EV Discussion thread

QrizB

Magnitio said:

Grumpy_chap said:

On a related subject, I have found my charge plug difficult to insert and remove.  A couple of times I have plugged in to charge and received a notification that the car was not correctly plugged in.  Is is possible there is dirt somewhere and, if so, how do I safely make the plug smoother to insert and remove.

Spray some silicone lubricant on the plug and wipe with cloth if it's not inserting smoothly.

But don't do what I did many moons ago, which was use silicone grease to protect the 12v battery terminals in my car. Silicone grease is an electrical insulator.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to work out why it wouldn't start!

Nick_Dr1

MikeJXE said:

Silicone sealant is what you put round windows and baths 

WD40 is what loosens bolts amongst other things 

Silicone lubricant is like WD40

Just to be clear, silicone lubricant is only like WD40 because they both come in a spray can. Other than that they are NOT the same.

If you need silicone lubricant, make sure you use silicone lubricant - not WD40.

As mentioned, silicone sealant is something completely different and does not come in a spray can! 

silvercar

To confuse you even more, the brand WD40 do make a silicon lubricant, that does come in a can.

Magnitio

Grumpy_chap said:

Magnitio said:

Spray some silicone lubricant on the plug and wipe with cloth if it's not inserting smoothly.

Is "silicone sealant lubricant" what I call WD40?  (EDITED to correct error.)
I was concerned that might result in some corrosion.

As mentioned by @silvercar there is a silicone spray from WD40 which is fine for the job. They do a range of very useful sprays e.g. electric parts cleaner. Just don't get them mixed up! The original WD40 spray (which is petroleum based and has been around for 60 years) is not really suitable.

Grumpy_chap

Magnitio said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Magnitio said:

Spray some silicone lubricant on the plug and wipe with cloth if it's not inserting smoothly.

Is "silicone sealant lubricant" what I call WD40?  (EDITED to correct error.)
I was concerned that might result in some corrosion.

As mentioned by @silvercar there is a silicone spray from WD40 which is fine for the job. They do a range of very useful sprays e.g. electric parts cleaner. Just don't get them mixed up! The original WD40 spray (which is petroleum based and has been around for 60 years) is not really suitable.

Thank you.
So, I did mean "WD40" as in the stuff we all keep in the garage and use to stop hinges squeaking.
It is very helpful that Silvercar and yourself both clarified or I would have gone ahead with the incorrect stuff.

I had a quick look on Amazon, and assuming neither of you meant to use an "adult play" product, I think the following will be what I need:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Professional-Silicone-Lubricant-400/dp/B000297TQM?th=1
As has been noted, there is also a "WD40" branded option of the same, but it is a few pence more to buy and risks me confusing the two in the shed so I thing the non-WD40 one is the better bet
https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD40D-N-A-WD-40-Silicone/dp/B006UCNI38

QrizB

Grumpy_chap said:

I had a quick look on Amazon, and assuming neither of you meant to use an "adult play" product, I think the following will be what I need:

You've reminded me of a scifi short story I read in the dim and distant past. It featured a product called Vaz that was used to lubricate everything that ever needed it.

Yes, even plugs & sockets

Grumpy_chap

QrizB said:

a product called Vaz 

I thought they made Lada cars.  Have Lada launched an EV?  I guess it won't be coming to these shores.

Martyn1981

This seems interesting, albeit more 'EV adjacent', as it relates to lower ICE emissions.

I'll admit to being a bit sceptical, but the more I read, it sounds like the study was fair, so hopefully the findings are reasonable, and be it through increased LEZ's and or BEV's, we will hopefully only see further improvements.

[Perhaps one to watch, whilst we wait for more studies, before getting too excited, but fingers crossed.]

Bradford clean air zone saves NHS over £30,000 a month in first year

After one year of the zone, which is the second largest in England, GP visits for respiratory illnesses were down by a quarter

After one year of the zone, nitrogen dioxide from traffic was lower, GP visits for respiratory illnesses were down by 25% and those for heart problems decreased by 24%. This added up to an average of 732 fewer visits a month, compared with pre-Covid levels, and the trend showed that benefits were increasing over time.

There were fewer patients with breathing problems at the Bradford Royal Infirmary emergency department, too, but no change was found for cardiovascular visits.

The analysis was made more difficult by changes in traffic patterns during Covid restrictions. The researchers therefore had to use a period before lockdowns as their baseline. They also analysed trends, not just the number of cases, and looked at changes as vehicles were upgraded ahead of charging.

Health benefits were found across the whole city, not just inside the zone.

JKenH

I’ve not posted on this thread for a while but I thought I’d share this. My son visited us at the weekend in his (my old) 40kWh Leaf. He normally makes the 100 mile journey ok but he was a bit concerned about the head wind driving SSW down the A46 and M69. I messaged to ask how the journey went. This was his reply.

Awful, was getting 3.1miles per kWh, so stopped at A52 shell. Both chargers faulty, drove round Bingham a bit until I found the BP ones, 3 different faults at each of those. Eventually found a new shell charge station at the A6 A46 junction. First charger wouldn’t take the payment. 2nd charger worked fine and got a charge to get home, at 3.30

The point of this post - there is still a long way to go with charger reliability. 6 chargers tried before he found one working.No he didn’t do any research but then knowing the best place to stop was the A52 Shell chargers at Saxondale on the A46 (given that there are still no chargers at Leicester Forest East), he didn’t feel the need to. 

How long before it will it be possible to jump in an EV and set off with the confidence that refuelling won’t be a problem like it is in a petrol car.

Edit: removed “ He knew from past experience that the most convenient” as I started the sentence then cut and pasted the reference to the A52 Saxondale stop in next paragraph forgetting to delete the now incomplete sentence.

silvercar

JKenH said:

I’ve not posted on this thread for a while but I thought I’d share this. My son visited us at the weekend in his (my old) 40kWh Leaf. He normally makes the 100 mile journey ok but he was a bit concerned about the head wind driving SSW down the A46 and M69. I messaged to ask how the journey went. This was his reply.

Awful, was getting 3.1miles per kWh, so stopped at A52 shell. Both chargers faulty, drove round Bingham a bit until I found the BP ones, 3 different faults at each of those. Eventually found a new shell charge station at the A6 A46 junction. First charger wouldn’t take the payment. 2nd charger worked fine and got a charge to get home, at 3.30

The point of this post - there is still a long way to go with charger reliability. 6 chargers tried before he found one working. He knew from past experience that the most convenient 

No he didn’t do any research but then knowing the best place to stop was the A52 Shell chargers at Saxondale on the A46 (given that there are still no chargers at Leicester Forest East), he didn’t feel the need to. 

How long before it will it be possible to jump in an EV and set off with the confidence that refuelling won’t be a problem like it is in a petrol car.

I know there are a lot of leafs around, so Chademo chargers are here to stay, but they do suffer from a lack of chargers far more than CCS. Having access to a Leaf and a Tesla, the Tesla charging opportunities are so much greater we avoid both making journeys that will need charging away from home at the same time.