Government + new technology = Farce

reeac

Cardew wrote: »

Smart meters themselves certainly do not save money. It is like saying if you drive your car slower you will save money.


When(if) everyone has smart meters, there will be varying rates at different times of the day.

No, it's like saying that if you switch things off you'll save money. Similarly if you drive slower then within reasonable limits you'll save money. I say "within reasonable limits" in order to forestall the remarks about trundling around in first gear all the time.

jcontest

AndyPK wrote: »

Not a very sensible way of load balancing having everyones car start charging at 11pm.

You could have all french cars start at 12am
All german cars start at 11pm
All UK cars start at 1am.

etc :rotfl:

Knowing software cockups the french and UK cars would start at the same time during BST


A more sensible way would be to say Mr S needs his car at 9am
and Mr P at 7am. So Mr P car would be charged first.

If people charge there car every night then regardless of you needing it at 7am or 9am, they would be done charging.


Most home chargers in the UK actually have a sim card and upload statistics that can be seen by the DNO (well, that was the idea, I dont know if it was ever fully implemented). I would fully support the DNO being able to remotely turn ON or OFF charging capabilities of cars based on network load. The Mr or Mrs car charging selection could be picked at home, by the charging unit.


It will be interesting to see how homes adapt, but smart charging at home will be important. Current electrical cars can draw around 7kW (if they are empty) so a home of 4 people could see 28kW pulled just for the cars - so a home supply would likely be overloaded. (7kW is a rough average).


I'll not go onto brands and such, but I have seen some cars that charge in an environmentally friendly way so perhaps I am worrying about nothing. But I really would support DNO's giving a On/Off switch remotely.

bri160356

jcontest wrote: »

If people charge there car every night then regardless of you needing it at 7am or 9am, they would be done charging.


Most home chargers in the UK actually have a sim card and upload statistics that can be seen by the DNO (well, that was the idea, I dont know if it was ever fully implemented). I would fully support the DNO being able to remotely turn ON or OFF charging capabilities of cars based on network load. The Mr or Mrs car charging selection could be picked at home, by the charging unit.


It will be interesting to see how homes adapt, but smart charging at home will be important. Current electrical cars can draw around 7kW (if they are empty) so a home of 4 people could see 28kW pulled just for the cars - so a home supply would likely be overloaded. (7kW is a rough average).


I'll not go onto brands and such, but I have seen some cars that charge in an environmentally friendly way so perhaps I am worrying about nothing. But I really would support DNO's giving a On/Off switch remotely.

That’s a good point;

…most predictions of how we’ll all be driving electric cars in the coming years is based on theoretical projected improvements in battery technology. However, a stumbling block with this ‘electric car Utopia’ is that battery technology has reached something of a hiatus.

The next big breakthrough in battery technology has been just around the corner for ages,…but nobody is quite sure which corner.

Electric cars are great if they suit your lifestyle but they are not without practical issues and we really have a way to go before they become the norm.

I’m sure we’ll get there eventually but it would be great if Elon Musk has something magical up his sleeve!