Christmas travel - help!

[Rolfe]

Going ICE car racing? How long can you hold your breath for?

 

[Gadget Geek]

Going ICE car racing? How long can you hold your breath for?

I now have an image in my head of a stock car driver in SCUBA gear.

 

[Archev]

Just noticed the car is now slurping hard on its feeding tube. That’s almost two and a quarter hours the Rolec charger says it’s been passing the power over and tells me that’s now 19.83 kWh in to the charge and still promises the car will be ready and raring to go by 09:00. So that’s a grand picture of the emerging clean world dominating travelers delight.
Now that will put me in the potential area of the dendroid demons trying to jump over my battery’s innards. As I said i shall need to reduce the power storage a bit to protect things. I’ve chosen the absolute perfect way to help the battery, save the planet and have some fun all at the same time.
I’ll drive to Lochgelly over in the Kingdom of Fife taking the long way via Kincardine bridge to check the progress with the destruction of the remnants of the coal power station at Longannet, the huge chimney of which was blown out of our view of the Ochil hills years ago. Then on to Lochgelly Raceway. There I’ll revel in the destruction of the dinosaur juice giants.
Yes I’m going stock car racing .
I’ll check out the difference in pollution churned out by their petrol burners, oil leaks, clutch and brake dust outputs etc etc and compare that to my delighted preferences for wind and solar generated motion and regen enhanced clean retardation.
My overriding dilemma is choosing whether to have lunch enroute there or dinner on the way home ?

First conundrum for the day. I left home yesterday at around three quarters of a full battery. GOM said about 170 miles. I traveled approximately 140 miles there and back to Tyndrum. I admitted to some right foot roguery wasting some power and got home under 5% charge and plugged in. The Rolec charger said the battery would be full by 09:00. When checked at around 02:30 the battery was filling fast and at some 30 odd kWh. Still the Rolec said ready by 09:00.
I was up and ready and watching progress over my fruit and porridge and wondered what happened ? The car is sitting at around 70% showing 150 miles and Rolec tells me it’ll be ready by 09:00.
Right enough there’s no date attached to the 09:00 “ready by” statement.
At least I’ve more than enough power for the day and no worries about nasties building in the battery but ????

Going ICE car racing? How long can you hold your breath for?

I never made it to the racing. My lovely Daughter appeared with Ruby, my Grandog spaniel to whisk me off for dinner
Then brother in law phoned to tell me about his new car that he’s ordered. He proudly announced that he’s ordered a FULL hybrid Renault Austral - none of your ordinary electrics with poor range- no the salesman advised that none of his customers ever had problems with range since these new cars never need charging and would save him the Haarlem hassle and needless expense of installing a charger
He’s over the moon and put down a deposit immediately to get one in March proudly proclaiming he’s been assured it’ll easily do 60 mpg.
How was my “ordinary” electric car he asked ??
“Och it’s not too bad really” I said losing the will to argue any more.

I never made it to the racing. My lovely Daughter appeared with Ruby, my Grandog spaniel to whisk me off for dinner
Then brother in law phoned to tell me about his new car that he’s ordered. He proudly announced that he’s ordered a FULL hybrid Renault Austral - none of your ordinary electrics with poor range- no the salesman advised that none of his customers ever had problems with range since these new cars never need charging and would save him the Haarlem and needless expense of installing a charger
He’s over the moon and put down a deposit immediately to get one in March proudly proclaiming he’s been assured it’ll easily do 60 mpg.
How was my “ordinary” electric car he asked ??
“Och it’s not too bad really” I said losing the will to argue any more.

For Haarlem read hassle there - doh - this spellcheck is total Haarlem

 

[Rolfe]

For Haarlem read hassle there - doh - this spellcheck is total Haarlem

Can be fixed. See the button marked "Edit"?

 

[Gomev]

I never made it to the racing. My lovely Daughter appeared with Ruby, my Grandog spaniel to whisk me off for dinner
Then brother in law phoned to tell me about his new car that he’s ordered. He proudly announced that he’s ordered a FULL hybrid Renault Austral - none of your ordinary electrics with poor range- no the salesman advised that none of his customers ever had problems with range since these new cars never need charging and would save him the Haarlem and needless expense of installing a charger
He’s over the moon and put down a deposit immediately to get one in March proudly proclaiming he’s been assured it’ll easily do 60 mpg.
How was my “ordinary” electric car he asked ??
“Och it’s not too bad really” I said losing the will to argue any more.

I just had to check out this fantastic piece of engineering but stopped when I saw the price....starting from £34,695.

 

[Archev]

I just had to check out this fantastic piece of engineering but stopped when I saw the price....starting from £34,695.

He’s ordered the top of the range with all the options

Can be fixed. See the button marked "Edit"?

No I can’t see that - where ?

He’s ordered the top of the range with all the options

Deary me I just had a look - that’s £39,195
But it recharges itself
But only with petro££ in the tank
No it regenerates power
But only on downhill / overrun
But thats free
But won’t it need petro£££££ to get uphill

I suppose it’ll be a bit cheaper to run than his Range Rover - it’s petro££

I might show the MG some gratitude and give it its bi-monthly wash early today.

 

[siteguru]

No I can’t see that - where ?

On a PC the Edit button is right next to the Report button, below-left of the post. On a phone in landscape mode it's the same; in portrait mode it's under the 3 dots/down arrow button - More Options > Edit.

 

[Archev]

On a PC the Edit button is right next to the Report button, below-left of the post. On a phone in landscape mode it's the same; in portrait mode it's under the 3 dots/down arrow button - More Options > Edit.

Apologies all
I don’t have a PC, just the phone and an iPad.
Thanks for the explanation and directions- I never knew edit existed there.

 

[Rolfe]

All sorted. You're welcome.

 

[Gomev]

I have painted myself into a corner, and will have to drive 186 miles to my friend's house in Yorkshire on 23rd December. This is too far for the SR to manage on one charge in winter. Every EV in the country is likely to have detached itself from its wall-box teat on that day and decided to set off to visit its nearest and dearest. I am getting worried. I feel like I am walking into the next episode of the MacMaster Show.

ABRP, which seems to have little concern for the season of the year (I don't have a paid-for membership) thinks I should charge at Kirkby Lonsdale (on the Booth's 50 Kw chargers), but this is 131 miles into the journey. I don't have confidence that the car will make it that far in cold weather - not with my usual brand of motorway driving. I need somewhere sooner than that.

While I don't rule out 50 Kw chargers, I'd prefer something faster - the SR can go up to 90 Kw on a good day, and I've seen mine do 85 Kw. Glancing down the route there are some possibilities.

• Gretna motorway services. Lousy with chargers - four 350 Kw Ionitys, twelve 150 Kw Applegreens and a couple of 50 Kw Gridserves. However it tends to be popular for exactly that reason, and it could be an absolute scrum. Also, it's only 64 miles into my journey. Charging is likely to be slow, and I would not be at all confident of getting all the way to Halifax (another 121 miles) without a second stop, even if I was able to charge to a high SoC.
• Carlisle Ionitys. twelve 350 Kw chargers at the Carlisle Truck Stop. Tempting, although again there may be a queue. This is better, as it's 72 miles into my journey, leaving only 113 miles to go. But again charging won't start so fast, and I think I'd have to get higher than the 82% suggested by ABRP to be sure of making it all the way.
• Penrith Booth's, two 120 Kw Instavolts. This is close to perfect, as it is pretty much half way - 95 miles in and 92 miles to go. I can start at a fast charging speed and be sure to get as high as I need to get to my destination.

However. If I spurn Gretna and Carlisle, then I encounter a problem at Penrith, there is nothing worth mentioning between Penrith and Kirkby Lonsdale, which is too far. If I go directly to Penrith I must get a charge there, or I am toast. I'm not seriously concerned that the Instavolts might both be out of commission, but I am concerned about queuing when there are only two chargers. It's pretty close to the motorway.

If I choose to stop at either Gretna or Carlisle, these are probably interim stops to get me as far as Kirkby Lonsdale, where I'd need to pick up whatever I needed to get on to Halifax. Two charging stops on a journey of over 186 miles seems to be overkill, but more importantly it's two places where I might be caught in queues, not just one. This could be a nightmare all of its own on that day.

I'm thinking at the moment that I might look in to the Ionitys at Carlisle on the way and see if they're busy. If they're not then I can get something to be certain of reaching Kirkby Lonsdale (where there are four chargers at Booth's, although only 50 Kw) at least. If they are busy I would go on to Penrith with the intention of simply sitting there until I get on a charger. I'm not sure how big a risk that is, to be honest.

Any ideas, suggestions of other chargers, strategising, inside knowledge from people familiar with the area, welcome.

Well, how did the journey go ?

 

[Rolfe]

Not too bad. I didn't get away until about one because of this and that, but whatever. I decided, since it wasn't desperately cold, to go straight to Penrith and charge once there. I got to Booth's with 28 miles in hand, but since Kirkby Lonsdale was 38 miles further on I wasn't going any further. However, when I got to Booth's there was some trouble.

One car charging normally. One car in the other charging bay, but not charging, with a family just going back to it. One car parked at right angles to that charger, plugged in to it. Two people waiting. The delivery driver who was next in the queue told me that the car which was just driving off had been left to go to 100%, and even then the driver hadn't returned. This had caused a queue to build up, whereas before cars had been coming and going without much waiting. At least one person had already got fed up and driven off. (The delivery driver couldn't go anywhere else as I think his firm had a deal with Instavolt.) The driver of the peculiarly-parked car said that he had discovered that once the other car reached 100% he could unplug it, so he did that and started his charge while the other car was still parked in the bay, hence the weird parking. For some unaccountable reason nobody had lynched the other driver.

At first I thought, well that was the plan, sit here till you get on a charger. But then I thought, what about the back-up (which the delivery driver had mentioned) at the Rheged Centre? I checked Zap-Map and it said one charger was free there, and the last charge on it was 15 minutes ago, which didn't sound like a queue. I decided a 50 Kw charger six miles away with no queue was a better bet than being third in the queue for a 120 Kw charger right here, and buggered off.

I got that charger, although someone else did show up as I was preparing to go to the coffee shop. Charged to 85% quite quickly, and by the time I got back the car that had arrived was also charging. As I unplugged someone on another connector asked me if mine was OK (which it was) as his seemed very slow, and moved to the one I vacated. (It was the usual old Gridserve set-up of two chargers, one with two CCS connectors and one with one CCS and one CHAdeMO. I had the one shared with the CHAdeMO, and there wasn't a Leaf in sight. I wonder if there was a power-sharing problem on the one with the two CCS connectors.)

Anyway, although at first the range on the car seemed a bit tight to get to my destination, once I had left the motorway and was driving more slowly the range got better and I arrived on 20%. At least neither time when I stopped was during heavy rain, so I didn't get noticeably wet, although I was driving through a monsoon several times on the actual journey.

The next day (Christmas Eve) I took the car across the road to the type 2 chargers there, and it charged from 20% to 100% and balanced in about seven and a half hours. Although the app told me I would be limited to four hours on charge, it didn't stop and I got the full charge. When I checked, the app thought the charge had been cancelled (maybe that's why it didn't stop?), zero power was recorded as being drawn, and I was billed for nothing. It's an ill wind and all that.

Going home tomorrow, which shouldn't be too busy. One charge at the Carlisle Instavolts recommended, that's 113 miles into the journey so should be fine. There are 12 of these so I don't anticipate a wait, and as I have a Shell Recharge card I should actually manage to connect without having to phone and plead with the helpline this time.

 

[Gomev]

Not too bad. I didn't get away until about one because of this and that, but whatever. I decided, since it wasn't desperately cold, to go straight to Penrith and charge once there. I got to Booth's with 28 miles in hand, but since Kirkby Lonsdale was 38 miles further on I wasn't going any further. However, when I got to Booth's there was some trouble.

One car charging normally. One car in the other charging bay, but not charging, with a family just going back to it. One car parked at right angles to that charger, plugged in to it. Two people waiting. The delivery driver who was next in the queue told me that the car which was just driving off had been left to go to 100%, and even then the driver hadn't returned. This had caused a queue to build up, whereas before cars had been coming and going without much waiting. At least one person had already got fed up and driven off. (The delivery driver couldn't go anywhere else as I think his firm had a deal with Instavolt.) The driver of the peculiarly-parked car said that he had discovered that once the other car reached 100% he could unplug it, so he did that and started his charge while the other car was still parked in the bay, hence the weird parking. For some unaccountable reason nobody had lynched the other driver.

At first I thought, well that was the plan, sit here till you get on a charger. But then I thought, what about the back-up (which the delivery driver had mentioned) at the Rheged Centre? I checked Zap-Map and it said one charger was free there, and the last charge on it was 15 minutes ago, which didn't sound like a queue. I decided a 50 Kw charger six miles away with no queue was a better bet than being third in the queue for a 120 Kw charger right here, and buggered off.

I got that charger, although someone else did show up as I was preparing to go to the coffee shop. Charged to 85% quite quickly, and by the time I got back the car that had arrived was also charging. As I unplugged someone on another connector asked me if mine was OK (which it was) as his seemed very slow, and moved to the one I vacated. (It was the usual old Gridserve set-up of two chargers, one with two CCS connectors and one with one CCS and one CHAdeMO. I had the one shared with the CHAdeMO, and there wasn't a Leaf in sight. I wonder if there was a power-sharing problem on the one with the two CCS connectors.)

Anyway, although at first the range on the car seemed a bit tight to get to my destination, once I had left the motorway and was driving more slowly the range got better and I arrived on 20%. At least neither time when I stopped was during heavy rain, so I didn't get noticeably wet, although I was driving through a monsoon several times on the actual journey.

The next day (Christmas Eve) I took the car across the road to the type 2 chargers there, and it charged from 20% to 100% and balanced in about seven and a half hours. Although the app told me I would be limited to four hours on charge, it didn't stop and I got the full charge. When I checked, the app thought the charge had been cancelled (maybe that's why it didn't stop?), zero power was recorded as being drawn, and I was billed for nothing. It's an ill wind and all that.

Going home tomorrow, which shouldn't be too busy. One charge at the Carlisle Instavolts recommended, that's 113 miles into the journey so should be fine. There are 12 of these so I don't anticipate a wait, and as I have a Shell Recharge card I should actually manage to connect without having to phone and plead with the helpline this time.

Glad to hear the journey wasn't as bad as feared. I didn't know there are 12 Instavolts at Carlisle, useful.
P.S. You can use the Electroverse card with Instavolt now as well with a small discount if an Octopus customer.

 

[Rolfe]

I had both Electroverse and Shell Recharge cards on me, but used the Shell Recharge. Instant connection, soon charging at the SR max speed. (I don't have an Octopus account.)

Really, that location is everything an EV driver really wants (except it has no canopies). 12 chargers in a row right beside a Starbucks. Seldom all occupied, I believe. There were 3 or 4 vacant when I rolled in. As I was leaving about half an hour later the two cars on either side of me were leaving too, and there were only five left still charging. Sprinkle a lot more of these around the landscape like fairy dust and driving would be absolute heaven.