Installation of EV Charging Points. Thoughts?

[NOACROSS 414]

Have any of you fine people with sites/public access, thought about having an EV Charging Station installed?

I have had this thought, as may be a good use of a space or two and a bit of future-proofing-but can't seem to find much help or info on the subject.  I called the local council, who had absolutely no idea.

Would like to know likely costs and returns - if any. As well as any ideas or potential pitfalls.

Edited November 26, 2019 by NOACROSS

[Contracts 68]

No idea on installing a point for commercial purposes but I would think Pod-Point or Chargemaster would be a good starting point.  In the future I think the market demand for commercial charging points will be on major roads that don’t have service areas, residential areas where occupants can’t charge themselves or retail food / leisure outlets where the EV driver has something to do whilst charging.  

Locally there are several free charge points provided by a supermarket whilst down the road BP have installed one but despite being closer to most offices I often see people leaving their cars at the supermarket.

We now have a charge post at the office but we got that for our Zoe pool car using the government grant (you need to show ownership or written order confirmation to qualify).  We now lock it as we found a local taxi firm started using it out of hours.

 

 

 

[NOACROSS 414]

36 minutes ago, Contracts said:

No idea on installing a point for commercial purposes but I would think Pod-Point or Chargemaster would be a good starting point.  In the future I think the market demand for commercial charging points will be on major roads that don’t have service areas, residential areas where occupants can’t charge themselves or retail food / leisure outlets where the EV driver has something to do whilst charging.  

Locally there are several free charge points provided by a supermarket whilst down the road BP have installed one but despite being closer to most offices I often see people leaving their cars at the supermarket.

We now have a charge post at the office but we got that for our Zoe pool car using the government grant (you need to show ownership or written order confirmation to qualify).  We now lock it as we found a local taxi firm started using it out of hours.

 

 

 

Thanks Contracts. Much appreciated. I have approached a few companies today, but pulling teeth would be easier. 
Inline with thinking of selling a few more EV’s (I’ve sold one i3) in the future- an on-site charging point is, I think, good idea  

Those taxi people are outrageous for doing that btw! No shame. Did they just think it was free?

[Dave c 5]

Make me wonder, where will they put all the charging points in cities?  And what about blocks of flats ?
And who will pay for them (  opps, I should know that , we collectively will....)  

then you start to wonder whose bright idea it was to kill off petrol and diesel....

 

[Cornish Guy 45]

You need a 3 phase power supply for commercial charging points to cope with the fast charge demand.

[trade vet 696]

Grants of 75% appear to be availible for charging points for businesses who meet the criteria.If you go to Power EV for details.I am unsure whether it is for rapid charging points which is probably what you would need.

[NOACROSS 414]

29 minutes ago, trade vet said:

Grants of 75% appear to be availible for charging points for businesses who meet the criteria.If you go to Power EV for details.I am unsure whether it is for rapid charging points which is probably what you would need.

Thanks TV. 

[Nick M.K. 574]

I got a £500 grant on our £700 Podpoint two years ago. Not sure if they still do it. 

[NOACROSS 414]

17 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

I got a £500 grant on our £700 Podpoint two years ago. Not sure if they still do it. 

Yeah, looks like it. No one was available to take my enquiry - so am waiting for an email or call back. 
As I said earlier, it’s like pulling teeth getting EV et al info. def an opportunity for someone switched on and customer focussed. 

[Nick M.K. 574]

Podpoint were great back in the day but I am assuming they are far busier now. 

[J.T 39]

From what I understand they are around £800 - £1000 to have one installed, one of my workshops has just installed them though I've never seen anyone using them. They have done the training and bought the special insulated tools that are required for working on electrics and hybrids, they also have a special carbon fibre pole for flicking off the mechanic when he gets electrocuted!! 

I think they get a couple of quid when someone charges their car, but as that is few and far between I don't think they'll be getting their money back anytime soon. Your location has to be right to make money from it.

The Co-op next door has a charging point so if I ever need it I'll just run an extension lead across the car park when they're not looking. 

Edited November 27, 2019 by J.T

[awc1000 93]

Anyone on here doing any good with used plug-in hybrids?? I notice new sales are down due to the grant ending for plug-in hybrid, and no grant available for a power point due to it being a used vehicle.

[J.T 39]

2 minutes ago, awc1000 said:

Anyone on here doing any good with used plug-in hybrids?? I notice new sales are down due to the grant ending for plug-in hybrid, and no grant available for a power point due to it being a used vehicle.

I think they got it wrong with plug in hybrids personally so I tend to avoid them, why would you want to plug in a hybrid it makes no sense.

I did see a Mitsubishi plug in hybrid in the block the other day that was 4 years old and had done 197,000 miles! I can't imagine that many of those miles were done on electric as they have a limited range.

[Nick M.K. 574]

Outlanders are great sellers even at high miles. Their plug in range is only 25 ish miles so majority of the miles are done on petrol at 35 Mpg. Ouch. 

[awc1000 93]

25 mile range lol, i guess the appeal in a used truck must be the low road tax then?

[trade vet 696]

54 minutes ago, awc1000 said:

25 mile range lol, i guess the appeal in a used truck must be the low road tax then?

My friends son has just got a new 5 series E hybrid as his company car.He does long journeys so after 20 miles when the  petrol kicks in it does 20ish to the gallon.

[J.T 39]

I'm surprised that Mitsubishi and other manufacturers have been allowed to get away with their claims, I'm just looking at an Outlander 2.4 4x4 PHEV on Autotrader and they are claiming it does 139 mpg (combined) and that the emissions are 40g/kg with an electric range of 34 miles.

If you do your 34 miles on electric then how the hell do you get another 105 miles out of a gallon of petrol, in a 2.4 litre 4x4 automatic? I also don't believe for one second that the emissions are that low either running on the petrol engine. 

Did they go to the Diane Abbott school of economics?

[Contracts 68]

3 hours ago, awc1000 said:

Anyone on here doing any good with used plug-in hybrids?? I notice new sales are down due to the grant ending for plug-in hybrid, and no grant available for a power point due to it being a used vehicle.

We get strong but patchy demand for nearly new and do quote well with used examples but these are normally b2b sales and have a good supply.  The main thing about PHEV cars is they only really work for company car drivers due to the low CO2 and in most cases they are never charged. 

Having had a few 330e’s (my first one was one of the first in the UK back in March 16) they are great cars, far better than the equivalent 330i but I have seen lots of eye watering repair bills covered under warranty or goodwill.  

Regarding grants, I will double check but as far as I am aware there have been no changes to users applying for a charge point grant on used cars.

23 hours ago, NOACROSS said:

 

Those taxi people are outrageous for doing that btw! No shame. Did they just think it was free?

It appears that way.  Nearly as funny as the local Sainsbury’s, I have noticed old dears rock up in their Nissan Leafs and have a picnic whilst getting some free electricity.

[BHM 994]

11 hours ago, J.T said:

Outlander 2.4 4x4 PHEV on Autotrader and they are claiming it does 139 mpg

How they got away with that claim for the last couple of years is a joke. You’d have to switch it off & coast downhill to achieve such a ridiculous claim. If a dozy, numb Outlander is the answer to the world’s toxic emissions I’ll eat dog shit - what a horrible car. 
 

11 hours ago, trade vet said:

My friends son has just got a new 5 series E hybrid as his company car.He does long journeys so after 20 miles when the  petrol kicks in it does 20ish to the gallon.

I just don’t see the benefit in carting around two engines. There currently is no appetite around here for an early Prius and as for EVs, forget it!

I see these alleged world-savers having a very hard time a few years down the line. One thing that frightens off older car punters are tales of expensive maintenance costs.

Anyone really fancy a 12yr old hybrid BMW that couldn’t even get through the initial warranty period without thousands of pounds of repairs? 

[Nick M.K. 574]

BHM, full electric cars need very little maintenance. 

No engine, no traditional gearbox, no clutch, no diff. They just have a battery, one or two electric motors and some control modules. 

They do have conventional brakes but they see little use and will certainly last longer than in a heavy petrol car. 

I’ve seen BMW i3s with 120K miles on the clock, Outlanders with 180K at 4 years old and Priuses with 400K+ 

Will make any old Corsa look like a bottomless money pit :-)))

[BHM 994]

14 hours ago, J.T said:

they also have a special carbon fibre pole for flicking off the mechanic when he gets electrocuted!! 

Hahaha, I laughed at that. That must be part of the tool box nowadays. 

Mind you, what’s wrong with a £1.99 4’ wooden broom shank from Toolstation?

[trade vet 696]

31 minutes ago, BHM said:

Hahaha, I laughed at that. That must be part of the tool box nowadays. 

Mind you, what’s wrong with a £1.99 4’ wooden broom shank from Toolstation?

I heard the other day about an old school mechanic last week nearly getting electrocuted working on a hybrid !

[BHM 994]

24 minutes ago, trade vet said:

I heard the other day about an old school mechanic last week nearly getting electrocuted working on a hybrid !

Broom shanks have many uses. I remember when I was a young kid in the 70’s, broom shanks were also used to separate dogs copulating. Those were the days 

[Nick M.K. 574]

8 minutes ago, tradex said:

Anyway regardless of that, most of my prep' work is spent on brakes, suspensions systems, water leaks, steering, tyres, electronic/electric repairs to windows, locks and other modern smart dim systems

I recently sold a MINI to a local customer that works as master technician for Tesla UK in their HQ (in Uxbridge, very close to us). 

I did ask him about the routine maintenance: 

Routine service is a software update, battery balancing procedure (again via computer program), check brakes and tyres, replace brake fluid (every other service), replace cabin air filter (every other service), check A/C system and regas IF required with the newer type of gas. The A/C pump is electric, no belt drives. 

The brakes work very little in an EV. Every time you lift the accelerator the car's electric motor(s) are slowing it as if someone stepped on the  brake. When you get used to it you can drive it (carefully!!!) all day with one single pedal only including coming to a complete stop. So the brakes will last far longer than in my diesel Merc for example. 

[NOACROSS 414]

15 minutes ago, tradex said:

 I thinking more about maintenance as they slip down the dealer food chain.

I wonder why the frequent brake fluid changes, is the service interval every 2 years?

 

Main Stealers need to pay for them pointy shoes.