Taxi Driver Online

Midlothian electric car charge points drive Bonnyrigg taxi driver’s concerns

https://www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk/ ... -1-5095341


Image: Lisa Ferguson/Midlothian Advertiser

The owner of the first electric Hackney Cab taxi in Midlothian has voiced his frustration at the lack of suitable charging points in the county.

Gerry McCabe (58) from Bonnyrigg, took ownership of his environmentally friendly vehicle last September and has been praised by his customers for using the green taxi.

However, he is worried that local people are being put off following him into an electric vehicle due to a lack of places to charge up locally.

He said: “I get great compliments from my customers about how smooth, quiet and environmentally friendly my taxi is.

“The only problem I and other electric cars have is that Midlothian is lagging so far behind other local districts in installing ‘rapid’ charge points. These fully charge my taxi in 45 minutes.

“East Lothian has at least 12 rapid charge units, located in most large towns. Edinburgh has over 20 rapid chargers. While Falkirk has a rapid charge super station with at least 16 rapid charge units.

“Midlothian on the other hand has three rapid charge units. Two of which at Sheriffhall are currently not working. There is another at Straiton, but when I went to it last week there were six cars queued up.

“In Midlothian there are five 22 kilowatt ‘fast’ charge points that take me 75 minutes to fully charge, but again they are either always in use or constantly inoperable. The ones at Gorebridge and Newtongrange train stations are rarely working.

“So come on Midlothian get your act together and catch up with the rest of the UK by installing more rapid charge points!”

Gerry has been disappointed with Midlothian Council’s approach to electric vehicles, despite the local authority declaring a climate emergency.

He said: “I have been in contact with the council and they are saying we have the highest growth in Scotland but are second lowest in terms of funding.

“They say they are building new 22kw units at Vogrie Park and Dalkeith Campus. But these chargers take double the time of the rapid ones.

“I’ve heard that there are 6,000 new electric cars every month in the UK going on the road but they don’t seem to be upgrading the infrastructure, particularly in Midlothian.

“Straiton and Sheriffhall especially should have super stations. It costs £25,000 for a rapid charger so it’s a lot of money, but if people are going to get electric vehicles we should have these things up and running already.

“Midlothian Council has declared a climate emergency and said it is committed to bringing down their carbon footprint but they are not updating the infrastructure for electric vehicles.

“I dropped off at Newbattle High School today and went to charge the taxi but the unit there is broken. The one at Penicuik High School is the same, it’s never working.

“Penicuik is a big place but they only have this one 22kw unit at the school and it doesn’t work.

“I see new electric cars all the time as they are more affordable, but they need places to charge.

“I have got a charger at home so I charge overnight, it takes four or five hours, but most people don’t have that.”

A Midlothian Council spokesman said: “We have explained to Mr McCabe previously that charge points that have and will be installed by the council are funded by the Scottish Government and the funding given is on a pro-rata basis across all authorities in Scotland. Midlothian receives the second lowest amount of funding across all mainland authorities in Scotland.

“That said, the county fairs well in terms of the number of rapid chargers – there are seven in total in Midlothian, although not all hosted by the council. Falkirk and West Lothian, by comparison, have five and four respectively. Please note Falkirk Council has recently received separate funding as part of the ‘Electric A9’ project to construct a vehicle charging hub which will consist of a further 26 charging points.

“We’re installing two more rapid chargers at Sheriffhall, at a cost of £93,000, to complement the two rapid chargers there currently.

“Apologies, as the units at Sheriffhall were temporarily out of action due to a power outage and, as soon as we were notified, we took action to get them back online. They are now working.

“As for the chargers at Newbattle and Penicuik also rarely working this is not the case. If a charger is notified as being out of order then we take immediate steps to resolve the situation and, in worst case scenari, this will be within 24 hours.

“As well as the rapid chargers, which dependant on vehicle type can fully charge a vehicle in around 30 minutes, there are also seven 22Kw chargers hosted by Midlothian Council and another four not hosted by the council. These can recharge an electric car in around six hours, which is suitable for most vehicle owners.

“The council will be installing a further four new 22 Kw points at Vogrie Country Park, Rosslyn Chapel, Dalkeith Campus and additional charge points at Penicuik Centre. Additional points are also to be installed at Newbattle High School.”

“Mr McCabe is also complaining that chargers at Gorebridge and Newtongrange train stations don’t work. We have advised him already those are hosted and operated by Network Rail. There are a further two chargers at Eskbank and Shawfair stations, also operated by Network Rail.

An increasingly familiar tale, all this, but very predictable. Queueing to use chargers (assuming you can find one, and that it's working) is one of the reasons I won't be getting an EV anytime soon


I don't think anyone should even consider an EV unless they've got a home charger, or can install one. Unless, of course their council forces them to have an EV

Yep, sums up the situation quite nicely.

_________________
IDFIMH

they are slowly appearing even our council has announced they will install some in car parks

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Don’t park your sedan chair there, or you’ll get a ticket. On parchment, no doubt.

_________________
Former taxi driver

we have the SAME traffic wardens as you they rotate them

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Another one with a home charger, surprise, surprise.


Second electric taxi hits the streets of Brighton and Hove

https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/202 ... -and-hove/

Residents and visitors in Brighton and Hove could soon find themselves being ferried around the city in a new electric taxi.

Local driver Tony Turner is now picking up passengers having taken ownership of his new TX Electric Taxi, the second to be registered in the city.

The hybrid taxi has a range of 60-80 miles using a fully charged battery and can run for up to 377 miles using a petrol fuelled generator to maintain the battery’s charge.

Tony said “I’d had a lot of trouble with my old cab and was due a change, so I decided to bite the bullet and go electric. It’s fantastic and funny because you’re driving it and you can hardly hear the engine.

“I’ve got a home charger and to fully charge the battery costs me about £3. I’m probably saving between £150 – £180 a week.

“I’ve always been for helping the environment and improving air quality and really this was the only way to go.”

Brighton and Hove City Council will soon be installing four new rapid charging hubs for taxis and more than 200 on-street chargers. The council already offers a 50% discount on parking permits for eligible, low emission vehicles.

Chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee Anne [edited by admin] said: “I’m pleased to see another low emissions taxi on the streets of Brighton and Hove.

“The council has set an ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2030 and the more electric vehicles we have on our roads, the better. I hope this will encourage more taxi drivers in the city to consider purchasing a low emissions vehicle in the future.

“Our electric vehicle infrastructure is continuing to grow. Tony will soon be able to use one of our new rapid charging hubs and we’re also installing more than 200 new on-street chargers. Electric vehicle use is growing and we will continue to support owners where we can.”

So you get to the end of your shift, then have to look for a rapid charging point (only four in B&H once they're installed) no doubt miles from where you dropped and in the opposite direction from where you live, then you get there and queue behind all the other EVs finishing their shift, so you wait an eternity to get plugged in and then wait the thick end of an hour for it to charge?

At least with conventional petrol or diesel you can choose a time that's convenient, even if that's once a shift. I can often do a whole week without needing to refuel and I can pick a time *and* location for refuelling that's most convenient.

A home charger would be the absolute minimum for me.

Otherwise the infrastructure just isn't there at the moment, and the logistics would be extremely frustrating, to say the least


I see the automatic word censor has taken issue with this lady's name

Which is Anne Pissaridou

Bet no one's ever taken the piss out of that

Anyway, was expecting a Greenie, but turns out she's Labour.

A red green, perhaps?

https://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/mg ... UID=114061

It's a lovely motor, but as someone who recently sold a very large PH firm, Tony can well afford the motor, and he will have no problem charging it up at his mansion/estate.

_________________
IDFIMH

They are hubs, eight super fast on each.

_________________
IDFIMH

Confucious say:.....Never buy a packet of fags if you cant find something to light them with.

Aye...but your Scuppered if some other green eco minded citizen beats you to it and then goes off to the shops for four hours.

I have NO intention of going electric unless I have to

If I continue in this trade for an extended period

My first choice would be a diesel converted to run on DME but looks like that option is unlikely

second choice a hydrogen fuel cell again not much willingness of manufacturers to follow that path

third choice a vehicle fitted with an LPG only engine which would be much more reliable and economic than a petrol converted to LPG sadly only the Aussies have that option !!!

fourth choice a Hybrid

fifth choice a flex fuel engined car but again not much sign of those fuels or vehicles being available in the UK

sixth choice a CNG engined vehicle but I would imagine you would need to fill up often and not many CNG fuelling stations at the moment

Last choice an electric car !!!!!!!!!!!!

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of electric cars becoming electric taxis/PHVs.

But in the next five/ten years I will only consider plug in hybrids.

I'm not getting stuck out there not being able to work. No way.

_________________
IDFIMH

Well the Leaf has completed it's first weekend. The mileage dropped quite quickly going to Leicester into the wind but it finished Friday with 25% charge left and Saturday with 34% left. Saturday was a 7 hour shift.

_________________
Grandad,