WOW! I'm blown away by the comprehensive information you have provided in this video. I'm Sooo glad that I discovered your channel and subscribed. Your enthusiasm, commitment and dedication to providing your viewers with interesting and pertinent information is awesome!
Hi Dave, the Thetford supercharger is now being rebuilt. The original 8 V2 chargers are out as are the 8V3 chargers (which were never activated) there are now 16V4 chargers going in and the site is being enlarged. Keep up the good work.
I stopped off at the Birch Westbound last summer and did a short charge on their 40kW chargers. Whilst there I saw a large bank of new Gridserve chargers all lit up but behind barriers so those have been sitting there for some time.
I think range is currently fine or at least on the edge of being so. Infrastructure for charging is not in place here, and even if it were there is the other issue: charging speeds and charging curves are bad for many vehicles. Prices are not very good either, making second hand electric cars harder to adopt as well. We have to decouple energy prices from petroleum prices and surge in renewables.
After over 40 years in the construction industry got to love their programming/timescales “ we were supposed to be open for 1st March , then Easter, now sometime in April but we are still on time!😂
New Tesla location seemed to be up and running yesterday at Annesley, Notts - Mour Hotel, just off M1 J27. 10 x v4s. Been watching them install for last few weeks, but seem to be up and running now. Weren't on Tesla website, app or Zapmap as of yesterday though.
Let's be honest, the biggest problem for mass adoption of EV's is not the number of chargers, it's the price! to pay 89 pence per kWh for what is 3 miles is roughly equivalent to a 20 mpg car. So are Gridserve and others making a profit (excluding build cost) of 50 to 60 pence per kWh?
The more chargers that are deployed, the more competition there will be, so peices will become mire competitive. Already big supermarket chains are installing chargers as they realise that it is an incentive for shoppers to use their facility and spend in-store whilst doing their shopping. A huge Sainsburys has just open last month near where I live and has a big charging hub there. The original pkanning proposal was for a petrol station....that was ditched, in favour if EV charging hub that now occupies that spot. Soon, there will be discounted charging if you have a decent weekly shop with them, for sure.
@@David-bl1bt agreed. And not that I’m against low pricing at DC chargers…I just think for a lot of EV drivers with charging at home, it is a bit of a matadors cloak
@@ObiePaddles There lies the problem. If you are going to go EV, it's only really worth the change if you can charge at home. Mass adoption may come if the average driver sees a financial gain even when they drive long distance.
V3 Tesla superchargers do share power but with the whole site. Each cabinet contributes 350kw and there's a DC bus facilitating power sharing between cabinets. It doesn't matter which dispenser one connects to. It is possible for the max site power to limit the power available to cars but unlikely to occur as Tesla cars currently achieve their maximum potential charge rate for a very short time. As battery technology advances and cars become able to sustain 250kw for longer, site limits will more frequently limit charging speed. I understand that V4 stalls are currently being installed with V3 cabinets. This means that the hardware doing the charging is the same with the same limits. There is just a dispenser with a longer cable, screen, tap to pay, etc. This means that it's probably not a big job to upgrade any V3 site to V4 dispensers. I can see Tesla doing this at busy sites open to non-Teslas where the short cable and charge port location is causing congestion with cars needing to block multiple bays to charge. We don't know if V3 cabinets can be upgraded to support 800v charging. They do use 800 to 1000v for power sharing so it may be possible.
In Australia a substation is a massive area surrounded by a barbed wire fence, with the massive transmission tower coming in one side, busbars massive transformers.. all bringing the 120+kv down to suburb level .. ( a box that you call a substation here is a transformer)
Hmm, 500kW, that’s 0.5MW per charge station/EVSE, or at 800v DC, that’s 625A, I doubt that will ever become an reality, as that would mean supplying many megawatts to a service station, that’s not realistic or feasible.
One of the biggest problems is that our UKGrid is owned by shareholders. If they’re not getting their share returns they will pull the plug. Not good for electric car charging network.
Birch services looks pretty much like Southwaite Southbound was last time I visited a few weeks ago. EDIT: I stand corrected, ZapMap now shows the works complete there! 3x new HPCs, no love for Chademo though 😢
A new substation and cables for 12 charge points, what happens next year with the growth of EVs that will be out of date already and more will be needed just to keep up, and do they have the room for them all?
Usually, a Gridserve charger installation has future proofing built in. Their original Braintree site opened with (I think) 36 chargers, but had the capacity to add a further 10 to 15 if the need arose in the future. So the fact that the 32 million or so cars already on the UK's roads, have to share just 8000 petrol stations, with an average of 8 to 10 pumps on each one, doesn't cause you concern? There are already literally hundreds of ICE cars for each available petrol pump.....
@@Brian-om2hh Thanks, so 4 more can be added that being the case, then I presume it means another substation and more cables under the motorway if there is sufficient ducting, somehow doesn't seem enough to match growth at the expected rate.
As has already been said many times. Chargers spend more time inactive than active. In terms of Tesla. Ave time at charger is 20 mins (Tesla data) So that's 36 cars a hour.
@@johniooi3954 Not sure what that has to do with the expected EV increase in a 12 month period as a relationship to the chargers being installed now, that could be answered by knowing the rate of growth of EVs a year from now, what is it? Also I am loosing faith in predictive statements from Tesla as they are proving to be wrong too often as a reliable source of prophesy. 2 questions 1 how many EVs will be on the road in 1 years time and 2, how many by 2030.
Hi Dave, watching the video with interest as I am in Hull thinking of buying a Tesla but there is no Tesla chargers at all around here! All destination charges shown on Tesla map have now closed down! I went to check them out last week. And the closest supercharger is in Ferrybridge which is an hour away.. Where abouts are you filming this exactly, how far away from Hull? Thank you
This was Birch Services, which is north of Manchester. Having checked the Tesla charging map, there really isn't a Supercharger location near you. If we hear of any being built, we'll try to do a video on them.
@@davetakesiton thanks for letting me know appreciate you doing a video on possible location it will mean a lot to us Hullians, as it turns it if you look at Tesla charging map this is what it says when you search for Hull: Q3 2023 Supercharger Voting Winner Target opening in 2024 I spoke to Tesla Leeds and they confirmed that location is due to open but now sure when, if you get a chance maybe you could visit and look into it 🙏🙂
Not working over Easter. They will if they can get overtime money. I just had two OpenReach Engineers here this morning, been waiting for two weeks but they turn up on Good Friday. 🙂
Still think the Tesla Supercharger should be perpendicular to the car not parallel. Maybe just me but it makes it awkward to get the cable and charge with your car in the way.
Dave, if this is what gets you excited...you need to get out more often. What I'm learning is that EVs still aren't as viable as ICE for regular people, not the anoraks,
@@davetakesiton like they always have, paid for by the people that use them. Unlike the 2 billion pumped into EV chargers by the government with 2 billion more to be paid in by 2030.
and ignoring the $1 TRILLION subsidies being pumped into the oil giants this decade. I agree, let's stop all subsidies now, right now, tomorrow! I'm more than happy with that. I suspect the huge leap in the price of petrol will not please you so readily.
@@davetakesiton The uk government has not subsidised fossil fuel exploration in the uk or overseas since 2021. But that historical 1 trillion that you are keen to point out has been distributed for the benefit of many industries, pharmaceutical, agriculture,shipping, electricity power generation, the list goes on and on there is more to oil than personal transport. Every company EV is supported to the tune of £22,000, £350 personal chargers and 1 to 1.5 billon pounds so far on 60,000 chargers. That’s £16,000 to £24,000 subsidy per charger. What are the chances that the next round of funding and subsidies will disappear because there is no financial business case to support the charging network without government subsidies. Car sales up this month 9% EV sales up 3% let’s see what happens at the end of the year but a U turn and subsidy cuts are coming.
Excellent presentaion. Thanks for the update.
Dave goes EV charger spotting…….nearly as exciting as train spotting. He loves Tesla V4 chargers ❤❤
WOW! I'm blown away by the comprehensive information you have provided in this video.
I'm Sooo glad that I discovered your channel and subscribed.
Your enthusiasm, commitment and dedication to providing your viewers with interesting and pertinent information is awesome!
Hi Dave, the Thetford supercharger is now being rebuilt. The original 8 V2 chargers are out as are the 8V3 chargers (which were never activated) there are now 16V4 chargers going in and the site is being enlarged. Keep up the good work.
I stopped off at the Birch Westbound last summer and did a short charge on their 40kW chargers. Whilst there I saw a large bank of new Gridserve chargers all lit up but behind barriers so those have been sitting there for some time.
Yes I filmed them in November and again in February, these have been here months
Gridserve 79p/kw just outside the M25 in Essex.
Dave, as an engineer, it's great to see the build out of the power infrastructure for charging stations !
I think range is currently fine or at least on the edge of being so. Infrastructure for charging is not in place here, and even if it were there is the other issue: charging speeds and charging curves are bad for many vehicles. Prices are not very good either, making second hand electric cars harder to adopt as well. We have to decouple energy prices from petroleum prices and surge in renewables.
After over 40 years in the construction industry got to love their programming/timescales “ we were supposed to be open for 1st March , then Easter, now sometime in April but we are still on time!😂
New Tesla location seemed to be up and running yesterday at Annesley, Notts - Mour Hotel, just off M1 J27. 10 x v4s. Been watching them install for last few weeks, but seem to be up and running now. Weren't on Tesla website, app or Zapmap as of yesterday though.
On my first Tesla and certainly one of the reasons for purchase was the network even though I can charge at home, great video
Let's be honest, the biggest problem for mass adoption of EV's is not the number of chargers, it's the price! to pay 89 pence per kWh for what is 3 miles is roughly equivalent to a 20 mpg car. So are Gridserve and others making a profit (excluding build cost) of 50 to 60 pence per kWh?
Not really. 90% + charge at home, 10% charge on the road, so price of on the road is no big deal really.
The more chargers that are deployed, the more competition there will be, so peices will become mire competitive.
Already big supermarket chains are installing chargers as they realise that it is an incentive for shoppers to use their facility and spend in-store whilst doing their shopping.
A huge Sainsburys has just open last month near where I live and has a big charging hub there. The original pkanning proposal was for a petrol station....that was ditched, in favour if EV charging hub that now occupies that spot.
Soon, there will be discounted charging if you have a decent weekly shop with them, for sure.
@@David-bl1bt agreed. And not that I’m against low pricing at DC chargers…I just think for a lot of EV drivers with charging at home, it is a bit of a matadors cloak
Pay less than half with Tesla superchargers
@@ObiePaddles There lies the problem. If you are going to go EV, it's only really worth the change if you can charge at home. Mass adoption may come if the average driver sees a financial gain even when they drive long distance.
You make a great presenter Dave!
If they are dual, why is there only room for one car each charger in the space painted on the tarmac?
I think what Dave means is that the 50kW is shared by both chargers. But even that is better than nothing.
@@johniooi3954 No, I understood that, but the bays themselves are marked out as single, not dual which he states they are!
Seen a few building sites on my travels. Gretna services almost caught me out - thanks for the update Dave
Great video and update. Thanks Dave
and surely Grid server have to bring down the prices soon ??
Nice one Dave. Thank you.
V3 Tesla superchargers do share power but with the whole site. Each cabinet contributes 350kw and there's a DC bus facilitating power sharing between cabinets. It doesn't matter which dispenser one connects to. It is possible for the max site power to limit the power available to cars but unlikely to occur as Tesla cars currently achieve their maximum potential charge rate for a very short time. As battery technology advances and cars become able to sustain 250kw for longer, site limits will more frequently limit charging speed.
I understand that V4 stalls are currently being installed with V3 cabinets. This means that the hardware doing the charging is the same with the same limits. There is just a dispenser with a longer cable, screen, tap to pay, etc. This means that it's probably not a big job to upgrade any V3 site to V4 dispensers. I can see Tesla doing this at busy sites open to non-Teslas where the short cable and charge port location is causing congestion with cars needing to block multiple bays to charge. We don't know if V3 cabinets can be upgraded to support 800v charging. They do use 800 to 1000v for power sharing so it may be possible.
In Australia a substation is a massive area surrounded by a barbed wire fence, with the massive transmission tower coming in one side, busbars massive transformers.. all bringing the 120+kv down to suburb level .. ( a box that you call a substation here is a transformer)
Hmm, 500kW, that’s 0.5MW per charge station/EVSE, or at 800v DC, that’s 625A, I doubt that will ever become an reality, as that would mean supplying many megawatts to a service station, that’s not realistic or feasible.
The Westbound Chargers were still lit up on Good Friday. I didn’t look to see if they were working though
Great video
They aren’t dual bay chargers as they have only one parking space per charger….so 50kw units and will not be restricted to 25kw….
Thanks Dave for the update but as a none Tesla owner the question is will the birch Tesla chargers be just Tesla or open to all many thanks Alan.
Hopefully they will be doing the same at Warwick Services Nth Bound!
Cheers guys
It’s about time👏👏
One of the biggest problems is that our UKGrid is owned by shareholders. If they’re not getting their share returns they will pull the plug. Not good for electric car charging network.
Birch services looks pretty much like Southwaite Southbound was last time I visited a few weeks ago.
EDIT: I stand corrected, ZapMap now shows the works complete there! 3x new HPCs, no love for Chademo though 😢
A new substation and cables for 12 charge points, what happens next year with the growth of EVs that will be out of date already and more will be needed just to keep up, and do they have the room for them all?
Usually, a Gridserve charger installation has future proofing built in. Their original Braintree site opened with (I think) 36 chargers, but had the capacity to add a further 10 to 15 if the need arose in the future. So the fact that the 32 million or so cars already on the UK's roads, have to share just 8000 petrol stations, with an average of 8 to 10 pumps on each one, doesn't cause you concern? There are already literally hundreds of ICE cars for each available petrol pump.....
@@Brian-om2hh Thanks, so 4 more can be added that being the case, then I presume it means another substation and more cables under the motorway if there is sufficient ducting, somehow doesn't seem enough to match growth at the expected rate.
As has already been said many times. Chargers spend more time inactive than active. In terms of Tesla. Ave time at charger is 20 mins (Tesla data) So that's 36 cars a hour.
@@johniooi3954 Not sure what that has to do with the expected EV increase in a 12 month period as a relationship to the chargers being installed now, that could be answered by knowing the rate of growth of EVs a year from now, what is it? Also I am loosing faith in predictive statements from Tesla as they are proving to be wrong too often as a reliable source of prophesy. 2 questions 1 how many EVs will be on the road in 1 years time and 2, how many by 2030.
@@Ifitwerks22% of all cars sold this year (2024) will be EV’s
Hi Dave, watching the video with interest as I am in Hull thinking of buying a Tesla but there is no Tesla chargers at all around here! All destination charges shown on Tesla map have now closed down! I went to check them out last week. And the closest supercharger is in Ferrybridge which is an hour away.. Where abouts are you filming this exactly, how far away from Hull? Thank you
This was Birch Services, which is north of Manchester. Having checked the Tesla charging map, there really isn't a Supercharger location near you. If we hear of any being built, we'll try to do a video on them.
@@davetakesiton thanks for letting me know appreciate you doing a video on possible location it will mean a lot to us Hullians, as it turns it if you look at Tesla charging map this is what it says when you search for Hull: Q3 2023 Supercharger Voting Winner
Target opening in 2024
I spoke to Tesla Leeds and they confirmed that location is due to open but now sure when, if you get a chance maybe you could visit and look into it 🙏🙂
They are building (not started yet) a new Tesla service centre in Lincoln which is scheduled to have 8 superchargers.
A new Tesla supercharger is now showing as being built in Hull. Finally.
@@davetakesiton where is it showing this please Dave?
Morning guys
Not working over Easter. They will if they can get overtime money. I just had two OpenReach Engineers here this morning, been waiting for two weeks but they turn up on Good Friday. 🙂
Are gloucester services ev chargers open yet buddy.
Still think the Tesla Supercharger should be perpendicular to the car not parallel. Maybe just me but it makes it awkward to get the cable and charge with your car in the way.
Works fine if you have a Tesla!
I do and it doesn’t
I wonder why Tesla always gets the job done fast
They own the entire manufacturing and supply line and do all their own logistics.
Dave, if this is what gets you excited...you need to get out more often. What I'm learning is that EVs still aren't as viable as ICE for regular people, not the anoraks,
Rows and Rows of un used chargers, can’t see it being long before someone realises that there’s no demand and no money to be made.
Loads and loads of empty petrol pumps, often 8 or more total unused. Wonder how long they will remain?
@@davetakesiton like they always have, paid for by the people that use them. Unlike the 2 billion pumped into EV chargers by the government with 2 billion more to be paid in by 2030.
and ignoring the $1 TRILLION subsidies being pumped into the oil giants this decade. I agree, let's stop all subsidies now, right now, tomorrow! I'm more than happy with that. I suspect the huge leap in the price of petrol will not please you so readily.
@@davetakesiton The uk government has not subsidised fossil fuel exploration in the uk or overseas since 2021.
But that historical 1 trillion that you are keen to point out has been distributed for the benefit of many industries, pharmaceutical, agriculture,shipping, electricity power generation, the list goes on and on there is more to oil than personal transport. Every company EV is supported to the tune of £22,000, £350 personal chargers and 1 to 1.5 billon pounds so far on 60,000 chargers. That’s £16,000 to £24,000 subsidy per charger. What are the chances that the next round of funding and subsidies will disappear because there is no financial business case to support the charging network without government subsidies. Car sales up this month 9% EV sales up 3% let’s see what happens at the end of the year but a U turn and subsidy cuts are coming.
They are wasting their time, EV sales are taking a real hit, no one wants them the folly is exposed.
What’s the world’s best selling car ever???