Are EV’s here to stay?

 I used to play a game while on one of my favourite walks. I would go up onto a footbridge over the nearby A465 and time how long it took for an EV to come past. Back in 2022 I would frequently be waiting for 10-15 minutes , then only seeing one car pass. I repeated this about 3 weeks ago and rather than counting how long it took for one EV to pass, I had to amend the test to how many EV’s would pass, in the 5 minutes I was counting I saw 10 vehicles which included 2 vans.

I know that this is not a scientific test, but it does show that we see more EV’s on UK roads today than we did 3-5 years ago. Try it yourself when driving how many do you see?

I believe that the general public are pretty savvy when it comes to cars. If it becomes more economical to switch to a particular fuel type, despite what naysayers may argue, people will switch. 

Now more than ever the oft trotted out myths against EV’s are beginning to fall on deaf ears… EV’s are too expensive- now not true both for new or second hand cars…. The infrastructure’s not there yet - do you not see the huge numbers of chargers being put in, open your eyes (back in 2017 only 8 years ago there would likely be only one, not very reliable 50kW charger at a UK service station…. When we stopped at Rugby Services on the M1 recently I lost count after 15 250kW chargers and just plugged in and went for a break!) ….EV’s catch fire all the time - how many times have you seen an EV in flames because of an internal battery or motor issue with your own eyes, compared to the last time you saw a ICE car on fire? EV’s price depreciate faster than ICE cars - that may have been true several years ago when EV’s were admittedly over priced, but today their depreciation is in line with ICE. Also if you lease or PCP your EV and give it back at the end of the term, you haven’t lost any money at all!

There will be ups and downs along the way, however, I can only see the percentage of EV’s on UK roads continuing to increase over the next 10 years…..watch this space. 

A dear friend

It seems very apt to be writing this blog post in tribute to a dear, dear friend. The world has lost a true global educational  IT innovator and my best online buddy Miss Allanah King.
It seems like only yesterday that our 2 classes on opposite sides of the globe made a connection through our use of the then 'new' mediums of blogging and podcasts....it was 2006!
Allanah had adopted podcasting as a means of communication with her class at Appleby Primary School in Nelson on the South Island of New Zealand. Back in my Cefn Fforest class in the South Wales valleys we had also sought out global partners.  Neither place was really the hub of technology, however what grew was true educational innovation. This was helped by the fact that the world wide web was awash with new apps as part of the Web 2.0 revolution of user generated content.

I think that it must have been fate that drew us and our classes together, we had found a true partner many thousands of miles and several time zones apart. In Allanah I had found a good 'partner in crime', in that she was happy to run with some of my off the wall suggestions having seen a morsel of good educational practice often hidden, inside!

Following our blogs and podcasts we discovered a then new technology tool called Skype, you may have heard of it? I had to pretend to my headteacher that this was a closed system and that we would not be contacting the world outside Cefn Fforest....it was a white lie! Our classes used to skype us the teachers when they got to school in the mornings....it being the evening for the teachers. We were frustrated by our inability to talk directly pupil to pupil in 'real time' - in another of our hairbrained schemes we agreed to each bring our classes into school late one evening and as a result we were able to talk to our friends as they arrived in school in their morning. My pupils became very aware of global tome zones through our connection.

In another innovation I sent a small geocaching bear called Tiny Ted to New Zealand where he had some photographic adventures in Nelson prior to going on a tour of the world, from which I believe he is yet to return....it is believed that Tiny Ted was last seen in a university in Arizona!
Following the success of Tiny Ted, the two classes agreed to swap cuddly toys with each other, hence Dylan the Dragon headed down to the southern hemisphere, while a very noisy Cuddly Kiwi came to South Wales. Each toy went on a number of photo opportunities with the respective pupils, the one proviso that a blog post was required from the pupil who was hosting the toy!

As must seem obvious, we the teachers were have great fun challenging our respected classes to come up with new eays to communicate wjth their new friends - all great lnline learning, problem solving and great for writing for an ambience. ...sound educational principles.

Years went by and on a rare visit to the UK and Ireland in 2009 Allanah (AK) came to stay with us on the Welsh part of her holiday. Even though I had by that time left Cefn Forrest Primary, we were allowed to visit the school and Allanah was able to meet face to face the pupils that she had Skyped with a few years before.

After our collaboration Allanah went on to great things with CORE in New Zealand and also as a globally connected educational innovator, through all we remained firm online friends across the years.

Allanah's final illness has robbed us of a great woman, educator, innovator.....she leaves a truly amazing digital footprint.

Farewell my friend ♥️.

One month of ownership report

It is now just over a month since my acquisition of my latest EV, what have I learned/discovered in this time:

1. German build quality is second to none.
2. On a daily drive scedule, I no longer have any need to charge at public chargers. A top up at home overnight is sufficient. If more range might be needed the 250e has its secret weapon....the ability to use the full 36kWh battery for charging rather than the daily 28kWh.
3. The luxury driving experience that both the Zoe and iMiEV sadly lacked.
4. Mind blowing acceleration in Sport mode.....even Captain Slow uses this sometimes, it is especially useful when a petrol/diesel car gets above itself at traffic lights or roundabouts!
5. My continued joy of driving petrol free....the silence and refinement continues to make me smile.

Negatives over the past few weeks.....very few, perhaps one is that the B Class Mercedes appears to be a mud and dirt magnet! More of an issue is that the infotainment system ( I don't like the phrase really!) is difficult to use on the move. Lastly, my knee appears to hit the parking brake when getting into the drivers seat, fortunately pressing it engages the brake.

I have covered around 1600 miles which at a nightly charge cost of around £1.64 (averaging 20kW per weeknight) costing a total of around £41 which works out at around 2.5pence per mile.

Good deal, more to come.

Welcome to the newest EV in the family...it is a rare beast, the Mercedes B250e

The Mercedes B Class 250e is a rare creature. If you ask 100 current EV owners what they know about the 250e the majority will in all likelihood explain that Mercedes do not make an electric vehicle yet, they have a number of new cars in development for 2019-2020. These people are technically correct, Mercedes Benz do not currently in 2019 have an electric vehicle in the market... but they did have up until 2018... the B250e

The B250e is a strange car, as it is a Mercedes by design and build, however, under the skin and in its battery/motor set up it is pure Tesla. The reason for this is simple, up until the B250e coming to market Daimler Benz owned a stake in Tesla. This link led to collaboration, the fledgling US electric car maker needed to get cars built to a schedule, and thanks to the joint venture many Daimler Benz parts appeared in the early Tesla Model S. These include, gear selector, wiper/lights stalks and the window control buttons to name but a few.

In return Daimler Benz worked with Tesla on the production of its first US car, the C250e - this led to the 28KWh battery pack and traction motor in the 250e coming from Tesla.

What was produced is a stunning car, by far the best of the B Class range in my opinion, including any or all AMG versions of the B Class. The car exudes style and luxury, as you would expect in a premium vehicle which retailed for between £30,000 to  £35000 before any Government grants.

The car has 3 drive modes and paddle shift controlled 'regen braking', it is a heavy car and as a result would not be expected to have super long range. In fact I would say that 3.5 to 3.9 miles per kw which you can expect in early spring in the UK requires extreme 'eco driving' and would give a nominal range of 98-100 miles. This range estimate appears close to correct from my recent experience, admittedly not much yet.

(Range achieved by eco-driving on 21 March)

The Achilles heel of the 250e is its complete lack of CHademo rapid charging capacity. The onboard 11kwh charger unit restricts owners to long, very long waits on the fastest destination charging posts. I can envisage being extremely unpopular if I hook up to a 50kwh Ecotricity charger for an hour in order to gain 40ish miles of range! 

Owners of the 250e love the car and willingly contribute many Youtube videos of the car being enjoyed, despite its poor charging.  It is pure luxury in the cabin, and a remarkably spacious 5 seater.

The upside to the 250e's lack of rapid charging added to the fact that Mercedes Benz have hidden some of the car's battery capacity is that the batteries on the 250e should be much less prone to degradation in the long term.....we will see. MB were fairly confident of the batteries remaining healthy,  because they have included an 8 year or 100,000 mile battery and drivetrain warranty with the 250e.

To cut to the chase, why have I just swapped a 2011 Mitsubishi iMiEV for a 2016 B250e after just 6 months of ownership? 

One big reason for me was the staggering degree of battery degradation in the Mitsubishi, and despite my long term love for the little car, for me it was proving ever more difficult  to keep 'fully charged' I was having to be really creative in adding time to my work day in order to accommodate 2-3 hours of charging time. Hence my messages to Go Green Autos and our agreement for them to buy back the car giving me a workable deposit for my new love - the Mercedes Benz B Class 250e Electric Art Premium.

My first impressions were difficult as we did not get off to a good start due to a poor collection experience which left us with 14 miles range and over 100 miles to travel home. This required us to charge on 3 occasions in order to get home 13 hours after we had left! My recommendation for newbies to EV's if you are buying secondhand go to a specialist EV seller, there are quite a few in the UK, feel free to ask me for advice.

I must say that now back in Wales and making the daily work run I am returning up to 3.5 kw per hour with a nominal range of up to 104 miles in temperatures of 10-14C. I am very pleased as now I do not require a charge at all during the working day, I even arrive home with miles to spare!

Welcome to the B250e

Mitsubishi technically sold!

As of 11am this morning my 2011 Mitsuishi iMiEV has technically been sold back to GoGreen Autos from whom it was purchased in 2018. The reason for this is simple, I have become increasingly challenged and frustrated by the lack of range and battery degradation of the little EV. This despite my continued love for the plucky little car and its amazingly frugal demands for power.
I have been challenged by the sometimes poor UK charging infrastructure which with low range can be very problematic, leading to lengthy stops or weird detours.
I will blog about the new car, also an  EV once it is actually in my possession, which all being well will be on Saturday.

My high regard for our dedicated EV sellers has been renewed over the past few days. This has nothing to do with the new vehicle, it is the little 'Mitsu' and how it comes to be sold.
I am purchasing from a regular dealer who has already admitted little knowledge of EV's. However, during my ownership of the iMiEV I have bought quite a few spares...tyres, wheels, pollen filter, windscreen wipers to name a few. I offered to deliver these with the car in my original plan to part-exchange....the dealer was not interested as their plan would be to send the car straight to auction.
I then contacted Matt at GoGreen Autos to offer him the spares, as he deals in these little EV's, during the conversation Matt asked what I had been offered for my car against the new one....when I told him he took a few hours and then came back with an offer well above the dealer's for the car plus all of the spares. This was a no-brainer so as a result the Mitsubishi is sold and will be collected early next week....no need to drive it the 100 miles to the dealer, which would have been a challenge in itself..all round everyone wins.

More news to come soon......

A working week with MV11 ONK

This week began the I-Miev's 'normal weekly routine. I was looking forward to the week somewhat through my hands in the event of 'Range Anxiety' setting in as it had on my return journey from Kingston Bagpuize to home last Thursday.

MV11 ONK has been christened Oink! by my middle daughter, I can't possibly think why? Does it look like a little piggy????

Oink has a range of around 58- 60  miles on a full charge on the flat at present ... Wales is NOT flat!

The week began in a fairly leisurely way for Oink! just the 5.2 miles into Abergavenny at just after 6:30am ....taking the new owner to the local pool for an early morning swim. We tested out the heated driver seat and it was TOASTY! Picking up the grandchildren and take them to school.  To work from school which adds another 2 miles. This was followed by an almost return home in order to deliver a chair based exercise class in a local nursing home. The reverse school run to finish before returning to base - all in all around 32 miles in the day ...EASY!

Tuesday started the same with swimming and the school run, however this was then followed by the round trip to Caerwent Community Centre, a round trip of just under 54 miles, taking us over the range by around 10 miles, plus the reverse school run and journey home had to be included....

The answer was to plug the 'Granny' cable into a socket in the kitchen and run the cable out of the window and to the car's Type 1 charger. 1.5 hours later after the end of the hockey session I had an almost 'fully charged' car for the return trip. I arrived home at the end of the working day still with plenty of charge in the batteries.

Wednesday began without an early morning swim, but the school run was included first thing in the morning. Back home for a quick charge for around 2 hours, then off to The Narth for our new social club. A round trip of over 50 miles this was followed by the reverse school run.....

The solution again was to reverse up to the kitchen window at the village hall and the to plug in the car. After the 2.5 hour social club I was back at 100% charge to finish my day.

Thursday was a day of local school run, office swimming and return school run... too easy for the I-Miev really!

Friday was another challenge, prior to changing cars I had agreed to pick up a local musician and his wife, 2 guitars, amplifier and music/mic stands and to take them to our club in Bulwark, Chepstow a round trip of 54 miles with some very severe uphill climbs en route....

I had my usual morning routine of swimming and school run, however as my club didn't start until 1:30 pm I was able to charge back to 100% during the morning at home on my wall charger...I wan't the only person charging on Friday morning, my neighbours were charging their Nissan Leaf also,,, very 21st Century!

Oink dealt with the hilly journey and a full car very well, we arrived with just under 50% remaining battery, I was able to pull up outside the kitchen window and with the cable through the window I go a charge, in fact we were back at 100% when it came time to return home.

The I-Miev is narrow and tall and the seats fold down to leave a flat floor in the boot. (We got an amp, 2 guitars and stands plus 1 wife in the back with ease!)

The week ended when I arrived back home at around 5pm with around 21 miles of range remaining. Oink! has easily managed the busy weekly work schedule thanks to the opportunity to charge on arrival at my venues throughout the week, as a result I did not experience and 'range anxiety' as far as I am aware throughout the week and I did not have to buy petrol (£1.32 litre) or diesel(£1.35 litre) this week, I did not pump any poisonous CO2 into the atmosphere as far as I am aware.... I would say that this makes the Mitsubishi I-Miev a success.... for the time being!

Watch an in depth video of Oink! from the seller here

A change of EV Part 2

We left our story with me driving away from Go Green Autos in a 2011 I-Miev. The immediate plan was to travel to Leigh Delamere Services (West) on the M4 via the A420 and A419 a journey of some 41 miles.
This first leg of the journey went well as even on a road with the national speed limit (60 mph)we were travelling most of the time between 40 and 50 mph. This meant that on arrival at the Services I still had around 8 miles of range. My luck was even better when I noticed that the charger was on 'free vend' this means no fee for the charge. I plugged in the CHAdeMO charger to the I-Miev and prepared for a 20 minute charge.

What followed was a lesson sadly in how being a gentleman can in certain circumstances not be good for you. As I was about to leave a Zoe turned up at the sole charger and the young occupant (lady) asked if she could put in a quick charge as she was in a hurry! I did say that I was reluctant to unplug as I too was in a hurry to get home, but I did agree that I would return before full charge and swap.... following a short break of around 15 minutes I returned, unplugged and let the Zoe owner charge up. To be fair she only charged for about 10 minutes and then unplugged. I plugged back in... however the charger would not connect and I now had around 30 miles range which would be marginal to reach my next planned charge in Magor on the Welsh side of the Severn Bridge...even with help form the Ecotricity Charger team I could not restart my charge (by this time is was also raining heavily and I was getting wet!).

My only option appeared to be a slightly shorter journey to IKEA in Bristol on the M42, this is a detour from my route home, but I had to take it anyway. 

I arrived at IKEA with round 8 miles of range left, not enough for the 15 miles to Magor! My luck was in again as the charger in IKEA was on 'free vend' so another free charge (£0.00) - I popped into the cafe for a break... on my return I discovered an I-Miev feature that was lurking in some information I had picked up about the car - it charges on a fast charger to 80% in around 20 minutes, this should have warned my that at 80% the car in order to protect its batteries stops the charge... I was not able to restart the charge but now had enough juice to reach my originally planned stop in Magor.

At Magor another 20 minute stop to get to 80% charge (44 miles approx) with a 37 mile drive home...a good drive back meant that I arrived home just as the Guess-O-Meter was showing 4 miles of remaining range. 

The journey home had taken 4 hours which is significantly more than planned, had I been a nasty person at Leigh Delamere and charged up to 80% I would have easily reached Magor thus missing out my detour and charge at IKEA Bristol saving me around 1 hour of journey time.

I suspect that running the I-Miev my days of range anxiety are likely to continue... we will see!

A change of EV! Part 1

You may have noticed that the car in the header of the blog has changed!
I have loved running my 2015 Renault Zoe Dynamique Nav since the beginning of December 2017, having covered just over 8000 miles in the 9 months of ownership. I have loved being able to say that I am doing my bit to lessen the impact of exhaust gases which are affecting human beings so much!  However, there had been something niggling at the back of my mind since the purchase...the ongoing battery lease issue ( I was paying £79 per month for the privilege of leasing my car's batteries from Renault) which added £948 per annum to my running costs!
Renault Zoe's without a battery lease are beginning to come onto the second hand market at around £9000 for a 3 year old car, this compares with around £6000 for a battery lease version. I was not willing to wait for these to drop in price, and had recently started looking around for an alternative. My alternative was always going to be electric, like many other EV owners I have vowed never to return to ICE even though I still remain a petrol-head at heart!

I did not expect Zoe's replacement to be a 2011 Mitsubishi I-Miev but, one came up being sold by my friend Matt West of Go Green Autos near Oxford recently.... I bought Zoe from Matt back in December 2017.
The I-Miev is 7 years old now and has a much lower range per charge (16KWh battery pack compared to 22KWh for Zoe)... but from a buying perspective the car has undergone a full service recently and has:
* 4 new tyres
* 4 fully refurbished alloy wheels
* new 12 volt battery
* gear box oil changed
*new brake pads on front wheels
* pollen filter replaced
The MOT runs until March 2019. The car comes fitted with:
AM/FM radio
CD player
Sat Nav (Garmin)
Bluetooth hands free kit fitted as standard
Reversing camera
Retractable wing mirrors
Heated drivers seat
Automatic headlights
All electric windows and..... a cup holder

I happened to be in Oxford this week for a business meeting and had previously discussed with Matt doing a no cash swap of the I-Miev for my Zoe which we had more or less agreed. Go Green Autos was on my route home.

The I-Miev is based on a 2006 design of a japanese i-car and was the first electric car manufactured for general release worldwide in 2011. I-Miev stands for I-Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle. 

While the I-Miev won't necessarily win many prizes for its looks, I don't think that it is an ugly car, especially by comparison with V1 Nissan Leaf. Also, it is not particularly swift and with a nominal top speed of 85 MPH not a 'boy racer' ... and then there is the range of......around 65 miles ( apt to give you severe range anxiety!) ... I have to say I took a liking to the car and not only because it will save me £79 per month simply by sitting on my driveway! It will also alleviate a rise in my monthly electricity fees from my current green electricity supplier. All in all I hope that we are going to enjoy our life together

Having agreed on our 'swap' on Thursday afternoon the deal was done and I began my return trip of around 90+ miles in the I-Miev... more of this journey in Part 2 ( to be continued!)

An average EV day

Drivers of electric vehicles  are invariably asked as an opening question, 'How far will it go on a charge?' The question is often followed a shake of the head and a response along the lines 'That's not very far, is it?' This scenario becomes tedious after a short time. Most EV drivers have embraced the shortcomings of our vehicles, in order to focus on the many areas where owning an electric car eclipses FOSSIL car ownership...no road tax, very low servicing costs, low fuel costs, lack of emissions and of course quiet driving. Below I have a personal response to those who suggest that a first generation Zoe (22KW) does not have enough range for them on a daily basis.


This post presupposes that there is such a thing as an average day for EV owners!
My story begins the evening prior, I usually plug in Zoe on my return from the work day. However, my charge does not begin at that point as I am a good citizen and am aware that the biggest strain on the UK National Grid is early evening when we come home and begin turning on appliances and of course cooking and watching TV. If I were to begin a charge at this time my usage along with others could trigger a fossil fuel power station being brought onstream....not a good thing!
On Zoe I can preset the charge time in advance, the majority of EV's globally can also do this. I usually set charging to begin around 1am the next morning, when the Grid is less stressed. If I had an Economy 7 tarrif this would also greatly reduced the cost of each KW of elecricity.

(The Renault ZE app)

Having charged Zoe overnight, at 7:30 am I always have 100% ready for the day.
I will select a Friday in school term time. At 7:40 I set off on the school run for my grandchildren requiring around 16 miles of range on average . I then drop in at our office, using 1 or 2 additional miles.
At around midday I set off on the 46 mile round trip to Chepstow which includes travelling from 60m above sea level up to 240m and back down to sea level in Chepstow. The benefit of an EV on this type of journey is that as with ICE cars we use energy going uphill, whers we differ is coming back down....Zoe can on a good day regen' 5-7 miles of range, basically the braking system turns into a dynamo enabling battery recharging going downhill and or braking. This is also a standard EV extra, in fact Zoe is the least effective EV on the road today.

On my return from Chepsrow  I am usually too late for the afternoon school run, but  I often drop my grandson to cricket training which is an additional 10 mile round trip.
I get home having travelled almost 75 miles without range anxiety....in the summer I would still have around 10 -15 range left, whereas in the winter it may just be under 10 miles remaining.....I can the set a charge time, plug into the ROLEC 3KW charger on my wall and leave the car to charge again overnight. This travel pattern would be repeated throughout the week.
You can see from this that for the majority of my week Zoe has a usage and recharge cycle that enables me the flexibilty that suits me and also makes best use of the battery pack in Zoe.
There will be out of the ordinary days like our trip to Coventry (109 miles away) which do require some planning, this may only occur half a dozen times each year....

I would say that users should look for an EV that fits their usual day and their budget.

How did the story begin?

Since my return to the UK in 2016 I was using a 2011 Fiat Panda to get around, the Panda is a very economic and easy car to drive.
However, I have been increasingly concerned over our human carbon footprint for some time. Having followed many very dirty diesels in addition to hearing about the impact of car fumes on the next generation I had it in my mind to make a change.

Throughout 2017 I spent time researching the electric vehicle revolution, and our neighbours acquired a Nissan Leaf mid year. This led me to the Renault Zoe, as the Leaf is a bit big for me, also I think that they look quite ugly!
I am a semi-reformed petrol-head and can be swayed by the exhaust note of many classic cars, including my beloved MGB, having owned a few in my time. I searched many a car advert, from Jaguar S Type R to Mazda RX-8 and back again before finally returning to electric power.

In November I found the GoGreen Autos website and was taken by the no nonsense attitude of proprietor  Matt West. I made a trip up to Kingston Bagpuize to view and drive a very nice looking 2015 Renault Zoe Dynamique Nav 22KWh under warranty until 2019 with 20,000 miles on the clock.

As you can see from Matt's pictures Zoe was in very good order...

From front to back and even under the bonnet...

Also the Zoe is a good looking car, even when not compared directly to the Leaf!

After a short sensible negotiation the deal was agreed, part exchange signed and I had become the owner of Zoe. All that remained to complete was the battery lease application.....this is because the vast majority of Zoe's in Europe are sold where you own the car, but Renault own and lease the battery pack - annual mileage dictates the amount per month paid.

                 Annual Mileage 4500 6000   7500    9000    10500

                 22kW                   £49    £59      £69        £79        £89

The lease ensures that should your battery pack drop below 75% efficiency that Renault will replace it. For the lease you also get nationwide car recovery and up to 3 days car hire. You can call out the recovery for breakdowns, flat tyres and even running out of electric charge. I still think that this is a good deal as it give peace of mind for a relatively small cost.

If anyone considering an EV is squeamish about leasing the battery pack there are plenty of cars out there where you own the car and batteries.

We arranged the handover for the nearest motorway service station with a fast (45KW) charger thus enabling us to get home with ease. Matt from Go Green also loaned me a Granny Cable (it plugs into your domestic wall socket) until I had arranged the fitting of my own home charger. All part of the good service provided by the current EV seller community.

I selected a locally based supplier to fit my charger, in order to support local businesses. The cost £180 - using the UK Government Grant of £500 towards the fitting of chargers (you can fit a second charger and claim the full Grant again).

I now have a 3KWh Rolec charger on the front of the house (it is quite discrete) - so can now charge my 22KW battery pack from 0-100% in just over 7 hours at a price of £0.13 per KW - £2.86. I actually rarely if ever charge from empty, I mainly return with at least 40% charge remaining (13.2KW- charge cost £1.71).

EV drivers are always asked how far will it go? The answer for the 22KW Zoe is... it depends. Batteries do not like temperature extremes therefore the Zoe will usually manage 65-70 miles on a full charge in winter and 90-95 miles in the summer.. for me my daily range is usually around 50 miles giving me a good buffer to get home.

Of course on long journeys, especially in our part of Wales require a little planning in advance... 

So how have I found my time with Zoe... it has been challenging...

and frustrating....

But, ultimately I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and wouldn't change anything, well, almost anything! My future choice is very likely to be another EV, perhaps with a slightly larger battery pack and a tad more range.... more to follow.

Life with Zoe

I have renamed our blog to begin telling stories of electric car ownership in Wales. Many readers will know that back in December 2017 that I finally took the step away from combustion engined travel - vehicles also know as ICE (Internal Combustion Engine or FOSSILS - named after the original of the fuel type and also because they have been around for over 100 years! ZOE came from a very nice man called Matt at Go Green Autos in Oxfordshire. ZOE was registered on my birthday in 2015, so was just over 2 years old and had covered 20,000 pollution free miles when she came to Wales.

ZOE is a 22KWh battery powered vehicle with a notional range at 3-4.5 Miles per KWh giving a range of between 66 ( cold/winter) and 99 ( warm/summer) miles between charges. The majority of the time ZOE charges at home for £0.13 per KW.... 0-100% charge costing £2.86....it could be cheaper if we had Economy 7 with cheap overnight electricity!

 Life with Zoe has not always been an easy road, she is basically more computer than car and as such suffers from occasional 'glitches', the technology is also relatively new and as such suffers from early adoption issues. However, I still would not swap her for anything other than a 40KWh+ battery vehicle.

ZOE has been on the back of a flatbed truck once or twice to the very nice people at Cardiff Renault, the team there led by another Matt on the service desk has always treated us courteously and with respect, I can't fault their customer service.

I wanted to give an insight into the up's and down's of EV ownership by describing our day yesterday. Jaycob and I set off from Abergavenny with 100% charge to drive the 118 miles to an event called EV's in the Park in Coventry.

You will note immediately that at best 99 miles does not equate to 118 miles. I had planned 2 stops for charging. The first was 58 miles away on the M5. We arrived with 20% battery remaining. We got lucky here as our 35 minute stop (including toilets and breakfast - at 8am) ... even more of a bonus was the fact that the charger gave us a FREE CHARGE ( this happens from time to time on the Ecotricity network and is a bonus).
Stop 2 was 23 miles away on the M42. We arrived and met some fellow travellers also on their way to Coventry, charge of 20 minutes to 96% ... cost £2.49. We arrived nicely at 11am to enter the show ground and parked right behind a Tesla Roadster... Jaycob was very happy!!! total cost for 118 miles £2.49

We had a great day trying out vehicles and talking to EV owners and members of the public. We left the show at around 3.45 in order to avoid the rush (there were 103+ vehicles at the show this year). We travelled back to our M42 charge point to charge up to 97% at a cost of £4.49)... now the journey home is a bit more challenging as there is not a fast charger on the southern service station that we needed on the M5. I had planned a short dash for a charge at Waitrose on London Road Worcester.... we arrived with a notional 63 miles and an onward journey of at least 68 miles... so needed a few electrons.
I had stopped at the POLAR chargers in Worcester previously with no problem... sadly not so on this occasion. The first post began charging with no problem, we were just about to go in for another drink break for about 20 minutes when we noticed that ZOE had stopped charging...also there were engine and charging warning lights flashing on the dashboard!!! The car would not allow me to select a gear only to stay in Park!... the charger has charged me the £1.20 connection fee! We decided to take a 20 minute break anyway in order to see if ZOE's computer cleared the error probably caused by the faulty charger....
On our return we were pleased that all seemed well, so we swapped to a second charge post at the same place.....NO charge possible, but at least no warning lights! Can we get home... probably not still 68 miles on motorway and dual carriageway with 63 notional miles on the Guess-O-Meter (GOM)! we searched for other chargers locally and found a similar 7KW charger at ASDA in Worcester... so off to ASDA we went.
Connected with no problem to the ASDA POLAR charger and we took a 30 minute stroll around while we waited for a boost charge...at a cost of £1.20.
We left for home with around 80 miles showing on the GOM and arrived home with 20 miles of charge remaining.
So not all plain sailing then and we probably took 1.5 hours longer than we would have in a FOSSIL car...cost for 236 miles of driving £9.38 ( sadly we had to count the extra £1.20 at Waitrose or it would have been £8.18 giving a cost of around £0.40 per mile... it would have been £0.35 if we hadn't paid twice in Worcester!


So all in all we had a lovely day, a bit of drama and tales to tell. That really sums up EV driving in 2018....more to follow.

Musing on life back in the UK

I have been back in the UK permanently now for just over 3 months. I must say that very much like my relocation to The Netherlands back in January 2011 that there has been a certain degree of 'reverse homesickness'.  There remain aspects of life in the UK that I find hugely frustrating while missing very much the atmosphere of The Hague.
These have however been more than compensated for by the sheer and simple fact that I am home and available for 'family time' from across the generations. I have been on hand to take my mum shopping, to actually attend musical events without the tiresome requirement of a flight!!! I have enjoyed Evensong at St Mary's Church and Sweeney Todd in Abertillery, and been on hand to assist my uncle in roof repairs at my mother's house.
Of course the main reason for my return was to facilitate 'working' from home, this has worked well to date as I have been able to pick up a few short term online projects which while being fun also have the advantage of supplementing my pension! I hope that this work continues as it is great to actually be able to take time out to walk the Welsh countryside, even though I am technically working. Also it makes it  possible to revisit The Netherlands as a tourist in order to get a 'Dutch Fix'  I would contend that this is the best of all possible options and on balance I am more than happy that I made the move.....I will continue to Muse on things that I find intersting and hopefully....relevant?

Blog post from 21/09/2006

This blog will be the musings of a welsh Primary School teacher who should probably get out more !!!
There are some interesting things happening in the world of Web 2.0 at present with the upcoming K12 online conference http://www.k12onlineconference.org/ which look as if it is going to be an interesting step in global communication using the web. The site is still looking for us out there to give them suggestions for the conference content - another step forward. I know that David Noble at Booruch http://booruch.libsyn.com/ is into skypecasting in addition to running an excellent blog and podcast. I guess the leading light in all Web 2.0 stuff is David Warlick http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/ he who must be the blog/pod guru. You see I told you that I should get out more !!!!
An issue that I would like some feedback on is, how in the rest of the UK ( excluding Wales) laptops for pupils run by e-Learning Foundation works out. Their development Director Ray Moore wrote an article in last week's TES (15th September) headlined Home Sweet Laptop where he was showing how the digital divide is growing between England and Wales in as much as in UK as a whole 58% of homes have a PC and 49% have internet connection, while in Wales the same figures are 51% and 41% apparently lowest in UK apart from Northern Ireland and getting wider( straw pole in my Year 3 class - 15 out of 29 with no PC access at home ). In Wales we do not have the laptop for pupils due to the policy of our Assembly to use their funds in other directions ( that's another story).
The aim is that parents agree to pay £3 per week in order to give their child access to a laptop for use in school and at home ( they have a tie up with AOL for free internet access) - while even £3 is a small amount of money, there will still be parents who will not see the worth of computer access even at that price while others will find even that amount quite high on a regular basis. I would like to know if this disadvantages these pupils even more than when there is no scheme at all - this is a problem that my headteacher wanted clarification on also.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Ddraig Goch Blog!

10 years ago on Thursday 21 September 2006 the Ddraig Goch Blog first appeared. In its first few years the blog was dedicated to educational technology. The main focus of the blog in its early days was the integration into education of the plethora of 'Web2.0' tools that were appearing at the time... almost weekly back in 2006-7. It appeared to me that educators were being almost 'blinded' by the new possibilities and that we weren't necessarily as a profession looking at the issue from a fully educational perspective. I am pleased to report that this has improved over the past decade as global educators have fully explored the educational aspects of new programmes and more recently 'apps'. Over the years since my blog began education and 'ed tech' has remained a focus, the blog has diversified as I have.... not always in the desired direction. The result is a very eclectic posting history, which I hope still has the aim of considering the blending of education and technology. Looking forward to the next 10 years.....Hip!Hip!Hooray!
via GIPHY

Relocation back to Wales

Since my late father's passing in November 2015 I have taken the time to re-evaluate my position. I consider myself to be hugely fortunate to have been offered the opportunity to relocate to The Netherlands in 2011. I would recommend to everyone that should an opportunity such as this arise in your life, that you seriously consider it. Of course there are strains placed on family life and relationships, however I firmly believe that the benefits of living abroad outweigh the negatives.
You gain the chance to view your own country as an outsider, this highlights the particular hangups that all countries and their citizens have about themselves. I am of the opinion that you gain a greater perspective on your own life and position from a global perspective.
I read a quote earlier today on Facebook from Tim Rylands - I'd rather look back on my life and say 'I can't believe that I did that', rather than saying I wish I'd done that. I fully agree with Tim's sentiment as it is not productive to look at what might have been. It would have been difficult to consider the 'what ifs' had I not taken the decision to relocate in 2011.
I know that personally I have grown in confidence and self worth as a direct result of having to live and work in a non English speaking country. I accept that the Dutch have very good English and use it regularly and that I worked in an English speaking environment. However, I believe that after over 5 years in the country that I began to think and react like a Dutch person.
The Netherlands is certainly a great country in which to enjoy the outdoor life, museums and the cinema ( with subtitles in Dutch). For me though the pull of 'the mother country' began to impact my thoughts more as we moved into 2016. My original plan was to retire and move back in 2017-18 however this shifted as 'homesickness' increasingly set in. In March I took the decision to resign/retire call it what you will? As with all such decisions, once made there was a sense of relief and the opportunity to look forward to new beginnings at home.... real home!
Time has moved swiftly from that decision and today I find myself back in Wales looking forward to getting back into the life of my small town..... I will of course miss my 'other life', however it will always be with me, and will influence me in the future.
There are aspects of Dutch life and culture that I will miss, no doubt I will require a few visits back in order to get my 'dutch fix'..... I will miss:

• 'Real' Fresh Mint Tea
• Savoury Pancakes ( at the Pannekoekhuis Sheveningen)
• Bottled Belgian Beer ( Palm, Duvel and Le Chouf)
• Pathe Cinema's ( Buitenhof in particular)
• Hema
• Those lovely custard slices from The Bienkorf
• Dutch queuing 
• Trams and buses ( 3 and 24)
• Cycle lanes and priority for bicycles
• Dutch 'Weekends'
• My MuseumCard - and Museum Night

All of the above experiences and situations are locked in my heart and will not leave, I am sure that they will grow stronger with time.

From now on I am looking forward to new employment opportunities and to working from my home as a base.... and reconnecting with my 'Welshness'.

Thank you Holland for the experience and thank you to the IB for the opportunity.

Put the kettle on it's time for a cup of tea!

Did we ever consider our digital footprint?

Checking on an online app that I had first used back in 2007 prompted me to look back to when this blog began and it was.....Thursday 21 September 2006!
I am sure that when it all began for me that I did not pay much heed to the collective power of a decade of blogging. Back in 2006 I had no idea how long I would continue writing, or even if there was an audience for my random thoughts.... I am still unsure!
The blog first began as a test before I unleashed the power of blogging on my unsuspecting pupils in Cefn Fforest Primary School back in 2006. Little did I realise at the time that not only could it enthuse our pupils, but also that it would also give me a whole new group of online friends, many of whom I may never meet in the 'real world'.
What has 10 years taught me, mainly that I actually have the stamina to sustain my thoughts across a range of topics and of course a range of jobs. One truth that is certain is that I found the transition away from teaching and the classroom a challenge from a blogging perspective. As your pupils will tell you, writing for an audience is a powerful force. Once out of the classroom I lost that immediate contact with the group, dropped away from online forums that I had been active in, and eventually of course the blog lost direction.
There have been a few readjustments across the years, however, this blog remains the random thoughts of an untamed educator  released into the 'real world' ... this I suspect will never change.
I look forward to raising a glass of champagne on 21 September and wishing the Ddraig-Goch blog a happy 10th birthday!

Google glass ideas

I want to float my 'Google glass' idea to a wider audience.

Having used Apple FaceTime to take my grandchildren on a short tour of the Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam my mind drifted to how Google glass could be used for a similar purpose. I propose a business idea to run remote tours of museums and art galleries for those who are unable to travel either due to age and infirmity or simply cost.

Use 1 - for residents in sheltered accommodation who retain a love of art and museums. To run remote guide led tours streamed in 'real time' and recorded for future use.

Use 2 - for schools either (a) to prepare pupils for a forthcoming visit to a gallery or museum by giving them an insight into the geography and layout. (b) for pupils studying a particular period who are unable to travel to a venue. An educational guide would lead the class through a gallery answering questions as they move through. 

A further use was suggested by a colleague of mine who recently remotely attended a friend's wedding. The wedding was in New York however those present were usinga variety of social media tools to attend from 10 different countries. How cool would it be to use google glass to give an 'in the room point of view' for remote attendees. This could also be recorded for future use by the happy couple.

I see a use by Estate Agents .....letting agents to produce walk through videos for prospective buyers/tennants.

I look forward to hearing the thoughts of the community......and possible partners?

The Weight of Elephants

Saturday 17 May 2014 - Filmhuis Den Haag The Weight of Elephants (New Zealand)

We meet up with 10 year old Adrian in semi rural New Zealand. In fact the isolation of the film is enhanced by its setting, in and around Invercargill, one of the southernmost cities in the world being at the southern tip of New Zealand. 

Adrian has been abandoned by his mother and is being brought up by his grandmother. Gran is also caring for her disturbed adult son Rory, uncle to Adrian. In his lucid moments Rory bonds with Adrian over the youngster's love of sea monsters. As we meet our characters Adrian is objecting vociferously to having his head shaved by Gran in order to clear head-lice. The 10 year old foresees how this will further alienate him from his peer group in school

The cutting and camera angles in Daniel Borgman's movie enable the audience to experience the awkwardness that Adrian feels as he tries to fit in with his school peer group.

Adrian is haunted by the fact that everyone who is most precious to him abandons him. He is left to his own devices after school and creates his own fantasy world in the abandoned playground next to his Gran's house.

The Weight of Elephants - International Trailer from Katja Adomeit on Vimeo.
In a parallel storyline the TV and media is full of the search for 3 youngsters who have been abducted. While playing in his fantasy world Adrian becomes aware of his neighbours - 3 young children. He has not seen them before and they do not go to school..... has he discovered the abducted children?
After a number humiliating experiences in school Adrian gradually realises that fitting in is perhaps not the best strategy. He befriends his new neighbours particularly Nicole who is his own age. He also finds company with other 'outsiders'.
The cast inhabit their characters well with the children undoubtedly being the stars of the film - The naturalistic acting style of Nicole (Angelina Cottrell) and Adrian (Demos Murphy) in particular steal the show.

IMdB gives a score of 6.8, Rotten Tomatoes do not have any score yet as the film is quite new. I would suggest a score of 7.5 would be a fair representation of the film. I think that viewers will find this to be a rewarding experience.

19th and 20th Century History in film....at Pathe Buitenhof

Quite by chance over the past few days I have been fortunate enough to see two excellent examples of the historical film genre.
Buitenhof again was the venue, I was heartened to find that even after a break of two weeks of film attendance that I have retained the Foursquare Mayorship of the cinema.
The two films show the huge range and variety within a film type. On Thursday evening requiring escapism I headed for my favourite venue to watch The Invisible Woman.

Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in this recreation of the somewhat secret relationship between Charles Dickens and Ellen (Nelly) Ternan. When they first met Nelly was 18 and Dickens 45. He had been married married to his wife of 22 years,  Catherine with 10 children. Nelly was the third of the three Ternan acting sisters.
The film gives what seems to my sensibilities a very good evocation of 19th Century England. You can almost smell the mustiness and feel the confinement of the Victorian age. The acting is earnest and indeed Felicity Jones as Nelly gives a spellbinding performance. However,  I found the film uneven in its rendition of the story. this could be explained by stating that it follows Dickens turbulent moods however it meant that the film failed to fully engage me leaving me ultimately unsatisfied. IMDb gives the film a score of 6.4 while Rotten Tomatoes has the critics scoring the film 76% and Film-goers 52%. I would agree with the Rotten Tomatoes score which is sad as there could be a much better film somewhere in the cutting room!

Sunday 6th April - Pathe Buitenhof  - The Book Thief

I tried to put to the back of my mind some criticisms that have made of this film, and have not read the book on which is was based. I am happy to report that the film is sprinkled with wonderful performances which are drawn together into a well told story. 14 year old Sophie Nelisse gives a magnetic performance as the central character of the film Leisel Meminger. Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson are excellent as the very human husband and wife, with the acerbic Watson lovingly scolding the husband to whom she is devoted. Rush as the romantic and wistful father who holds the family together, but also threatens its very existence thanks to a promise given in a previous war.  I also want to make mention of Nico Liersch also 14 years old who plays Rudy, Leisel's love interest... his striking Aryan looks mark him.
I enjoyed the film the period was well presented and the characters fitted within this very well, each playing off each other. I felt that The Book Thief was everything that The Invisible Woman could have been. While IMDb scores the film 6.4 while Rotten Tomatoes scores the film with 46% from the critics and 76% from us the film-going public.
I think that the Rotten Tomatoes score for The Book Thief by film critics show that on occasions the critics in their earnest desire to give the viewing public the full picture can forget that an audience is often looking for a film which grabs them, takes them on its journey unfolding human emotions along the way. I am glad that I for one managed to banish the naysayers. This is a must see film.

Saturday Film - 29 March Pathe Spui: Captain America: The Winter Soldier IMAX 3D

I did not have my expectations set very high entering the cinema on Saturday, the main draw of Captain America; The Winter Soldier was to experience once again of Pathe's IMAX 3D experience.
One of the issues that I have with Captain America is that of all Marvel 'Superheroes' he has the most difficulty operating in a contemporary setting being rooted back in the global wars of the 20th Century.

Captain America has also been portrayed previously as a rather 2 dimensional 'cardboard character lacking a personality or a sense of humour.
Whether it is the inclusion of  The Black Widow ( Scarlet Johansson) as a foil for our hero, or the bright and crisp screenplay from a strong writing team. The result I found to be as refreshing as the exciting reinvention of Ironman back in 2008. We see Chris Evans breathe life and character into the character of Steve Rogers.
Of course we are not in the audience of Captain America for an in depth exploration of character..... This is after-all a blockbuster 3D tale about a soldier who jumps out of planes without a parachute and seems to be able to defend himself against a huge amount of bullets and rockets with a simple shield!
The story-line has also been used quite recently... I recall another hero,  James Bond and M in a recent tale about a compromised organisation which begins to turn on itself.
Taking the film with all of these compromises into consideration I still found this a credible superhero vehicle.

Of the supporting cast - Robert Redford, Samuel L Jackson and the previously mentioned Scarlet Johansson. Redford and Johansson give strong performances. I agree with others who have suggested that Johansson as The Black Widow has earned herself a film of her own. While Jackson's Nick Fury character I am beginning to find repetitive and too predictable.....There is the hope that change may be on the way regarding  the Nick Fury character(plot spoiler). However I believe that at least 80% of the audience could see through the seemingly actual demise of the character....note to director... must try harder next time!
I must admit I was relieved again to know that it was only really America that was at risk, and narrower than this that it was Washington DC that was the backdrop for our story..... the america-centric nature of the film is a little disappointing and this may ultimately cause it not to play well in the rest of the world.

However with all of its faults I did find the film well worth my time, it moved along at a good pace. Others have reported the final 20 minutes to be too full of over the top  'Bang! and Crash! I would disagree I felt that it was in proportion and leading us to the all to predictable ending.
IMDb give the film a strong 8.3 while Rotten Tomatoes scores Captain America: The Winter Soldier 94% from the critics and +99% from the audience.
I am of the opinion that the Rotten Tomatoes score is somewhat high presently, I would tend on balance to agree with IMDb with an overall score of 8.3 to 8.4.
While I wouldn't say this is a 'not to be missed' film and while it is unlikely to ever be thought of as a classic film, even of its type, I think that the film has merit if taken at face value, I have no doubt that audiences will continue to score this film highly.