The main concern I’ve found people have about electric vehicles is
range. The feeling that an electric vehicle or EV can only travel a limited
amount of miles before requiring a charge puts people off. It’s a bit like boot
space. The number of hatchbacks sold in the UK is higher than most countries,
as we want to cover all eventualities, such as moving that large piece of furniture
or carrying all our children’s gear as they head off to university. If an EV can work as a taxi (which it can very successfully), then
surely it can substitute a petrol or diesel engine car in most situations and
certainly the second car in a two car household.
The good news is that there are now more EV charging stations in London
than conventional fuel stations. More rapid chargers are coming on line at
motorway service stations all the time and there are websites and apps readily
available which pinpoint the locations.
As a consequence, range anxiety in the context of a proportion of the
car buying market should be of little concern. However this is not the full
story and there are more significant arguments that need to be debated and
improvements implemented to address range anxiety in the context of different
types of user.
Firstly, a better method for communicating expected range
should be provided to consumers. Yes the EV manufacturers will say their
vehicle has a range of 120 miles, but in practice you will only get 90-100
miles per charge in the summer and perhaps 20% less in the winter. In addition,
range is heavily impacted by driver behaviour so perhaps there needs to be a
matrix of figures presented to consumers to help inform their choice.
Range anxiety is not a pure
EV issue. How often does your conventional petrol engine match the
manufacturer’s miles per gallon specification? Recent research suggests that
actual performance is on average 30% less than stated on the specification
sheets of new vehicles.
Secondly, consumers should get a choice of battery size. As
with lots of things EV, Tesla is already leading the way in this with their
Model S, which comes with either a 60 kWh battery or a 85 kWh battery depending
on how many miles you want your car to be able to travel on one charge. I
expect other car manufacturers to follow suit. For example, the iconic design
of the VW Golf is already available with a choice of drive train (diesel
engine, petrol engine or electric motor) and in future, in a similar way to you
choosing the size of your engine, I expect you will be able to choose the size
of your EV battery.
Thirdly, the recharging infrastructure has to mature. For
most early adopters of electric vehicles, the main recharging point is at the
home where a 7 kw charging point, installedwith the help of the Government
subsidy, allows you to recharge your vehicle in approximately 4 hours. This has
since been enhanced with the increasing number of motorway rapid chargers for
the longer journeys plus ‘top up’ chargers available in town in case you forget
to charge the car up overnight.
This current situation is appropriate for the EV market of today, just.
However, for the EV product to go towards mass market adoption, including
commercial fleets, the infrastructure does require substantial enhancement for
the following two main reasons:
(1) Not everyone has off street parking for home charging.
(2) Commercial fleets require an enhanced level of security of supply.
The first issue is most
apparent in urban centres where the move from car owners to car users may
mitigate the problem. These car users are more likely to use car clubs or
taxis. For the reducing number of car owners, housing developers are now
providing fewer assigned car parking spaces. However these spaces are more
likely to have the capacity to charge vehicles overnight as electrical points
are mandated for a certain proportion of spaces. In addition some developers
are also allocating space for rapid chargers to supply those vehicles parked on
street.
The second issue is more
pressing as it is the commercial fleets that perhaps offer the best opportunities
for EV adoption and their consequential reduction in local air pollution.
However without the knowledge that the fleet vehicles can complete their duty
cycles and have access to charging infrastructure if and when they need it,
then they will not make the switch.
The needs of the commercial fleets need to be fully understood by the
local authorities and I expect rapid charging stations (much like today’s
petrol stations with café facilities) will be required in city centres. These
charging stations will have the capability to charge a multitude of vehicles at
any one time and cover all charging methods (like petrol stations offer
unleaded and diesel).
This is very different to the current proposals seen in cities such as
London where the boroughs plan to install up to five or six rapid chargers in
five to six different sites around the borough. This dispersed model may well
supplement the top up charging currently available and provide an option for
residents without off-street parking, but it will be insufficient to convert
commercial fleets to any large extent.
Conclusions
There are so many exciting developments on the horizon and choice and
innovation are becoming important drivers for green technologies. To some
extent, these technologies and EVs need to co-exist to optimize their benefits
which is one of the reasons why I think it is so important to back the uptake
of EVs.
Part of the ideas and concepts behind eConnect cars is to prove the case
for continued investment in electric vehicles and to demonstrate how they can
work effectively. This will encourage further research and development into
battery technology, re-charging options (such as wireless dynamic induction
charging) and the development of other products and services based around EVs.
This post was written by Alistair Clarke,
Managing Director and Owner of eConnect cars. Visit eConnect cars at www.econnectcars.com and follow the
conversation on Twitter - @econnectcars. You can also visit them at the
Business Travel Show Stand B564 - RTM Pavilion on 25-26 February 2015. Register
now for a free pass at www.businesstravelshow.com.
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