Are we being forced to go electric?

[CXRAndy]

Four of the first five I clicked were unsuccessful chargers, so I don't think the map pins give a realistic impression of availability.

Also, it doesn't seem like public shame is getting chargers fixed very well.

I agree it doesn't look good. The only company I tend to use outside of Tesla is the Instavolt network.

This is why Tesla are a country mile in front of the others. Most of their popular sites have 10 or more working chargers. You will be lucky to get two from any other charger company. Tesla(UK) as of April 2022, has 880 superchargers, I dont know how many destination chargers they have-probably thousands, due to individual destinations investing to attract customers.

That said I don't stay at accommodations that do not provide a minimum at 7kW facilities if I'm driving.

 

[Jenkins]

If you want to know locations of just about every charge point, the power capacity in the UK


Zap Map
They're literally everywhere

View attachment 662443



This doesn't include every household with a plug socket

I've just looked at the map for my local town of Felixstowe and there are a total of 6 charge points. 2 of these are domestic chargers fitted to the owner's property so can be excluded. 1 is on Felixstowe Dock so of no use to the general public. Another is at the Morrisons supermarket, but shows both charge points out of use. This leave a single public charger in the car park of the town centre Co-Op and another (which I think has 2 charge points not the 1 shown) on a public car park near the seafront. Nothing in the 3 town centre car parks, or any of the other seafront car parks at all.

That's a maximum of 3 publically available charge points for the main town and the surrounding villages.

 

[CXRAndy]

For nearby villages, charging at home is the most desirable. The public will be mostly and likely used by visiting folk to Felixstowe. Slightly wider view reveals quite a few more available

Felixstowe is by my definition is rural area albeit small conurbation

 

[cougie uk]

I do wonder if the feedbacks are slightly skewed on chargers. I think people are more likely to leave a message if the charger isn't working than if it is ?

 

[DRM]

You'd blow the circuit breaker - very sensitive to load. A kettle and a microwave on will trip it - this is in a static.

This is very much so on caravan sites, the 2 big clubs sites are a 16 amp supply, some privately owned sites can be as little as 5 to 6 amps, barely enough to run the fridge and the charger for the leisure battery, and can trip even with a very low wattage kettle, this is with a touring pitch mind you

 

[MrGrumpy]

Well the loaner Merc EQC was taken to the public charge point today and ……… well it wasn’t working ….. the other user parked up charging had said it’s been like that for a few days now.

 

[Chislenko]

Must be more money in Rhyl than people think..

https://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/...ctric-vehicle-charging-hub-rhyl-taking-shape/

 

[BrumJim]

I've just looked at the map for my local town of Felixstowe and there are a total of 6 charge points. 2 of these are domestic chargers fitted to the owner's property so can be excluded. 1 is on Felixstowe Dock so of no use to the general public. Another is at the Morrisons supermarket, but shows both charge points out of use. This leave a single public charger in the car park of the town centre Co-Op and another (which I think has 2 charge points not the 1 shown) on a public car park near the seafront. Nothing in the 3 town centre car parks, or any of the other seafront car parks at all.

That's a maximum of 3 publically available charge points for the main town and the surrounding villages.
View attachment 662517

I would have thought that Felixstowe and other seaside places would be ideal for electric charging. Drive to the town, spend the day at the seaside, and get back into a fully charged car. Don't need super speedy chargers, and even 7kW should be enough for most people.

 

[CXRAndy]

We used to go to Hunstanton a fair bit. It was within range of our little Leaf. We wanted to try the only available charger at the time. Stupidily it placed in a carpark that wants to charge you whilst you charged. Never heard of this company and it never worked. Down the road in Kings Lynn was plenty of chargers from Instavolt and others

Some of these sea side towns are missing an opportunity by not offering

 

[youngoldbloke]

I would have thought that Felixstowe and other seaside places would be ideal for electric charging. Drive to the town, spend the day at the seaside, and get back into a fully charged car. Don't need super speedy chargers, and even 7kW should be enough for most people.

You're going to need a hell of a lot of chargers if everyone leaves their cars charging all day while they enjoy themselves!

 

[FishFright]

You're going to need a hell of a lot of chargers if everyone leaves their cars charging all day while they enjoy themselves!

That's why there is so much incoming investment in that area . Because it's obvious really.

 

[Gunk]

For nearby villages, charging at home is the most desirable. The public will be mostly and likely used by visiting folk to Felixstowe. Slightly wider view reveals quite a few more available

Felixstowe is by my definition is rural area albeit small conurbation



View attachment 662520

There’s not quite that many here in West Oxfordshire

 

[Leedsbusdriver]

I charge my car for free at one of the three Leeds P&R sites. Everyone could too, you just need to know the hack.

 

[cougie uk]

You're going to need a hell of a lot of chargers if everyone leaves their cars charging all day while they enjoy themselves!

But not everyone would.
For most it would be within range of home. How far would you drive to the beach?

 

[StuAff]

For a biker, the glittering future remains tantalisingly out of reach. The infrastructure problem's worse (if it's cold and wet and there's no building to sit in, you stay wet) and both range & charging time are issues even on new bikes. Zero have just launched an electric adventure bike, £24k before options. 115 mile combined range (assuming 50/50 stop-start/70 mph riding), 85 miles motorway. You can have an extended range battery (about 25% more range), or fast charging module- 95% in an hour if the charger has the power- but not both. Bruce Smart (YouTuber Teapot One) just did a 'full monty' (start-Lands End -JOG-Lowestoft-St Davids, in any order, then back to start) on an Energica. Usual time for that ride on a petrol bike, 48 hours or less. Bruce has done it on a Sinnis 125 in 72. Electric: he aimed for, and managed, under 96. Charging cost a lot less than fuel would have done, but he spent more on coffee, food, etc, apart from the time. And he of course had problems finding working chargers, actually getting them to charge…

As for me: my Xmax 400 will do 190 miles on a 13L tank going up and down the motorway at 70, easily over 200 mile range if you knock the speed down a bit (I've done 75-80 mpg or so when the M27 smart motorway works were on). Its 300cc brother is getting just under 100mpg at the moment, best I've done (again when the works were on) 109. Nearest electric scoot equivalent, the BMW CE 04, costs £12k upwards, 85 mile range and nearly two hour charge time with the fast charger option. I've been to Cornwall & Coventry (overnighters), multiple there-and-back trips to London, and Dungeness and back, and I simply couldn't have done those trips on electric. Well, I could, but I'd have spent an awful lot of time sitting around, and had a lot of very, very late nights…