Hartlepool

Besoeker,what were the issues you spoke of regards electric in-town carts?

Besoeker

If the cart could go all day, as you suggest, surely such intermediate charging stations wouldn't be required?

Hartlepool

I suppose they may be left without overnight charges if they belong to someone other than the Golf club and maybe just need topping up sometimes.

Lets not forget also that golf and non golf community residents use carts throughout the day in their secure gated communities so they do take on quite a lot of daily mileage.

Hartlepool

Anyway take a look at a few of the UK street legal ones that come with a 5 hour charge system,70 mile range,free from road taxes,free from London Congestion charges,free parking if in Londons west end plus more.

And all for about£8k.Cheap as chips if you are serious about saving the planet and a good few thousand quid a year.

European Golf

Besoeker

Generally related to London where the congestion charge applies…
1. The need for charging stations. If you have a private drive or a garage it isn’t a problem. If you live in a terrace with no parking space it would be a little more difficult. If you live in a multi-story flat it could be something of a challenge.

2. The need to provide power to supply the charging stations. More power, more output from already stretched power stations, bigger grid connected transformers, bigger transmission lines, bigger distribution transformers, etc. That’s not an insignificant consideration.

3. Then there is the question of those who drive private cars in London. The chances are that those who live and work in London would use the tube as the best means of transport. But what about the people who commute into London from outside the London Transport area?

Hartlepool

So,when it comes down to it are you not interested in replacing polluting petrol or diesel transport with these electric carts.

As for the charging problems you offer,did you not notice that any outlet can be used to charge these carts?

Looking at it,if someond drives to work through their town and back five times a week and the round trip is 6 miles per day it is possible to equate that to about one gallon of pollutant fuel per week per vehicle,and about £5 fuel; cost.

If an electric cart was used for this,it would not polute and would cost less than 65p per week.(based on carts 70 mile range and £1-40 to charge it up=2p per mile)

Besoeker

That's not at all what I said.
Electric vehicles have merits and already exist. We, as a company, manufacture both motors and controllers for electrically propelled vehicles. There are applications where IC engines are not a sensible option.
I wasn't suggesting that this is a show-stopper. Outlets for general public use don't currently exist in any great numbers. If you want to make city car driving electric vehicle friendly you'd need tens of thousands of such stations and the source to feed them. There is no fundamental obstacle. The charging outlets could, for example, be incorporated in parking meters - stick a bit more money in and get a boost charge as well as paying for parking. But you'd still need to beef up the power distribution system at all levels. And that is no minor issue. Replace transformers, dig up the streets to lay bigger cables.......etc.

That's fair enough.
Again, in reference to London, the tube is the most expedient means of getting around. And it's electrically powered.
I neither live nor work there but my sister does. She now doesn't have a car. As a means of transport in her area, it is a waste of space. It wouldn't matter what the fuel source was.

Just a passing thought on the emissions from electric vehicles.......
At point of use it is minimal. What about the point of generation of the energy?

Hartlepool

Besoeker,my first paragraph was a question to you not a statement,I asked if you were not interested in electric carts replacing internal combustion engined vehicles.

With regard to recharging of electric carts,I think you are talking about problems that do not exist.
if these carts are used for in-town journeys because of their 70 mile ranges,even with a range of half that range they would have enough to journey daily for a round trip of over thirty miles.
The charging points are no big deal either because the carts can be recharged from an electrical outlet from your office or even a garage if you made the mistake of not charging up.
There is no comparison between the two,the carts are cleaner,cheaper,quieter and easier to maintain.
At about 2p per mile,what more could a mmgw programme wish for?
As to needing tens of thousands of charging station,well,that seems a bit silly,why so many,did you envisage costing one or two for each cart in a city or town then?
You do however agree that the electric tube is an asset I notice,thats good.
The generation of power to charge the carts is pertinent but is not a big a problem as the one these carts would remove from towns,that is,the internal combustion engines that generate the pollution you say you want to stop.
If anyone is a serious mmgw supporter they will be only too glad to take a serious look at electric cart transportation within the boundaries of towns and cities.
I was trying to look at this through the eyes of a mmgw person who is searching for ways of reducing mmgw and see these carts as removing a huge amount of pollution from cities and towns and therefore,from this country and the Earth.
I thought you would have supported an effort like this,especially as it comes from a sceptic mmgw person like myself.

Besoeker

You may have intended it that way, but it was posted as a statement. My reply may have answered your intended statement.

You may suggest that it is a problem that doesn't exist.
Charging points don't exist in anything like the number that would be required to service London.

I referenced my point to London. London has a population of around 8,000,000 as far as I recall. Suppose one in ten has a car. That would be 800,000 cars. Suppose one charging point could service 10 cars. That's still 80,000 charging points.

It is a big consideration. If you want electric vehicles you need the means of charging them. Removing IC powered vehicles does nothing to provide the means of providing that energy.
And, just for the record, where have I once made any comment about the pollution I want to stop?

You may have intended it that way, but it was posted as a statement. My reply may have answered your intended statement.

You may suggest that it is a problem that doesn't exist.
Charging points don't exist in anything like the number that would be required to service London.

I referenced my point to London. London has a population of around 8,000,000 as far as I recall. Suppose one in ten has a car. That would be 800,000 cars. Suppose one charging point could service 10 cars. That's still 80,000 charging points.

It is a big consideration. If you want electric vehicles you need the means of charging them. Removing IC powered vehicles does nothing to provide the means of providing that energy.
And, just for the record, where have I once made any comment about the pollution I want to stop?

Magnanimous of you.
A couple of times I have said that electric vehicles have merits. They also have limitations.