EH 370z Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I am not sure about the whole EV thing, but I post this more as a point of interest than anything. These things are coming to our roads folks, its just a question of when... T Nissan wants fast charging points for UK service stations NISSAN wants to roll out fast charging points for electric cars in motorway service stations across the UK. The firm’s UK managing director Jim Wright revealed the Japanese car maker was in ‘advanced talks’ with service station operators about introducing the points which can recharge EVs by up to 80 per cent in just 20 minutes. Wright said Nissan aims to create hubs around the UK which would make traveling from Glasgow to London as easy, and as quick, as the same trip in a normal combustion-engined car. ‘We’d like to think it is conceivable that if drivers of electric vehicles needed to make a 200-mile journey then they’d be able to do so in the same time as you would in a combustion-engined car,’ said Wright. ‘By that I mean, the EV driver would stop for around 20 minutes as a break, have a cup of tea and charge up his car while he did so. We are trying to establish a network of charging points around the country that would enable this to happen and service stations are ideal.’ Wright confirmed he was in discussions with the owners of these sites now as well as train stations and other locations deemed suitable for fast charging points. ‘The industry has to be behind this because the government doesn’t have the money to do it,’ he added. But what does Nissan get out of it? Andy Palmer, global head of product for the manufacturer told us at the Tokyo Motor Show that it wasn’t about making money. ‘Mr Clarkson kindly pointed out on Top Gear this summer that the UK was severely lacking fast charger points,’ explained Palmer. ‘We’ve decided to manufacturer these quick chargers in house so we can bring the cost of them down from £40,000 to nearer £8,000 and roll out installations. ‘At that price they become more affordable and we can see local communities clubbing together to buy one, or a Starbucks or petrol station buying one. Why would they want to do that? Well, they capture customers for the 15-20 minutes it takes to charge the car and can make money from them elsewhere. ‘We won’t make any money on selling the chargers, but it is about helping EVs develop and the market expand – that we will benefit from.’ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 With fast charging I think EVs are a great idea. I love the tech and I would honestly drive an EV if the range and charging time was right. Now Nissan need to bring out a good high riding 4x4 EV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 An EV driver would have to stop every hour for 20minutes though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrumbMC Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I'm all for this sort of thing as it frees up the petrol for people like us to use when dicking around in silly cars untill the infastructure gets better as talked about above or battery technology takes a massive leap forward though, the EV is far from practical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorUK Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I test drove the GTR and Leaf on the Nissan Test track on Saturday, I had already drove both cars at a steady pace before, but was surprised on how well the leaf drove and it's no snail either But not for me or the petrol head purists I think, however the owld two stroke screamers suffered the same fate as the T REX watch this space Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zugara Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Thats the price they will have to pay for being an eco-warrior, and most of them have driven petrol cars for years.....hypocrites. They should be made to wait 4 hours An EV driver would have to stop every hour for 20minutes though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 I test drove the GTR and Leaf on the Nissan Test track on Saturday, I had already drove both cars at a steady pace before, but was surprised on how well the leaf drove and it's no snail either But not for me or the petrol head purists I think, however the owld two stroke screamers suffered the same fate as the T REX watch this space Yes, the only fun thing about the leaf on a track, is potentialy it can realise its top speed in forward and reverse!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 With fast charging I think EVs are a great idea. I love the tech and I would honestly drive an EV if the range and charging time was right. Now Nissan need to bring out a good high riding 4x4 EV. The speed of the tech is staggering TBH, where we were with EV tech at the beginning of the year and were we are now is chalk and cheese. We just sold a car to a Japanese chap on Monday who works for a company that has just relocated to the North East (luck him!!) that makes the high efficiency electrolyte for the batteries in anticipation of the leaf being made at Sunderland next year. I think I may have already posted on this subject also, but Nissan plans to have trippled the EV dealer network by 2013. Hopefully if the cars take off the price will come down. Not my cup of tea for personal use, but if they get the fast chargers up and running, I wouldnt mind running one for my 12 minute comute to work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben@RARE RIMS Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I think the Renault version due out next year should be cheaper - making these seem extra-viable. I'd have on for a daily commute in a heartbeat just for the fuel saving, road tax saving and having a car that is totally simple moving forwards. My only worry would be the life of the battery - I guess time will tell on that. In case anybody is worried though, I pick this back up again soon and is the reason I could put up with a leaf... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantone Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Not my cup of tea for personal use, but if they get the fast chargers up and running, I wouldnt mind running one for my 12 minute comute to work! Surely this is the absolute ideal application for this technology and the fast charger would not be needed. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Not my cup of tea for personal use, but if they get the fast chargers up and running, I wouldnt mind running one for my 12 minute comute to work! Surely this is the absolute ideal application for this technology and the fast charger would not be needed. Steve Yes your right, I think the point of the fast charger would be that if your Leaf was used for short journeys like going to work and the shops etc. you could keep on top of the charge where ever you are. They are planning on putting these power point all over the place, so if you went to Tescos for a bit of a shop, you could plug in and be fully charged by the time you have fallen out with the self-service aisle, plus you are using someone else’s power and not yours!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 I think the Renault version due out next year should be cheaper - making these seem extra-viable. I'd have on for a daily commute in a heartbeat just for the fuel saving, road tax saving and having a car that is totally simple moving forwards. My only worry would be the life of the battery - I guess time will tell on that. In case anybody is worried though, I pick this back up again soon and is the reason I could put up with a leaf... Reanult have also got the battery lease idea, which would be great if everything was rolled into one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantone Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Not my cup of tea for personal use, but if they get the fast chargers up and running, I wouldnt mind running one for my 12 minute comute to work! Surely this is the absolute ideal application for this technology and the fast charger would not be needed. Steve Yes your right, I think the point of the fast charger would be that if your Leaf was used for short journeys like going to work and the shops etc. you could keep on top of the charge where ever you are. They are planning on putting these power point all over the place, so if you went to Tescos for a bit of a shop, you could plug in and be fully charged by the time you have fallen out with the self-service aisle, plus you are using someone else’s power and not yours!! We are going to have to get to trust the battery contents indicator that the cars will inevitably have. If your journey to work is 10 miles each way and your EV has a range of 100 miles, why would you not recharge every 4 days? Its the way we operate with petrol. I fail to believe that there will be no charge (excuse pun) for topping the batteries up at these proposed charging points. To fully charge a car will cost a few quid, a lot of energy is needed. If it was a free top up, then I can see why everyone would be taking advantage of it at every opportunity. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I fail to believe that there will be no charge (excuse pun) for topping the batteries up at these proposed charging points. To fully charge a car will cost a few quid, a lot of energy is needed. If it was a free top up, then I can see why everyone would be taking advantage of it at every opportunity. I'd imagine to get things rolling Nissan will foot the bill. That and also the first places to be installed will likely be supermarkets and service stations where they may waive the fee for charging if you buy X amount in store. So they just take it off the profits to pay for it. Will be more complicated than that in real life for Nissan and its contracts, but that will likely be how it works on the face of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I spotted my first Nissan Leaf on the road yesterday in Midlesborough (possibly your Demo Toby?) Looked to have someone from Boro council in the passenger seat taking notes whilst asking the driver lots of quesitons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 I spotted my first Nissan Leaf on the road yesterday in Midlesborough (possibly your Demo Toby?)Looked to have someone from Boro council in the passenger seat taking notes whilst asking the driver lots of quesitons. Sorry Lexx we are not an EV dealer (yet!) so not me The council man was probably on the way to the back to receive his back hander for something! Chris Your dead right, there will be a symbiotic relationship with the supermarkets to make it for free. The technology has halved in cost just this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were an EV dealer by this time next year £6-£8k for the power supply kit, that would be recouped by the sale of 10 (ish) Leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Just before I left O2 in Slough they had 4 points put in. I assume there is some standard spec for these things so any EV can charge from it. They had 1 test point in the carpark under cover in a special "EV test bay" and 3 outside in normal spaces, although I dont think those 3 were commissioned by the time I left. So they are obviously up for employees going EV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantone Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 We'll have to wait and see what the future holds on this question of charging for a top up, I can never recall petrol being given away to attract customers. My vision is that you will put a debit/credit card in the charger and pre-pay for the electricity. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 We'll have to wait and see what the future holds on this question of charging for a top up, I can never recall petrol being given away to attract customers. My vision is that you will put a debit/credit card in the charger and pre-pay for the electricity. Steve Slight difference in a few quid for a EV top up and potentially £100+ for a car fill up! Plenty of places give 5-10p/litre off when you shop with them, that equates to about the same actual cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Interesting times ahead. I only hope that this shift, will revolutionise the ridiculous way we buy cars too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 LEAF is Japan’s Car of the Year THE all-electric Nissan LEAF has won another award, and this time it’s Japan’s Car of the Year accolade for 2011-12. The announcement was made at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show. This is the 32nd year that the Japanese Car of the Year award has been held, and it is the first time in its long history that an electric vehicle has won. ‘We have sold 20,000 Nissan LEAFs and also delivered on our promise of affordable, zero-emission mobility on a global scale. This award is as much a win for Nissan as it is for our customers,’ said Nissan president and CEO Carlos Ghosn. ‘All these accolades show that zero-emission vehicles can clearly be competitive alternatives to conventional ones.’ The LEAF was also named the 2012 RJC Car of the Year award winner, presented by the Automotive Researchers’ & Journalists’ Conference of Japan, in addition to winning the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame’s 2011-2012 Car of the Year, the 2011 European Car of the Year and the 2011 World Car of the Year accolades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantone Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Always remember that these electric vehicles are not by any means zero emmisions. They are zero emmision at the tail pipe, and that's not the same thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Always remember that these electric vehicles are not by any means zero emmisions. They are zero emmision at the tail pipe, and that's not the same thing! Absolutely, but I would rather the gasses came from one place i.e. a power station than in the towns & cities, especially diesel emissions, that sh!t WILL kill you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 With tech improving so fast year on year do you think electric cars will be hit with a double whammy in depreciation. Just looking at other things like plasma/lcd TVs for example.......my 4yr old plasma has been superseeded by a model much better at less than half the price making its 2nd hand value peanuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantone Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 With tech improving so fast year on year do you think electric cars will be hit with a double whammy in depreciation. Just looking at other things like plasma/lcd TVs for example.......my 4yr old plasma has been superseeded by a model much better at less than half the price making its 2nd hand value peanuts. I know that before you buy a used EV you will need to know exactly the battery condition and what it's expected further life is. I know that the batteries do not last for the vehicle life and are very, very expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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