Electric car charging stations.

xmilkr

Member
Anyone on here had any experience buying and running these stations, just had a quote to fit 3 chargers, never used them myself so no idea of the charges, but we are in a place where they will be well used, thanks for any info.
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
Anyone on here had any experience buying and running these stations, just had a quote to fit 3 chargers, never used them myself so no idea of the charges, but we are in a place where they will be well used, thanks for any info.
You will have to determine the likely stay time of cars at your site. If it is a destination where people will stop for several hours, then 7kW chargers would be useful. You will probably get more revenue from what they are doing at the destination than from the chargers, but installation and running costs will be low.
If people will just stop for a charge and a coffee, you will need at least 50 kW points, most going in now are 100 kW and over, so you will need a serious electrical connection. You can probably price at 30 p/kWh and get plenty of customers, over 35 p and people will look elsewhere unless there is nothing for miles around. Installation costs will be in the region of £30 k per point, plus the electrical connection. If you are going to be using electricity at peak, consider a battery installation so you can reduce the size of your connection, and draw power off peak and sell it at peak.
 

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
Is it with a franchise?

I'd agree that anything less than 50kw is pointless. That is 30 minutes for third of a tank. 150kw are the good one's full charge in 30 minutes, 20-80% in 18 minutes.
 

f0ster

Member
I have been hearing that if you require a grid connection for a three phase charging point it is possible to get it at preferential rates, anyone else heard of this
 

john 650

Member
Livestock Farmer
There are a few 350Kw ones about, but they will be few and far between- plus most cars can't take that rate of charge. Mine limits at 150kw, which to be honest, so far has been more than plenty to fill the 90kw battery.

I tend not to bother with less than 50kw though- and even those I only use as a stop gap to get me home/the next rapid...
 

xmilkr

Member
Thanks for the replies, l am just a little confused at the moment, the 50 150 +350 kw threw me a little as my quote was for a bank of three chargers, 3ph. 22kw, so l searched through all the charger adds, none stating how many kw. then l found a site, edfelec. with a full list of everything l wanted to know, it gave 3-7 kw for home chargers, 7-22 kw as a standard charger found in s/markets - town centres and private sites, it said the 50 kw plus sites were not suitable for the ave. family car, it does give the miles = charge time which was interesting, just a little less confused now.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
people wull only top up on a 50kw so you will sell small amounts of power - more money is selling them coffee whilst they wait!

150 will gee proplrcfoung bigger charges as much faster and 350 is what you really need but crazy expensive
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
Thanks for the replies, l am just a little confused at the moment, the 50 150 +350 kw threw me a little as my quote was for a bank of three chargers, 3ph. 22kw, so l searched through all the charger adds, none stating how many kw. then l found a site, edfelec. with a full list of everything l wanted to know, it gave 3-7 kw for home chargers, 7-22 kw as a standard charger found in s/markets - town centres and private sites, it said the 50 kw plus sites were not suitable for the ave. family car, it does give the miles = charge time which was interesting, just a little less confused now.
There are few cars that can take 22 kW on 3 phase AC, only the Zoe or certain old Teslas with dual chargers. Current Tesla S and X take 16 kW on AC, the Model 3 is 11 kW or thereabouts. The majority of other cars cannot take more than 7 kW.
If is worth paying for a charge, you will want to be taking on say 50% charge, so on many current cars that would be 25-30 kWh, implying a minimum stay on an AC charger of 4 hours.
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
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Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
Nothing against Gleneagles, I was brought up a couple of miles down the road. But surely there is a hotel in Glasgow that they could have used and saved wasting time sitting on the A9? Or is it a security issue?

I think that they have run out of (acceptable quality) hotel beds across the city. Cameron House would have been an obvious choice, but it's still shut from the fire, isn't it? I've stayed at Gleneagles a few times, but wouldn't rush to go there again. Similar experience at Blythswood Square, probably a bit worse.
 

john 650

Member
Livestock Farmer
Two biggest issues I've had so far, in 17k miles, and 5 months are-
1-a lack of hotel accommodation with chargers- will happily pay more for one, but they're few and far between, and where you do get them, they are inconsistent- stayed in two so far this week- one which charged a fortune for the charger despite claiming free use on booking site, and the second the charger was out of order- and didn't look like it had ever worked...

2- Inconsistency in reliability- there's alot of shite chargers out there, and so many that require you to download their own app, or register to get a RFID card that you can only use at their systems. The market needs rationalisation, and fast, if it's going to become reliable as the number of cars on the road increases.

No complaints though- and certainly wouldn't go back to a diesel company car, given the current tax structure.
 
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Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
Two biggest issues I've had so far, in 17k miles, and 5 months are-
1-a lack of hotel accommodation with chargers- will happily pay more for one, but they're few and far between, and where you do get them, they are inconsistent- stayed in two so far this week- one which charged a fortune for the charger despite claiming free use on booking site, and the second the charger was out of order- and didn't look like it had ever worked...

2- Inconsistency in reliability- there's alot of shite chargers out there, and so many that require you to download their own app, or register to get a RFID card that you can only use at their systems. The market needs rationalisation, and fast, if it's going to become reliable as the number of cars on the road increases

I have a Plugsurfing card - which is useful for emergencies as it makes every charger I have ever tried work. I use it as emergency backup, as its expensive, except for Ionity, where is a 30p per Kwh deal.
 

john 650

Member
Livestock Farmer
I have a Plugsurfing card - which is useful for emergencies as it makes every charger I have ever tried work. I use it as emergency backup, as its expensive, except for Ionity, where is a 30p per Kwh deal.
I've a similar card from Audi- but it's limited- particularly with the chargers at supermarkets etc, which is what we're limited to in Wales
 

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