What would make public charging better for you..?

WonkoTheSaneUK said:
MFG (Motor Fuel Group) are one of the largest owners* of petrol stations in the UK.
They've been throwing rapid chargers onto their sites at a rate of knots!

* They own the actual station and franchise it out to one of the assorted oil companies.
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I've used the MFG at Buntingford. My home town of nearly 40k people has 4 petrol stations. 2 Shell, 1 Sainsburys and 1 Tesco. I wouldn't be surprised if one Shell closed down. 3 have closed down in the last 10 years.
 
Tweed98 said:
I think large supermarkets should be encouraged to cover their roofs in PV and provide a few charging ports.
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True but in my experience supermarkets just put 7kw chargers in and call it done. I'm never in there long enough for it to be worth it. Should be at least 100kw at supermarkets.
 
olliewebb said:
True but in my experience supermarkets just put 7kw chargers in and call it done. I'm never in there long enough for it to be worth it. Should be at least 100kw at supermarkets.
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A 7kW charger will give you over 20 miles of range per hour, shopping and having a meal while you're there soon eats up an hour.
 
olliewebb said:
True but in my experience supermarkets just put 7kw chargers in and call it done. I'm never in there long enough for it to be worth it. Should be at least 100kw at supermarkets.
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You mean like Sainsbury's new "Smart Charge" network?
Every post a 150kW Kempower unit.

IMHO, public 7kW posts should only be fitted outside cinemas, theatres & gyms - places where you'll be for at least 2-3 hours at a time.
 
Kithmo said:
A 7kW charger will give you over 20 miles of range per hour, shopping and having a meal while you're there soon eats up an hour.
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I'm not having a meal in a supermarket when doing my weekly shop, why would I eat in a supermarket cafe when it's worse than I can make at home for less money? It would just be nice to top the car up while it's out. I don't think I've been in a supermarket for more than 30 minutes in my life. Our local Tesco only has 7kw Podpoint and it's the most useless thing ever, there's nothing else going there for other than the Tesco or the nearby charity shops and a Subway. Literally no thought has gone into it, merely a box-ticking exercise so they can say "x number of stores have EV charging". Especially when they have signs saying you can't be parked for more than 2-3 hours without incurring a parking ticket.

For food shopping I want to be in and out as fast as possible commando style - I've got my list, I know what I need, in-out done!
WonkoTheSaneUK said:
You mean like Sainsbury's new "Smart Charge" network?
Every post a 150kW Kempower unit.
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Our Sainsbury's doesn't have any yet and the Gridserve 100+kw ones next door at Aldi have been disabled for well over two months now.
WonkoTheSaneUK said:
IMHO, public 7kW posts should only be fitted outside cinemas, theatres & gyms - places where you'll be for at least 2-3 hours at a time.
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Correct - our local city centre car park has loads of 7kw BP Pulse which is fine because it's right next to the Everyman cinema.
 
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A lot of people making these decisions don't seem to have the foggiest idea about different kinds of EV charger, and the different speeds. And they don't listen when users try to explain.

Ultra-rapids at 300-350 Kw are for locations where drivers just want charged ASAP and back on the road, like a motorway service station and sites on trunk roads.

Medium rapids, say 50-150 Kw are good for places where you don't want to be there too long but have business to conduct, like a supermarket shop. But bear in mind that from our point of view a 150 Kw will be as fast as a 350 Kw anyway. I'd be happy with 50 Kw units at a supermarket.

Destination chargers in car parks where you're going to stay for a while - hotels, cinemas, theatres, leisure centres and so on. AND NO TIME LIMITS AND NO OVERSTAY CHARGES. They should be regarded as parking spaces you occupy for as long as you're there, that are equipped for EV charging, not as chargers you ought to get off to let someone else on. If there aren't enough, install more.
 
Mind you, as I'm in Scotland I can happily ignore the parking limit anyway - private invoices from parking companies are only liable against the driver ... and if you don't ever divulge driver details to the parking company there's (currently) naff all they can do. :)

(That's @olliewebb)
 
My gripe was really directed at chargers that cut the power after 4 hours (Blink) and others (CPS) where they slap a £40 overstay fee on you if you go over four hours. In both cases you can park as long as you like, indeed even stay in the charger bay (although obviously in the case of the CPS chargers you have to go and unplug).
 
Rolfe said:
A lot of people making these decisions don't seem to have the foggiest idea about different kinds of EV charger, and the different speeds. And they don't listen when users try to explain.

Ultra-rapids at 300-350 Kw are for locations where drivers just want charged ASAP and back on the road, like a motorway service station and sites on trunk roads.

Medium rapids, say 50-150 Kw are good for places where you don't want to be there too long but have business to conduct, like a supermarket shop. But bear in mind that from our point of view a 150 Kw will be as fast as a 350 Kw anyway. I'd be happy with 50 Kw units at a supermarket.

Destination chargers in car parks where you're going to stay for a while - hotels, cinemas, theatres, leisure centres and so on. AND NO TIME LIMITS AND NO OVERSTAY CHARGES. They should be regarded as parking spaces you occupy for as long as you're there, that are equipped for EV charging, not as chargers you ought to get off to let someone else on. If there aren't enough, install more.
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I’ve always felt like 50kW chargers were in this weird position of being too fast to act as a destination charger but too slow to act as an en-route charger, personally I’d like to see more chargers and vehicles supporting 22kW AC
 
Drakon said:
I’ve always felt like 50kW chargers were in this weird position of being too fast to act as a destination charger but too slow to act as an en-route charger, personally I’d like to see more chargers and vehicles supporting 22kW AC
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I think 50 Kw chargers are pretty good if you want to stay somewhere around 45 minutes to an hour, say a supermarket shop, or on a long journey when you want a proper meal not just a quick coffee.
 
My local Morrisons Geniepoint charger was repaired recently. Within a couple of weeks the charging cables were half-inched. So, good coverage of CCTV and action by police would be good.
 
olliewebb said:
For food shopping I want to be in and out as fast as possible commando style - I've got my list, I know what I need, in-out done!
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I'm even quicker. Sunday morning with a coffee and a couple of biscuits sat at home ordering online. Shopping delivered Tuesday morning. Cost per delivery with an annual subscription 76p.
 

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