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Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !! (Read 39499 times)

galpinos

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#150 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
September 15, 2021, 11:08:12 am
Yep, fair enough, but like all emergent technologies things will improve. Hydrogen is an interesting point as it depends entirely on its use as to how efficient it is as an energy store/fuel. Using hydrogen for heating/cooking/vehicle fuel is not good at all, but using stored hydrogen in industrial applications, especially close to the point of storage, gives far better returns.

Not really, It's massively inefficient to "make" hydrogen. It makes sense when we have an over production of electricity as storage, but is only really ideal for niche applications.

(I say this as someone who has just finished working on a Green Hydrogen Pilot Cell Room and am currently working on an EV battery plant)

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#151 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
September 15, 2021, 05:29:55 pm
Off topic, but since theres been some grid discussion. This is a big deal:  https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/15/fire-shuts-one-of-uk-most-important-power-cables-in-midst-of-supply-crunch

A few little suppliers have gone bust already with the gas price so strong, and this is going to send a few more to the wall. If the interconnector isnt back for winter it will be an interesting ride at work.

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#152 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
September 15, 2021, 08:25:17 pm
Is there anyone particularly to blame for our grid being so shit, or is it just short termism from successive governments, and hoping the ‘market will sort it out’?

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#153 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
September 15, 2021, 10:32:20 pm
(... and am currently working on an EV battery plant)

Nissan, or BritishVolt?


Off topic, but since theres been some grid discussion. This is a big deal:  https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/15/fire-shuts-one-of-uk-most-important-power-cables-in-midst-of-supply-crunch

As soon as I heard about this my bullshit detector sparked up.
How many fires like this have there been at the IFA since 1986? And how many gas supply squeezes have there been of the magnitude of the current one? (answer none). How many fires/shutdowns have occurred concurrent with supply squeezes in times of fears over inflation..? Hostile state interference?


Is there anyone particularly to blame for our grid being so shit, or is it just short termism from successive governments, and hoping the ‘market will sort it out’?

From the telegraph:
Quote
The right conclusion to draw from spiralling gas, coal, and electricity prices in Europe is that fossil fuels are dangerously volatile. Supply can be manipulated at critical moments by hostile powers playing geostrategic games.
 
The wrong conclusion is that this month’s energy shock is an indictment of renewable power, or chiefly caused by carbon prices, or that it is the first cruel taste of what awaits us as net-zero tightens, and therefore that decarbonisation should be abandoned.

This is not to deny that the green switch will cause plenty of headaches before we get over the hump and reap the runaway benefits of better technology and the much cheaper energy than fossil combustion could ever achieve - and in Britain’s case, before this country again becomes a net exporter of North Sea energy.

The UK’s energy deficit is 2pc of GDP - or nearer 5pc annualised, this quarter - and is the core component of our chronic structural trade gap. It is beyond me why anybody thinks that transferring so much national income to despotic foreign states is acceptable.We are living through the gas equivalent of the Opec oil shock of 1973, when the cartel restricted crude supplies to punish America over the Yom Kippur War. The Saudis choose their moment well. Oil prices were already stretched by inflationary monetary policy in the US.

This time the manipulator is Vladimir Putin, the target is Europe, and the pressure tool is pipeline gas. The Kremlin is limiting the normal top-up flows through Ukrainian and Polish pipelines needed to replenish European inventories before winter.

It is not the only reason why UK natural gas prices have risen five-fold in a year, this week hitting an outlandish 192 pence per therm for October contracts. But it is the crucial element that has turned shortage into panic. Goldman Sachs says the futures market is pricing in a “growing winter risk premium” as people brace for potential blackouts and power rationing for European industry.

Mr Putin’s objective is no secret. It is openly discussed in the Moscow media citing official sources. He aims to force Europe to certify the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on his abusive terms - in violation of EU energy law - giving him a greater stranglehold over Eastern Europe.

Britain is a collateral casualty but is nevertheless acutely vulnerable because it closed the Rough gas storage cavern, breaking the unwritten rule that every country must have reserve capacity to cover 20pc of annual demand. It would struggle to cover 4pc.

We rely on Dutch and German storage, at 52pc and 63pc capacity respectively, when they should be nearer 90pc as we approach the Equinox.

Nor can the cross-channel interconnectors be entirely relied on when push comes to shove. Ireland’s operator has cut off the Moyle electricity interconnector across the Irish Sea twice over the last week to avert blackouts at home, invoking “operational security”. Who in their right mind thinks that Germany would allow its precious gas stocks to reach Britain this winter if the industries of the Ruhr are facing blackouts?   

Spain is also in the eye of the storm because it relies heavily on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which would have been available in normal times but this year the pandemic has played havoc with the market.

It has to compete with China, Japan, and Korea for scarce global supply. Europe’s LNG spot price has tripled since April to a record $22 (MMBtu) - if you can get it - with a rise in Spanish power prices to match.

The Socialist government and its neo-Marxist allies in Podemos have responded in character, raiding utilities to pay for subsidised home electricity bills. The nuclear industry said the extortionary terms could lead to the “total closure of the Spanish nuclear park”.

Economy minister Nadia Calviño has warned that fuel poverty could trigger “social unrest” and undermine democratic consent for the Green Deal. In that she is right, whether in Europe, or the UK, or the US.

The gilets jaunes spectre haunts each of our countries, which is why free marketeers advocate a "carbon tax and dividend" (such as HR 763 in the US Congress) that redistributes the revenue to households, with a progressive bias towards the poorest. The higher the carbon price money the fatter the dividend. That would end the fuel poverty debate at a stroke.

Mrs Calviño blamed Spain’s travails on the parabolic rise in EU carbon prices this year to €60 a tonne as well as gas costs, a way of lobbying the Commission to relax its emissions trading scheme. 

Frans Timmermans, the EU’s climate chief, says rising carbon prices accounts for a fifth of Europe’s electricity price spike this year and is being falsely fingered, but he also acknowledged the political perils of this episode. “One thing we cannot afford is for the social side to be opposed to the climate side: I see this threat very clearly now,” he told MEPs.

The protests are getting louder. Poland’s premier Mateusz Morawiecki says Europe’s green deal is out of control and has ordered Polish utilities to itemise the exact cost of EU climate policies in household energy bills.

Lawson Steele from Berenberg Bank says there is no obvious legal way for Brussels to relax the emissions trading scheme, and it would be fatal to try: “If they panic at the first real test they will destroy their credibility and kill the green deal instantly.”

It would not solve the core problem in any case, and would play to the perversely-false narrative that green policies are at the root of the current crunch. Logic compels to the opposite conclusion: the answer to spiralling gas and coal prices is to use less of the stuff.

In the case of Britain, where frequency problems caused baseload electricity prices to go berserk this week, the authorities are clearly struggling to manage renewable power in an old-fashioned grid built for a former world. What is not true, and cannot be true, is that a lull in offshore wind is today’s culprit.

The energy nexus ought to cover UK power needs in the depths of winter during a doldrum, let alone in September when daily demand is peaking at barely 36 gigawatts, and gas home heating is minimal. What is missing is contingency back-up.

“The capacity mechanisms should have been able to deliver but there are no penalties to enforce it and the system only exists in theory. Now we’ve been hit with a perfect storm,” said Adam Lewis from energy traders Hartree Solutions.

The assumption that LNG gas would always be there at tolerable prices was wishful-thinking. Planners neglected to keep enough coal capacity in reserve, and nuclear output is down to five gigawatts.

It is a sorry state of affairs where the nation cannot endure a few days of calm in the North Sea at a time of low seasonal demand. The roots of this debacle go back a decade or more but the consequences have fallen to this Government. By twist of timing it could reach a crescendo just as the COP26 delegates arrive in Glasgow, and become conflated in the British public mind with net zero.

But let us not muddle matters. This is a fossil fuel shock. Net zero is the solution and not the problem. It will happen because brown energy cannot compete with the rapidly descending cost-curve of green tech.

The process is by now unstoppable for pure cost reasons regardless of climate change imperatives. Any major country that resists this will play itself out of the global economic game. The Government must hold its nerve.





galpinos

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#154 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
September 17, 2021, 07:39:11 am
(... and am currently working on an EV battery plant)
Nissan, or BritishVolt?

Northvolt Ett (https://northvolt.com/manufacturing/ett/). It quite a big one.......

petejh

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#155 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
September 17, 2021, 09:13:23 am
Ah yeah I've been hearing about Northvolt. Cool project! They'll be supplying underground mining plant with batteries to transition to EV. Their idea pretty much is my investment thesis for battery metals - transparent provenance of raw materials, excluding China from supply chain.

galpinos

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#156 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
September 17, 2021, 09:40:32 am
Ah yeah I've been hearing about Northvolt. Cool project! They'll be supplying underground mining plant with batteries to transition to EV. Their idea pretty much is my investment thesis for battery metals - transparent provenance of raw materials, excluding China from supply chain.

Yep, very cool, chuffed to be working on it but currently a pretty unachievable schedule, the race to market is bonkers on the battery plant jobs. Interesting as they have a very "new tech" vibe with lots of young clever people which has been a bit of a wake up to some of the old dinosaurs in my firm. Quite refreshing. I think my working life will be hydrogen and batteries till retirement.

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#157 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
September 17, 2021, 04:07:24 pm
(... and am currently working on an EV battery plant)
Nissan, or BritishVolt?

Northvolt Ett (https://northvolt.com/manufacturing/ett/). It quite a big one.......

Have they confirmed where/who they are sourcing their lithium chemicals from? They’ve been conspicuously quiet on that front.

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#158 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
September 27, 2021, 06:16:39 am
has anyone tried the Kia Niro EV? Looking to replace a VW Tiguan and this seems one of the closer models out there.

Can confirm the e-niro fits an Organic Full pad, two halves and a slider perfectly in the boot, with just enough space to get you bag down the side of them too. Had it a couple of weeks now and pretty happy so far (yes its not as snazzy looking as some others on the market but it was reasonably priced, fits my pads nicely and gets me to the crag, job done)

galpinos

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#159 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
September 27, 2021, 07:44:14 am
(... and am currently working on an EV battery plant)
Nissan, or BritishVolt?

Northvolt Ett (https://northvolt.com/manufacturing/ett/). It quite a big one.......

Have they confirmed where/who they are sourcing their lithium chemicals from? They’ve been conspicuously quiet on that front.

That's a long way upstream from me. I'm snowed under trying to get a plant design sorted so haven't really had time to enquire/do the research so not sure.

Fultonius

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#160 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 10, 2021, 03:15:36 pm
In the T4 we swapped ECU has we had no boost (looked like baro sensor was gone according to the diagnostics).

On installing, couldn't get started - just clicked and all power went off. Dash lights etc. all came on, but when I turned it just clicked and all the power went off. Checked the battery and it seems OK, but we were only getting 2v elsewhere. Assumed bad battery connection, remade that and it start OK. Went for a test drive, turbo boost a bit improved so one thing fixed! (though not 100%, still work to do there)

Drove for 20 mins, all seems OK except a faint whiff of hot/melting.. Came back to the van 3 hours later. (after cinema...) and the same thing happened, except this time battery was down to 11.5v. Tried connecting up our leisure battery via jump leads but no luck.

Breakdown truck came, tried a booster pack, failed (although I suspect his booster was drained, said 11.7v on the display, at first I thought that was MY voltage, but actually it was probably his).

Towed to the usually garage (been happy with them in the past). They were sure, so re-charged the battery and it started ok. Next day was down to 4v. They put in a new battery and it started ok, no parasitic drain and held charge fine.

Drove away today and the battery light was on. At first I thought "is that how it usually is?" but no, 12.3v at home with the engine on. So, I suspect it's a dead alternator and the battery just failed due to not getting charged.

Garage were a bit unhelpful "we can have a look at it". Hmm, no. It's a bitch of a job in the T4, so it's going to be a couple hundred on labour.

Phone a local old skool electrical repair shop near us, he reckoned it's failed and he can have it repaired in 20 minutes while I wait. So all I need to do now is get the blooming thing off!

Edit : woops wrong thread  :chair:
« Last Edit: December 10, 2021, 03:44:58 pm by Fultonius »

Duma

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#161 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 10, 2021, 08:19:33 pm
Well it is an electrical issue, so close enough I reckon!

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#162 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 15, 2021, 10:40:16 am
(... and am currently working on an EV battery plant)
Nissan, or BritishVolt?

Northvolt Ett (https://northvolt.com/manufacturing/ett/). It quite a big one.......

I grew up in Skellefteå.

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#163 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 20, 2021, 11:04:35 pm
Right - collective mind hive..

Home Charging.

Got a Kia e-Niro recently and am dead chuffed with it (mainly for bipping around town with a weekly trip to the peak two).

However, still to get a charger installed at home. 

Been quoted about a grand for the a Zappi by a local sheffield company (Homeco Energy)  as they say its 'Smart' and will potentially work out if we're exporting from the solar panels and divert to the car if we are etc.  We'd then get the 350 OLEV grant back, (deadline in March I think).

However, they're being a bit tardy at getting back to me and dont want to miss any deadlines.

So what are folks experience. 

Podpoint? Zappi?  Others?  Tethered? Non Tethered?

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#164 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 21, 2021, 08:00:04 am
We have just recently got an electric vehicle and it has been great.

Got a Hypervolt unit installed and it has been excellent. Had a slight issue on set up and was easily able to get through to their customer service and the guy sorted it quickly. Emailed once and had a quick response as well. Cost was about the same as you have been quoted. Went for a tethered one as I didn’t want to be getting the cables in and out of the car and am pleased with this.

Dave

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#165 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 21, 2021, 11:28:53 am

Thanks Dave, Just booked with someone how installs both but recommended the Hypervolt one over the Zappi,  and its cheaper!!

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#166 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 21, 2021, 11:32:38 am

My only concern with all of this is the number of Apps.. I now have about 6 apps on my phone all related to the new car.   

What happens when I lose my phone/the internet/server/app is down.  When the app is no longer supported and the company disappears off the face of the earth.

Definite weak spot in the whole EV car industry is the total reliance on 'apps' for practiacally every aspect.  from opening the bloody door to charging the thing.

Mind you, was satisfying to open the door to a warm defrosted car, having turned the heater on from the breakfast table as I finished my brew.    :devangel:

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#167 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 21, 2021, 02:03:29 pm
The S in IoT stands for security...

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#168 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 21, 2021, 02:29:31 pm


Definite weak spot in the whole EV car industry is the total reliance on 'apps' for practiacally every aspect.  from opening the bloody door to charging the thing.


Is there an emergency option to get in if the electrics short/the app goes down/ there’s an EMP etc.?

I’m enough of a Luddite to be concerned about cars with keyless entry and no key back up!

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#169 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 21, 2021, 02:42:40 pm


Definite weak spot in the whole EV car industry is the total reliance on 'apps' for practiacally every aspect.  from opening the bloody door to charging the thing.


Is there an emergency option to get in if the electrics short/the app goes down/ there’s an EMP etc.?

I’m enough of a Luddite to be concerned about cars with keyless entry and no key back up!

If they are anything like mine, and battery fails there is a key built inside the fob that gets you in the door. Then if its the battery you hold the fob against sensor and car starts. No biggie.

SamT

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#170 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 21, 2021, 02:46:25 pm
There is a key fob actually, with a physical key insert too on the Kia actually. I'm not overly worried about that, but a recent software glitch prevented some Tesla owners being unable to open their cars non?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59357306


Its more all the charging options. i.e. turn up at a charger, be it tescos, or ikea or where ever, and you need to install a damned app relevant to that particular provider.

And the charger I've just bought, is 100% controlled by an App and Wifi.  Any issue with either of those things and I strongly suspect it becomes a worthless lump of plastic bolted to my wall.

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#171 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 21, 2021, 05:41:17 pm
I started installing apps but soon got bored, now a waft of a contactless card covers most charging eventualities in my life. They seem to work a bit like when you hire a car in that they “block” £20, but it never disappears from you account and then a couple of days later the few quid the charge costs gets taken.

Our house charger is just a dumb box with a fat wire going to it, just-works TM

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#172 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 21, 2021, 07:08:13 pm
There is a key fob actually, with a physical key insert too on the Kia actually. I'm not overly worried about that, but a recent software glitch prevented some Tesla owners being unable to open their cars non?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59357306


Its more all the charging options. i.e. turn up at a charger, be it tescos, or ikea or where ever, and you need to install a damned app relevant to that particular provider.

And the charger I've just bought, is 100% controlled by an App and Wifi.  Any issue with either of those things and I strongly suspect it becomes a worthless lump of plastic bolted to my wall.

I believe the Tesla issue was that the people didn’t have the back up key card with them and instead were just relying on their phone as a key. To be fair to Tesla they tell you to always have the key card with you in case the app or your phone fails.

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#173 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 22, 2021, 06:38:50 am
Right - collective mind hive..

Home Charging.

Got a Kia e-Niro recently and am dead chuffed with it (mainly for bipping around town with a weekly trip to the peak two).

However, still to get a charger installed at home. 

Been quoted about a grand for the a Zappi by a local sheffield company (Homeco Energy)  as they say its 'Smart' and will potentially work out if we're exporting from the solar panels and divert to the car if we are etc.  We'd then get the 350 OLEV grant back, (deadline in March I think).

However, they're being a bit tardy at getting back to me and dont want to miss any deadlines.

So what are folks experience. 

Podpoint? Zappi?  Others?  Tethered? Non Tethered?

Home chargers = hard to find the right answer. Its a bit like physio's - ask ten people get ten different answers.

Chargers have to be SMART in order to qualify for the £350 grant (there is a feeling this is so the government can at some point manage the charging if there is too much load on the grid via the smart chargers. But this may be tin foil hat stuff as there is no apparent standard within how smart chargers are implemented etc..). A non-smart charger is typically £250-30 less than a smart charger - so if you roll in the grant its near enough the same (if not a bit cheaper) to get a smart one. When they are opened up some appear well built - some less so. Lots of people like Ohme, Podpoint are popular but our installer didnt like them. Also check how the timing works with your car if you are on Octopus Go etc... mostly it seems the charger timer is more reliable than a car one.

Your installer should sort out the grant for you - and their price should include the grant reduction. Shop around if they are not doing that. The RRP of the zappi is about £700-750 and a basic install will require about 2 hours labour and need c.£200 of parts/wires/second board. 

For linking to solar panels, Zappi seem to have the best reputation - hypervolt is a new ish player though their CEO is happy to get on forums to sort things out. Lots of happy zappi's out there it would seem :)

Check your electricity feed - if its old and your main board is old many installers won't go near it and this may need to be done first (if you have grid tie solar this has probably been done etc..). Also check the fuse on the main supply coming in (first point after the wires come into the house). if this is 100A then you're fine. If its 60A then you may have problems. Also if you are on a looped supply (wires then go out to next door) at this point - then that can cause problems too. This will/should all be checked by the installer.

Tethered/untethered depends on what you prefer. We went untethered with the smallest box size charger available as we didnt want it to look ugly on our house. If its in a garage/tucked away then it matters less. Some/many chargers are really ugly - and huge. Some people seem to want a box the size of a carry on bag bolted to their house - that glows different colours 24/7 (maybe its a look at me thing?) but not for us. 

Enjoy - its the future! :)

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#174 Re: Cars, Cars, Electric CARS !!
December 22, 2021, 08:39:30 am
Good Knowledge TT  :thumbsup:

Definitely need to check the main fuse to see if its 100A or not*.  Its bakerlite and def old.  However the consumer unit etc etc is all new (c 10yr old).

I've been dithering about the need for a solar connected one.  We've got a 1.5 kW peak array - which in reality, probably only chucks out 1.2 kW on a good day - for a short period at 2pm, on a very clear sunny day. you catch my drift.  Chances of us charging the car, at those peak times etc is probably very slim.  (I can imagine charging it once a week, over night in all honesty).


Hadn't appreciated that they light up. (though just checked and you can turn the leds off via the app   
We're going for black, rather than bright white so shouldn't jump out too much. 

*(just read that the Hypervolt one is set on installation to either 60 or a 100 and monitors your home usage, i.e. if you have a 60 amp fuse, and are using 20A, it'll only stick out 40A to prevent main fuse failure.)

 

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