Phoenix power
31 March 2021
I continue to be amazed by the response to my recent posts on the pros and cons of electric vehicles. So expect more in the future.
Indeed, Paul Lewis, managing director of Phoenix Hire and Sales in south Wales, got in touch to say that the company started its journey on the electric route four years ago.
“I’m on my second hybrid and I love it. But I’m still hesitant about going fully electric because of the range issues,” he says.
However, Paul says that two other Phoenix personnel have electric vehicles and get on well with it. It comes down to the sort of journeys you typically do.
The company plans to install charge points at each of its five depots for staff to use.
“95% of our car fleet is now hybrid or fully electric,” adds Paul, who drives an Audi Q7. “We’d like to change over our vans, too, but the mileage capability just isn’t there yet.
“With a hybrid (pictured) you can just use a three-pin plug and a 13A domestic supply to recharge but it takes longer than a dedicated charge point.”
The car comes with a transformer and adaptors to charge from the mains. However, the advantage of using a dedicated charge point is that it connects up more quickly, which is welcome in wet or wintry conditions.
“The charging infrastructure is certainly an issue,” adds Paul. “What happens if you don’t have off-street parking and can’t charge at home?”
Good question. I’ll discuss that in a future blog post.
Incidentally, I wrote earlier about the problems that Genquip Groundhog’s Pete Beach encountered when trying to find a working charge point for his new electric vehicle on the motorway. He tells me he’s now using an app called Zap-Map that displays nearby charging stations.
• The Government announced yesterday that it will fund £30m of research into battery technology, the electric vehicle supply chain and hydrogen vehicles.
Twenty-two studies will receive a share of £9.4m, including proposals to build a plant in Cornwall to extract lithium for batteries, a facility to build magnets for electric motors in Cheshire, and research into lightweight hydrogen storage for cars and vans in Loughborough. The government-backed Faraday Institution is also committing £22.6m to investigate battery safety, reliability and sustainability.
