Ecotricity

[BoMW]

I see there is still no improvement on the M1 north or A1 north from the Midlands and upwards.
Craig

Apparently Ferrybridge will be sorted out this week

 

[Themass31]

I did read it was a welcome break problem at woodall but there not all welcome break that are not working.

 

[RJSATLBA]

I see there is still no improvement on the M1 north or A1 north from the Midlands and upwards.
Craig

Apparently Ferrybridge will be sorted out this week

If so I'll be testing out the CCS early on Sat en route to Herefordshire, if it works I'll only need a short top up to allow me to get from home to Trowel S without doing it on EP+ all the way, which might not be enough anyway this time as there could be a brisk SW wind.

 

[RJSATLBA]

When I called helpline after tweet said it was fixed but updated map was still red they said they were waiting for a successful charge before putting map yellow. Used it the next day.

 

[RJSATLBA]

A good result yesterday, successful charges at Ferrybridge, Trowell S and IKEA. near Brum, so 200 miles in a stiff headwind on battery alone. Thanks also to Herefordfhire CC as parked on one of their free CYC chargers, albeit only a 3.6 and walked the last 5 mins.

 

[sithsmith23]

1 start to junc 30 m25 - 20 miles
2 junc 30 to A14 junc 28 - 64 miles
3 A14 junc 28 to A1 grantham - 60 miles
4 A1 Grantham to Ferrybridge - 63 miles
5 Ferrybridge to weatherby - 21 miles
6 weatherby to end - 50 miles

So is above possible in BEV, using CCS only? if av.speed is 65mph from charge to charge and I am at 80-100% battery(would I get up to 100% in 15-30 mins from CCS?), then could I make those 60mile+ legs?

 

[Bunter]

I am at 80-100% battery(would I get up to 100% in 15-30 mins from CCS?)

No, you can get to 85-90 % in 30 mins but after that its as slow as a level 2 charge.

Bill

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

Undertook my first cross country trip to visit the outlaws yesterday; Preston -> Nottingham = 110 miles trip well outside of the Electric only range (@70 miles at 12 centrigrade travelling at 65 on the motorway and Fast A road sections on the guessometer.) Tried out the IKEA Warrington CCS fast charger and successfully took on some more electrons, Thanks to a helpful Leaf owner who helped me out using the Ecotricity tower. We couldn't get the unit to charge both vehicles simultaneously ? is that correct? Anyway a quick call to Ecotricity got me hooked up correctly, I did try supporting the plug end of the combo charger as others have suggested while the handshake took place and got around another Free 20 miles of range, the tower was pumping out 40 amps at 396v IIRC.

Decided to use the Rex to confirm that it would hold SOC when cruising and so used some fuel up and arrived with about 40 miles in hand.

Return leg is today and will collect a recharge at Ikea on the return leg where hopefully the rate of charge will be a bit quicker from a lower SOC.

 

[Bunter]

We couldn't get the unit to charge both vehicles simultaneously ? is that correct?

I think so, the only units which support >1 car on a rapid charger I've seen are the SSE ones which can support an AC 3 phase charge and a DC charge simultaneously but not 2 x DC simultaneously.

Bill

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

The return leg was done using a Preconditioned car = @77 miles at outset with approx 1/2 tank of fuel to get home. I should add that we were travelling three up + luggage. I stopped off at IKEA Warrington to get a Free Top off, but although we started to get a charge it quit on me three times and went into reset. Experienced a bit of Karma though, as I rescued a young leaf driver - Borrowed his Dad's car but without an access card and sat forlornly on the chargepoint. Seems that my card could start up two towers simultaneously, don't know if doing this caused by own charge to stop but I was pleased at that point we had a REx to finish the trip home, What goes around comes around !

 

[jadnashuanh]

The i3 can accept up to 50Kw inputs on the DC port...at a nominal 400vdc, that's 125A...that's one huge DC power supply! Not all CCS units are created equal, but it would be quite expensive to be able to charge multiple vehicles at full output. Since none of these things are 100% efficient in the voltage conversion, that means even more input to get the desired output; and, it also means a lot of waste heat. Wait until the middle of summer on a particularly hot day and see how reliable they are!

 

[elptex]

Just got this email from a Ecotricity:

We're making some changes to the opening hours of our Electric Highway telephone support, starting tomorrow, Tuesday 10th March.

From tomorrow, our telephone support will be available 8.30am – 5.30pm from Monday to Friday. We're no longer available outside of those hours.

We’ll have greater online resources available from tomorrow, addressing the most common issues that customers do call us about. We’re updating our user guides and uploading new Q&As, too – and we’ll continue to add to those resources throughout the year.

You may be aware that we've been upgrading the rapid chargers across the network to iron out some lingering faults, too. That upgrade is going very well - and we've made significant progress through what is a network-wide upgrade, addressing a systemic hardware problem.

While this work is being completed, we have about 50 AC charge points currently out of action. They will be coming back online in the next few weeks and you can keep track of progress on our website here. But please be aware there is a time lag and our web site is not fully live right now. This is something else we are working on in the next few months; new backend systems, a user App, and a real time availability map.

We’re continuing to double up the number of chargers at each location and increasing the number of CCS chargers, too.

We’ve also begun to focus on strategic A roads, usually where the motorway network doesn’t extend - for example, in Wales (A55) and the south west (A30), leading all the way down to Land's End. We’re looking at Scotland up to John O’ Groats as well, though this will take a little longer.

Beyond A roads and the motorway network, we're looking at other types of locations where we can install our pumps to good effect - airports are a good example. We’re up and running at Liverpool Airport now and we’ll be live at Birmingham Airport by the end of March.
I’m sure we'll have some teething issues along the way, but with your support we are evolving into the truly national network we all want to see.

Finally, something you may be interested to know - in February this year we delivered one million zero emission miles to Electric Highway members. The first million miles took nearly two years, so that’s quite a step change. Before this year ends we expect to be delivering two million miles a month – that’s a great reflection of the progress EVs are making in Britain.

The electric revolution continues. Thank you for being a part of it.

Cheers,

Dale Vince

 

[psquare]

Yes, I had the same message.

8:30 - 17:30 weekdays-only? Considering the number of people on here and Twitter who mention that they've spoken to the "friendly staff at Ecotricity" on the phone, I am surprised at this development. The online resources mentioned don't fill me with a lot of confidence either, I have to say.

I have yet to use my Ecotricity card on a CCS Rapid charger, but the idea of someone at a laptop being able to remotely "fix" a charger was always suspicious to me. Apart from rebooting and checking connectivity, what can they do? So maybe this is a logical step.

The news about Birmingham Airport receiving an EVSE are great, but overall my feelings about this "update" are mixed.

:?

 

[RJSATLBA]

1 start to junc 30 m25 - 20 miles
2 junc 30 to A14 junc 28 - 64 miles
3 A14 junc 28 to A1 grantham - 60 miles
4 A1 Grantham to Ferrybridge - 63 miles
5 Ferrybridge to weatherby - 21 miles
6 weatherby to end - 50 miles

So is above possible in BEV, using CCS only? if av.speed is 65mph from charge to charge and I am at 80-100% battery(would I get up to 100% in 15-30 mins from CCS?), then could I make those 60mile+ legs?

I'd be nervous with a headwind, also Ive never seen CCS at Wetherby working yet.

 

[RJSATLBA]

Apart from rebooting and checking connectivity, what can they do? So maybe this is a logical step.

:?

The help desk talked me through how to use the emergency stop button to try and clear a frozen charger. Don't try it unless it's a genuine emergency or under their guidance.

 

[i3MK]

The i3 can accept up to 50Kw inputs on the DC port...at a nominal 400vdc, that's 125A...that's one huge DC power supply! Not all CCS units are created equal, but it would be quite expensive to be able to charge multiple vehicles at full output. Since none of these things are 100% efficient in the voltage conversion, that means even more input to get the desired output; and, it also means a lot of waste heat. Wait until the middle of summer on a particularly hot day and see how reliable they are!

Good info. So with the max amps the i3 can handle on DC being 125A, how much faster would an 80% charge be achieved with a charger that can output 125A, verses a poorer unit that sends out a max of 110A @ 396 / 397vdc. The DBTCEV ones I use all top out at this lower rate. I have heard that ABB and other manufacturers make DC Rapids that do reach higher amp ratings?

 

[jadnashuanh]

As the batteries get charged, they heat up, so the maximum amperage slows down as requested by the vehicle. Start with a somewhat smaller current, and not as much heat, it MIGHT be able to keep that up longer, meaning that ultimately, they end up taking about the same amount of time. FWIW, BMW in the USA is pushing a 25Kw unit because it is less expensive to buy (about 1/3'ed one producing 50Kw), and does not require as much infrastructure to power so more places could consider one without upgrading their power situation. Since there are none within driving range where I live, I have no personal experience with them. My state just passed a bill to provide a (very small) amount of credits for the installation of at least a few, that may change, but the corridor they are proposing for them is not among my normal travels. Still, over the next few years, I expect at least a few coming around here and got the DC charge option on my i3. Here's hoping I get a chance to try it before the warranty expires!

 

[psquare]

Using Ecotricity rapid charger at Warwick services as we speak. My first DC rapid charge and it worked almost flawlessly. Couldn't find the Confirm button first time round so needed 2 attempts. Almost fully charged now

Thanks, Ecotricity !

 

[BoMW]

1 start to junc 30 m25 - 20 miles
2 junc 30 to A14 junc 28 - 64 miles
3 A14 junc 28 to A1 grantham - 60 miles
4 A1 Grantham to Ferrybridge - 63 miles
5 Ferrybridge to weatherby - 21 miles
6 weatherby to end - 50 miles

So is above possible in BEV, using CCS only? if av.speed is 65mph from charge to charge and I am at 80-100% battery(would I get up to 100% in 15-30 mins from CCS?), then could I make those 60mile+ legs?

I'd be nervous with a headwind, also Ive never seen CCS at Wetherby working yet.

Wether by was working fine up until Christmas, the good news is that I used Ferrybridge CCS for the first time today. This station has never worked since switch on last December

 

[RJSATLBA]

Wether by was working fine up until Christmas, the good news is that I used Ferrybridge CCS for the first time today. This station has never worked since switch on last December

That's interesting, I tried it when nearby a few days after taking delivery in mid Oct to see how it worked. It didn't and the helpline confirmed it was down, I've never seen it yellow on the map since and have tested it out a few times when passing without success. But I've seen two different Teslas feeding there!