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250 Plug-in Electric Car Charging Stations to be Installed Across the UK
In a sign of times to come, and an indication that the UK is ahead of the PHEV pack, energy giant EDF and recharging station producer Elektromotive are together installing a series of automobile charging stations across the country. The plan is to have 250 such stations in place by April 2008.
In some commonwealths, local government will pay for the power, and consumers will be able to charge for free while at work. Other localities places may require pay-for-use.
Conceivably, when PHEVs like the Volt arrive in the U.S., a similar network here may also arise.
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Posted by: Lyle
14 Responses to “250 Plug-in Electric Car Charging Stations to be Installed Across the UK”
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October 12th, 2007 at 7:55 am
I’m not so sure I like this idea. Wouldn’t we want charging to be done primarily at night, when grid demand (and prices) would be lower? Sure, it would be nice for an employer to provide free electricity, but do we really want this as part of the big picture?
October 12th, 2007 at 8:27 am
“Wouldn’t we want charging to be done primarily at night, when grid demand (and prices) would be lower?”
Prices are seldom lower at night in most locales and the grid will have to meet the needs of EVs with daytime charging in the future. There are simply too few EVs and plug-ins to make electrical demand requirements an issue for quite a few years.
I fail to understand why many people seem to have it in their head that plug-ins can only be charged at night. That would restrict the electric driving range considerably, thus the avoidance of oil, reduction of carbon emissions, which we definitely DON’T want.
As for public charging stations, 250 is almost a joke, with slow charging vehicles.
It’s free now to encourage electrics, but when they arrive en masse, you’ll have to pay. As usual, the govt program is not going to get it done - employers will provide outlets at their employee parking spaces, just as happened when the crappy EV-1 was running around So CA. Recharging at work makes the most sense, but also grocery stores, malls, theaters, or anyplace customers are likely to be parked for more than an hour.
Even if the entire automotive fleet were electrified, the additional load on the grid would be around 11% by my estimate. According to govt estimates, electrical energy demand will increase 2% per year for the next 20 years (does not include EV demand). That completely overshadows any new electrical demand from EVs.
October 12th, 2007 at 8:49 am
“250 is almost a joke”
Considering that PHEVs and EVs are pretty much just a good idea at this time. The fact the time to plan, contract, pay for, build, and maintain 250 car charging stations when there are no significant amounts of demand means a lot. It means that people will stop and say “now why did they go and install a car charging station over there? They have cars you can plug in? Really?!” And face it, if EVs came out today the majority of the population will NOT buy EVs because of the inconvenience of limited range, having an infrastructure in place, even a little bit of one, means a LOT to reassuring peoples worries that the governments not going to push EVs just to have peoples cars dying left and right.
“Plug in at night when prices are lower”
I live in PA and I got the option to choose between 9 cents kW/h flat rate, or 12 cents during the day, and 6 cents at night. If I had an EV that would be considerable cost savings right there!
“It’s free now to encourage electrics, but when they arrive en masse, you’ll have to pay.”
I’m sure that putting 50 cents into the “outlet station” will feel just as painful as putting $40.00 into the gas station.
Sorry for being an ass, but really, this is probably the biggest promotion of clean energy and good ideas I’ve seen come out of any government in a while. Who’s ever idea it was to do this, I salute you.
October 12th, 2007 at 9:49 am
I applaud the UK taking this action. It is a small step but it is a step nevertheless. Something will need to be done in this country and it needs to get started before the PHEV’s arrive in the showrooms.
People are suggesting that gas stations might offer recharging stations. But, isn’t that going to be a problem? Most gas stations in my area don’t have all that much room in their driveways. And, then there is all the gasoline storage tanks and refueling going on.
Any thoughts on this?
October 12th, 2007 at 10:24 am
I don’t see gas stations working either, for two reasons. 1) Lack of space to park a bunch of cars, and 2) Who wants to hang around a gas station for an hour or more. Screw that!
I agree with Kent. Put the charging stations in Malls, theaters, etc. Anywhere that people will be spending a considerable amount of time. But the government can help too. Put charging stations in Schools, Courts, National Parks,etc. Again, anywhere that people are going to spend considerable amount of time at a government facility. Don’t let the government off the hook. They are going to tax PHEV’s anyway. Maybe not at first, but trust me, they won’t avoid it for long.
October 12th, 2007 at 11:37 am
I agree with Kent and Rashiid. Charging at night is great, and I would certainly do that. But I would also want to charge at work so that I could drive home or run errands on the batteries.
Even peak charging power would seem to be a lot cleaner and cheaper that driving on the gas engine.
If it wouldn’t hurt the batteries, it would seem to make sense to top off the charge at every opportunity.
October 12th, 2007 at 11:38 am
What happened to typing in the secret code? I sure don’t miss it. Just one more opportunity to hit the wrong key and make the message disappear!
October 12th, 2007 at 11:47 am
My question is what electric cars are they actually driving over there? Do the Europeans make them and forget to tell us? Will they swallow their pride and buy an American Tesla or Chevy?
October 12th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
To answer my own question, I think that instead of working on an unnecessary infrastructure, the effort should be towards batteries that will get you to work AND BACK on a single charge.
The only reason to have a series of automobile charging stations would be for a fleet of BEVs. Most of us agree that that is not the direction the market is likely to head. Who is going to wait for their batteries to charge, or is going to plan out their trip in 40 mile jumps between stations?
October 12th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I thought the point of the Volt was to avoid this kind of thing? You plug in at home when you can, if you’re out, the genset kicks in. You ride the existing liquid fuel distribution system for the next couple decades until we have improved battery technology to the point that we don’t need to fill up anymore.
We need to broaden our energy supply and concentrate on designing and building a next generation electric grid.
October 12th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Sure, having the UK install the plugs is great…but…what about the U.S and Canada?
October 12th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
OhmExcited Says (8):
My question is what electric cars are they actually driving over there? Do the Europeans make them and forget to tell us? Will they swallow their pride and buy an American Tesla or Chevy?
The short answer is yes to both - we do have all electric cars on the road (they’re not very good) and if it’s a good car (with the steering wheel on the right side) we’ll drive it no matter who made it.
But the truly wonderful Tesla is a battery driven Lotus with a body made in the UK. So we can be proud of that too. Let’s work together on this one.
October 12th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
I agree with OptimisticMF, with the added comment that ethanol and biodiesel will be able to fill the gap.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:13 am
I think I will just continue to drive and not stop for an hour at a recharging station and recharge when I get home. Recharging stations are pointless by themselves. The only place someone is going to recharge other than at home is some place that also provides another service that the driver planned to stop at already. Such as at work or to eat or a store etc.