Charging Leisure Batteries via EV points.

[wildebus]

It has been discussed I believe but I can’t see it working. Most streets I know once you park the street fills up so if on a charger you would have nowhere to move to when full if you were inclined to go out to move the car. Those in flats and houses with on street parking mostly don’t have an option to charge without using ev charge points. It the reason I went hybrid instead of full ev.

all hypothetical, but I am picturing a setup where if there were points at street parking, then that is an "extra" and the spaces are primarily parking spaces.
you can't have some kind of ridiculous EV charging priority everywhere if the charging points were expanding in this way. If there does turn out to have a ban on Petrol and Diesel cars in 2030 or whenever that date is (I am doubtful it will not be pushed back) people who don't have their own parking cannot be expected to turn into 2nd class citizens, either unable to park or unable to effectively buy AND use EV cars.

 

[DACS]

I'm not sure I see the point, the alternator will charge the battery when driving and even at this time of year my 85w panel also charges the battery so why do we need to use a valuable EV charging point and piss people off, not to mention the cost @ £195 to buy a cable, as leccy numpty wouldn't putting in a lot of amps very quickly cause battery damage?

It will not damage the battery as al this expensive lead does is to provide 230v to the motorhome. The built in charger is used to charge the battery and will probably take several hours.

 

[DACS]

Hi DACS,
It’s not so much about the voltage but the amps. If you have a charger delivery ing 20A, then you’re 100% correct, it’s not very good as 3 hours in Tesco will only give you 60A into your batteries.

However, Multiplus users can get anything from 60A to 120A per hour. That means that in a 3-hour Tesco parking limit, you'd charge anything from 180A to 360A.

I have pointed out that the best times to make use of the EV chargers are before 10 am or after 4 pm on a Sunday as the bays are generally entirely vacant.

Kind regards,
Bruce

You do not seem to understand the units involved in your own calculations. "60A to 120A per hour" is meaningless as an Ampere is already a rate over time, i.e.1 Coulomb per second. If you draw 60A for 3 hours you will take 180 Ampere-hours, not 180 Amperes.

Regardless of the current available, your EV-Cable connects to the motorhome using a standard 16A EHU connector. Are you seriously suggesting that this can be used to pass 120A? Your own web site claims that the cable can only handle 3,000W which equates to 12.5A at 240V.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I have never in 10 years been on any campsite, always have enough juice to power lights tv and toilet flush, not forgetting kids charging their phones.

16 years now for us Trev, but we do often go away for a month or so, I don't see the point in travelling up to Scotland or wherever for less than two weeks, I can and have managed to park up on Skye after leaving work at 5pm on Friday for a two week break, but I tend to take a few days now and enjoy it just as much.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

It will not damage the battery as al this expensive lead does is to provide 230v to the motorhome. The built in charger is used to charge the battery and will probably take several hours.

Thank you, I didn't see that important point mentioned before, I see the point of it even less now.

 

[wildebus]

You do not seem to understand the units involved in your own calculations. "60A to 120A per hour" is meaningless as an Ampere is already a rate over time, i.e.1 Coulomb per second. If you draw 60A for 3 hours you will take 180 Ampere-hours, not 180 Amperes.

Regardless of the current available, your EV-Cable connects to the motorhome using a standard 16A EHU connector. Are you seriously suggesting that this can be used to pass 120A? Your own web site claims that the cable can only handle 3,000W which equates to 12.5A at 240V.

DACS, before you challenge and criticize others mathematics, make sure your own are correct!
The 120A mentioned is a DC Current. the kind of charging current that a Multiplus 12/3000/120 might output when charging a 12V battery bank at full output.
120A at 12V DC equates to 6A at 240V AC. Now adjusting the numbers from the nominal, the 120A might be at upto 14.4V, so a power of 1728W. Add some losses of maybe 15% to be pessimistic and you are still under 2kW.
2kW on a 230V UK Default Voltage is 8.7A (AC remember) - well within the capability of a standard 16A hookup cable (I used to plug my 12/3000/120 MP into a external socket in the house without any problems whatsoever of course).

 

[wildebus]

Thank you, I didn't see that important point mentioned before, I see the point of it even less now.

As has been mentioned, it is down to the charger capabilities. I can put 140Ah into my battery bank in 2 hours and I only have a 70A charger.

 

[moonshadow]

Having an ev car we would not be happy mid-journey having to wait for a motorhome to charge their leisure battery. Those bays are for ev cars only

 

[Pudsey Bear]

duplicated

 

[moonshadow]

Hi Nabsim,

The words they use are something along the lines of, "Please use a cable supplier by your manufacturer for your vehicle." A user will need "A cable suitable for their vehicle, access to the app, and a top-up payment method." They never actually stipulate that it has to be an EV.

Now there are technical arguments about the motorhome being an EV, but I'm not going to get into that as it's just a potential for disagreements.

The only restriction I have discovered is that the bays are restricted to EVs only. This means we're definitely not allowed to park within the EV bays and this could attract a fine. However, most bays are sandwiched between two normal vehicle bays which we are usually allowed to use. That's why I have opted for a 10M cable rather than the initial prototype which was just 6M. It wasn't quite long enough to successfully park in most bays. However, since having the 10M cable, I have been able to park alongside the EV bays without issue.

Also, when I sell a cable I request that you disconnect your cable if all ports are being used and an EV user arrives for charging.

Best regards,
Bruce

Even if you are parked in a non ev bay you are still using a charging point. I can see discord between motorhomers and ev car owners. We have both btw. There is enough trouble when ice cars use the ev points for parking. Maybe ‘charging’ in the small hours when demand is low might be the answer

 

[moonshadow]

Free charge

I personally feel that it is wrong that there are free charging points for ev. We are all paying expensive charges for electric at the moment, so why not charge ev users. Why should those owners get it for free? If it is such a small amount to pay for charging , ev users, don't be so mean & just pay! It is annoying to hear ev owners, in general news terms, moan about having to pay to charge their vehicles. I say, don't be so tight!

Free ev points are few and far between and they take a very long time to charge a vehicle. We don’t use them. The people that do are most likely at work or live very close nearby. It is selfish of them to block a charge point for hours

 

[trevskoda]

Free charge

Free ev points are few and far between and they take a very long time to charge a vehicle. We don’t use them. The people that do are most likely at work or live very close nearby. It is selfish of them to block a charge point for hours

2 charge points at our centre of village are used all day by the same people who work local, no one else gets a look in.

 

[moonshadow]

2 charge points at our centre of village are used all day by the same people who work local, no one else gets a look in.

QED

 

[marchie]

Free charge

Free ev points are few and far between and they take a very long time to charge a vehicle. We don’t use them. The people that do are most likely at work or live very close nearby. It is selfish of them to block a charge point for hours

Or selfish to expect free charging when energy prices are at record highs for daily living uses? And free because the rate of charge is so low/slow that it takes hours to recharge? And why can't I have free charging for my m/home when you can have free charging for your ev? Etc. etc Westminster Gov has already reneged on its commitment to require new buildings to provide ev charging points after lobbying from the construction industry re the expense of installation. In summary, everybody wants it, but nobody wants to pay for it ...

Steve

 

[wildebus]

Even if you are parked in a non ev bay you are still using a charging point. I can see discord between motorhomers and ev car owners. We have both btw. There is enough trouble when ice cars use the ev points for parking. Maybe ‘charging’ in the small hours when demand is low might be the answer

Just had a thought .... is there a limit to how long you are allowed to use an EV point?
I understand these charging points are for electric VEHICLES, not electric cars. So why should I not buy one of Bruces cables and use it to charge my ELECTRIC Bicycle or Scooter sitting on the bike rack on my Motorhome which is parked in an adjacent spot to the Electric VEHICLE charging point?
A Bicycle is a Vehicle. What makes a Car more important?
Shame that the charger for a Bicycle is even slower than the charger for a Leisure Battery

 

[marchie]

Just had a thought .... is there a limit to how long you are allowed to use an EV point?
I understand these charging points are for electric VEHICLES, not electric cars. So why should I not buy one of Bruces cables and use it to charge my ELECTRIC Bicycle or Scooter sitting on the bike rack on my Motorhome which is parked in an adjacent spot to the Electric VEHICLE charging point?
A Bicycle is a Vehicle. What makes a Car more important?
Shame that the charger for a Bicycle is even slower than the charger for a Leisure Battery

I can feel a Test Case coming on ... Sure I have the phone number of one of those 'No Win, No Fee' lawyers somewhere for one of thoe [Lack of] Class Actions ...

Steve

 

[wildebus]

I can feel a Test Case coming on ... Sure I have the phone number of one of those 'No Win, No Fee' lawyers somewhere for one of thoe [Lack of] Class Actions ...

Steve

No-Win, No-Fee? on your [electric] bike, matey! (remembering to recharge at the Electric Vehicle point if needed )

 

[nabsim]

No-Win, No-Fee? on your [electric] bike, matey! (remembering to recharge at the Electric Vehicle point if needed )

Shin falls has charge points for electric bikes and scooters, just thought I would add that lol

 

[marchie]

No-Win, No-Fee? on your [electric] bike, matey! (remembering to recharge at the Electric Vehicle point if needed )

The inverter awaits, David ...

Steve

 

[Bruce Lauderdale]

You do not seem to understand the units involved in your own calculations. "60A to 120A per hour" is meaningless as an Ampere is already a rate over time, i.e.1 Coulomb per second. If you draw 60A for 3 hours you will take 180 Ampere-hours, not 180 Amperes.

Regardless of the current available, your EV-Cable connects to the motorhome using a standard 16A EHU connector. Are you seriously suggesting that this can be used to pass 120A? Your own web site claims that the cable can only handle 3,000W which equates to 12.5A at 240V.

Hi DACS,

120A at 14V*, yes I am being serious.

Regards,
Bruce

*13A in on 240V then through the battery charger down to circa 14.2V