There is usually a Tata electric car plugged into a charging point in central Birmingham, probably as a publicity stunt. The point is in between two parking bays.
Is there anything to stop somebody parking in the other bay, unplugging the charging cable from the Tata and plugging it into their own car?
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The trial schemes in Birmingham and Coventry allow subscribers to access the charging points with an electronic key tag. Presumably if one doesn't have one of these tags you either cannot access the socket, or the charging point doesn't charge, or both.
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You can't steal electric.
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Isn't that what people who bypss their meter do?
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A cable from the empty house next door, property is feft innit, nod's as good as a wink squire...
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No - it's stealing ELECTRICITY!
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No - it's stealing ELECTRICITY!
Actually according to the Theft Act 1968 it's "abstracting electricity" brilliantly worded and written bit of law that has stood the test of time - the authors were properly educated.
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>> The trial schemes in Birmingham and Coventry allow subscribers to access the charging points with
>> an electronic key tag. Presumably if one doesn't have one of these tags you either
>> cannot access the socket, or the charging point doesn't charge, or both.
>>
Yes - but there isa nothing to stop you taking the socket out of somebody else's car and putting it in yours.
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You'll get caught, its not as tho you will get far away from the scene of the crime.
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Depends how long your cable is...
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>> Depends how long your cable is...
Even the dumbest copper could follow the cable....
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Even the dumbest copper could follow the cable....
Especially if it is a copper cable
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>> Even the dumbest copper could follow the cable....
>>
>> Especially if it is a copper cable
>>
All a decent copper needs is a lead....
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"Ok, you're nicked!"
"what are the charges?"
"8 hours plugged in will give you another 100 miles!"
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I'm sure, given enough time, some bright spark will come up with other electrical jokes, some as old as the arc......
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If I was more up to date with current affairs, I'm sure I could come up with a battery of jokes ..
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Some veritable livewires on this thread...
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Its really quite shocking.
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I was watching something about a Nissan Leaf on the telly......or rather ' half watching '.
Seems the nearest on street charging point to Manchester is in Birmingham. The guy was charging it on his own drive from his mains, but that meant leaving a damn great flap sticking in the air with a large easily seen plug and cable. A recipe for attention from passing youths, no doubt.
Not a lot of use if you ;ive in a terrace or have to park on street or a communal car park.
The market for these things must be very small atm.
Ted
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>All a decent copper needs is a lead....
Police dogs have got all the leads.
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"....a large easily seen plug and cable. A recipe for attention from passing youths, no doubt."
Ted has put his finger on what must be a major factor in the poor sales of electric cars so far. The range is so limited that they're only any good for people who live in towns. Most people living in towns have to park on the street. So either the youths unplug the cable for a jolly jape, or an old lady trips over it and sues the car owner.
Science needs to move on and invent a power pack - of whatever sort - light enough to be taken inside and charged. If that's impossible, then we either soldier on with the internal combustion engine or await the devlopment of alternative fuels.
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Roger - thankfully I'm not alone!
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Ted and Avant are spot on in my opinion why these cars aren't for everyone. If you park in the street then charging them will be tricky - either someone unplugs it or falls over the lead.
And then there is the price - for the price difference you could get a Golf and lots of fuel instead of an expensive electric car.
I know petrol and diesel aren't around forever and alternative is needed. I'm not sure it is a battery powered car if the range is poor and charging a problem.
On my drive back from Edinburgh last week I was surprised to see so many wind turbines totally stationary. I counted approx 20-25 in one area and then more in the lake district. I can't see them all not having wind so might be a case of being paid to keep them off due to the grid not needing their energy. That led me to think they should be allowed to run them all the time but 'store' the energy or convert it. Storing it is tricky unless you perhaps used it to move water in a hydroelectric type facility and then release that energy when needed. A better use might be to convert water into hydrogen for use in cars.
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When one considers how electricity is produced and the material employed in these car batteries, it is hard to see how such vehicles can be considered "green"
IMO, it's all flim-flam.
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>> If you park in the street then charging them will be tricky - either someone
>> unplugs it or falls over the lead.
What's needed is inductive charging. There would be no need for wires to fall over, or for someone to unplug the car while it's on charge.
Women would need to learn to park properly first though ;o)
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>> Women would need to learn to park properly first though ;o)
They typically park better than men studies have shown.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9049079/Women-are-better-at-parking-than-men-study-suggests-top-tips.html
As for inductive charging...
1. Who pays to install it - sounds expensive and this is on a road I don't own so someone could need to dig it up
2. How does the wiring get to the charger from the house? And would the voltages not be dangerous - I can see how inductive charging of a mobile can work safely but a car?
3. Some security needed to stop someone else using it.
And what if you come home and there is someone parked over your charger...? Or are you suggesting inductive power for all roads?
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sun 12 Feb 12 at 00:41
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...and invent a power pack - of whatever sort - light enough to be taken inside and charged...
Or maybe something like the bottled gas model. Power packs to be standardized, as smaller batteries already are - heavier vehicles might need more than one - and when you're running short you could stop at a 'petrol station' and exchange one or more exhausted batteries for fresh. Garages could invest in rapid charging equipment that would be uneconomic for householders, and use a much chunkier feed from the Grid, so there'd be less electrical energy lost in distribution too.
It also answers the question (which is expressed without a question mark) of how to use an electric vehicle for a journey longer than its one-charge range. The infrastructure in terms of forecourts is already there; it presents an opportunity for the fuel distribution companies to stay in business once the fuel they were set up to distribute has ceased to exist - they should learn from what happened to Kodak.
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>> you could stop at a 'petrol station' and exchange one or more exhausted
>> batteries for fresh.
>>
Like changing horses in the old days.
I think there would still be old problem of people trading in tired old nags that had been given a shot of dope so that they could still stagger into the stable, only expiring after you had galloped off.
Or you could carry a spare battery pack on a long run.
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>> As for inductive charging...
>>
>> 1. Who pays to install it -
The same people who install the charging posts. You site the inductive charging pad close to the post and simply park over the top of it.
>> sounds expensive and this is on a road I don't own so someone could need to dig it up
No need to dig up the road. The inductive charging system could be in the shape of a pad that sits flush to the top of the road.
>> 2. How does the wiring get to the charger from the house?
As above. You install it as close to the charging post as possible.
>> 3. Some security needed to stop someone else using it.
A transponder chip, just like the one in your key that tells the car whether to disable the immobiliser or not.
>> And would the voltages not be dangerous
No more dangerous than the lead dangling between the car and charging post that someone could cut.
- I can see how inductive charging of a mobile can work safely but a car?
It's called technology ;)
>> And what if you come home and there is someone parked over your charger...?
As above. Your car has a transponder chip fitted.
>> Or are you suggesting inductive power for all roads?
Now there's an idea. Mind you, a decent broadband speed for some people is an impossiblity....
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Biggest problem with inductive charging is it's ludicrously inefficient.
Direct contact of coil A in, say, a phone to coil B in a charging pad is bad. Any gap in between and it becomes terrible.
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>> Biggest problem with inductive charging is it's ludicrously inefficient.
>> Direct contact of coil A in, say, a phone to coil B in a charging
>> pad is bad.
And thats only 5v and a few milliamps
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>> www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9049079/Women-are-better-at-parking-than-men-study-suggests-top-tips.html
Saying "Shunt as necessary .........." wasn't a good choice of phrase! Woe betide anyone who shunts my car when they're parking.
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>> On my drive back from Edinburgh last week I was surprised to see so many
>> wind turbines totally stationary. I counted approx 20-25 in one area and then more in
>> the lake district. I can't see them all not having wind so might be a
>> case of being paid to keep them off due to the grid not needing their
>> energy. That led me to think they should be allowed to run them all the
>> time but 'store' the energy or convert it. Storing it is tricky unless you perhaps
>> used it to move water in a hydroelectric type facility and then release that energy
>> when needed. A better use might be to convert water into hydrogen for use in
>> cars.
>>
Ever heard of Dinorwic?
It is a pumped storage system in Snowdonia, when there is unused capacity being generated it is used to pump water up a hill, when they need capacity quickly they let the water run back and generate electricity from it. Fastest response generator in the country.
If there was wind they would be generating and pumping water up the hill.
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I wonder how long it will be before a company starts offering conversions from electric to petrol or diesel.
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The fact remains that electric only cars are impractical for the overwhelming majority of people.
The can only do around a hundred miles between charges and one needs to have an under cover/secure charging system at home or work.
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They could build in a petrol generator into the boot for battery charging! - something like a little Honda like these!
www.justgenerators.co.uk/pages/Honda_Generators.htm
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Tilling-Stevens petrol electric buses were on our roads in the interwar years.
www.flickr.com/photos/elsie/3917534010/
The petrol engine drove the dynamo which charged the batteries and drove the traction motors.
No gearbox needed.
Ted
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I don't know for sure, but I was under the impression that you had to use your key card to insert and to unplug the plug.
That still doesn't stop the crims from cutting the live cable at each end to weigh in the copper from the cable though.
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i had my electricity stolen from my new car last week and was unable to get home on time
as i walked through the door my wife asked " wire you insulate?"
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First prize for worst joke of the month!
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>> The fact remains that electric only cars are impractical for the overwhelming majority of people.
>>
>> The can only do around a hundred miles between charges and one needs to have
>> an under cover/secure charging system at home or work.
>>
Actaully that makes them ideal for quite a lot of people who have grives an only go 5-10 miles to work or shopping.
Would do for our second car - the real reason is resistance to change.
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A Leaf or similar would suit us very well as a second car. We live far off any road and do a lot of 10-mile round trips from cold for shopping etc., extravagant with a 2 litre petrol car. Three things are offputting: high purchase price, doubtful battery longevity and the need perhaps to go say 100 miles, which current electric cars, stop sniggering at the back there, can't do reliably.
What's happened to the General Motors effort with an Atkinson-cycle fixed speed petrol engine to recharge the batteries indefinitely? Supposed to be out this year I think.
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That's the Ampera, which is all over the web and due soon.
But, and I quote from Vauxhall's dedicated website for it, "Starting from £37,250.00".
You might be better off with a lovely Fisker Karma, which does much the same job at only three times the price, but in luxury.
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>> That's the Ampera, which is all over the web and due soon.
I saw one of these on the road this morning (complete with big vinyls down the side telling me so).
>> But, and I quote from Vauxhall's dedicated website for it, "Starting from £37,250.00".
Somehow, I don't think we will be seeing a lot of them!
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>> >> That's the Ampera, which is all over the web and due soon.
>>
>> I saw one of these on the road this morning (complete with big vinyls down
>> the side telling me so).
>>
>> >> But, and I quote from Vauxhall's dedicated website for it, "Starting from £37,250.00".
>>
>> Somehow, I don't think we will be seeing a lot of them!
>>
>>
Less 5K government grant makes it £32k (still too much though).
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>> We live
>> far off any road
>>
That sounds nice. Friends with very long tracks and drives find maintenance a major expense, and many simply give up, using a 4WD instead of a car. I doubt many electric cars have the ground clearance and ruggedness to cope with off-road use.
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Stealing electric - Auristocrat
