Electric vans

[upnortheast]

Just been taxing a van on gov site.
Banner along the bottom promoting electric vehicles so i had a look
I find that a Renault Master Van is somewhere north of £55k & they proudly claim a range of 75 miles.
We run fridge vans - so add at least £5k to the purchase price & I assume running the fridge will reduce the range.
Most of our routes are about 100 miles so i suspect we will be using diesel for a few years yet

 

[Nearly]

@Courier

 

[Highland Mule]

Somehow I don’t think that 100mile routes in a fridge can is the immediate target market. Would be grand for many others though, if the costs can come down. Short stop start runs for urban Amazon deliveries etc. Could be a great step forward for urban pollution too.

 

[upnortheast]

Agreed. Point i was making is we are going to need fossil fuel for transport for some considerable time yet.
Unless another technology becomes viable

Looking through the spec it looks like a standard car charger would be far too slow. A 3 phase one would be needed. Another limiting factor ?

 

[Highland Mule]

Agreed. Point i was making is we are going to need fossil fuel for transport for some considerable time yet.
Unless another technology becomes viable

Looking through the spec it looks like a standard car charger would be far too slow. A 3 phase one would be needed. Another limiting factor ?

The newest Tesla can put in a bladder worth of fuel in the time you empty and refill yours - when away from home. I don’t see that as being too little any more. And refilled overnight at base means you don’t waste a half hour every other day going to top the tank before you start a journey. Very few will be doing middle of day refills at base, but if you were there are ways around that too - 3 phase as you say.

 

[Steevo]

DPD are running quite a few of their smaller (postman) sized vans on electric now. Seems a simple and logical option. I would think they are bound to to 75 miles a day or more in them without any issue.

Soon as wireless charging gets properly rolled out I think electric cars will take off more as it adds to the simplicity of the job.

 

[newholland]

The Renault Zoe comercial van will do 245 miles, and on top of that range it charges itself further when ever you brake / over run down a hill. It will effortlessly beat any other vehicle off the traffic lights. Recommend it very highly and there is no way I would buy a petrol / diesel vehicle again.

 

[upnortheast]

But it`s basically just a little car. Still this big step to make for bigger vans to be viable on leccy

 

[Tomr10]

I to have thought they could swap batteries and you just rent them. However they are so fast to charge not worth it.

I do wonder what will happen with carrying capacity with battery s being so heavy.

Where we went camping the other day they had electric Van's bobbing about one thing I can see coming is some sort of buzzer or noise as there going to be silent killers

If ran a new car I'd look electric maybe Clive will let is all try his new car

 

[Exfarmer]

The newest Tesla can put in a bladder worth of fuel in the time you empty and refill yours - when away from home. I don’t see that as being too little any more. And refilled overnight at base means you don’t waste a half hour every other day going to top the tank before you start a journey. Very few will be doing middle of day refills at base, but if you were there are ways around that too - 3 phase as you say.

But that relies ona chargerpoint capable of delivering a bladder worth of fuel! Have you discovered the network capable of delivering this? Fine for one or a very small number of vehicles, but when you get to 4,5,6 there is a huge issue of delivering the voltage. I suspect my local DPD depot would struggle to charge a tenth of the vehicles parked there overnight.

 

[PSQ]

But it`s basically just a little car. Still this big step to make for bigger vans to be viable on leccy

Fully electric versions of the Transit, Trafic and e-Vito are due in 2021.

 

[Highland Mule]

But that relies ona chargerpoint capable of delivering a bladder worth of fuel! Have you discovered the network capable of delivering this? Fine for one or a very small number of vehicles, but when you get to 4,5,6 there is a huge issue of delivering the voltage. I suspect my local DPD depot would struggle to charge a tenth of the vehicles parked there overnight.

I have no personal experience of electric cars yet, but I’d imagine that very few personal vehicles will need quick charge - I do about 30k miles a year minimum, and can’t think when I would need a service station charge except on holidays.

Extrapolating, the network doesn’t need to be huge, as most vehicle charges would be overnight. Sure, the grid isn’t there yet but it’s got time to grow as EV ownership does.

 

[upnortheast]

But that relies ona chargerpoint capable of delivering a bladder worth of fuel! Have you discovered the network capable of delivering this? Fine for one or a very small number of vehicles, but when you get to 4,5,6 there is a huge issue of delivering the voltage. I suspect my local DPD depot would struggle to charge a tenth of the vehicles parked there overnight.

Trying to read up on this. Looks like a big van would need a charger drawing something like 32 amps per phase on a 3 ph supply to charge in a reasonable time
Imagine the draw your local DPD depot would make on the grid if they had 40 vans to charge up before the next shift.

 

[Highland Mule]

Trying to read up on this. Looks like a big van would need a charger drawing something like 32 amps per phase on a 3 ph supply to charge in a reasonable time
Imagine the draw your local DPD depot would make on the grid if they had 40 vans to charge up before the next shift.

But they wouldn’t need fast charge when they’re parked up overnight. And If they do, then they use local storage these days too, to stockpile the energy for when they plug in.

 

[steveR]

But that relies ona chargerpoint capable of delivering a bladder worth of fuel! Have you discovered the network capable of delivering this? Fine for one or a very small number of vehicles, but when you get to 4,5,6 there is a huge issue of delivering the voltage. I suspect my local DPD depot would struggle to charge a tenth of the vehicles parked there overnight.

Nah, no problem. 50kva diesel gennie around the back....

 

[Exfarmer]

I have no personal experience of electric cars yet, but I’d imagine that very few personal vehicles will need quick charge - I do about 30k miles a year minimum, and can’t think when I would need a service station charge except on holidays.

Extrapolating, the network doesn’t need to be huge, as most vehicle charges would be overnight. Sure, the grid isn’t there yet but it’s got time to grow as EV ownership does.

You are massively underestimating the problem and you are part of it. Do not mean to be rude , but Your vehicle will need far more power than you estimate. Further the average EV needs charging twice as often as a modern van/ car needs refuelling. most EV’s have a range of 150- 250 range, but we do not like to see the tank under 1/4 full.
Most home chargers can only put 25% into an average car overnight. This is not a simple issue we can overcome when all your neighbours are in the same situation.

 

[steveR]

Most home chargers can only put 25% into an average car overnight. This is not a simple issue we can overcome when all your neighbours are in the same situation.

Is that all a 16amp charge will do?

 

[Highland Mule]

You are massively underestimating the problem and you are part of it. Do not mean to be rude , but Your vehicle will need far more power than you estimate. Further the average EV needs charging twice as often as a modern van/ car needs refuelling. most EV’s have a range of 150- 250 range, but we do not like to see the tank under 1/4 full.
Most home chargers can only put 25% into an average car overnight. This is not a simple issue we can overcome when all your neighbours are in the same situation.

Tesla 3 will charge in less than 8 house at a wall charger. That’s for 300+ miles, but I can’t imagine much more than half of that most days. Now, how often a month do I do more than 300 in a day? Very infrequently.

 

[upnortheast]

Here are the numbers from the Renault master web page

 

[Courier]

Here are the numbers from the Renault master web page

And is that for the 75 mile range ?

There needs to be a sea-change in the technology for this to be any use for other than single city only use...

Or hydrogen fuel cells...

Only last Friday one of our Masters did almost 850 miles in a single 20 hour period (2 different drivers)