Overview Thursday
There was no time for proper Blogging on Thursday - at Millbrook, there was no 3G coverage for my Ipad and their 'Visitor Wifi' was simply useless. Even when I got to my hotel (Travelodge) the Wifi was dire!
It was a day of two halves - or to put it more actually we had 2 days of activity in one day! It was an early, early start to get from Wokingham (Berks) - to the Millbrook Proving Ground (Beds), via the M4, M25 and M1 We did make it for 9:30, feeling bleary eyed! We then had 8 hours of exhibition, before picking up our route for the 'EV Tour of Ireland! Planning made it 219 miles from CENEX to Bangor - via the M1/M6/ in the rush hour!
CENEX 2nd Day
 |
| An 'Enfield' 1972 EV! |
 |
| This one a project for Fifth Gear Presented Johnny Smith! |
 |
| Mercedes Hybrid Prototype - awesome! |
 |
| Not an EV - a Fuel cell Prototype! |
 |
| Mahle - stunningly innovative VW Passat Hybrid |
 |
| Stunning Fast prototype from Promotec |
 |
| A mean-looking Tesla - much in demand for test drives! |
 |
| JLR had several 'research vehicle on show! |
 |
| On Site charging - courtesy of Chargemaster |
Chargemaster had undertaken to provie charging services to both exhibitors and visitors. Clearly Millbrook hasn't got around to installing the high voltage power supplies equired to support multiple simulatenous EV charging. Whilst I'm sure there was a desire to provide power derived from renewable energy source - clearly there was a need for a moe pragmatic approach, with a huge diesel generator!
 |
| Plenty of visitors by EV - much improved on 2013! |
Possibly the charging facilies became over-stretched, as the EV attendance was at least 10 time the 2013 count,
 |
| Visitors i3s and Leafs! |
BMW i3, which are still a rareity is many part of UK - were there in significant number!
This pretty pale-blue specimen was the Schneider i3 'pool car'. Apparently it was very much in demand by company staff.
Back on Track for the EV Tour of Ireland!
We had planned the crossing to Ireland to be via the Irish Ferries sailing from Holyhead. However, the rapid charging possibilities cease about 105 miles short of Holyhead, so a night stop was obligatory. We opted to go as far a possible and provide we could charge a the hotel - we could make the port with ease. If that was refused - we knew that our Friday would be spent in the ASDA car park, in Bangor.
The plot from the AGM Telematics tracking proves that we made our target - but it was far from easy! Getting off the stand, getting escorted off the Millbrook site all took time. Then the slow traffic up the M1 and along the M6 past Birmingham. Later there were roadworks and stoppages due to accidents - all very frustrating, especially considering the overhead for recharging the EV! However, each leg was pretty optimal - about 60 miles each time. One issue that became apparent was the penalty for charging above 82%. So we only took 86-88%, which in limited the available range. We stopped only at Corely (Coventry), Stafford and finally at Elton (Cheshire).
The last leg was to be 68 miles, to Bangor and at 10:30 pm we were reluctant to wait for those extra percentages of charge! Frankly it was a nervous journey as the hilly A55 sapped our Mitsubush iMiev's range and for much of the time we were running in deficit
(i. e. we were going to run our about 7 miles short, of our destination!). So despite the pressure (after an exhausting day), we had to slow right down to 40 mph and 'run lean' to make the leg possible! We did (of course) after a tense hour - we arrived with an indicated 5 miles range remaining!
Fortunately, there was no pressure for an early start, the next day - our ferry was 28 miles further and it was not until 2.05 p.m.!
No comments:
Post a Comment