Rule Change To Shake Up EV Charger Installation

- Coming up on this week's news, a key change in the rules for EV charger installation is set to dramatically boost work for the electrical trade. A global ban on fluorescent lamps could happen after 149 countries agreed to consign the tubes to the dust bin of history. And electricians share their favourite nicknames, feather on site colleagues. Welcome to "Electrical News Weekly," in association with the Electric Heating Company. Whether you're listening in the van, onsite, or down at the wholesale counter, I'm Joe Robinson and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble. And as always, if you think you've spotted the two words that I've been challenged to slip into this week's show, comment with them below for the chance to win a prize. A key change in the rules for EV charger installation is set to dramatically boost work for the electrical trade. Power watchdog Ofgem has removed the need for businesses to pay for a substation upgrade if they want to instal lots of plugin points for their employees. One of the biggest barriers facing firms planning workplace PowerPoints has been the huge bills they face if their site doesn't have enough juice. Some companies have been quoted sums of hundreds, of thousands, and one was even quoted a cool million pounds. But now, the local DMO has to pick up most of the cost. Customers still need to pay for the works to provide their new connection, but the change means that the cost of installing EV infrastructure has fallen dramatically for many businesses. Once Scottish utility saw its bill for an enhanced connection fall by more than half a million pounds, from 640,000 to around 130,000. Elsewhere, the rush for EV charges is gathering pace. Asda this week announced that it wants to instal 20,000 Tesla Superchargers in its supermarkets and petrol stations across Europe. The locations will be branded EV Pointer. It will be available to drivers of all electric vehicles regardless of brand. The deal is special because Tesla rarely sells supercharger hardware to third parties and never at scale. And more good news for people who don't run their cars on bits of dead brontosaurus. Home charging has been given a boost this week with the news that West Berkshire Council has become the latest local authority to warm to the concept of EV cables cut into the pavement. It's just launched a trial of Turbocharges PVC duct. This is designed to help householders without driveways to charge their car by feeding the cable across the pavement As it's recessed, there's no trip hazard for pedestrians. West Berkshire joins Milton Keynes, Durham, Redding, and West Lothian in sampling the technique. A further six manufacturers of gullies are lobbying councils around the country. An alternative to plugin points has been unveiled in the shape of a robot charger that roams car parks in search of flat batteries. Bolt-ee is an intelligent battery on wheels, which its make a British firm no Bolt says"Well soon be able to steer itself around vehicles." It comprises 30 kilowatt hour batteries and 30 kilowatt DC to DC power modules. It can deliver a hundred miles of range in just 10 minutes. Pilot operations are set to begin in the new year, and Skynet apparently will be taking over the year after. In recent weeks, we've been asking about your experiences with electric vans And Libby Azzurri of Azzurri Electrical got in touch to tell us about his switch to Nissan e-ENV200. He tells us that thanks to the van, he often gets approached by members of public asking how they go about getting an EV charger installed. He also says that uses the van inverter to offer his customers 240 volt power when he has to turn off the electricity to their home. It hasn't all been plain sailing, though. In the early days, he ran outta charge on the M1 after a long night shift. Thankfully, his lease includes free breakdown recovery. If you too have an EV, let us know how you're getting on with your driving shenanigans and don't forget to send a pick of yourself and your van. We also want your stories, your recommendations, and your ideas to share with the friendly eFIXX community. Send us some pics of your instals or let us know if you've come across any new kit that's making your job easier. In other news, some 147 of the world's largest countries have agreed an effective ban on fluorescent lamps by 2027. It follows the prohibition of T8 lamps in the UK and the EU in September. The UK will also remove T5 and compact fluorescent lamps with non-integrated gear. in February, 2024. Long Life T5 and T8 lamps have a stay of execution in the UK until February, 2024. They were banned in the EU earlier this year. Despite the ban, existing stocks from supplies of these lamps will still be available until they are exhausted. In product news, the heat pump industry has hit out at what it terms fake news about the tech in the newspapers. It says the misinformation is leading to confusion. Heat pump installer good energy says it's shocked by a survey which showed that a quarter of those question believed that the units are less efficient than gas boilers. In fact says, good energy, they are as much as four times more efficient. The research also showed that a significant number thought that heat pumps are noisy and won't work in the cold, neither of which is true. Good Energy boss Nigel Pocklington says he's not sure how heat pumps ended up on the frontline of the culture war, but he says he will keep pointing out the facts and the data. Good man, Nigel. Scolmore has expanded its Elucian consuming unit range with a 100 amp single phase energy metre. The DIN rail mounted unit provides a reliable way to monitor energy consumption in residential, solar and utility applications. It features a white backlit LCD display and RS485 MODBUS compatibility for import and export energy measurement. In last week's question of the week, we asked you what effect will running cable through half a metre of thermal insulation have on the current carrying capacity of a cable? And for the first time in ages, LinkedIn members prove themselves smarter than YouTube viewers with a very respectable 75% versus 72% respectively getting it right. That it would halve the current carrying capacity. However, for the very worrying fifth of you that thought it would have no effect, please go and check out our free training package on electrical design to help you develop your understanding a little further. You'll find a link to that in the show notes. Also, don't forget to test your knowledge on this week's question. And finally, electricians have been sharing the sometimes brutal nicknames that they use for their onsite colleagues. It follows a post on the social media site, Reddit, which went viral. A sparky who once turned upon sighting yellow overalls, was christened Lala. Another who looked like Elton John was named Socket Man, an electrical contractor who was a nightmare to work for, was dubbed Freddie an apprentice was called 20 Watts for being, well, a bit dim. Clearly, that was in the days before LED lighting. We have a colleague at our place who we refer to as Daisy because some days he's in and some days he isn't. Let us know who you think that is in the comments below and let us know your creative nicknames. Just pop 'em in the comments. Now, just before we get to your favourite bit of the show where I reveal last week's challenge, words and winners, we want to thank our premium partners. We couldn't make the news without you. First up, they're the people who've created the Swiss Army knife of solar inverters, along with all weather batteries, very much the Boy Scouts of the solar industry. It's Sunsynk. Up next for all your circuit protection needs. They're like having an Italian star Stryker and your Premiership team. It's Lewden Palazzoli. And for the ultimate experience in wireless sound and home cinema with their most powerful portable speaker. Yet it's the home of the Roam Sonos. The best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel, it's Doncaster Cables, the home of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality cables. And finally celebrating their 60th anniversary this year with an incredible range of equipment from EV charge points through industrial sockets and switches to kit for explosive areas. Plus, they supplied gear for a Scame Parre Factory, so they'll always have a place in my heart. It's Scame. Big thanks to you all. We really appreciate your ongoing support for the news. If you think you know the words I've smuggled into this week's show, pop your guests into the comments and we'll dig out a goodie bag prize to the first to get the right answers. Last week's words were kingfisher and palindrome and no one got both. In fact, no one even guessed the second one at all. Very disappointing. However, I've decided to award the prize to the first person to get Kingfisher, and that person was @timewart1279. Excellent work there. If a slightly strange name, click the get involved link to claim your prize. And speaking of prizes, in possibly the biggest news story of the year, I have finally got caught up with the Herculean task of sending prizes out for ENW. I personally have bagged up and sent out every single last one apart from one in Italy that I don't have an address for, and one in Uganda, which according to our winner over there, doesn't have a proper address system. I don't think we're ever gonna financially recover from sending that one out. However, I am working on both, so bear with me. Can't help but feel we should put some geographical restrictions on this competition. Next thing you know, Mr. Tim Peake of the International Space Station will be having a guest and I'll have to approach SpaceX for slot on their cargo manifest. Anyway, thanks for listening to this episode of "Electrical News Weekly," in association with the Electric Heating Company. Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update. Thanks for listening, and until next time, have a great week. Stay safe out there. And remember, there's no such thing as a calibrated arm.