Electric vehicle charging on site

scotkb
scotkb Forum Participant Posts: 16
edited February 2019 in Caravan & Motorhome Chat #1

hi all , ive just been looking at the new rivian 4x4 electric vehicles and ,at last ,  electric towing has become a reality , im now wondering how the club feels about me charging mine on-site from the site 240v supply ???

 

its going to happen soon !!

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Comments

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited February 2019 #2

    At the moment you can charge electric vehicles from the EHU via  the c/van,but not direct from the site bollard 

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,142 ✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #3

    I thought Rivian hadn’t gone into production yet? 

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited February 2019 #4

    Ask them in 2020 when it might be produced.

  • Metheven
    Metheven Club Member Posts: 3,987 ✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #5

    Official response regarding site charging from same question in another thread:

    Hi everyone,

    I've been in touch with the sites operations team at the Club to get clarification on this. They have advised that the Club do allow site users to connect out from their caravan, as many do for their awnings and connect/charge their car, however, this will reduce the available ampage required for other usage within their outfit, which is their choice. If it becomes an issue and they exceed the 16 amp supply this will trip out the bollard, therefore, the Site Staff would then suggest, if this does happen to ask them to reduce their appliances plugged in.

    I hope this information is of help and the discussion is with the sites operations team for their reference.

     

  • scotkb
    scotkb Forum Participant Posts: 16
    edited February 2019 #6

    many thanks for the reply , good to know , 

    NOTE  the rivan is available to pre order now !!!!    it will be in production  next year 2020 .  

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,142 ✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #7

    I don’t think I’ll be pre-ordering something that’s not even made yet. The company didn’t look too great from what I read either. 

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited February 2019 #8

    Seems a bit of a B to park though at 5.4m long plus towbar and wider than a Navara

  • Wildwood
    Wildwood Club Member Posts: 3,581 ✭✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #9

    If you are looking at a full electric vehicle then I doubt recharging via the caravan circuit will be a total answer as it will need considerable time rather than just overnight and may use so much power as to prevent any serious use of the caravan electrics as well. Probably best for hybrids which need far less time but you would need to do your own research before buying.

  • Hedgehurst
    Hedgehurst Forum Participant Posts: 576
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    edited February 2019 #10

    Sounds like a very encouraging step. Surely there'll be teething problems, but once they're in use, then as long as they deliver,  momentum for more should really kick in... and hopefully get down to something more of us can afford :-)

     

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited February 2019 #11

    Maybe like some motorhomers - get the bus until tow car charged smile

  • hitchglitch
    hitchglitch Forum Participant Posts: 3,007
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    edited February 2019 #12

    Just to put this in to perspective, I have a BMW i3 which has a 120 Ahr battery and a range of around 160 miles. It is quite a small EV compared with others.

    I can recharge using what is known as a “Granny Lead” which is a charger with a domestic plug which you can plug in at home, at your granny’s or, of course, into a 13 amp socket on your caravan. It takes 10 amps and 20 hours to charge from zero to 100% (not that you would let it get so low). As it is slow, most people elect to install a fast charger at home which is around 30 amps. Public chargers are much bigger than this and can rapid charge in minutes.

    So, to get a worthwhile charge into your car you would need to plug it in on site for several hours whilst it draws 10 amps leaving hardly enough power to boil a kettle and the likelihood of tripping the bollard. Hence the Club’s advice. 

    If you went out for 10 hours and left it plugged in with no other loads switched on you would certainly get a worthwhile charge of, say, 20% - 30% on an electric SUV.

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited February 2019 #13

    If you went out for 10 hours and left it plugged in with no other loads switched on you would certainly get a worthwhile charge of, say, 20% - 30% on an electric SUV.
     

    If It takes 10 amps and 20 hours to charge from zero to 100% would not get a 50% charge within the 10 hours? 

  • ocsid
    ocsid Forum Participant Posts: 1,395
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    edited February 2019 #14

    Can the Rivian 4x4 really be thought "green" in any UK caravanning activity sense?

    Unless gross OTT has now become "green", simply if it uses electricity, despite how much.

     

     

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #15

    Companies like Ecotricity which provide some of the fast charge points eg on motorways obtain their electricity supplies from renewable sources. smile

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #16

    Here's an example of where our energy came supplies came from in 2018. LINK The drive to increase renewables is improving.

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,142 ✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #17

    Don’t get me started on solar farms and wind turbines littering good arable land which may well be needed to feed us in the foreseeable future. 😖

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #18

    No I won't get you started because without power we'll be in the dark so to speak. wink

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,142 ✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #19

    The whole policy is very short sighted in my opinion.

    Now I’m going out. 

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,303 ✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #20

    They also put them on the side of spoil heaps up here. You'll not grow much in the way of food crops on those.😀

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #21

    Round here the solar "farms" are on pasture land not arable. The sheep can graze underneath (maybe make them a bit taller for cows?wink) Can't say I like them at all but it could be worse.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited February 2019 #22

    The huge solar "farms" in this area all seem to be over pasture land with sheep still grazing the land,whether the grass will continue to grow in the shade as there does not seem to be enough room under them to get to maintain the grass

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #23

    That would normally be hay cutting not maintenance but it's ok for sheep too.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited February 2019 #24

    If it is hay cutting then it would be difficult to get under them with machinery? maybe its back to scythingsurprised

  • KjellNN
    KjellNN Club Member Posts: 8,670 ✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #25

    I reckon at least 99% of the wind turbines we have in Scotland are on land where the only thing that grows is heather.

    Even If on arable or grazing land, the footprint of a turbine is not that big, so minimal loss of agricultural area.  The sheep and cows do not seem bothered by them.

    I have not seen any solar farms up here, plenty in Germany though.

    On a camp site in Italy, the panels were raised up and the space underneath gave a shaded area for car parking.  Good to have some shade in hot places.

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #26

    I'm only commenting on this thread because like Hitchglitch we have an EV (both nearly the same type.) It's unlikely we would get a good enough long charge on a site at present. On the other hand as HG says it's also unlikely that the batteries would be run down so low they needed it. At present we do a fast charge at home and if we were away anywhere we'd be looking for fast charge facilities elsewhere. smile

    The situation may change and improve as more payment chargers are provided.

  •  viatorem
    viatorem Forum Participant Posts: 645
    edited February 2019 #27

    A Rivian might possibly get 100-130 miles range towing depending on caravan weight, terrain and temperature. I think charge time for a full 16A supply will be around 48 hours.

    They seem to have secured funding from Amazon $700M so will now probably get to market.

    I'll not be pre ordering. 

     

  • hitchglitch
    hitchglitch Forum Participant Posts: 3,007
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    edited February 2019 #28

    An SUV will have a much larger battery than the i3 but without knowing the spec. I can’t estimate the recharge time hence the approximation. A large vehicle is going to need one of the new 150 kW chargers that are being slowly introduced throughout Europe and a 10 amp site supply (just over 2 kW) won’t do much.

    At some point in the future when towing capable cars become common I would expect the Club to install dedicated charging points at some sites. These would need to recoup the cost by what you would pay to connect.

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited February 2019 #29

    Ah, I see HG. I did not realise that you were talking about charging a larger vehicle and was talking about using your I3 as a runabout when on sites rather than talking of a tow vehicle

  • Unknown
    Unknown Forum Participant
    edited February 2019 #30
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  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,142 ✭✭✭
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    edited February 2019 #31

    They are on both types of farmland around here and, I doubt the sheep will have much to graze on in view of the poor quality grass growing without adequate sunlight beneath the panels.

    Spare a thought, too, for the poor sheepdog trying to find all those sheep in hiding under the panels. 😋

    Use of waste ground makes sense but a strategy that encourages farmers to turn good farmland over to solar panels or wind turbines is storing up trouble for the future  - but maybe it’s better than building houses.🤭