Holiday Homes Charging Up for the Future

Press Release (ePRNews.com) - Aug 08, 2017 - Like the idea or hate it, the future in the UK looks electric with electric cars set to become the norm if the government manages to achieve its plan. In a couple of decades, we could all be breathing country fresh clean air when the government bans the sale of diesel and petrol-powered cars by 2040.

Rural Cottage Owners Get Ready for an Electric Future

A small revolution is stirring in the countryside; there are groups of proactive environmentally minded holiday cottage owners from the West Country to the Lake District installing electric car charging points to encourage guests with electric cars to stay at their properties to improve air quality in rural areas. Come on holiday in your electric car, stay in a cottage with an electric car charging point and whilst you sleep, the car will be ready to go in the morning.

One such owner is Paul from Woodend Cottage in the Lake District.  With cottages located in a very unspoilt part of the Lake District, around mid-way between the Duddon Valley and Eskdale Valley, Paul is doing his bit to ensure the area stays unspoilt.  The installation of an electric vehicle charge high speed 7kw system point will cost Paul around £800 and he is hoping for part of the power required to be generated from solar panels, greatly reducing the carbon footprint.

Paul explains:

“It’s becoming increasingly obvious that with the growing number of “electric cars” (both solely electric and hybrid), more and more people will demand a charging station at their holiday cottage location to enable them to use that holiday destination (if they have a pure electric vehicle) or just improve the economy of their vehicles (if they have a hybrid), whilst they are sightseeing in the area. To that end I feel that I must address this.  I don’t intend to make an additional charge for this, at least for the moment, as I feel that as a free service it would be a great addition to the facilities available at our site.”

Britain Gets Ready for an Electric Car Future

Despite the infancy of the electric car revolution, there is a surprising number of charging points in most parts of Britain and Ireland.  There are online zap maps to show where the charging points are, many are located in supermarket and Park and Ride car parks. These maps can be downloaded to a mobile phone for reference when out and about.

The areas with fewest charging points tend to be remote areas with lower populations such as the north west of Scotland and some national parks which include the Yorkshire Dales, Exmoor and Dartmoor. Mobile signals can still be poor or unavailable in these remote areas which may make them more of a challenge if driving there in an electric car that breaks down.  It is their very remoteness that makes these national parks wildlife rich wildernesses and a joy to behold.

Charging times and how far a car can travel on a single charge are other issues which need consideration.  Charging time depends on the type of charger and its wattage. Rapid chargers of 43-50Kw can charge a vehicle in half an hour. A slow 3Kw charger means leaving a car to charge for up to eight hours overnight. This may not pose a problem for technology savvy holidaymakers who are used to plugging in their mobile phone before bed each night, it simply adds another item to the list.

The distance that an electric car can take you depends on the model of vehicle and this could be anything from 40 miles upwards. Hills will also make a difference to how far a holidaymaker can travel before needing to stop and recharge. Tour Snowdonia on holiday and you may find that each journey necessitates a calculation before departure. Fortunately, the Snowdonia National Park is blessed with a good number of car charging points.

It is not uncommon for drivers to run out of petrol and be seen walking to the nearest garage with a petrol can in hand, but what happens when a car exhausts its battery? Apart from coming to a grinding halt, the only solution is to call a breakdown service. The trouble is that even simple operations such as putting a car into gear or locking and unlocking doors will no longer work. There will undoubtedly be backup batteries to buy to overcome this kind of situation and get people out of trouble and back to their holiday homes in remote rural locations.

Our quest for clean air will be a journey into the future fraught with mishaps and adventures; hopefully, we will be able to look back and laugh at how we broke down on Mount Snowdon or on a moor in Dartmoor encircled by curious wild ponies investigating this strange silent creature in their midst.