Tesco Maynooth

Sesshoumaru · 31-12-2011 5:55pm #1

So I finally got to go to my local Tesco and plug-in while shopping.

I think it's great these are becoming more common. You'll never have to worry about range for urban / suburban driving if you can conveniently plug-in and charge at whatever destination you're going to.

L1011 · 31-12-2011 6:08pm

First time I've ever seen a car using those.

Are you paying for the charges yet?

biko · 31-12-2011 6:10pm

Suppose it's good for business as e-cars? owners will probably go there for their shopping.

L1011 · 31-12-2011 6:18pm

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Cool one charging point!

There's actually two there I think.

Compared to the 16 at the petrol station 100 metres away, which fill the cars quicker and for an actually practical range...

Bandara · 31-12-2011 6:20pm

Be quite a long time before it becomes even slightly common in forecourts

€10,000 to put the charge point in, €1,400 a year maintenance contract and the loss of valuable forecourt space to a area that will be used VERY rarely.

Its not even a consideration for a normal station, economic madness to put one in.

In ten years or whatever years it take to have 5% of the cars electric then maybe.

MugMugs · 31-12-2011 6:32pm

LIGHTNING wrote: »

MYOB wrote: »

There's actually two there I think.

Compared to the 16 at the petrol station 100 metres away, which fill the cars quicker and for an actually practical range...

Cool two charging points!

Supply and demand I suppose. Sadly we will be reliant on these soon!

Sesshoumaru · 31-12-2011 6:40pm

The current Nissan Leaf can't use it, The Leaf's AC port only supports 220volt, 16 amp on a single phase. But the Renault Fluence ZE supports 32 amps on 3 phases, which all on street charging posts the ESB install support. So a Fluence ZE owner could go from 0% to 100% in 1 hour on the same charging post. More useful for Renault EV owners, but I won't say no to a few electrons wherever I can get them.

Right now they're free and the ports open when you pass your RFID card over them. I'm told eventually the electricity you use from on street chargers will end up on your electricity bill. Free until the middle of next year the ESB keep telling us

Atlantic Dawn · 31-12-2011 6:49pm

Interesting, hopefully they restrict those spaces to only electric cars and only those being charged.

L1011 · 31-12-2011 6:59pm

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Interesting, hopefully they restrict those spaces to only electric cars and only those being charged.

They're at almost the furthest extent of the site, over beside the glass/alu/clothes recycling area (which has its own pull in bay) and McDonalds (which has its own car park). And due to there being about 1400 spaces and all free, its highly unlikely a non electric car would ever have need to park there.

The spaces were empty any time I was down in the days before Christmas, for instance - despite there being queues to try and park in the covered area!

Bandara · 31-12-2011 7:01pm

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

The current Nissan Leaf can't use it, The Leaf's AC port only supports 220volt, 16 amp on a single phase. But the Renault Fluence ZE supports 32 amps on 3 phases, which all on street charging posts the ESB install support. So a Fluence ZE owner could go from 0% to 100% in 1 hour on the same charging post. More useful for Renault EV owners, but I won't say no to a few electrons wherever I can get them.

Right now they're free and the ports open when you pass your RFID card over them. I'm told eventually the electricity you use from on street chargers will end up on your electricity bill. Free until the middle of next year the ESB keep telling us

Am I getting this correct;

there isnt a standard universal recharging fitting for Electric Cars?

Thats a joke and a huge issue if true

Mr Benevolent · 31-12-2011 7:07pm

Hammertime wrote: »

Am I getting this correct;

there isnt a standard universal recharging fitting for Electric Cars?

Thats a joke and a huge issue if true

I wondered about that. Bizzare, especially since Nissan are longtime partners with Renault.

L1011 · 31-12-2011 7:09pm

Confab wrote: »

I wondered about that. Bizzare, especially since Nissan are longtime partners with Renault.

For "longtime partners", substitute "heavily owned and controlled by"

Lex Luthor · 31-12-2011 7:39pm

Maybe the Leaf can have a special cable that only uses one of the phases from the 3 phase charging points?

MugMugs · 31-12-2011 7:42pm

It's like the Nokia phone charger thing all over again. Q the EU rolling in on this one!

Owen · 31-12-2011 7:51pm

And don't forget, even if you buy a Renault electric vehicle, you then rent the battery in it. Its like going to a restaurant, paying for your dinner, and then paying again for the cutlery. What a crock of sh*t!

Sesshoumaru · 31-12-2011 7:54pm

Hammertime wrote: »

Am I getting this correct;

there isnt a standard universal recharging fitting for Electric Cars?

Thats a joke and a huge issue if true

The Renault and Nissan EV's use the same J1772 connector

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772#Compatible_vehicle_models

From videos and articles I find online most manufacturers are going with this. The Renault Fluence, Twizy, Kangoo and Zoe use this as well, although they're not listed on that Wikipedia page. Reviews I've seen of the Volvo EV and hybrid all seem to have the J1772 connector as well.

Sesshoumaru · 31-12-2011 8:10pm

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Interesting, hopefully they restrict those spaces to only electric cars and only those being charged.

I think MYOB covered the necessity of that for these spaces. Tesco Extra in Maynooth is huge and they stuck these spaces in the least desirable place to park

Smarter Transport 2011 bill is supposed to give the Local Authorities the power to make charging bays for EV's only amongst other stuff.

pajo1981 · 31-12-2011 8:14pm

Owen wrote: »

And don't forget, even if you buy a Renault electric vehicle, you then rent the battery in it. Its like going to a restaurant, paying for your dinner, and then paying again for the cutlery. What a crock of sh*t!

It's not, because the renault costs a not insignificant 10k less to buy than the nissan.

An as for 'impracticable range', these cars would cover the vast majority of journeys taken out of a town like maynooth, within range, and then some.

Mister Dread · 31-12-2011 8:17pm

That place is a disaster for handicap parking. The whole front of the underground car park has handicap spaces which might see two cars in them on a good day.

Bumpstop · 31-12-2011 8:22pm

I dunno how anyone can be so iresponsible to the enviroment as to buy a battery car. the pollution caused making the batteries is huge. Most of Irelands real electricity is made from burning fossil fuels. Don't mention wind to me, it's the biggest con ever.

Ok ok a bit tongue in cheek but still............

Owen · 31-12-2011 8:27pm

pajo1981 wrote: »

It's not, because the renault costs a not insignificant 10k less to buy than the nissan.

It's definitely a crock of sh*t because Renault are shouting from the rooftops that their electric vehicles cost no more than diesel cars - plainly, it's not the truth. They forget to mention that you need to rent the batterys afterwards. How the advertising regulator lets them get away with it is beyond me.

I do however really like the Renault Kangoo ZE - I think if companies in the city centre doing deliveries used these it would make a difference, An Post, Florists, and the like. But the price point is still far too high for electric vehicles in general.

pajo1981 · 31-12-2011 8:31pm

Bumpstop wrote: »

Most of Irelands real electricity is made from burning fossil fuels

Whatever about your other points, you can scratch that one if you want to sound remotely credible.

-Fossil fuel burning station are considerably more efficient/cleaner than ICEs.

dharn · 31-12-2011 8:31pm

its only a matter of time before someone in a daesil parks in one of those bays

Sesshoumaru · 31-12-2011 8:32pm

Owen wrote: »

It's definitely a crock of sh*t because Renault are shouting from the rooftops that their electric vehicles cost no more than diesel cars - plainly, it's not the truth. They forget to mention that you need to rent the batterys afterwards. How the advertising regulator lets them get away with it is beyond me.

I do however really like the Renault Kangoo ZE - I think if companies in the city centre doing deliveries used these it would make a difference, An Post, Florists, and the like. But the price point is still far too high for electric vehicles in general.

I'm not in the business of using vans or have any requirement for one. I did however take the Kangoo ZE for a test drive. Seemed perfect for use in cities as a delivery van. Unlike the Fluence ZE it has the batteries underneath the rear floor space, which meant it had a completely level load area.

pajo1981 · 31-12-2011 8:33pm

Owen wrote: »

It's definitely a crock of sh*t because Renault are shouting from the rooftops that their electric vehicles cost no more than diesel cars - plainly, it's not the truth. They forget to mention that you need to rent the batterys afterwards. How the advertising regulator lets them get away with it is beyond me.

That's erring on the side of sharp, alright.

E39MSport · 31-12-2011 8:37pm

I'm parking my 850 across those two fokkers tomorrow

L1011 · 31-12-2011 9:00pm

E39MSport wrote: »

I'm parking my 850 across those two fokkers tomorrow

Its not like anyone other than the OP is ever going to use them, so assuming he's done his shopping for the week and doesn't want a taxpayer-funded charge, you're OK.

Bumpstop · 31-12-2011 9:26pm

pajo1981 wrote: »

Whatever about your other points, you can scratch that one if you want to sound remotely credible.

-Fossil fuel burning station are considerably more efficient/cleaner than ICEs.

I'm not so sure they all are, but noone is touting the ICE as green. Whereas you would think electricity came from cuddling daisies the way they are marketing these cars.

E39MSport · 31-12-2011 9:28pm

Indeed, and you should see the deserts they leave behind on the bogs.

... not to mention this

pajo1981 · 31-12-2011 10:01pm

E39MSport wrote: »

Indeed, and you should see the deserts they leave behind on the bogs.

... not to mention this

Every EV journey reduces a bog, like the one in this picture, to a smoldering radioactive wasteland.

Drummerboy08 · 31-12-2011 10:14pm

Owen wrote: »

And don't forget, even if you buy a Renault electric vehicle, you then rent the battery in it. Its like going to a restaurant, paying for your dinner, and then paying again for the cutlery. What a crock of sh*t!

It actually makes more sense to lease the battery like Renault than to include it in the cost of the car like Nissan did.

The battery in the Leaf has an expected life of around 7 years. This means in 7 years time, the proud owner of a Leaf has to fork out up to 12k for a new battery, whereas Mr Renault EV owner doesn't need to worry about that because he never owns the battery.

Much better system IMO. It also makes sense when you consider that Renault are developing a system where you drive into an EV centre, and your empty batter is swapped for a charged battery.

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

The Renault and Nissan EV's use the same J1772 connector

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772#Compatible_vehicle_models

From videos and articles I find online most manufacturers are going with this. The Renault Fluence, Twizy, Kangoo and Zoe use this as well, although they're not listed on that Wikipedia page. Reviews I've seen of the Volvo EV and hybrid all seem to have the J1772 connector as well.

IIRC, the Leaf and the Fluence cannot use the same quick charge points. I did training on this recently, but I can't remember for the life of my what the reasons were for it.

Tesco Maynooth

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