suburban neighbourhood, where every house has access to a driveway (usually shared) and a garage) the pavements on both sides of every road are lined with cars every night. For every car on a drive there are at least five which don't fit and which are on the street, and no-one (except me) has a vehicle in their garage.

I am sure that this is partly do to the fact that most houses remain in multi-generational occupancy much longer than they used to since youngsters cannot afford houses, but whatever the reason it knocks the idea of charging EVs into a cocked hat. Perhaps the idea is that, like houses, EVs will be too expensive to own so there will be fewer of them.

They could have a charger on their drive and charge one car per night (should they replace all with an EV). Its not ideal, but if they met the "no long journey" criteria its a possibility. I am not looking for a debate, just stating that there are ways around it if needed.

blackwolf wrote:
I am sure that there are solutions, but I see no sign whatsoever of any solutions being implemented round here.

A lot of it is a lack of installation/adoption by local authorities. There are solutions available such as a sort of pavement gulley (a bit like piece of conduit countersunk to the pavement with a hard rubber top top like trip matting), Charger Lampposts etc.

blackwolf wrote:
However admirable the intentions we seem to be being led at speed down an ill-conceived path to disaster.

As much as my statements above may lead readers to believe I am defending EVs, I do agree with this statement. Its all well and good going down the EV path, but the issue we have, particularly in the UK, is that the cars are developing at the speed of light, whilst the grid is evolving at the speed of a clock with a dying battery.

I mean, I had an EV so I can speak on both sides of the camp. If I didn't do regular long journeys I probably would not have jumped ship.

I think part of the problem is that it assumes that one size fits all. It doesn't - if it did then we wouldn't have had a period of Leaded, Unleaded, and Diesel all being in existence at the pumps. Then there is the Super Unleaded and Super Diesel... because people want quality fuel in a performance car.

8th Sep 2023 5:00pm

jpboost

Member Since: 13 Apr 2021
Location: Gatwick
Posts: 375

blackwolf wrote:
I think you will find that there is a significant proportion of the population which fits the "no long journey" classification which cannot charge at home since it doesn't have off-street parking.

Round my way (a reasonably nice, fairly modern, suburban neighbourhood, where every house has access to a driveway (usually shared) and a garage) the pavements on both sides of every road are lined with cars every night. For every car on a drive there are at least five which don't fit and which are on the street, and no-one (except me) has a vehicle in their garage.

I am sure that this is partly do to the fact that most houses remain in multi-generational occupancy much longer than they used to since youngsters cannot afford houses, but whatever the reason it knocks the idea of charging EVs into a cocked hat. Perhaps the idea is that, like houses, EVs will be too expensive to own so there will be fewer of them.

I am sure that there are solutions, but I see no sign whatsoever of any solutions being implemented round here.

However admirable the intentions we seem to be being led at speed down an ill-conceived path to disaster.

I understand what you're saying, and i totally agree that there are lots of people for whom the practical issues are significant. But I also think that there are a lot of people who don't like the idea and are simply using examples that don't really apply to them or are exaggerated.

Say the average town car does what 10000 miles a year? so roughly 200 miles a week.

For most EV's that's possible on a single charge. Even if it's 2 charges, then a household with 1 driveway parking spot with 1 slow overnight charger could feasibly keep a 3 car (well 3.5) household fully charged. And that's with each car doing 200 miles a week. If some of the cars were home during the day, then there's even more capacity. I know that reality is more complicated, but you get my point.

Of course inner cities, areas with no driveways, blocks of flats etc all pose much more significant problems, but for a lot of suburbia and rural areas it could be workable.

I know several people who run electric cars and none of them have made any big deal out of the practicaliteis of it. Expensive to buy? yes, I've heard those grumbles, but for the normal day to day, they've just got on with it. Of course it a small sample, and hardly anything scientific, but I really expected to hear lots of tales of woe ( and I could have been annoyingly smug in my dinosaur of a defender) but they've just not materialised.

This is a Defender forum, one of the most stolen vehicles around. I assume that most of us on here park our defenders in a garage, on a drive, or near our houses. I'd genuinely be interested to know how many of us on this forum could charge an EV at home or work without significant problem. I'd expect it's probably quite a high proportion. Happy to concede that we're not a representative sample for the wider population.

I'm not a huge fan of EVs, but I think many are arguing cases on behalf of other populations. I personally think cost is probably one of the most significant barriers to a lot of people making the move. Certainly for a lot of the people I know who have changed car due to London's expanding ULEZ, many/most of them ruled out EV on cost alone.

8th Sep 2023 5:32pm

Quarmart

Member Since: 16 Jan 2024
Location: USA
Posts: 2

Hey, thanks for sharing your experience with the Hypervolt smart charger and solar setup! It's awesome to hear how you're maximizing renewable energy to power your electric vehicles. Reminds me of when I first got into EVs and was navigating the whole charging infrastructure scene.

I remember one time I was on a road trip with my EV and needed a quick charge. I found myself in an area with limited charging options, but luckily stumbled upon a commercial EV charging station that saved the day. It was efficient, reliable, and gave me peace of mind knowing I could juice up my car without worrying about running out of power.

16th Apr 2024 4:27pm

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