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Are EH deprioritising sites with more than one charger?

2K views 24 replies 13 participants last post by  Malcolm Hedges 
#1 ·
If you cast your eyes over the state of EH charging site, it does seem that places with two chargers are increasingly likely to have one out of order. Look at Hopwood, where one of the chargers has been pretty much unavailable for months. And it seems the CCS function on that is more likely to be working than the ChaDeMo. At Ferrybridge where there are three chargers it seems you can only depend on one, and not the three-headed one.

At Woodall North where there were two chargers one has been removed "for maintenance" many months ago and there are no signs of it re-appearing.

It feels like EH are desperately short of maintenance resource, and are concentrating on keeping a presence at each MSA (maybe for contractual reasons). Have the two french lads, who are the only maintenance people I've encountered, fled Brexit and returned to France?

In my trips up and down the M1 I've always tried to favour sites with two chargers, but they are becoming an endangered species.

Of course, the new networks are reducing the pressure, and providing us with a choice, but their locations are a bit hit-or-miss.
 
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#2 ·
to deprioritise implies something is prioritised. The network is falling apart with little evidence of any investment, maintenance or wherewithal to actually make it work at scale.

I’ve given up, it’s an embarrassment the clearly EH not Electric Highway care enough to fix.
 
#6 ·
to deprioritise implies something is prioritised. The network is falling apart with little evidence of any investment, maintenance or wherewithal to actually make it work at scale.
That's a bit harsh. They invested in a single new charger at Oxford within the past 6 months.
 
#4 ·
Sad that such an opportunity for a nationwide charging network has been managed so poorly. I went into Sandbach services and there are still two rapids bagged up. That is three years that two rapids have slowly been deteriorating and never used. Free vend apparently is rife and means no income when on free vend. And no new chargers in three years (maybe one). And then Dale is saying no point in adding chargers until demand picks up :(

Richard
 
#5 ·
The sandbach situation is particularly ludicrous. They should have taken those chargers out and used them where ones were broken.

They're just not putting the investment in so EV users won't risk using their crappy chargers so they don't get the income to put the investment in :rolleyes:
 
#7 ·
ESB eCars in Ireland have replaced a number of the DBT units with triple head Efacec units. One of the justifications was spare part availability from DBT.

The DBTs are the units that Ecotricity use in the UK. I wonder if they too are having difficulty sourcing spares.

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#8 ·
The DBTs are the units that Ecotricity use in the UK. I wonder if they too are having difficulty sourcing spares.
I wouldn't be surprised if they are a maintenance nightmare. I saw a British Gas crew maintaining one and the insides looked like a prototype (not even pre-production) - a complete rats nest of wires. I moved out of the electronics industry a good few years ago, but I'd have been shocked to see something like that 20 years ago.
 
#10 ·
ESB eCars in Ireland have replaced a number of the DBT units with triple head Efacec units. One of the justifications was spare part availability from DBT.

The DBTs are the units that Ecotricity use in the UK. I wonder if they too are having difficulty sourcing spares.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk
I’m sure that the age of the estate is a big maintenance problem. I too have had a look inside a charger and it is, indeed, a rat’s nest. Its easy to believe these machines are well past their best before date. So I’m less than impressed when they open a new site. Any new machines should replace ones that are dying
 
#12 ·
I was at Leics Forest East a few weeks back; there were 2 French guys in a French van who had come all the way to fix the unit! No wonder they have issues getting stuff done.

Dale needs to bite the bullet, and either upgrade all units to the same ones as InstaVolt use or another proven unit. Hell, issue an Ecobond to raise the capital for it !

If not, then sell the charging business to someone who can invest and move it forward.
 
#13 ·
The ABB ones that Engenie use are much better. Or the ones Alfa Power use which are much faster and more than one person can use them at once too. They'd be a much better choice as they also have the 22kw AC socket built in.

If ecotricity chose chargers that would charge 2 or 3 cars at once they wouldn't need to put in more than 2 charger posts at most sites. The single post sites would be far more flexible as well. They choose chargers that will only deal with one car at a time and that hampers them no end.
 
#20 ·
Fun, as if you look at Scotch Corner as an example it's 1 service station covering 3 directions, so compared to other sites, it's like 2/3rds of a charger with the queues you'd expect. Except that regularly at least 1 isn't working, meaning 1/3rd of a charger...

Fine if you have a Tesla though
 
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#22 ·
Fun, as if you look at Scotch Corner as an example it's 1 service station covering 3 directions, so compared to other sites, it's like 2/3rds of a charger with the queues you'd expect. Except that regularly at least 1 isn't working, meaning 1/3rd of a charger...
It is crying out for an upgrade, as is Penrith at the other end of the cross pennine route as it joins the M6. I'm hoping the Booths in Penrith gets some Instavolt goodness.
 
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#24 ·
I don't think so. I was at Leicester forest MSA last month and saw one machine apparently on free dispense but tried it out only to find it wasn't working. I wasn't desperate for a charge so moved away to park nearby; almost immediately, a very large white (ICE) van came and parked at it. Only when the occupants opened up the charger did I realise they were entitled to be there. When I came back to car from the building a few minutes later, one of them came across to tell me that machine was working again if I wanted to use it. He didn't sound French and I'm sure I'd have noticed a French number plate. (Didn't bother trying it - wasn't in desperate need)
Maybe the two French guys were on holiday:rolleyes:
 
#25 ·
Didn't he get his MSA franchise renewed ? I wonder on what grounds, surely not past performance. He's very proud of the flag he's got hanging off his building though
 
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