Electric car charging coming to a station near you

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From a First Great Western press release:

Electric car charging coming to a station near you

Over 40 First Great Western stations will benefit from electric car charging points, following an announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister.

More than ^9 million has been promised by the Government to boost the number of charging points and First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) has been awarded ^315,000 to install the devices at 44 of its 210 stations.

FGW^s Major Projects Manager Sarah McManus said: ^First Great Western are delighted to have been awarded this grant and the opportunity to improve the services we offer to our customers. These charging points will enable customers to take full advantage of travelling in a more sustainable way, making their journey to our stations, and onwards by train.^

The 44 stations included in the Office of Low Emission Vehicles grant include: Aldermaston, Barnstaple, Bodmin Parkway, Bourne End, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Charlbury, Chippenham, Cholsey, Clifton Down, Crowthorne, Didcot Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Frome, Gloucester, Goring & Streatley, Henley-on-Thames, Kemble, Liskeard, Looe, Moreton-in-Marsh, Newquay, Newton Abbot, North Camp, Oxford, Pewsey, Plymouth, Reading, Redruth, Slough,Taplow, Teignmouth, Theale, Tiverton Parkway, Torquay, Trowbridge, Truro, Warminster, Westbury, Yate and Yatton.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: ^Electric cars are one of the most promising of our green industries and we want to secure the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)^s position as a global leader in both the production and adoption of these vehicles. The extremely low running costs of electric cars help drivers save money and we are allocating more than ^9 million to boost chargepoints across the country to help drivers to go green. This means we can lower UK emissions and create high-tech engineering and manufacturing jobs to boost our economy.^

The announcement comes as the Deputy Prime Minister visited iconic transport venue Ace Cafe, just off the North Circular in North West London, where he met managing directors, staff and apprentices from leading motoring companies BMW, Nissan, Renault, Toyota and Vauxhall.

The companies are all backing the Go Ultra Low campaign in a ground breaking partnership with government to debunk common myths and misconceptions that put drivers off switching to electric or hybrid cars, such as cost and how far the vehicles can travel before being recharged.

[grahame]

Chippenham,  Trowbridge,  Warminster, Westbury

Can we have one at ... no, I shouldn't ask 

[Chris from Nailsea]

No, you shouldn't.  Nailsea & Backwell doesn't get one, either - despite the substantial expansion of the station car park, which is presently very much a work in progress. 

[bobm]

I am struggling to see the criteria used for the stations chosen.

Places like Aldermaston and Looe included.
Places like Penzance and Swindon excluded

[ellendune]

I am struggling to see the criteria used for the stations chosen.

Places like Aldermaston and Looe included.
Places like Penzance and Swindon excluded

Are the criteria to select a sample of different types of station to understand where they are successful?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm.  

The 44 stations included in the Office of Low Emission Vehicles grant include: Aldermaston, Barnstaple, Bodmin Parkway, Bourne End, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Charlbury, Chippenham, Cholsey, Clifton Down, Crowthorne, Didcot Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Frome, Gloucester, Goring & Streatley, Henley-on-Thames, Kemble, Liskeard, Looe, Moreton-in-Marsh, Newquay, Newton Abbot, North Camp, Oxford, Pewsey, Plymouth, Reading, Redruth, Slough, Taplow, Teignmouth, Theale, Tiverton Parkway, Torquay, Trowbridge, Truro, Warminster, Westbury, Yate and Yatton.

That's 41 stations.  Where are the other three?  

[johoare]

I am struggling to see the criteria used for the stations chosen.

Places like Aldermaston and Looe included.
Places like Penzance and Swindon excluded

Are the criteria to select a sample of different types of station to understand where they are successful?

Or maybe where there is adequate space?

[trainer]

Or maybe where there is adequate space?

Yatton hardly qualifies then. The last few times I have parked there mid-week (in the past two weeks) all the hard standing is full and the pitted and pot-holed waste ground (chargeable) has also been almost filled to usable capacity (room if you can get out with your wellies on and don't mind mud all over your footwear).  To lose even two or three spaces which will probably remain empty 95% of the time (or more, but let's be generous) will impact in times of severe rain, which is most of the winter it seems.

[bobm]

Looe only has 20 spaces.  Not sure how well used they are.

[grahame]

At a quick count I make this 43 ...

The full list of stations where charging points are to be installed: Aldermaston, Barnstaple, Bodmin Parkway, Bourne End, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Charlbury, Chippenham, Cholsey, Clifton Down, Crowthorne, Didcot Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Frome, Gloucester, Goring & Streatley, Henley-on-Thames, Kemble, Liskeard, Looe, Moreton-in-Marsh, Newquay, Newton Abbot, North Camp, Oxford, Pewsey, Plymouth, Reading, Romsey, Redruth, Slough, St Austell, Taplow (East and West), Teignmouth, Theale, Tiverton Parkway, Torquay, Trowbridge, Truro, Warminster, Westbury, Yate and Yatton.

... or 44 if you include both Taplow stations (wasn't aware there were two!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25982620?

[ellendune]

At a quick count I make this 43 ...

The full list of stations where charging points are to be installed: Aldermaston, Barnstaple, Bodmin Parkway, Bourne End, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Charlbury, Chippenham, Cholsey, Clifton Down, Crowthorne, Didcot Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Frome, Gloucester, Goring & Streatley, Henley-on-Thames, Kemble, Liskeard, Looe, Moreton-in-Marsh, Newquay, Newton Abbot, North Camp, Oxford, Pewsey, Plymouth, Reading, Romsey, Redruth, Slough, St Austell, Taplow (East and West), Teignmouth, Theale, Tiverton Parkway, Torquay, Trowbridge, Truro, Warminster, Westbury, Yate and Yatton.

... or 44 if you include both Taplow stations (wasn't aware there were two!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25982620?

There is only one station, but there are car parks on both sides of the line, yet these would presumably be called north and south 

[Kernow Otter]

Or where there is hot and cold running electricity !!

[broadgage]

I am struggling to see the criteria used for the stations chosen.

Places like Aldermaston and Looe included.
Places like Penzance and Swindon excluded

It could perhaps be due to survey results.
Someone might have asked in a survey "would you drive an electric vehicle to the station if a charging point was available ?"

Even a single "yes" response might justify providing a charging point at the station in question, but not (yet) elswhere.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

I am rather puzzled as to how station car park vehicle charging would work.
Most of the existing public charging points operate a fast charge system so that a vehicle can be recharged and on its way again with the minimum of delay. However most people going to a station car park go for the best part of the day, only returning towards the end of the working day. If they connected their car, it would presumably be left connected until they returned because they would not be present when an adequate charge has been made. Does this mean that each charging point in these railway car parks will only be used by one or two cars a day?
Does anyone know more about how this scheme will work?

[broadgage]

I would presume that the vehicle being charged would remain connected until the owner returned.
So yes in most cases each charging point would be used by only one vehicle a day.

I doubt that anything elaborate is planned, probably simply a weather proof 13 amp socket on a post.
Similar installations exist in London streets, and in some supermarket car parks.

It is fairly easy to provide more charging points if demand warrants this.