2030 - No new ICE cars to be sold
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We are with Octopus Energy have a PodPoint EV smart charger, off peak 00.30 - 04.30am 5 pence @kW.
Energy companies peak time is between 16.00 -19.00pm, several companies including Octopus are now trialling with Nissan to use the customers EV as a battery bank feeding power back into the grid to help smooth peak time, Octopus pay their customers £30 per month to connect to the grid 12 times a month.
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Actually, the main cause was two providers dropping off grid at the same time. A Danish owned Wind Farm off Hornsea, and a German owned Gas Fired Power Station somewhere else. Never mind, after 1st January, it will all be ok, as we will have taken back control.........🙄
Now excuse me, we have a herd of Flying Pigs passing over, and I want to net a few.......
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Just what is known
, , we do not have the power output to cope when needed and as the NG engineer told me, it was lucky the outage was not in a cold winter spell other wise it would have been far more widespread rather than an already power hungry part of the uk 
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It wasn’t all about London, it knocked out a good bit of Wales and elsewhere as well. Londoners didn’t cope as well, that’s all. So big story.....in London. Some of them even had to climb stairs in the dark, and took photos of themselves doing it. On phones that have an inbuilt torch........🙄
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"Good get out
It matters not, the Area affected was because the system was not able to cope with the power required"
No, it’s no good you trying the get out. The power outage was due to the simultaneous failures as described by TDA.
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Last time I looked, Wales was slightly larger than London. Mind, the sheep are different........
Anyway, I know I am right, because my BIL’s uncle has an Aunt who owns a dog and the dog is walked by someone whose brother is related to a women who pushes the buttons at NG HQ and she said this is what happened.........so there🤪
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I think the caravan and motorhome clubs and the relevant leisure industries need to get together on this and do some serious lobbying - and fast!
Leaving aside the issues about charging, cost and all the environmental impacts associated with batteries that will affect all drivers, there are specific issues that could prove fatal for this industry. Electric motors have the power and torque to tow or propel. That's not the problem. The issue is battery capacity. My diesel tow car drops from 40-50mpg to 25-30mpg when towing (towing range 300-350 miles). That additional energy use will also apply to any electric tow car, so the range of an EV will drop from (say) 250 miles to around 150 miles.
To build an equivalent all electric towing vehicle, apart from the substantial cost of more batteries, there would be their significant additional weight (which would have to be transported even when not towing). I have read some suggesting the extra batteries go in the caravan. That's a huge cost for batteries that would rarely be used and, critically, would substantially increase the weight of the caravan, thus impacting on the ability to tow and its stability and give something else for certain "low life's" to steal.
The overall weight of car+van (or a motorhome with adequate range) would be well over the current 3,500kg limit, so everyone would also need the (pointless) B+E licence to tow. That is assuming that anyone will be making all-electric tow cars with sufficient towing capacity and 4WD (or making them at an affordable price). The current trends are to reduce the towing capacity of cars, drop 4WD and lighten caravans to the point of extreme fragility.
Then there is the issue of charging at the camp sites, particularly at and after peak arrival times. I have been to some campsites that struggle to provide for a 16A outlet on every pitch. The implications of doubling or tripling such demand in many rural areas would often be impossible for the local grid and cabling to meet (even if the normal local demand for EV charging could be met - which is also questionable). BTW - even in urban areas, your local street will probably not have the supply capacity to charge all the cars and vans parked there once the majority become EVs. This concept means we have to rewire the entire country! (and try funding that in the vast rural areas of Scotland!).
Hydrogen powered vehicles may offer a solution, but the concept needs much more development and infrastructure than can be achieved in 9 years (or probably 19 years).
Of course the construction, equine, boating and farming industries also need to be able to tow significant loads (e.g. a typical 2-horse trailer weighs 2.1 - 2.2 tonnes laden, with no weight allowance or space for batteries) and those needs are also mostly located in rural areas. The caravan industry needs to get together with these groups and make the case for the ongoing availability of diesel tow cars (most trucks will remain diesel for a lot lot longer and so the fuel should remain available), at least until a viable alternative becomes available.
Having said all this, I still fear that many campers will be priced and taxed out of the market. No worry, you can fly to sunny Spain for a holiday - that will be much better for the environment and the UK economy!
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Airborne
You make a worthwhile point about the weight of batteries in electric vehicles. It is something that just won't impact on caravans but also on motorhomes if the current licencing regime remains in place. It will almost be impossible to run a 3500kgs battery powered motorhome on the standard licence whilst maintaining a reasonable payload. This is something that the Club and the Industry should be pushing for.
David
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My thoughts on that are that you can't get something for nothing. If the caravans axle was used to charge the cars batteries, then that generator would produce rolling efficiency drag of the caravan because of the loading of the generator, and that would need more power from the cars batteries to pull it along. So maybe cancelled out?
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Has that actually been introduced, as the the DVLA licence categories don't reflect it or even mention it?
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Might be a bit limiting though.
The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (the 2018
Regulations) made changes to the law to allow Category B licence holders to drive an alternatively fuelled vehicle that weighs between 3.5 and 4.25 tonnes, provided it is not driven outside of Great Britain, used for the transportation of goods, is not towing a trailer and the driver has completed a minimum of 5 hours training.0 -
That is correct but as with F1 cars braking effort can be used to produce regenerative power. Not sure how well it would work on a caravan though. Probably quite difficult to transfer the power to the car. Heavy cables? High cost? Extra weight? Nightmare?
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My thoughts too. Adding extra weight to the caravan to regenerate power would, therefore, make the measure self defeating. The heavier caravan would use more of the car's battery power to tow it.
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No. That violates the Law of Thermodynamics. Like a perpetual motion machine you are trying to get something for nothing.
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