Electric vehicles (EVs) have come of age. Over 19% of all new vehicle sales are EVs. Costs are coming down. Range is going up. And the choice is growing every month. Major manufacturers such as Volvo, BMW and Jaguar announcing that all their vehicle ranges will be electrified by 2030 or before (but that does include hybrids so the petrol engine is not dead yet). EVs do have a big number of advantages including being quiet, non-polluting, cheap to maintain, and to run at a fraction of the cost of petrol. The down side for many years was range. How far could you go before you need to spend some hours recharging? And where could you do that? Well that is what has changed by 2023: range of even the lower-end EVs has now reached 200+ "real world" miles (300-350 for some). Given that for most people most of the time daily travel is only 20 to 40 miles, then this is more than enough and you can just plug in at home and top up a little overnight, especially if you can get a low night rate. If travelling further afield then the EV charging infrastructure is extensive: a recharge from pretty much empty to 80% at the rapid chargers available at all motorway services can be done in 30-40 minutes - time for a slightly extended comfort and coffee break. And there are many many fast chargers around the country that can do the same in 3-4 hours - perhaps while you are at work or shopping. Given that it is rare you to charge from empty, most recharging is a small top up, these times reduce significantly.
Here at Gorge View Cottage we now have a dedicated fast charge point for guests to use, free of charge. If charging during the day it will use the solar energy being captured on the cottage roof, and at night it uses the greenest EKO electricity available from 100Green, our suppliers.
Gorge View Cottage Charge Point
Make: BMW Wallbox Connect Type: IEC 62196 Type 2 [Mennekes] (tethered) Supply: Single phase Source: Green electricity (or cottage solar) Current: 32A (max) Power: 7.5kW (max) Full-charge time: ~3.5 to 4 hours (~30kWh) Control: Cottage RFID card controlled start/stop