To any fellow Co Durham drivers out there. I'm meeting with DCC's (newishly appointed) EV officer next week. She seems very nice in the email exhchanges we've had and I want to talk to her about charging provision across the county; I know there are some initiatives in the pipeline which I'd like to know more about, and I have some views of my own about various things. Does anyone have any questions or issues that they'd like me to mention? I'll try and do a summary of things discussed here afterwards. Thanks.
County Durham - What would you ask the council's EV officer?
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I'd like to know what's going on with the park and rides. Belmont for example has an abandoned rapid charger, and a single 7kW post that hasn't worked properly in years! Locations like that really need more charge posts, even if that means downgrading to 3kW I would welcome the sight of a row or reliable posts installed.
Sadly it's not just the P&R Though. The above is a good example of the state of their charging network across the whole county. I can't think of any council funded/operated rapid charger that still works off the top of my head, and the AC Posts are falling into a state of disrepair. The North Burns posts at Chester-le-street for example have broken screens, charged my car just fine but then wouldn't release my cable.
Finally it would be good if the council would talk to the local car clubs who have been begging for some new parking bays with charging posts for years now and seemingly getting nowhere, hence the continued use of ICE Cars not only in the public fleet, but also the ones dedicated for council use.
Sadly it's not just the P&R Though. The above is a good example of the state of their charging network across the whole county. I can't think of any council funded/operated rapid charger that still works off the top of my head, and the AC Posts are falling into a state of disrepair. The North Burns posts at Chester-le-street for example have broken screens, charged my car just fine but then wouldn't release my cable.
Finally it would be good if the council would talk to the local car clubs who have been begging for some new parking bays with charging posts for years now and seemingly getting nowhere, hence the continued use of ICE Cars not only in the public fleet, but also the ones dedicated for council use.
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If you weren't sure of your eye sight, where would be the best place to go to test your vision?
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How would you go about getting a charge point installed for property that didn't have planning permission and wasn't paying Council Tax?
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How would you go about getting a charge point installed for property that didn't have planning permission and wasn't paying Council Tax?
Charging points aren't the only issues for EV drivers. How about some positive discrimination for zero emissions at the tail pipe into built up areas, i.e. banning or fining ICE drivers. Why not get rid of the excess of cruising Uber etc and "last mile delivery" vans and only allow (commercial) EVs? Or electrify the Park & Ride?
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I used to live in Barnard Castle and up the dale, so the paucity of chargers in the county is very noticeable. Especially Rapid DC chargers, especially in the rural areas. So a delivery of chargers to Stanhope, Middleton, Barnard Castle and a focus on the main trunk routes: A688: eg Bowes, West Auckland, Spennymoor; A68: eg West Auckland, Tow Law; A1M eg Aycliffe; A19; A66. Then visitor places: Beamish, Seaham, High Force, Durham P&R, coastal. And encourage the supermarkets and shopping centres to get installations.
Migrate the fleets: busses, refuse collection. Encourage the taxi fleets with incentives.
Migrate the fleets: busses, refuse collection. Encourage the taxi fleets with incentives.
Why don't you petition a certain DC known to frequent the place, apparently he has considerable influence over government policy so should be an easy win.
I see that the council have went with Gronn Kontakt and already replaced many of the CYC points with this network. Anyone know much about them? First impressions are that they are very expensive, not just at 30p/kWh but also with a 50p connection charge too! This, for AC destination charging isn't good imo.
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I'm just being flippant, but isn't that cheaper than Agile?
I've had the chance to take a look a bit more for myself. I'm really not sure what to think of them. They're using Elmtronics AC Posts which are going to be anything but reliable. UK Rapids seem to be mostly ones made by ABB Which are good but they also mention HyperCharge units on their website - Not so good.
No RFID offering as of yet. It's the app/website or nothing.
Quite expensive to use at 30p/kW+50p Connection for AC and 40p/kWh+80p Connection for DC.
AC Destination posts are subject to overstay charges of 5p/Minute after your car finishes charging. DC Rapids are 20p/Minute after charging ends.
I Imagine these things are going to mostly sit unused for the majority of the time. I Know I'm definitely not intending to sign up or use them.
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Any way of linking the Shell Card to their app so that ONTO pay the fees for their subscribers?
I Haven't even downloaded the app never mind registered to try this, but while they don't currently offer RFID Cards the post I saw today does have a built in card reader. I totally forgot that the Shell card covered them!
I'll be back there same time next week if not sooner so can definitely give that card a try and see what happens. Today I just parked next door and managed to plug in to the last available free Pod Point at Tesco.
Doesn't Bjorn use those in Norway?
I really hate connection charges. They really skew the cost of charging unless you buy loads of kW. I've already had a go at GeniePoint for it as the are the easiest chargers to find. Which to me is a great boon as I consider, if you're like me and don't do a lot of rapid charging, that actually locating the charge point itself is the hardest point.
I don't watch all his videos admittedly but from what I've seen he has an Ionity fetish. Only other networks I can think of from memory is Fortum.
Hi there @80698 . A group of Co Durham EV drivers are now beginning to meet regularly with the council and their commercial partners on this and other things. It's part of a wider project called SOSCI SOSCI and I can't help feeling at the minute that it is the commercial partners driving the agenda rather than the council or the EV users.
Gronn Kontakt are the post providers and you're right that they are much too expensive, especially for the fast chargers. They have agreed to rescind the connection charge though. It would be good if you contacted the council's EV officer [email protected] and let her know your thoughts. It does highlight the problem many rural areas will have in trying to meet the 2030 deadline, especially working class villages such as you get up here, where people don't have driveways on which to charge so a more negligible financial benefit from switching. If you wanted to join the group, that would be good too, so please tell her. I'm not sure how much clout we have, but we are their first 'citizen's scrutiny group' apparently...
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From their website:
We are an electric vehicle charging company owned by Statkraft, Europe’s largest renewable energy generator and a global player in sustainable, clean energy. Statkraft is a Norwegian state-owned utility company, committed to play a leading role in the development of renewable energy. In the UK since 2006, Statkraft operates renewable production facilities such as hydro-power, onshore wind, solar, and provides grid and energy services as well as electric vehicle services.
We are an electric vehicle charging company owned by Statkraft, Europe’s largest renewable energy generator and a global player in sustainable, clean energy. Statkraft is a Norwegian state-owned utility company, committed to play a leading role in the development of renewable energy. In the UK since 2006, Statkraft operates renewable production facilities such as hydro-power, onshore wind, solar, and provides grid and energy services as well as electric vehicle services.
I was watching one yesterday (ID3). He pulled into a service area for a charge. The Norwegians are so lucky (or at least at some of the places Bjorn goes to) they had a choice of at least 2 networks. He used the Ionity, but there was a Gronn Kontakt setup in the video behind him.
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