Random EV thoughts.....

ELM327

And this is why I will never have a smart meter.
One look at what happened in Texas shows why the consumer never benefits from this.

the_amazing_raisin

ELM327 wrote: »

And this is why I will never have a smart meter.
One look at what happened in Texas shows why the consumer never benefits from this.

The ones who had backup generators or batteries were fine

I'm with you on this one, I'm going to try and put off a smart meter until I have to. It's annoying because in theory they're an excellent idea, but as usual they come with a hefty price tag which is reflected by the increase in unit rates

I think those agile tariffs really only make sense if you have Solar PV and batteries. That way you have an alternative for when prices are high and you can't avoid consumption

ELM327

When we move house I'm going to ensure we have a large PV array with storage, along with a generator. Get them installed before they force smart meters on me.

liamog

The greens are pushing through a change to planning laws

Under the bill, homes will be able to install larger arrays of solar panels without planning permission, meaning the panels will no longer be restricted to 12 metres squared or 50% of the roof areas.

Solar panels installed on the ground would also be able to reach a height of 4 metres.

Should help.

AndyBoBandy

the_amazing_raisin wrote: »

Yeah I remember this came up a while back

Basically it's a worst case scenario, if we lose several key generators, plus the UK isn't exporting to us, plus we hit a demand peak then we'll be facing brownouts

This actually happened earlier this year... with some of the units still down (Dublin Bay & Whitegate ~900MW)

Whitegate is down for at least the rest of the year.

MJohnston

ELM327 wrote: »

When we move house I'm going to ensure we have a large PV array with storage, along with a generator. Get them installed before they force smart meters on me.

When you move house, you'll be lucky if it's not to one that already has a smart meter.

slave1

ELM327 wrote: »

...Get them installed before they force smart meters on me.

They can't force one on you

the_amazing_raisin

ELM327 wrote: »

When we move house I'm going to ensure we have a large PV array with storage, along with a generator. Get them installed before they force smart meters on me.

Ah come on now, we'll never get you back in a Tesla if you're throwing money around on non-essentials like that! :D

It'd be nice if EVs would come with proper V2H capability without having to spend €5k on a V2G charger, which you generally can't control much anyway.

If you could even feed 3kW AC back into the house it'd mean you could have a small battery at home and use the EV as a booster when needed

ELM327

We're actively in viewings - have one in an hour - and most houses we're looking at have the old dial meter, not even a digital one. A product of looking at older farmhouses on land out in the country.

If we move to a house that already has a smart meter then that will just increase the speed that I get solar, storage, and generator in.
I reckon that 10-20kWh of storage should be plenty along with 3 phase (it's already in in a lot of the houses as they are smallholding farms), to allow us to be off grid except for at movable hours during the night - charging the EV(s) , filling the storage battery on cheap/free nighttime rates etc -but having main day time electricity powered solely off grid from stored electricity

I'm not sure if that's the aim with these smart meters, but I'm damned if I'm gonna connect to unknown indefinite electricity prices. We pay enough for energy as it is!

ELM327

the_amazing_raisin wrote: »

Ah come on now, we'll never get you back in a Tesla if you're throwing money around on non-essentials like that! :D

It'd be nice if EVs would come with proper V2H capability without having to spend €5k on a V2G charger, which you generally can't control much anyway.

If you could even feed 3kW AC back into the house it'd mean you could have a small battery at home and use the EV as a booster when needed

the new Ioniq 5 does exactly that.


But I dont want one, I want another tesla and it's the first thing I'll be doing when we move. Day 1 of move in day, i'll be either ordering one or shopping on donedeal for a used one with free supercharging.

And it's not non-essential.

MJohnston

ELM327 wrote: »

but I'm damned if I'm gonna connect to unknown indefinite electricity prices

This is exactly what you already do with analogue meters

ELM327

MJohnston wrote: »

This is exactly what you already do with analogue meters

No it's not, the price is set in advance of consumption.
With the variable meters you're getting prices in 30 minute blocks based on demand. So you have to go through each day and plan your usage? fcuk that.

MJohnston

ELM327 wrote: »

No it's not, the price is set in advance of consumption.
With the variable meters you're getting prices in 30 minute blocks based on demand. So you have to go through each day and plan your usage? fcuk that.

That's not what exists in Ireland though, at least not for the next few years. Right now there's not much difference between smart metering and analogue metering here, other than offering a few extra fixed off-peak tariffs, like extra Night saver periods.

I wish my renewal was up soon, because I'd consider switching to Electric Ireland's Smart Dual+ Weekender plan — free electricity at weekends? I'd rip the piss out of that offer.

And then in a few years time, I'll absolutely have PV and storage ready to go to ensure I never need to care about variable pricing, if it ever happens.

ELM327

It exists like that in the uk so that is the direction it's going - re variable pricing.

MJohnston wrote: »

That's not what exists in Ireland though, at least not for the next few years. Right now there's not much difference between smart metering and analogue metering here, other than offering a few extra fixed off-peak tariffs, like extra Night saver periods.

I wish my renewal was up soon, because I'd consider switching to Electric Ireland's Smart Dual+ Weekender plan — free electricity at weekends? I'd rip the piss out of that offer.

And then in a few years time, I'll absolutely have PV and storage ready to go to ensure I never need to care about variable pricing, if it ever happens.

free electricity at weekend is interesting. Assuming 48 hours at 7kW thats 336kWh. You could charge your EVs (100-150kWh for 2 EVs) and store the rest for the week. 200kWh of storage is still very expensive though, hopefully it comes down.

cannco253

Are there any regulatory limits on how much storage you can have at a residential address?

MJohnston

ELM327 wrote: »

It exists like that in the uk so that is the direction it's going - re variable pricing.

Even if it does go the exact same way as the UK, there are plenty of positives to variable pricing too. There are UK providers that pay you to use grid demand at certain times of the day.

ELM327

cannco253 wrote: »

Are there any regulatory limits on how much storage you can have at a residential address?

Not that I'm aware of, but I'm sure there's an upper limit somewhere and someone more knowledgeable than me will be along to add it!

ELM327

MJohnston wrote: »

Even if it does go the exact same way as the UK, there are plenty of positives to variable pricing too. There are UK providers that pay you to use grid demand at certain times of the day.

And that's when it works. If you have 100% variable demand - ie you need X kWh per day and you need 2 hours of grid connection to get it - then you can pivot to that time, and store the energy until you need it


I've already migrated a lot of my variable demand to night rate. heating, washing, drying, EV charging (before I sold severus) etc. But there's always standing demand that needs meeting during the day - and thus we need storage to meet them if there's variable pricing.

innrain

cannco253 wrote: »

IT publishing a lot of stories recently about EVs, electricity supply and the environment. Here's another one from today.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/electricity-supply-concerns-spark-emergency-plans-for-dublin-1.4608199

Scaremongering or real?

I wonder how long it will be before people start blaming "all those electric cars" for some of the problems.

If I would be a journalist I'd research what other would be doing around the world.
"The project is called the Saticoy battery storage system, and it came about when the local community in Oxnard fought against having a new gas-powered peaker plant to help respond to the energy demand during peak times."
Exactly the opposite of what ESB is proposing
https://electrek.co/2021/06/30/tesla-megapacks-power-on-battery-replacing-gas-peaker-plant-california/

Kramer

MJohnston wrote: »

I'd consider switching to Electric Ireland's Smart Dual+ Weekender plan — free electricity at weekends? I'd rip the piss out of that offer.

ELM327 wrote: »

free electricity at weekend is interesting. Assuming 48 hours at 7kW thats 336kWh. You could charge your EVs (100-150kWh for 2 EVs) and store the rest for the week. 200kWh of storage is still very expensive though

It's not for 48 hours, it's just 28 hours. It's not free either - you're significantly overpaying for electricity for the other 140 hours in the week.

They also explicitly forbid any "gaming" of the tariff - you'll be out on your ear if you use too much "free electricity"!

We may contact you if we think you’re using an unreasonably large amount of electricity on your free day(s). If we think you are using an excessive amount, we may take you off the tariff and move you to another tariff.

.

Good luck to anyone thinking of buying a couple of 100kWh cars to save money on that tariff :pac:.

MJohnston

Kramer wrote: »

It's not for 48 hours, it's just 28 hours. It's not free either - you're significantly overpaying for electricity for the other 140 hours in the week.

They also explicitly forbid any "gaming" of the tariff - you'll be out on your ear if you use too much "free electricity"!

.

Good luck to anyone thinking of buying a couple of 100kWh cars to save money on that tariff :pac:.

Base rate seems to be 19.98c per kWh compared to 18.21c per kWh on the standard plan, so I'm not sure I'd call that "significantly" overpaying!

I'm sure someone can do the math, but I can imagine if you scheduled your charging for the free period at the weekends, you wouldn't come near to reaching what Electric Ireland would call excessive, and you would save a fair amount.

cannco253

https://merrionstreet.ie/en/news-room/releases/minister_ryan_announces_funding_approval_for_on-street_charge_points_for_electric_vehicles.html

Why is it only 2 councils are involved in this?
I've pestered Galway CoCo about this already and got zero response from them. Not interested in the slightest.

garo

MJohnston wrote: »

Base rate seems to be 19.98c per kWh compared to 18.21c per kWh on the standard plan, so I'm not sure I'd call that "significantly" overpaying!

I'm sure someone can do the math, but I can imagine if you scheduled your charging for the free period at the weekends, you wouldn't come near to reaching what Electric Ireland would call excessive, and you would save a fair amount.

19.98c is outrageous. You can go to Energia or Bord Gais and get 16c. 25% extra is "significantly overpaying".
Also I think the terms have changes. Its free electricity from 8am to 11pm on Saturday OR Sunday. So only 15 hours.

innrain

cannco253 wrote: »

https://merrionstreet.ie/en/news-room/releases/minister_ryan_announces_funding_approval_for_on-street_charge_points_for_electric_vehicles.html

Why is it only 2 councils are involved in this?
I've pestered Galway CoCo about this already and got zero response from them. Not interested in the slightest.

"Three applications have been approved for funding. Louth County Council have applied for funding for 20 charge points with Dublin City Council applying for 9 charge points under two applications."
Dundalk and Drogheda will be full of chargers. Dublin needed 2 applications for 9 chargers. It is a start at least, 2 years after the grant was announced

Which FC point in waterford is the one that get blocked by the owner?

JohnC.

Mr.Thompson wrote: »

Which FC point in waterford is the one that get blocked by the owner?

Applegreen, just off the outer ring road. Not the one in the city centre, which is in a council car park.

JohnC.

JohnC. wrote: »

Applegreen, just off the outer ring road. Not the one in the city centre, which is in a council car park.

Is it still an issue ? ie plan on avoiding it ?

AndyBoBandy

Mr.Thompson wrote: »

Is it still an issue ? ie plan on avoiding it ?

Take a spin past it and update us all, but don’t plan on using it, or rely on needing it.

ESB claimed a few weeks ago that the ‘issues’ were resolved, and it was back available again….

But that’s an eternity of time for that location to go loopy again…

AndyBoBandy

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Take a spin past it and update us all, but don’t plan on using it, or rely on needing it.

If I could go and look I wouldn't be asking here would I.

TitianGerm

I'll be in Waterford tomorrow so I'll pop over and have a look.