Recent content by DrPlokta

If you’re on the A55, come off a few miles earlier and go to the Osprey ones at the Pentre Halkyn exit. Twelve 300kW chargers instead of the four 100kW ones at Tweed Mill. Or go to Tesla at Flint Mountain which is busier but also a lot cheaper.

There are more ultra rapid chargers than that. Thera’s a big new Osprey charging station at Billie Jean’s Cafe at the A55 Pentre Halkyn junction (but it’s quite near Tesla at Flint Mountain, and twice the price), and Instavolt at Rhug Farm Shop on the A5 near Corwen.

Fellow member of Team Orange in Gamfa Wen car park at Talacre beach this morning. 24 reg, paw-print decals on the side of the car. I was the very dirty orange one parked closer to the beach.

I charged at a Tesla supercharger this morning in Cardiff, which was busy, and only got 37kW with my battery at around 25%. After a bit I gave up and went to Newport instead, since I was going that way. So I think some Tesla chargers open to all must share power between more than one charger.

43°C is never enough for a hot water tank, it’s not enough to kill legionella bacteria. 60°C should be the minimum.

I followed a green Xpower from Chester Business Park to the Broughton retail park at around 4:30pm today, along the A483 and A55 — first Xpower I’ve seen in the wild, I think.

And don’t forget Cairn Lodge, owned by the same people as Tebay, though it may be a bit too close to Perth — it’s not far south of Glasgow. There’s a new bank of Westmorland Charging chargers there. There’s also a big open-to-all bank of Tesla chargers at Larkhall, but nothing to do while you’re...

The Tango Trophy might have been me. I generally get to Mold once or twice a week — was at Tesco and Lidl this morning.

EVs do have air intakes, for the battery cooling systems. That’s what the grille below the front numberplate is on the MG4.

No, the UK NCAP is NCAP. It’s not an EU institution, so the UK is still a full member.

Home three-phase is commoner in some EU countries. The average MG driver in the UK may never use a three-phase charger, and it’s a cheap car because it cuts out the frills.

Two fellow members of Team Orange this morning. The first was coming down Caerwys Hill on the B5122 as I was going up it, and then I was behind the second one on the A55 eastbound between Colwyn Bay and Rhuddlan. Never seen two in one day before.

The trick that works for me is to have an AirTag on the same key ring. If I get more than a couple of hundred metres from my key my phone will warn me and show its location on a map (unless it’s at home or some other place I’ve flagged as safe). And when I get close, it will tell me the...

E = mc², and 64kWh of energy is 230MJ, meaning that a fully charged car weighs 2.6 µg more than one whose battery is completely empty.

I was behind a grey 73-reg Trophy going westbound on the A55 near Ewloe at lunchtime today.