- Coming up on this week's news,
tool thieves laugh in court as a video is shown
of them ramming an electrician with a van.
Rexel introduces rapid 90 minute drop-offs
in what some are calling Deliveroo for Sparks
and cash-strapped homeowners
are asking electrical contractors not
to charge their tools due to the cost of living crisis.
Welcome to Electrical News Weekly,
in association with Myenergi.
Whether you're listening in the van, on site
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
I've been challenged to slip into this week's show,
comment with them below for the chance to win a prize.
Three tool thieves laughed in court
after watching CCTV footage showing them ramming a van
into an electrician after stealing his tools.
The trio sniggered, smiled and yawned
throughout their trial at Derby Crown Court.
They stole seven tool boxes belonging
to a self-employed electrician,
the tools were estimated to be worth around £3000.
The electrician realized what was happening
and tried to close a gate to the premises
where he was working, but at this point,
one of the men drove a van into him
and the gate causing him several injuries
and immobilizing the vehicle.
Recorder Richard McGonagee described the act
as utterly dangerous and destructive.
He said the electrician was lucky not to be killed.
All three pleaded guilty to two counts of theft
with the driver also admitting
causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
While on bail for these offenses, one of the men
also broke into a local business,
which was the 17th burglary offense he had committed
and he already has a further 39 convictions for 83 offenses
while another has 23 convictions for 56 offenses.
The third man also has an extensive record
of theft offenses.
Andrew Picken, defending, said two of the men,
who are brothers, had had what he termed a rough upbringing
and an absent father.
Furthermore, one of the brothers has been off sick
for depression and anxiety
and he hopes to seek further help, while in custody.
One of the men was sentenced to one year
and four and a half months,
the driver of the van was given a total sentence
of four years and three months.
Both men will serve half in custody
with the rest on license.
The final member of the trio was given 24 weeks,
suspended for two years.
He must also complete a thinking skills program,
eight rehabilitation activity days
and 40 hours of unpaid work.
In other news, Roxel is introducing
what some dubbing Deliveroo for Sparks.
The electrical wholesaler is offering speedy
90 minute drop-offs for those occasions
where it's crucial to have the right component.
The distributor has teamed up
with the courier surface Gopher,
to offer what it's calling Roxel Rapid.
Currently it's available within a five mile radius
of 16 branches across London.
However, Roxel tells us that if it's successful,
the company will consider a nationwide rollout.
We recently met up with the founder of Snap-It,
who work on a similar quicker
than the Jamaican bob sleigh team model,
so check out the video we made with them
about this ongoing revolution in the electrical industry.
I'll leave a link to that video in the show notes.
Also hoping for a nationwide rollout is ABB,
who unveiled the world's fastest EV charger recently.
The Terra 360 is the first charger to break
the 350 kilowatt barrier and the the initial installation
in the UK will be at the Braintree Electric Forecourt
in Essex by Gridserve.
However, there isn't a car that we know about
that can take advantage of this blistering charging speed.
The only candidate we can think of
is the Porsche Taycan Plus,
which caps out at 268 kilowatt hours max charging speed.
The good news is that the Terra 360 comes
with two cables so it can charge a pair
of cars at the same time.
Gridserve says it's looking at other locations
for more installations to bring cost effective charging
to more motorists.
Meanwhile, Jordan Brompton of Myenergi says she's come up
with the secret of cost effective charging, work from home.
The company is now targeting its marketing
of solar installations at hybrid and home workers.
The reason, remote workers can effectively soak up
the excess power from solar during the day
to charge their cars.
In fact, they can even take their EV charging completely
off grid this way.
This can reduce annual bills for electric motoring
by upwards of 500 pounds.
However, the boom in solar is causing headaches
for the trade who say they are struggling to cope
with demand and are experiencing skills shortages.
The latest initiative designed to help
is a new professional training course
from Goodwe known as Goodwe plus.
The program is designed to allow electrical contractors
to get on top of the design, installation, commissioning
and troubleshooting of inverters and batteries.
It also offers a route into the industry
for those looking to add solar energy to their portfolio.
Phased over three separate modules, it's live training
that can be undertaken in person or virtually.
It's taught by a technical specialist from Goodwe
and on completion, installers will receive certification
as a Goodwe plus installer.
So, if you're interested in adding solar to your repertoire,
I've put the link in the show notes.
And finally, in a move that's tighter
than a Hobbit in a recession, there are increasing reports
of cash strapped homeowners asking electrical contractors
not to charge their tools up during call outs.
It comes as the price of energy continues to soar.
According to research by Tool Station,
a third of tradespeople have been asked to arrive
with their drills, nail guns and other tools fully charged.
Some contractors are even considering passing on the cost
of powering their tools to their clients.
Seb Folkener of Tool Station says the energy crisis
is affecting every area of life.
So it's little surprise that tradespeople are considering
how to recoup charging costs.
That's it for this week, but coming up
on our YouTube channel this week, we take a look
at the Robus Humanitas,
which is a human-centric lighting system,
that's really interesting.
I review a rather lovely Dado Trunking System
from Marshall Tufflex, the Sterling Curve Range
and we've got a rather special Q and A video dropping,
featuring a brand new face to the channel.
They'll be explaining the difference between earthing
and bonding, so keep an eye out for that.
Fling our fortnightly Wednesday live stream into the mix
and that's quite the lineup.
So make sure you subscribe to get updated on all of that.
Now, if you think you know the words I've smuggled
into today's show, pop your guests into the comments
and we'll dig out a goody bag prize
to the first to get the right answers.
Last week's words were galactic and Battenberg.
And as there was no story last week
relating to an interplanetary bake-off,
the word stuck out like a sore thumb,
as evidenced by the fact that Lee Spencer got both right
before the Battenberg had even called.
Well done to you Lee.
Please click the link in the description
below to claim your prize.
Thanks for listening to this episode
of Electrical News Weekly in association with Myenergi.
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 taut calibrated arm.