53 minute read
News Analysis
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
CAPABLE 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 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
fuel duty that will be lost once petrol and diesel sales dry up. How to reclaim this money? Home charging is difficult to tax, as the electricity that recharges your car is no different to the electricity that lights your home or powers your washing machine. But commercial charge points can provide a way of collecting duty at point-of-sale, just the way fossil fuels do today.
It’s certainly an easier road to go down than installing road pricing schemes everywhere, as some suggest. Compulsory fitment of trackers, vast investment in ANPR systems and complicated monitoring does not look as attractive as a point-of-sale tax.
The Government seems to be behind the change, though. Last month UK energy regulator Ofgem unveiled plans to invest £300m in 1,800 ultra-fast charging points ahead of the government’s target to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 and phasing out hybrids by 2035.
The bad news is that all the investment in charging infrastructure remains a work in progress. For now, you can’t just rock up at a charge point and expect it to give you 100 miles of juice in half an hour to get you home.
Fast-charging standards have leapt to 50kW, then 150kW and now 350kW, as the charge points have had to be improved to match the range of the latest electric cars. But there are still plenty of older chargers in service, and they may not do the job for you.
According to EV location service ZapMap, the older 50kW chargers remain the most used, with 64% of respondents using them, but there is a rapid rise in the usage of ultra-rapid chargers.
In 2020, 16% of EV drivers used ultrarapid 100kW-plus chargers, a significant increase from the 3% recorded the year before, a Zap-Map survey reported. As of the end of 2020, there were 788 ultra-fast chargers across the country, up from 476 at the end of 2019. And this number is rising rapidly.
Of course, not many cars can yet gain the full benefit of the most powerful 350kW chargers. But if you’re driving a Posche Taycan or Audi e-tron GT, you can charge up in just a few minutes, which bodes well for the future. And forthcoming volume brand EVs such as Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 will be capable of charging close to the 350kW maximum speed, allowing a recharge from 10-80% in around 18 minutes.
The Zap-Map survey found that 90% of EV drivers use the public charging network and 39% use it at least once a week. This has dropped from the 2019 figure of 95%, although this is likely to be due to the impact of Covid-19 on driving patterns and car usage, Zap-Map said.
When specific locations are looked at, 48% charge at supermarkets, with 47% using motorway service stations and 32% using public car parks. Zap-Map said the increase in the number of chargers at supermarkets – with 1,631 chargers in 952 locations – combined with the availability of free charging at some of the major chains is driving this shift.
Supermarkets such as Tesco, Aldi and Morrisons have all signed deals for EV charging, with Tesco’s rollout – in partnership with Pod Point and Volkswagen – hitting a new milestone in 2020 with 402 chargers installed at 200 stores.
Meanwhile, 84% of EV drivers regularly charge at home according to the survey. Dr Ben Lane, co-founder and chief technical officer at Zap-Map, said: “One of the clear conclusions is the importance of having a robust and reliable charging network. As the number of EVs continues its upward march, it’s vital that drivers are offered the simplest and smoothest experience possible.”
In the same survey, Zap-Map collected data on the user experience of each of the public charging networks, with Tesla coming out on top as a result of its “seamless” charging experience. Ecotricity’s Electric Highway was ranked the worst of the networks, with common complaints including that the chargers were older 7kw or 22kW machines, they were poorly maintained and frequently out of service.
So you need to know your networks, and you need to plan your journeys accordingly to make the most of what’s available. As national charging chains emerge, the smart motorist can minimise cost and wasted time with maximum efficiency. So let’s look at the networks that are out there today.
ECOTRICITY
Ecotricity, also known as “The Electric Highway”, was the first mover, unveiling a plan to install a joined-up national
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charging network as long ago as 2011. But being first has been a double-edged sword, and Ecotricity has developed a somewhat tarnished reputation that saw it rock bottom of both the Zap-Map and the RAC’s recent surveys of charging networks.
The good news is that Ecotricity’s motorway network has now been acquired by Gridserve, which last year opened the first all-electric forecourt in the UK.
The move is likely to signal major new investment in Ecotricity’s ageing and unreliable Electric Highway motorway services network.
Gridserve, which is backed by Hitachi Capital, earlier bought a 25% stake in Ecotricity, and the full takeover means it will accelerate plans to replace all existing chargers with new, faster chargers featuring contactless payment.
Gridserve said the new chargers would be along the lines of the flagship Moto motorway services charging bank on the M6 in Rugby, which has 12 ultra-rapid 350kW chargers supplied by Tritium. The 350kW chargers can blast 100 miles of range into supported vehicles in less than five minutes.
But many older Ecotricity chargers are only 7kW devices, which are incapable of delivering more than a handful of miles in a 45-minute charge.
Ecotricity founder Dale Vince said change was needed: “The Electric Highway needs a growth spurt, to make sure that it stays ahead of driver demand. The Electric Highway needs an owner with access to serious funding and real commitment to the cause.”
Gridserve CEO Toddington Harper said: “The upgraded network will provide the confidence for millions more people to make the successful transition to electric vehicles in the earliest possible timeframes”.
In reality, Ecotricity has paid the price for being a charge point pioneer. It has more than 300 charge points, mainly on motorways. And many of them have been in place for well over a decade, with the oldest dating from 2007. And that is where the problems start.
Ecotricity was very clever about getting
Gridserve CEO, Toddington Harper, is promising a major upgrade to the Ecotricity Electric Highway network
“The upgraded network
in early to the motorway services network. Its contracts locked out other networks – as Tesla found out to its cost when it tried to establish its dedicated networks at motorway services.
But for users, that meant Ecotricity effectively had a monopoly. And that was coupled with poor service levels, as the RAC survey pointed out. Survey respondents complained that that the units were old, poorly maintained, and frequently out of service. Many lacked the most up-to-date Combined Charger Socket, which enables modern EVs to be charged at rapid speed.
The Government has expressed its distaste for Ecotricity’s “monopoly”, and earlier this year, Transport Minister Rachel Maclean said the Government was committed to breaking the monopoly and opening up the market to other operators – something that is already happening with increasing numbers of Tesla chargers on motorway services, and others such as Ionity moving in too.
GRIDSERVE
Before it acquired Ecotricity’s Electric Highway, Gridserve was making plenty of noise in the EV charging market through the opening of its first Electric Forecourt in Braintree, Essex, the first of a planned network of 100 in the UK over the next five years.
The site is at Great Notley, just off the A131 – about 17 miles from Stansted Airport. It enables 36 electric vehicles to be charged simultaneously, with high-power 350kW chargers, enabling users to add 200 miles of range in 20 minutes. And Gridserve reckons charging times will reduce as battery technologies develop, particularly with the arrival of solid-state batteries in the coming years.
The site includes various shops including WHSmith, Costa Coffee, Booths, a Post Office, and Gourmande. The facility also includes a waiting lounge, free superfast WiFi, high-end washrooms, a dedicated children’s area, business meeting room pods and even a “well-being area” with exercise bikes that generate electricity.
Gridserve is investing £1 billion in the plan. CEO Toddington Harper said: “Charging has to be simple and free of anxiety, which is why we’ve designed our Electric Forecourts entirely around the needs of drivers, updating the traditional petrol station model for a net-zero carbon world.”
Electricity is generated from both the solar power canopies above the chargers, and a network of hybrid solar farms, also operated by Gridserve. There is also a 6 MWh battery onsite which helps to balance the local energy grid and shift energy to periods when it is more valuable.
Drivers charging at the Electric Forecourt will initially pay just 24p per kWh of energy (including VAT), which is currently the lowest ultra-high power charging rates on the market today – meaning a typical charge from 20% to 80% costs under £10 for an average-size electric vehicle on the market today.
INSTAVOLT
InstaVolt is an ambitious newcomer, with a target of delivering 5,000 chargers by 202425. And it’s not hanging around, opening 62 rapid chargers in March 2021 alone across twenty UK regions including 15 in Warwickshire, 6 in Greater London and 4 in Oxfordshire.
InstaVolt is already moving in to the motorway services market, and earlier this year it opened a rapid charger hub at on the northbound carriageway of Welcome Break’s Corley service area on the M6 near Coventry.
InstaVolt has also signed deals with KFC, Starbucks, Costa and McDonalds to install chargers at fast-food sites. The
Government backing for more motorway fast-charging and greater operator responsibility
The Government last month announced much-needed support for developing EV infrastructure in the UK. And crucially, the demand also includes a call for greater clarity in labelling of charge points, so consumers know what they’re getting when they plug in.
The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) announced a £300 million investment into the UK’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network, mainly to help install 1,800 new charge points on motorway service areas and trunk road locations.
The investment will triple the current network, Ofgem said. Ofgem will also fund a further 1,750 charge points in urban locations, providing a major increase on the 17,000 electric car charge points in the UK.
The two-year plan is part of a long-term £40 billion investment programme in the UK’s electricity infrastructure. Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said: “This £300m down-payment is just the start of building back a greener energy network which will see well over £40bn of investment in Britain’s energy networks in the next seven years.” In the longer term, around 6,000 rapid chargers are expected on motorways and main roads by 2030.
Transport minister Rachel Maclean said: “With more than 500,000 electric cars now on UK roads, this will help to increase this number even further as drivers continue to make the switch to cleaner, greener vehicles.”
Ofgem research showed that 36% of households that do not intend to get an electric vehicle are put off making the switch over a lack of charging points near their home.
Brearley added that it would give drivers “more charging options for longer journeys”. And indeed, Transport Minister Maclean confirmed that the target was to have “at least six high power chargers in every motorway service area by 2023”.
On top of that, operators will have to make sure they have 99% reliability across networks – and provide better and more accessible information about locations, power ratings of chargers and price. The goal, she said, was to make it as easy for drivers to charge their car as it is to refuel a petrol or diesel vehicle.
This is much needed. At present, a motorist arriving at a charge point does not know what’s on offer. Charge points vary greatly in capability. At present they range from a meagre 7kW – similar to a home charger – to superfast 350kW devices, which can recharge a car in 10 minutes – providing the car has matching capability.
Some form of clear and understandable labelling in terms of charging speed, perhaps expressed as “miles per hour” (miles of range added per hour of charging) is long overdue.
The minimum standard for the new rapid chargers under Ofgem’s plan are 150kW devices – good enough to provide 100-plus miles in half an hour or most EVs, though not the most powerful available.
As to who will run the chargers, there is no word. Ecotricity’s monopoly of the motorway will be ended, though, and it’s likely that the service will be spread around a number of operators.
The issue of different systems and connectors needs to be addressed too. The fastest systems use a combined connector that plugs into both the AC and DC sockets on cars that are thus equipped, and this does appear to offer the best chance of offering something close to a unified standard for rapid charging. —Mark Bursa
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KFC partnership targets the installation of rapid chargers at up to 450 sites, while the McDonalds partnership is for the installation of 125kW chargers at new and existing drive-thru restaurants. And more than 200 125kW chargers are to be installed at Costa Coffee locations.
In the RAC survey, InstaVolt was in second place behind the Tesla network. It’s also one of the largest, with around 500 rapid chargers across the country, smaller only than Tesla and BP Pulse. The RAC survey scored InstaVolt highly for both reliability and ease of use, as well as simple contactless payment.
InstaVolt chargers are also available to drivers through EV subscription service Onto, with access to all 2,000 chargers on Onto enabled through an RFID card.
One downside: the units have no AC connectors, so Renault Zoe drivers are unable to use them. And some InstaVolt locations are at the back of service stations or places with no facilities.
IONITY
Another new kid on the block, Ionity is focusing on high-power 350kW charging having ordered 324 of the super-fast chargers from ABB in January 2020.
While it is marketed as a standalone network, Ionity is actually owned by a consortium of car manufacturers, comprising BMW Group, Ford, HyundaiKia, Mercedes Benz, and Volkswagen Group. This means if you buy an EV from one of those, it’s likely to come with an Ionity deal. Just as well, as Ionity is not cheap – though extra costs can be traded against lost time.
In the UK, both Kia and Hyundai recently announced charging network partnerships for their customers that include Ionity, as does Volkswagen’s We Charge, offered with its ID. cars. It also has a partnership with home electricity supplier Octopus Energy, which means Octopus customers see their car charges on their domestic fuel bills.
Ionity has a partnership with Extra motorway services, and this January it opened a new charging station at Cobham services on the M25, with a bank of six 350k chargers at the Shell filling station – a facility that also contains a hydrogen pump. The move means users have a choice of Ionity or Ecotricity at Cobham, with the Ecotricity chargers located near the main service area.
David Metcalfe, rollout manager at Ionity, said that the UK “needs high-power charging stations” to support the transition to net zero transport.
Tesla
At the top of the RAC’s charge point survey is the company that introduced realistic range and rapid charging to the market. Tesla has now been around for almost a decade, and it has taken the car industry almost that time to catch up. It wasn’t until 2018 that traditional car companies could match the performance of Tesla’s cars – and its infrastructure.
Now Tesla has a UK network of more close to 600 high power superchargers and 1,100 “destination chargers”. And its customers are extremely satisfied. Ofcourse, the Tesla network is exclusive to Tesla vehicles. And for many owners, it’s free (or a reasonable 24p/kWh for later adopters).
So the charging process is seamless with no need for any cards, and automatic payment on account. In 2020, Tesla added CCS charging capability for the popular Model 3, and upgraded many supercharger locations to 250kW. Again, only now, with the likes of Ionity and Ecotricity adding 350kW chargers, can other cars match or better Tesla recharge times.
Tesla has been under pressure to make its network available to others, but that doesn’t seem to be on the cards at any time – even though Tesla’s rivals can now match its performance. Indeed, Tesla is even thinking of adding its own cafes to charge stations, providing Tesla-branded food to owners while they wait for a recharge.
BP PULSE
Oil companies have been somewhat coy about the EV charging market, but that’s all changing. BP had established a substantial charging network under the Polar Plus brand, but at the end of 2020 this was all rebranded BP Pulse.
Altogether, BP Pulse has more than 7,000 charging points across the UK, including everything from slow chargers to nearly 400 150kW rapid chargers.
And as you’d expect, with the company seeing its revenue from petrol and diesel draining away over the next decade and beyond, BP Pulse plans to go big on charging, expanding its network to 16,000 charge points by 2030, including a lot of ultra-rapid 300kW-plus chargers.
In March, BP Pulse announced it would build new charging hubs, similar to the Gridserve facility in Braintree, starting in Oxford. These will have 24 charging points and 300kW charging speeds at “high-traffic locations” alongside the UK motorway network. In January 2020, it opened a rapidcharging hub on the M6 in Lancashire, at the Caton Road Park & Ride location near Junction 34, installing six 150kW units.
You can subscribe to the BP Pulse network for £7.85 a month, which gives you discounted prices compared to onregistered users. BP Pulse announced a new pricing structure, applicable from 10 June. For 50kW chargers, unregistered users are charged 35p/kWh and for 150kW chargers, it’s 42p/kWh. Subscribers get much lower prices: 23p/kWh for 50kWh and 27p/kWh for 150kWh.
“Keeping the air within your
vehicle clean while on the move is another way of minimising risk. Covid-19 is spread in small water droplets – or aerosols – from breath or sweat...”
SHELL RECHARGE
Shell has quietly been building its Shell Recharge service since 2017. The aim is to add charge points to existing shell service stations, gradually repurposing them to have more electric charging in place of fossil fuel pumps.
Unlike BP, there’s no subscription, and the service has so far been entirely concentrated at existing forecourts – including a fully electric service area in Fulham, West London.
This has 10 150kW ultra-rapid chargers and no traditional fuel pumps. It includes a Little Waitrose convenience store, a Costa coffee shop, a Jamie Oliver sandwich shop, free wi-fi, a parcel collection point and lavatories.
To date Shell Recharge has installed more than 100 EV charge points, mainly 50kW or 175kW units, and this will double to 200 charge points on forecourts by the end of 2021. Long-term, Shell wants to ramp up the network to 5,000 EV charge points on forecourts and in new locations by 2025.
Initially Shell has concentrated on its company-owned sites, but a new deal with charge point supplier Osprey will allow Shell’s franchised forecourts to get on the
A group of companies and local authorities have announced they will open Europe’s most powerful electric vehicle charging hub in Oxford later this year.
The hub, with around 10MW of power on site, will initially feature 38 fast and ultrarapid chargers (more than anywhere else in the UK) and has capacity to add more in future to help meet the need for EV charging in the area for the next 30 years.
The hub is the first of up to 40 similar sites planned by Pivot Power across the UK to help deliver the charging infrastructure needed for the estimated 36 million EVs by 2040. Pivot Power’s partners in Oxford include Oxford City Council, Fastned, Tesla and Wenea.
Unlike any other UK charging hub, the site is connected directly to the high voltage national electricity grid, providing the power needed to charge hundreds of EVs at the same time quickly, without putting strain on the local electricity network or requiring costly network upgrades. This innovative network has capacity to expand to key locations throughout Oxford to meet mass EV charging needs, including from buses, taxis and commercial fleets.
The charging hub is part of the £41m world-first government-backed Energy Superhub Oxford project, led by Pivot Power, which integrates EV charging, battery storage, low carbon heating and smart energy management technologies to support Oxford to be zero carbon by 2040 or earlier.
At the site, European EV fast charging company Fastned will build one of the largest charging stations in its pan-European network, where 10 300kW chargers will charge 14 EVs simultaneously, adding 300 miles of range in just 20 minutes. Tesla will install 12 250kW Superchargers, available for Tesla owners, while Wenea, one of the largest EV charging services providers in Europe, will deploy 16 7-22kW charging points. —Mark Bursa
EV train. Osprey has recently installed its first Shell Recharge charge point at a Shell franchised site – an 175kW charger in Hovefield service station. And as most of the 1,000 Shell forecourts in the UK are franchised, this partnership is likely to accelerate growth.
“The fact that over 75% of the population is within 15 minutes of a Shell service station means we’re in a perfect position to help them,” said Bernie Williamson, Shell UK general retail manager.
OSPREY
As well as working with Shell Recharge, Osprey, formerly Engenie, is a substantial charge network in its own right, ranking number three in the RAC survey thanks to a combination of reliable chargers, good visible locations, and easy payments using contactless and app access.
It has more than 170 rapid and fast charge points, many of which are located at pubs or restaurants via a partnership with Marston’s. As part of the partnership 400 rapid chargers are to be installed across 200 Marston’s restaurant sites.
Osprey has also announced plans to install chargers at ten out-of-town retail sites owned by real estate group Brookhouse, with chargers going into sites alongside Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Argos, Next, Aldi and M&S stores.
POD POINT
Known initially as a maker of home chargers, Pod Point has grown into a substantial network of commercial charge points. Now majority owned by French energy company EDF, Pod Point has installed more than 400 chargers at 200 Tesco stores in the UK, in a partnership deal with Volkswagen Group.
Eventually more than 2,400 EV charging bays will be installed across 600 Tesco Extra and Superstore car parks, and customers can use a standard 7kW or 22kW charger for free, or a rapid 50kW charger for a small cost.
ENGIE
Like Pod Point, Engie is focusing on supermarket car parks for its network frowth. It recently agreed to install two-car 50kW+ chargers at 19 Asda locations in West Yorkshire as part of a new partnership, with the chargers available free until October.
Engie has an existing relationship with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and has installed 70 rapid chargers in the region. The Combined Authority secured close to £2 million from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles in 2019, with the installation of charge points at Asda stores marking the final phase of the programme.
Engie also serves Morrissons’ supermarkets through its acquisition of ChargePoint Services, and it is installing 50kW and 00kW rapid chargers at supermarkets up and down the country.
SOURCE LONDON
If there’s somewhere that really needs good infrastructure, it’s central London. Sadly the main London network, Source London, has been a disappointment. It languishes in 14th place in the RAC’s survey – only Ecotricity is lower – as users moan about pricing, useability, availability and other factors.
Pricing is charged per minute, and including the cost of parking, as most of the charge points are at the roadside. Most of the 1,600-plus charge points are slow chargers for overnight recharges – 7kW or 22kW devices. There are no rapid chargers at all. The only positive is the ability to prebook a slot.
This dismal performance may be about to change, though, following the network’s acquisition late last year by French oil giant Total. Originally set up by Transport for London, Source London was sold in 2018 to French EV maker Bolloré, which tried to set up an EV car share system similar to the Santander bike scheme, but which proved an unreliable failure.
Total plans to shake Source London up – and it clearly has the experience
Charge networks angry as HMRC hikes VAT rate to 20% on electricity at charge points
The cost of recharging your electric car at commercial charge points is set to rise after HMRC announced it would impose the standard rate of VAT (20%) on the facilities. Previously HMRC applied ‘de minimis’ provisions, which allowed a reduced rate of VAT of 5% to be charged. Charging networks providers reacted with disappointment to the news, which immediately increases the cost by 15%. Adrian Keen, CEO of InstaVolt, said he would “reluctantly” have to pass the increase on to his company’s customers.
“Since 2017 we have maintained our price of £0.35/kWh despite the wholesale energy price alone increasing by over 20% over the past four years,” Keen said. “With the announcement, we have no option but to apply the additional VAT to our base price.”
As a result, InstaVolt is now charging £0.40 per kWh. “To be clear, InstaVolt will not profit from or retain any of the price increase. The rise is entirely attributable to VAT which will all be passed to HMRC,” Keen added.
“Following OFGEM’s announcement of another £300m funding and the Government continuing to champion the transition to an electrified transport network, increasing the cost of charging to EV drivers through VAT just feels wrong. InstaVolt strongly disagrees with HMRC’s disappointing position on this subject,” Keen added.
“This single move discriminates between the millions of drivers who do not have access to off-road parking and rely solely on public charging, and those who benefit from home charging and the 5% rate that applies to domestic energy bills,” he said. “We hope HMRC recognises this mistake quickly, as taxing EV drivers with no ability to charge at home is not fair.”
InstaVolt is calling on the Government to reduce the rate of VAT on public EV charging to 5% in line with domestic energy tariffs, and said that if HMRC reversed its position it would immediately reduce its price. “InstaVolt does not want to profiteer from this tax increase and will continue to champion the interests of the consumer.”
However the government looks unlikely to shift, as the move toward electric cars will cause an increasingly large hole in revenue both from lost fuel duty and VAT charged on petrol and diesel sales – a sum in excess of £30 billion a year.
—Mark Bursa
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to do so. “By combining these existing infrastructures with Total’s know-how in terms of installation, operation and management of public electric vehicle charging networks, we are starting a new phase, supporting the expansion of electric mobility in London,” said Alexis Vovk, Total president, marketing & services.
Total wants to be a big player in EV charging, with a goal of operating a total of 150,000 charging points by 2025. It has secured a deal to install and operate up to 20,000 new charging points in the Netherlands, while in France it purchased the charging infrastructure specialist G2Mobility in 2019.
SWARCO EVOLT
Swarco eVolt is not the biggest electric car infrastructure provider, but it does one thing that its rivals do not – it installs networks dedicated to taxi firms.
In South Wales, Swarco eVolt has won a contract from Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) to install rapid chargers dedicated to taxis at 31 locations across 10 local authorities in south-east Wales. A total of 34 50kW chargers will be installed at the 31 sites by Swarco, which will also manage the subsequent operation and maintenance of the infrastructure.
Justin Meyer, managing director of Swarco eVolt, said: “CCR’s well thoughtthrough and strategic approach to building a network of charging infrastructure that is reliable and convenient for taxi drivers, combined with the tangible support it is giving taxi drivers and operators through a ‘try before you buy’ scheme and educational webinars, will make this initiative a success.”
And in Kent, 14 rapid chargers have been installed exclusively for registered taxis and private hire vehicles.
The new 50kW EV Rapid chargers came as a result of Kent County Council successfully winning government funding through the Ultra-Low Emission Taxi Infrastructure Scheme. Work to install the 14 Rapid chargers across six different districts has begun and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Susan Carey, Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Environment said: “Much thought has gone into the location of these extra charging points to make them as convenient as possible. We hope they encourage more people to make the switch to electric.”
Swarco eVolt’s Meyer added: “This builds on other Swarco projects with Transport North East and Basildon and Rochford to support taxis, and like them, Kent County Council is building the infrastructure to make EV taxis more attractive and viable for drivers and operators.”
Home / Office
Commercial networks are crucial to the availability of proper recharging and the ability for drivers to travel longer distances by electric cars. But they’re not the cheapest way to run an EV fleet, and for most taxi and private hire operators, journeys are local and urban
Mark Bursa
To keep an eV fleet charged for that sort of work, there are better and cheaper ways. The obvious, and cheapest, is home charging. An overnight charge using a 7kW charge point can take about 8-10 hours on a modern EV, but using cheap off-peak electricity, it’ll cost around £5 – a fraction of the cost of a commercial rapid charger on the motorway.
Of course, not everyone can install a home charger. Drivers who live in flats or terraced houses will probably not have off-street parking with a dedicated parking space, and for them, the transition is more challenging.
But there are solutions, including workplace charging and onstreet charging which can provide a workaround for these drivers. And there are a number of specialist companies whose mission is to provide businesses with the wherewithal to go electric.
Of course, private hire and taxi firms are seen as low-hanging fruit. With higher-than-average mileage, and a need to keep cars working for as much of the day and night as possible, solutions need to offer flexibility, including rapid charging at speeds on par with the networks.
UBITRICITY
Britain’s largest on-street charging network was acquired earlier this year by oil giant Shell as another route into the lucrative EV market. The deal to buy Germany-based Ubitricity is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.
The Ubitricity network includes more than 2,700 charge points across the UK, giving it a 13% market share. However, coverage is not national – far from it. Most Ubitricity chargers are in London or Oxford.
Ubitricity works with local authorities to fit Type 2 car chargers to existing street infrastructure such as lamp-posts and bollards. These are typically 7kW chargers, so are suitable for overnight charging, not rapid refills.
Unlike the charging networks, these chargers typically do not have cables, so users have to buy Ubitricity’s SmartCable in order to use the whole network. It’s not cheap – between £199 and £399 depending on the cable’s capacity and the Ubitricity plan you’re on.
Some, but not all, of the charge points can be accessed with manufacturer-provided cables, with pay-as-you-go fees applying to those who opt for this method. Those who purchase an Ubitricity SmartCable simply need to locate an available charger using the Ubitricity app before parking up and plugging in.
Ubitricity is a subscription service – with two pricing schemes:
CONTINUED ON PAGE 38 Residential Pro and Residential Free. On Residential Pro, the cable is cheaper and so is the electricity, but there’s a £7.99 monthly fee. For regular users, once you’ve recouped the cost of the cable, it’s relatively economical – a full charge of a 40kWh Nissan Leaf (with 140-mile range) would cost £6.67on Po and £7.89 on free and take between five-and-a-half and nine hours, depending on which cable you buy.
CONNECTED KERB
With the focus on urban areas and motorway networks, it’s easy to see that smaller towns could end up being bypassed by the electric superhighways. Data shows that more than 30% of the UK’s public charging network is located in London, equivalent to 63 public chargers per 100,000 people.
This compares to areas like Castle Point, Kent, which has just 2.2 chargers per 100,000 residents. Indeed, the Competition and Markets Authority has also highlighted the risk that electric car owners in some areas could be “left behind” as a significant challenge to the industry.
But a new project to bring affordable electric vehicle charging to smaller communities just like Castle Point has just been launched. Charging specialist Connected Kerb is working with Kent County Council to deliver a project that the company believes will provide a blueprint for local authorities across the UK.
In the project’s first phase, Connected Kerb is installing 40 charging units across 20 Kent Parish sites. The chargers – a mix of 7kw and 22kW devices – are being installed at popular sites, including village halls, pavilions and car parks. Every charge point will feature contactless payment via the Connected Kerb app with a consistent network and tariff across the sites.
All income from the chargers goes to the local community or is used to support the roll out and maintenance of more chargers, creating a long-term revenue stream for those involved.
Installing public charging infrastructure outside of busy urban areas has typically been a challenge for the industry. Lower grid capacity and fewer connections increase upfront cost, with lower footfall compounding the challenge by extending the return-on-investment period. With some rapid chargers costing upwards of £100,000 to install, and with lifespans of between 5-10 years, the economics rarely add up.
But unlike many public charge points, Connected Kerb’s infrastructure is designed to last 20+ years – significantly longer than anything else on the market. The charging infrastructure is located below ground and installed once, with passive chargers that can be easily ‘switched on’ by adding the above ground charge point to match consumer demand.
EO
On street parking partially solves the problem of no off-street parking, but it’s not a full solution. Some drivers might still struggle to locate a convenient charger close to their home, and the only alternative is to provide facilities at your workplace.
EO is the biggest provider of workplace charge points in the UK. The company works with major suppliers including Amazon, where it is installing EV chargers in support of its fleet electrification, with more than 800 rolled out so far and “hundreds” more to follow.
Alongside the physical installations, EO Charging also provides software and maintenance services for Amazon’s electric fleet in Europe, including more than 500 Mercedes-Benz electric vans for its UK delivery.
Other partnerships including being taximaker LEVC’s official charging partner in Scotland, a deal that offers owners of LEVC’s electric taxi an EO Mini Pro home charge point. More recently, EO teamed up with Octopus Electric Vehicles for an EV charging solution that bundled a Nissan Leaf with 8,000 miles of free charging per year for an ititial price of £271 per month, as well as an EO Mini Smart Home charger installed for £369.
The charger syncs with the Octopus Go tariff, which uses dynamic time of use pricing to allow for charging when its cheapest or greenest, including overnight charging at 5p/kWh.
ELECTRIC BLUE
Elecric Blue started with the intention of being an electric taxi operator, but the business has evolved into one that works with local governments and local taxi operators to help speed up the transition to EVs. In Hertfordshire, it has been involved with the Herts 2025 initiative aimed at delivering significant air quality improvements in Hertfordshire towns by increasing the uptake of zero emission electric vehicles (EVs) within the taxi industry.
The initiative, supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Programme 2014-2020, has seen charge points installed in major towns and on-street lamp post chargers fitted in residential areas too. Electric Blue has also equipped local taxi operator Herts Cars with a pair of rapid charge points at its head office next to Radlett Station, so the company can control the charging of its recently acquired MG5 EVs.
In Brighton too, a network of 207 lamppost electric vehicle chargers has been installed throughout Brighton & Hove, with users able to use chargers via the Electric Blue app. And in Leicestershire, Electric Blue is working with local authorities to install chargers in car parks close to homes without driveways or access to off street parking, where residents can charge their cars overnight.
the knowledge
Sideshows, business and inflation
The events of the past 18 months have burden and to prime the economy - not much provided us all with great learning point taking money out of the economy during opportunities, and no doubt the shadow recovery. But ultimately they will need to increase of that time will linger over our lives, interest rates, and then we are into a very different businesses and, importantly, business decisions for business environment. the rest of our careers. FREE MONEY IS AT SERIOUS RISK
The confidence and certainties on which we based The period of zero interest rates is waning fast. decisions prior to Covid-19, lockdowns and the The period during which VC organisations were rest will have largely evaporated and instead there will always be a nagging question when faced with Dr Michael Galvin able to throw lorry-loads of money into industries like ours under the guise, and frankly pretentious decisions. What if...? But I suspect the learning opportunities are far from over, recovery is going to provide some difficult moments, some real opportunity and decision https://mobility serviceslimited .com title, of “disruptors” is facing its endgame, I predict. Once high wealth individuals can get safe returns due to higher interest rates their appetite making in a new environment in which old recipes for high risk (aka nonsensical) investments will and playbooks are not much, if any help. evaporate. It is true to say that VC has damaged this industry, UNCERTAINTY AND FEAR but boy-oh-boy, don’t even think about the damage they have The unfamiliar, the uncertain and the lack of a formulaic solution done to their high wealth clients, the OEMs’ balance sheets and to problems naturally and at times imperceptibly brings fear. others who have been chasing the mobility dream. Business leaders and owners will need to get used to uncertainty SO WHAT? and new challenges. No doubt some old challenges will rear their Where does this leave the average taxi, chauffeur and private long-forgotten heads. hire company? In a good place, I’d say, though right now I
To what do I allude? Well, this industry, our industry accept it may not feel like it. A new era, unfamiliar to all of us; has seen many of its people drift away to other industries, unknown levels of growth; a shrunken supply chain; unknown back to old trades. Many have seen shopping and parcel demand; an opportunity to raise prices; and recent experience deliveries as a booming opportunity and the upshot is going of how to squeeze down every cost in the business. Meanwhile to be fewer drivers available to the industry. There is also a the “drunken sailor” approach to investment by VC and OEMs, clear picture of amalgamations, acquisitions and a general pouring money down the increasingly thirsty drain, is coming slimming down of the industry. to an end, as they have really achieved very little. Could this be
The doom-mongers have overplayed the unemployment wishful thinking? I don’t think so. situation while there may be an uptick. So, in recovery will BUSINESS NOT SIDESHOWS there be drivers, and importantly good drivers available to the A number of people have asked my advice and also asked why industry? An industry that has largely been dormant for 18 I have not written about the Supreme Court Case – bluntly I months and is likely to recover slowly. consider it a side show: an individual set of circumstances,
Add into this our old friend and enemy, inflation. We are involving a specific set of events within an isolated paradigm. entering a period of growing inflation. How will that impact this What’s to write about? industry? Probably fewer journeys, higher costs and fewer drivers Real business is about constantly scanning the horizon, seeing – stir in Venture Capitalists’ money distorting the market and what is coming, judging the impact on the business we are a potential rise in interest rates and we have pretty close to the responsible for and ensuring that our sails are set fair to take perfect storm, don’t we? advantage or where possible not to be too damaged by it. BACK ON THE FARM Real business in the next five years, in my view, will be dealing Maybe. Or maybe not! This industry has suffered from deflation with a smaller industry, less demand (more homeworking, less over the past seven or eight years. It started slowly but has travel), fewer drivers (maybe the better, smarter ones have gathered pace quickly over recent times. Journeys are being disproportionately left the industry), higher costs (inflation), completed at prices not seen since the 1980s or ’90s. higher prices (inflation), and a lowering impact of VC money.
Yes, there have been more journeys but to use an overused Will I be right? Who knows, but I can assure you that over the term, this isn’t sustainable. A period of growing inflation may coming months and the next few years nothing is going back to be just what the doctor ordered. Initially painful, it will quickly “normal”! move into fare increases, something that has largely disappeared Meanwhile, boring as it may seem, looking after your drivers, during the past decade. looking after your customers, looking after your staff, looking for
These, I suggest may be more readily accepted by customers opportunities and managing your business to successfully to get as everything else will start becoming more expensive. The through this period is what will be the difference between the Government, I suspect, will tolerate inflation to lessen the debt winners and losers.
The End of the Hidden Economy?
Well, hmrc threatened to enforce tax checks on new and renewed private-hire licenses.
them, the focus is on minimising the risks posed by the hidden economy while also preventing the creation of administrative burdens for licensing authorities and They consulted, and then they acted. professionals looking to continue working So where are we now? as normal.
The consultation discussed the In the 2020 budget, it was announced principle of conditionality, which would that the government would include involve making access to licences or services needed to trade conditional Gary Jacobs legislation in the 2020-2021 Finance Bill. The government declared that the renewal upon tax registration. It explored how conditionality could reduce activity in the hidden economy. It did not present firm policy proposals, but sought views on the underlying Gary Jacobs runs Eaziserv, an accountancy firm specialising in of licenses to drive taxis and private hire vehicles, and to deal in scrap metal, would be conditional on tax checks. According to HMRC, licensing bodies will signpost first-time applicants to principles of conditionality, the best the taxi and private HMRC guidance about tax obligations. approach to delivering this, and the hire business This is to obtain confirmation that they services and sectors in which it could be are aware of what is expected of them an effective compliance tool. eaziserv.co.uk before considering the application.
The majority of responses agreed The tax check will be carried out by that HMRC should be focusing on new providing enough information for HMRC approaches to tackling the hidden economy, and to be satisfied that the applicant is aware of their tax recognised that conditionality could be an effective way obligations and willing to adhere to them. If the licensing to support compliance. Equally, most responses were body is unable to obtain confirmation of tax check clear that any approach to conditionality must minimise completion for 28 days, licenses will either be denied or burdens upon compliant businesses and providers of will be allowed to expire. licences and business services. Some say that this HMRC scheme could earn an extra
So this is what HMRC is going to do. In England £65milion each year in the taxi and PH industry alone by and Wales, tax checks will be conducted on any new 2026. applications for private hire licenses. If there is a time to The hot water that drivers and private hire companies take the tax of your drivers seriously, it is now. will find themselves in should be taken seriously by
HMRC will introduce checks on tax registrations the industry. Making sure that your company and your for all renewed applications in England and Wales. drivers are compliant with HMRC’s tax checks, and This includes applications to drive taxis and private- that they have valid licenses, should be part of your hire vehicles, and applications to operate a private onboarding and operations processes. hire business. This is being called ‘conditionality’, as Sometimes you will read my articles about grey areas entry to the private hire trade through licensing is now in regulation and legislation – however, this is pretty conditional on tax checks. straightforward. Stay compliant and in line with HMRC’s Licensing bodies and local authorities will need confirmation from HMRC that applicants have passed the demands, and that will keep your cars on the roads and legislation out of your nightmares. check before being given a renewed license. HMRC is doing this as a response to the hidden “Licensing bodies and economy, which they believe exists as a result of a local authorities will need ‘confusion’ and a lack of understanding about tax obligations. Making access to licenses conditional on a confirmation from HMRC tax check certainly makes it more difficult for people to enter or remain as part of the hidden economy. It also that applicants have passed creates a more transparent industry. the check before being given a HMRC has conducted two consultations on using conditionality to tackle the hidden economy. According to renewed license...”
Why Uber’s GMB recognition is a big deal
In my previous article i gave some trenchant views on Uber’s options following the Supreme Court decision in Uber BV vs Aslam (2021). There, I explained that Uber’s business model only worked if the drivers take all of the risks of their working relationship.
I had also written previously about the difficulties I faced when dealing with grievances that our members had with Uber. In the five years I was a representative of the GMB’s driver/ members, I dealt with more than 70 complaints that stemmed from bad decisions made by Uber, and which resulted in the drivers losing the ability to work on their platform.
Seventy-plus attempts to engage with Uber met with complete silence, not even an acknowledgement to any of my correspondence.
A few days ago my union, the GMB, made the bombshell announcement that it had signed a recognition agreement with Uber, covering all driver/workers in the United Kingdom. So what are the main points of this agreement?
With effect from May 26 Uber has formally recognised the GMB trade union, enabling it to represent up to 70,000 Uber drivers across the UK. This should give drivers a voice within Uber, as GMB hopes to shape the major changes that impact them. Drivers will keep the freedom to choose if, when and where they drive while also having the choice to be represented by the GMB.
It is planned that Uber and GMB will join forces to raise the standard of flexible work across the industry, as Uber continues to be the only major operator offering protections to drivers.
This will secure the National Living Wage for drivers, although a few can, in some cases, earn more. Holiday pay and a proposed pension plan will form part of the discussion between the union and Uber along with free AXA insurance for sickness and injury, and Uber’s driver loyalty programme. Other private hire operators are encouraged to offer these protections.
Uber will also support drivers if they choose to sign up as a member of GMB, with details to be worked out, and union reps will have a presence in Uber’s driver support hubs to help drive up membership.
There will also be collaboration on driver health, safety and well-being. This will ensure that drivers are safe when working on the Uber app, including personal safety, road safety and driver well-being. How this pans out remains to be developed. Where drivers account are deactivated the GMB will represent drivers to Uber. It is also proposed that the GMB and Uber leadership will meet quarterly to discuss driver issues and concerns.
I had previously stated, following the Supreme Court decision, that Uber would have to make a move to mitigate its effect. I don’t have a microscope into the business mind of this behemoth, so I cannot say why they have taken this momentous step.
Businesses do not undertake courses of action out of the goodness of their heart but because such action make business sense. Uber may have come to this decision for a number of reasons. A major reason may be the failure of the autonomous car project, with which they had hoped to get rid of those pesky drivers.
But who knows. Let’s wait and see but with a very critical eye.
Dennot Nyack
The union view from our GMB representative
I’M NOT A NEW CORRESPONDENT! – I have reverted to my birth name of Dennot Nyack rather than my subsequent adopted name of Dennis Bartholomew. I have never been comfortable with that name, and really I should have changed it on my 18th birthday. But then work, marriage and children always gave me reasons not to. Now, at my ripe old age, I’ve decided to do the deed before I pop my clogs!
—Dennot Nyack
n Dennot is a AGM trade union member and was a former representative of the GMB’s professional drivers. He is also an author and broadcaster with a strong knowledge of the private hire industry and an equality and diversity specialist.
email: dennotnyack@yahoo.com mobile: +44 0740 625 276
Friends in need
The right-hand filter traffic lights from the Embankment into Northumberland Avenue in London are notoriously slow, though if everyone is primed and ready for the colours to drop to
for getting into yoga or running an iron man challenge it cheapens the disease. Those with severe problems can’t drag themselves out of bed in the morning to shower let alone commit to perform a downward dog position. But green, and assuming a black cab or Uber Prius hasn’t cut in in these days of ‘be kind’, none of us dare say anything at the front, the lights will allow 6-7 cars through. negative like “please leave this for people with a genuine
I was waiting patiently at this junction one sunny, illness”. So we say nothing and roll our eyes skyward. summer’s morning a few years back. I remember reaching Coming out of the festive season last year I had started to to retrieve something from the passenger seat. My memory wake up in the early hours panicking about our lack of work. fades to what it was exactly but an intelligent guess would Kevin Willis I would then sit up, breathless, as reality hit that there settle on it being some form of food. was little to no chance of my luck, or indeed anyone’s luck
There then followed an almighty noise, a strange mix of within our industry, changing anytime soon. screaming and crashing that made me first jump then turn Everyday problems If I was so inclined I could have posted my fears on to to look. On the opposite side of the street a young woman from the operator’s LinkedIn, claiming this was affecting my mental health. lay prone; 20m further down a motorbike lay on its side, wheel spinning. The dazed rider was slowly pulling himself point of view... But possibly due to my upbringing, I did not. Then again, at the time I never considered those sleep-interrupted nights up on to his knees. to be serious enough to warrant a mental health banner.
An eerie silence followed; a serene calm. The accident happened on a busy Sure, I was worried, anxious and possibly even a tad depressed but this was pedestrian crossing outside Embankment tube station at the height of the something I felt I had to work out alone. morning rush hour, but nobody seemed to be moving to help either person. I even chose not to share my fears with my wife because that would be
I jumped out of the car and ran over to the girl first as I figured she must admitting I had failed, and because I didn’t want her to start worrying about be the more seriously hurt. The next few minutes seemed an eternity. I both our situation and about me. But not once did I consider jumping off a won’t go into too much detail only to say mouth to mouth was not an option bridge. and the chest compressions I gave were accompanied by me pathetically As I am blessed in not suffering from mental health problems I perhaps do introducing myself to her to alleviate my own embarrassment for having to not understand what it feels like to have a real mental health issue. Maybe feel down her body, arms and legs for any breakages. tennis players storming out of tournaments or minor royals shipping out to
I remember shouting for someone to call 999, then I shouted at the biker LA are merely the headlines that cover a genuine cry for help. We have no for attempting to pick his bike up. He was in shock, crying and trembling right to judge. but I didn’t want him to hide any evidence of him jumping the lights on the Having been in this chauffeur game for a couple of decades now, I feel pedestrian crossing. confidence to say I know personally and have met drivers who suffer
When a paramedic turned up to take over from me, I sat alongside and from depression in varying levels. Some use drink to cope, others drugs, held her hand, noticed she was a very pretty young woman and, a thing I prescription or otherwise, but suffice to say that mental health issues are at shall never forget, she had obviously spent time doing her hair and make- epidemic proportions in our industry. up that morning. Everything was vague after that. I gave a statement and Maybe people with issues are drawn to the isolation of a job that gives waited until they loaded her into the ambulance before I continued on to my them space to use as a coping mechanism or, on the flip side, the isolation pickup. has such a negative effect on our well-being that it actually creates the
It was only as I sat outside the Langham Hotel I realised I had her blood issues. on my shirt and on my face and hands. As I washed up I couldn’t get the I have no answers. We work long hours, and never know where the next fact out of my mind that here was a girl who had set off that morning on a job is coming from. This can put a massive strain on a marriage or family beautiful summer’s day only to be tragically struck down in an RTA. relationship. One minute we are left of centre of attention on the red carpet
The police called me later that same day and told me she had died. When with an A-list celebrity, the next we are sitting at home in our underpants I asked if I would be needed for any enquiry or court proceedings as, after nodding along with the ladies on Loose Women. all, I hadn’t actually witnessed the accident, the policeman was shocked What we really need to do when we feel down is to talk: to our partner, talk that I was unaware the girl had actually committed suicide by jumping off to a friend or colleague or, better still, a professional trained in this field. In Hungerford Bridge, above where I had been waiting and where the poor England and Wales alone around eighteen people commit suicide every day, motorbike rider had received the shock of his life when she had landed in for young men suicide is far and away the biggest killer. front of him. This last year has tested the patience of saints, and saints we certainly
To this day I have never come to terms with why she had gone to the ain’t, so it is important that you reach out (sorry, that is very American) for trouble of washing and setting her hair, doing her make-up and dressing help if you feel like things are getting on top of you. We need to be there for smartly knowing she was about to jump from a bridge. Maybe she didn’t set friends in need. Just by asking a simple question like “Are you okay?” can out to take her own life that morning? Perhaps she received bad news on her make the world of difference to someone who is struggling. way to wherever she was headed. Maybe she suffered with her mental health We, as an industry, are clearly going to be one of the last workforces to and suddenly enough had been enough. I will never know. recover from the economic slump, we need to look out for each other for help
Mental health is an incredibly hot topic at the moment and you have to and continue to be in this together. Please, pick up the phone, call someone trust me when I say that this is not me jumping on the bandwagon. In fact, I for a chat whatever side of the gaping black hole you find yourself. freely admit to becoming more and more irritated when people use what is a Samaritans: Telephone 116 123 very serious illness as their emotional crutch in which to gain sympathy or www.samaritans.org harvest likes and comments on social media. n Kevin Willis runs Chirton Grange,
The problem, I feel, is when people hashtag mental health as their reason contact@chirtongrange.co.uk
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