Youtube video emerges of 501 miles in one day in a LEAF

[surfingslovak]

Quentin Clark is the Head of Sustainability at Waitrose, and his employer signed an agreement with POLAR to provide a nation-wide network of charging stations in the UK. I think they used these stations primarily or perhaps exclusively on their 500+ mile trip.

WAITROSE DELIVERS ZERO CARBON PARKING SPACES

With a drive to further promote its environmental and community responsibilities and reduce carbon emissions Waitrose announces its partnership with POLAR, the UK’s biggest privately funded electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The alliance will mean that customers across the country have access to electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities located in its supermarket car parks. In an initiative to provide better facilities for its customers and to ensure it can serve the growing number of electric vehicles, Waitrose will be hosting POLAR electric vehicle charging charging points in the many of its car parks. Starting off with four bays each at its Eastbourne, Chichester and Wimbourne stores, Waitrose will be looking to embrace EV charging technology across up to 200 other major store car parks.

Waitrose currently has 266 shops in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands. Its recent strong performance has been driven by the success of the essential Waitrose range, its partnership with Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal and an unmatchable top tier of products including the ‘Duchy Originals From Waitrose’ range. Waitrose combines the convenience of a supermarket with the expertise and service of a specialist shop - dedicated to offering quality food that has been responsibly sourced combined with high standards of customer service. (http://www.waitrose.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

[smkettner]

I found it interesting that temperature bars started at 4, rose to 9, then seemed to drop to 8 at the end. Must have been very chilly and possibly slow driving.

[DNAinaGoodWay]

The bars are not the point here. Most people aren't going to spend all day and night driving from London to Cardiff and back.

The point is, if you buy an EV, Waitrose is your friend. So, please, come by and charge at Waitrose, and while you're waiting, come on in and spend some money at Waitrose.

Waitrose is brilliant.

I wish there were Waitroses around here.

[adric22]

The bars are not the point here. Most people aren't going to spend all day and night driving from London to Cardiff and back.

Yeah, I'm guessing they basically had to drive for 1 hour, charge for half an hour, drive for 1 hour, charge half an hour, etc. That would be annoying. I could see doing that for a shorter trip where you need to QC once or twice during the journey. But I just can't see having to stop every hour and charge. Also keeping something important in mind. Here in Texas the typical driving speed on the interstates is around 80-85 mph. Even the slow lane is doing 75. The Leaf would be causing a traffic jam. Not that it couldn't keep up, but if you drove that speed you'd never make it to your next stop.

If the next version of the Leaf has 125 or more miles of range, I could see longer trips becoming more viable. I could see making a trip from Ft.Worth to Austin like that with maybe 2 QC stops along the way, stay overnight, return the next day.

[surfingslovak]

Waitrose is brilliant.

I wish there were Waitroses around here.

Yes. Also note Robert Llewellyn's comment on the YouTube video:

[kubel]

The point is, if you buy an EV, Waitrose is your friend. So, please, come by and charge at Waitrose, and while you're waiting, come on in and spend some money at Waitrose.

Waitrose is brilliant.

I do tend to go out of my way to do business with companies that provide free charging. Not for green reasons, but simply because they are providing me with extra incentive to do business with them. But I don't think electric vehicle owners represent a sufficient portion of the population to provide business with any type of return on investment for expenses like this.

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Not yet. Not in MA or MI anyway. CA maybe. But the times they are a changin'.

The UK is different. It's maybe the size of New England, and the population is dense packed around city centers, leaving as much open countryside as they can. London charges some hugh fee to drive in, used to exempt hybrids, but now only exempts EVs. With more infrastructure, and incentives, EV adoption will accelerate.

Interesting that Waitrose went with CHAdeMO.

[aminorjourney]

I don't think Waitrose did. Welcome Break did -- the brand of motorway service stations (freeway rest stops) which Waitrose happens to also have stores at.

Here's a story I did covering some of the background to the story.

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Oh yeah, didn't quite catch that. Seems more like a Waitrose promo, but they do mention Welcome Break along the way.

Installations may seem spotty now, but the UK (and the West Coast here) will approximate a saturation point much sooner than New England.

[pkulak]

So, ObjectDart, how did it go??? I went the exact opposite direction that day (to see the Ducks in a monsoon), but in an ICE because a friend offered to drive. I will be making that trip yet, however! Seems to me like it's been cold/rainy enough to keep your pack temp down no matter how many QCs your doing.