Charging of Electric Vehicles on Site

Never understood why some people think electric cars are "Green".

They are built in carbon burning factories, contain lithium Ion  batteries and are "fuelled" by electricity largely produced by carbon based power station.

Tin hat on!

Never understood why some people think electric cars are "Green".

They are built in carbon burning factories, contain lithium Ion  batteries and are "fuelled" by electricity largely produced by carbon based power station.

Tin hat on!

I could not agree more.

Never understood why some people think electric cars are "Green".

They are built in carbon burning factories, contain lithium Ion  batteries and are "fuelled" by electricity largely produced by carbon based power station.

Tin hat on!

I agree, they just create the polution elsewhere and when you consider the power losses in getting the electricity to the plug I am not even convinced the internal combustion engine is not better.Basically in general you polute the country rather than the towns although from a politicians point of view there are more voters in the towns and cities.

Having said that they are a fact of life now and the club needs to have a policy on them.

Never understood why some people think electric cars are "Green".

They are built in carbon burning factories, contain lithium Ion  batteries and are "fuelled" by electricity largely produced by carbon based power station.

Tin hat on!

I agree, they just create the polution elsewhere and when you consider the power losses in getting the electricity to the plug I am not even convinced the internal combustion engine is not better.Basically in general you polute the country rather than the towns although from a politicians point of view there are more voters in the towns and cities.

Having said that they are a fact of life now and the club needs to have a policy on them.

I can only agree that a policy is needed.

I am an Outlander PHEV driver and have charged on sites with my 3 pin plug from the van without any complaint from the wardens/owners (having checked first of course) or (as yet) fellow caravanners.  So far I have had nothing but interest and positive comments from my camping neighbours. So I'm rather surprised from this discussion that that there appears to be an uprising of negative attitude from club members, leading me to question whether I should charge in secret in the dead of night for fear of a backlash.  (tongue in cheek!)

What would be interesting to know is, what proportion of the pitch fee is allocated to electricity usage?  What does the Club consider to be fair usage? and how much do they pay per kWh?

Many of you sound worried about the cost of people charging EV's - does it suck all the energy out of the National Grid?   I don't suppose there are many of us EV drivers around to provide feedback - so here goes -  at home I can fully charge my car from empty for 44p. I can't comment on other PHEV's or BEV's perhaps they will consume more - but I don't consider that unreasonable. I'm not a massive electricity user, the car equates to 68% of my total usage,so I'm not being granted a bulk discount.  Even at my previously, very expensive rate the car only cost £1 to charge from empty.  Surely the club has enough clout to be able to negotiate a competitive electricity rate?

Last year (pre PHEV) we stayed at a CL which had metered electric. I must say I was apprehensive about this aspect of the site, as I was concerned that we would be paying £££ for the stay.  In fact, I needn't have worried - it actually opened my eyes to how many years we have been 'ripped off'  on traditionally charged sites (whether commercial or club). In the 8 days we stayed there we only needed to feed the metre with £3.50.  Therefore proving that sites which charge £3-4 per night for electric are really not being hard done by by our electricity usage.  In such instances I would not think twice about using the pitch to charge the car.  I have paid for it. 

So, perhaps the fairest way to control electricity usage is to install meters... then you pay for what you use - it covers all eventualities, the light-users, the phev-chargers and the electric-fan-heater-brigade.  It's fair.

Alternatively, perhaps there ought to be (PH)EV police who could inspect the car to see how much electricity has been used for the duration of the stay.   I would be more than happy to enter the kWh rate into the car, so we can see exactly how much it has cost to charge the vehicle, and I could pay accordingly if deemed to be outside of acceptable usage.

Implement a policy by all means, but who is going to police it?

Banning charging does seem to be a rather short-sighted perspective, as electric vehicles will not go away.   They will surely increase, and soon with far greater range capabilities than my Outlander PHEV - hence why I am not adverse to a policy or appropriate additional charging.   However I think perhaps that lack of information on EV charging is influencing the negative sentiment too strongly.

Clare you raise many issues in your post and I doubt there is a simple answer to many or any of them,,,,,,!!

I would guess the Club considers "fair usage" to be "average" usage, whatever that is. That will be what is priced into the pitch fee, hence my quip earlier about awning heaters which was a  thread running recently. Anything that is over and above "average" will be seen as unfair by some as it pushes up the pitch price for everyone.  Would you believe that some people even think pitch prices are too high now....??

I seem to recall that electricity can only be resold at the price the landlord pays for it, so the cost of meters cant be recouped in higher electric charges it would have to go in the pitch fee...?

I also doubt that the club is able to get much of a "discount" on electricity. Compared to some industries the club is a negligible user....

The issue of the actual charging connector will arise as well, dont some electric vehicles have a special plug?

We will see leads and adaptors of various types, and cables trailing over pitches and out of windows which some people will see as a H & S issue...

I agree with you, electric vehicles are coming, and soon, the Club needs to give it some thought.....!

yes there are different connections, which may make it expensive to install dedicated posts (not sure).... although I would expect all cars to have a brick with a 3 pin plug on the end which means they take longer to charge - in my case 5 hours. I've heard it said that it has less impact than a 2kwh heater, but i'm no expert, I have to say I go by cost.     i've had the car 2 months now and i'm still amazed by the fact i can do my 30 mile commute for 44p . On site I initially charged from the external socket on the van, but we had torrential rain which caused the charger to stop, so now at home I charge out of the van window to keep the brick inside.   The lead is plenty long enough to allow it to fall to the ground and reach the car without being a trip hazard

If charging electric cars is to become common place on sites then the Club should either make an additional charge or introduce meters. Perhaps a seperate parking area where cars can be left. It is hardly fair on those paying for their petrol/diesel to then pay a premium for an EHU which will happen if the CC finds it is losing money on the current costings

If charging electric cars is to become common place on sites then the Club should either make an additional charge or introduce meters. Perhaps a seperate parking area where cars can be left. It is hardly fair on those paying for their petrol/diesel to then pay a premium for an EHU which will happen if the CC finds it is losing money on the current costings

With time and numbers increasing then cost will become a factor so both the supply of the posts and charging for their use needs to be addressed. For the moment I suspect the numbers are so small that the cost of charging is not noticable on site electricity useage.