Hybrid vehicle / hook up

lunar ultima
lunar ultima Forum Participant Posts: 1
edited September 2020 in Club Membership #1

Hello all caravan and campers.

We are regular caravaners and enjoy the outdoors equal to all you other campers.

However times are changing and unfair site fees are becoming an issue.

Electrical hook up. You will pay the same rate as your fellow neighbour, but as stated in 

this months , September issue of the caravan and motorhome club magazine,

if you own a plug in Hybrid you can re-charge and get 15-30 miles per charge free, so 

as well as paying the same hook up fee you can get free fuel.

This is about equivalant to £7.50 per day, Diesel or Petrol.

Not just fuel , the modern caravan can have underfloor heating, electrical cooking etc.

We still pay for our fuel and cook with gas.

Electrical useage should now be brought up to date so you pay for what you use.

So remember next time you book your electric hook up holiday, do ask for your £7.50 per day reduction, unless you run a plug in hybrid.

your standard electricl 3 pin charge cable is available on e-Bay for one off payment £180.00/£200.00.

While on holiday this year our  caravan neighbour had a plug in Hybrid, payed the same as everyone else, not fare at all, Photos added.

 

 Moved from Story Section

Comments

  • Whittakerr
    Whittakerr Club Member Posts: 3,472 ✭✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #2

    if you own a plug in Hybrid you can re-charge and get 15-30 miles per charge free, so 

    as well as paying the same hook up fee you can get free fuel.

    This is about equivalent to £7.50 per day, Diesel or Petrol.

    Are you saying it costs you £7.50 in petrol / diesel to drive 15 - 30 miles? What do you drive.

    Anyway i'm too busy enjoying my holiday to worry about how much electricity other people are using, and no i haven't got a plug in hybrid.

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,857 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #3

    Perhaps a point worth thinking about is that the electrical supply to a caravan/motorhome is not elastic it comes at a fix amount so whilst you are charging your car you can't be using the electricity in the van to the same extent. My understanding is that it is allowed under current policy. I think however the Club have started to install paid for charging points on some sites which will no doubt be extended. Perhaps when these dedicated charging points are more widely available the Club policy will change?

    David

    BTW I have moved your posting here as I don't think it really comes under the Story category.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited September 2020 #4

    I was under the impression that there are add charges if you want to charge a hybrid or ev via your own LV (not direct to the site hookup)

    was it not advised by the club some months ago? not sure of the prices as not an owner of either

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #5

    The club are now charging hybrid and EV users, payment is expected if a charge is used. The details are out there on the CAMC web site...but I'm not going to trawl through it tonight! 

    By all means have metered bollards, fair to all and consumption will certainly go down....along with site fees LOL. wink

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited September 2020 #6

    Presently *Hybrid vehicles charged at £2 a day and electric vehicles charged at £8 a day.

    https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/uk-holidays/uk-sites/club-sites/facilities-on-club-sites/electric-vehicle-charging/

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,135 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #7

    Well, Pop Top, as you can see, you are wrong about free charging of hybrid or electric cars.

    The cost of electricity is included in your site fee and you can use it anyway you like, other than charging EVs.

    Have you studied the Govt regs about the resale of electricity? I suggest you do before thinking metering will be an easy answer.

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #8

    Thanks for that EasyT, I knew the details were around somewhere...so I think this concludes the argument....except for the OP's "photos added" obviously lost in a red mist. wink

  • Oscarmax
    Oscarmax Club Member Posts: 257 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #9

    Modern caravans are more energy efficient better insulation and heating systems, solar panels and led lighting, introducing electric meters would penalise older caravan especially in winter plus the cost involved of installing meters. 

     

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited September 2020 #10

     ..... Are you saying it costs you £7.50 in petrol / diesel to drive 15 - 30 miles? What do you drive.

    £7.50 is only a gallon & a bit of either petrol or The Fuel of the Devil. Fuel consumption of my car is anything from low 20s to low 30s to the gallon, depending on how it's driven, so Pop top isn't that far off the mark. 😉

  • Oscarmax
    Oscarmax Club Member Posts: 257 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #11

    we are paying £1.089 litre for petrol as Tesco's in our area about £4.90 a gallon, £7.50 approximately a gallon and a half.

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited September 2020 #12

    No idea how much a litre diseasal is near me .... I was under the impression diseasal is around £6 a gallon  😕

    I just know it was around £100 to brim it.

    But I think I could still get through a gallon & a half in 30 miles if i tried 😉

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,857 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #13

    I am clearly a bit behind the times!!! Thanks for the link. At least it answers the OP's point about charging.

    David

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,383
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    edited September 2020 #14

    The cheapest diesel around here is £1.16 per litre I.e.£5.26 per gallon. At 20 miles per gallon it costs 26p per mile i,e, £7.89 for 30 miles.

    The current way of paying to charge a hybrid is a joke and can only be temporary while the Club and other site owners wrestle with what is the real answer and when to take the plunge.

    The market in electric vehicles is rapidly expanding. It is not going to be long before the first electric motorhomes are available in the UK. (They are already in use in other countries) The Club could put in separate charging points for rapid charging of electric vehicles but ultimately these would probably prove insufficient as well as inconvenient. An impractical solution in the long term in my view. The real solution is on pitch charging and with it metering even if it is slow charging but would that really matter when you are parked for the night or even longer?

    It is only a question of when site owners are prepared to bite the bullet

    peedee

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited September 2020 #15

    If it is going to (at this time) cost £400-£500 to install a domestic charge point a commercial will be more expensive (as always) so to install them on camp sites to pitches  and ,with the upgrade to the power supply to the site  is going to be a massive investment and would not be able to be absorbed , with costs being passed on

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,383
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    edited September 2020 #16

     Metering of existing supplies would be the cheaper option, it is then down to whether 16 amp is sufficent. It probably would be with a few simple rules as to what you can run off it. e.g. if you are charging a vehicle run your heating off gas. Many of us are used to totting up the watts even when 16 amps and less is available. After all it I assume that is what hybrid owners are doing now?

    peedee

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited September 2020 #17

    Does that not sound like the same rules as we have for the club's Wi-Fi?  😉

    There will always be those that will feel entitled to their 15.9A for the full 24hrs 

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited September 2020 #18

    The "guide lines" of what power is drawn by appliances is already avilable on sites and in the Handbook,but then how many read let alone take notice of that sort of thing ,  a full EV i understand? is quite power hungry when on charge compaired to an Hi brid?

    And i am sure JK can advise of the amount of times Bollards were tripped ,(before the later type without locks on the trips) they were called out to,

    I also note that on some sites now it is up to the member on the pitch to make the EHU live via the trips before use

    Its a good job they are regularly tested by site staff and  full test annually by contractors surprised

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited September 2020 #19

    Do not mention heaters in awnings wink

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited September 2020 #20

    It probably would be with a few simple rules as to what you can run off it.

    Simple rule is if the bollard trips you are using too much power. It should not be a problem with many hybrids which need 8 amps. Still enough for 1 kw heating, fridge and caravan charger I would think. Plug in at bed time. Maybe a gas kettle after plugging in? I don't know as cannot be faffed doing the full maths I suspect all electric is a different kettle of fish if charging from a 16 amp socket, as don't they use more like 13 amps minimum? 

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,857 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #21

    It does make you wonder where the Club will put these charging points. I suppose at the moment they could go in site car parks but over time, as demand increases, they will need a bank of them somewhere on site. Perhaps one of the points about the current Club charging regime is to work out how much demand there is for such facilities. Here in MK we have the highest number of charging points outside of London. The parking infrastructure does lends itself to conversion to charging points. I noticed in Tesco yesterday a whole new bank of charging points but all completely devoid of cars! I have been looking at Hybrid/Plug in Hybrid/Electric cars recently but have concluded the the price is just too high so will think on!

    David

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited September 2020 #22

    It does make you wonder where the Club will put these charging points.

    It may be , at least for a while, that they may not provide on some sites. I go off site for my fuel in any case. They can do so also

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,135 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #23

    We didn’t. 👍🏻

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,300 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #24

    I suppose eventually MH's will also be electric. They won't fit into a standard size charging bay, so the obvious place to charge those would be on the pitch. Clearly with the problems of black outs, due to demand, on some sites in the winter months, they would not cope and extensive upgrades of the site supply will be required, if everyone wants there EV plugged in pulling 13 amps.

  • Oscarmax
    Oscarmax Club Member Posts: 257 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2020 #25

    We have an Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV we recently charged up at Black Knowl we were there for 14 days, being new to all this we anticipated and paid £20.00 upfront for 10 charges, we only actual used 7, but that's ok its a learning experience.

    To charge the PHEV initially requires 10 amp it then settles down to 6 amps. We set the caravan control panel limit to 16 amps (that how we know how much electric we draw). We usually set the PHEV charge timer to start just after midnight, all our journeys on site are local 10/15 miles which requires about 5 kWh, well within the CMC £2.00.

    We have 2 solar panels and have not use the caravans charger for about 2 years. We only caravan between April and late September so don't require a heater in our awning.

  • obbernockle
    obbernockle Forum Participant Posts: 616
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    edited September 2020 #26

    Hibrids can and are be charged on standard pitches using the basic electricity supply. The provision of metered EV charging points will initially be for cars (most likely towed cars) and these can be parked in a dedicated place ie the car park where a siutable supply can be installed. Later if EV motor caravans become available a limited number of EV pitches can be provided, probably located close to the car park.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited September 2020 #27

    The basic electric supply for a Hibrid must be charged via the LV not direct from the EHU bollard 

    £2.00 at present per charge , on top of the pitch fee

    I understand an EV would need to much power to enable a pitch supply to be used