electric vehicles: infrastructure
Motorists are starting to switch to electric cars in greater numbers but there are still major issues with range anxiety, and downtime, while vehicles need to recharge. But it does seem that help is on its way with new, better, faster charging stations
Chargé d’affaires Mark Bursa
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APABLE ELECTRIC CARS ARE NOW coming to market in increasing numbers. Most manufacturers now have an electric offering, and it won’t be long before most have a full range of battery-electric models on sale.
So what’s the hold-up? Why are motorists – both professional drivers and private owners – still reluctant to go electric? Clearly it’s not the cars – sales are on the up. The biggest worry remains the old chestnut, “range anxiety”. Range may have increased, but this has simply encouraged drivers to use EVs for longer journeys rather than just urban trips. And that means a commercial charging infrastructure needs to be in place that is reliable, offers rapid charging and is available everywhere. That’s quite a challenge, given the rather chaotic way the networks have developed so far. Thinking has not been joined up – far from it. Different charging technologies with different plugs have developed. VHS versus Betamax video tapes looks like a coherent strategy by comparison. And with the 2030 target for the end of sale of petrol and diesel
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cars in the UK only nine years away, there is a lot to be done. “There’s a big task ahead of us to get ready for that for that target date,” said Pia Bretschneider, UK and Ireland country manager for charging network Ionity. “It’s the lack of a charging infrastructure that’s the key concern now.” The good news is that some serious players are getting involved now – including electricity suppliers, car manufacturers and, finally, oil companies. These multinationals are putting some serious weight behind building proper, usable infrastructure. This was inevitable – if we are to stop using fossil fuels, the existing fuelling infrastructure will become redundant and unused – but this familiar environment can, as we are already seeing, be adapted to provide electricity “pumps” in place of petrol or diesel. And if hydrogen – the alternative’s alternative – is to gain traction, then you will need something not dissimilar to a filling station to service demand. And hydrogen does have significant advantages over batteries, not just in terms of refilling speed, but in its ability to provide power for heavier vehicles such as trucks. Lugging a heavy battery pack around restricts your payload in a way that a lightweight gas tank does not. And if the truck market brings down the price of hydrogen fuel cells, then that will make hydrogenpowered cars more affordable too. And of course, the elephant in the room is the £30 million-plus in
JUNE 2021
