GreenFleet 116: EV Focus Supplement

THE FUTURE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES Insight and analysis into the present and future electric vehicle market 25 Road to Zero Although the government’s Road to Zero strategy is explicit in being technology neutral and that there will be no bans of any particular technology, it is clear that widespread electrification is the expected solution. Jason Doran and Neil Wallis from the LowCVP delve into the strategy

34 EV Roundtable There is massive potential for adopting electric vehicles, but there are genuine barriers to overcome and myths that need busting. This was the message that came from GreenFleet’s roundtable on the Future of Electric Vehicles, held on 17 July at Edgbaston Cricket Ground

45 Batteries The push for greater adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles has focused attention on battery technologies. So what does the future look like for electric battery technology, and what challenges need to be overcome? A report from Arthur D. Little investigates

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Electric Vehicles

Although the government’s Road to Zero strategy is explicit in being technology neutral and that there will be no bans of any particular technology, it is clear that widespread electrification is the expected solution. Jason Doran and Neil Wallis from the LowCVP delve into the strategy’s aims The government’s long awaited ‘Road to Zero’ strategy, published in early July, sets out some bold ambitions. Firstly, by 2030, at least half of all new cars (and up to 40 per cent of new vans) to be ultra-low emission.

By 2040, the aim is for the majority of new cars and vans sold to be 100 per cent zero emission – and all new cars and vans to have ‘significant’ zero emission capability.

The final goal is for “almost every car and van to be zero emission” by 2050.

The trajectory signalled by the strategy has been generally welcomed, though critics have called for the pace of change to be stepped up. There should be an opportunity to do this as the government is committed to reviewing progress made by 2025 and to making further interventions if required.

By confirming a vision and targets to 2050, the Road to Zero sets-out how the UK government proposes to meet the legal requirements of the 2008 Climate Change Act under which UK greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by at least 80 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050. As road transport is now the biggest sector source of CO2 and makes up roughly 25 per cent of UK emissions, it is a key area of policy focus.

The Road to Zero supports Defra’s May 2018 ‘Clean Air Strategy’ and builds on

Written by Jason Doran and Neil Wallis, LowCVP

A vision for zero emissions

ULEV definition was introduced in 2009.

The strategy anticipates that this will be strengthened from 2021: the Road to Zero states that government “expects to define a ULEV as a car or van that emits less than 50 grams of CO2 /km from the tailpipe measured against the relevant test cycle”.

For 2040, the key phrase ‘significant zero emission capability’ is widely anticipated to mean the capability to travel at least 50 miles without producing any of the emissions associated with the use of a traditional internal combustion engine, hopefully mollifying any debates about current (particularly ‘mild’) hybrids being in or out of the 2040 targets.

The commercial vehicle challenge A section of the strategy is devoted to the significant challenges progressing to a zero‑emission solution for HGVs and road freight transport. Commercial vehicles are the fastest growing sector of road transport emissions and one of the most difficult to Technology neutral address, so this is welcomed. An initial Recognising the road transport industry voluntary agreement to technology revolution that’s reduce GHG emission by 15 per already clearly under way, cent by 2025 is supported T he Roa the Road to Zero does by measures to look at d to Zero not, however, stipulate gas and other low carbon s t r a tegy has a c the technology fuels in the near term to havinommitment required to meet the and accompanied by objectives. Forty‑six research to investigate best EV g one of the policy measures long term zero emissions infrastr (most of which solutions for the future. networ ucture k pre‑date the strategy’s the wo s in publication) are An electric future? rld identified, covering a Although the Road to Zero wide range of technologies is explicit in being ‘technology and lower emission neutral’ and that there will be no solutions needed across ‘bans’ of any particular technology, all aspects of road transport. it is clear that widespread electrification is the expected solution. Measures to develop New definition for ULEVs and build electric vehicles, the supply chain Achieving sub-75 grams of tailpipe and charging systems are prominent, with CO2 emissions per kilometre is not the a commitment to having one of the best EV challenge it once was when the original infrastructure networks in the world. E last Autumn’s Clean Growth Strategy, and the Industrial Strategy (also published late last year) which aims to “help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs through investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future”.

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 The recent signing into law of the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act gives greater powers to government to ensure a rapid increase in the number of EV charging points at key locations. The Department for Transport says that the new laws will improve consumer confidence in charging by ensuring public charge points are compatible with all vehicles, standardising how they are paid for, their reliability and connectivity.

There are plans to enable a ‘mass market’ roll-out of infrastructure to support electric vehicle adoption. These include a push for charge points to be installed in newly built homes, where appropriate, and in new lampposts.

A new £400 million Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund is intended to help accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure by providing funding to new and existing companies that produce and install charge points.

A new £40 million programme to develop and trial innovative, low cost wireless and on-street charging technology is also being created.

The EV home charge scheme will continue until March 2019, with installations becoming ‘smart’ enabled. The scheme provides a grant of up to £500 for electric vehicle owners to install home charge point. There are further incentives and grants, too, for workplaces to install charge points accessible to their employees.

The existing Plug-In Car and Van Grants will be extended to at least October 2018 at current rates, and in some form until at least 2020, to continue

to encourage consumer uptake.

Leading by example The government has committed to ‘doing the right thing’, by making 25 per cent of the central government car fleet ULEVs by 2022 (and all new car purchases ULEVs by default). By 2030, the entire the central government car fleet will be ULEVs. The Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce (EVET) Meeting the anticipated growth in demand for electricity from increasing EV uptake will create unprecedented challenges.

The government has set up the ‘Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce’ – which will be convened by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership – to bring together the energy and automotive industries to plan for this.

Consumer communication is key Motorists are already confused by the options available, so helping them to understand the latest technologies is vital. With the help of the LowCVP, the government is setting up a new ‘Road Transport Emissions Advice Group’ (RTEAG), which brings central and local government, industry and consumer groups together to help ensure clear and consistent consumer messaging, help and advice on technology and fuel choices.

Aimed at consumers, it has also committed to working with industry to improve consumer communications through the Go Ultra Low campaign to at least 2020.

Some of the significant challenges likely to be faced by fleet managers, consumers

and drivers were specifically addressed in the LowCVP’s recent Annual Conference – ‘People, Product or Policy – How far can consumers take the drive to zero emissions’.

What about existing vehicles?

Importantly, the strategy also outlines measures to reduce emissions of vehicles already in use. It comments on the need to increase the supply and sustainability of low carbon fuels in the UK through the legally‑binding 15-year strategy to more than double their use, reaching seven per cent of road transport fuel energy by 2032. The government has most recently announced a consultation on the possible introduction of E10 – a 10 per cent ethanol mix in petrol – to the UK. Plans are confirmed to extend the ‘Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme’ (CVRAS – for which the criteria were designed by the LowCVP) beyond buses, coaches and HGVs to include vans and black cabs.

Electric Vehicles

Motorists are already confused by the options available, so helping them to understand the latest technologies is vital.

A new ‘Road Transport Emissions Advice Group is therefore being set up

Working together Commenting on the Road to Zero strategy, the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “At the heart of this strategy is a commitment to work in partnership with industry, businesses, academia, environmental groups, devolved administrations, local government, consumers and international partners.”

While the Road to Zero has been criticised by some for an apparent lack of ambition, the details reveal a comprehensive approach embracing a breadth of strategies which, if successfully delivered, will be game-changing.

For that it should be applauded. But one thing is very clear: to achieve anything like this level of change in consumer behaviour, collaboration across the entire industry is vital. This is where organisation such as the LowCVP can take a pivotal role. Join the LowCVP and play your part in the Road to Zero transition by joining the LowCVP. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.lowcvp.org.uk

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Electric Vehicles Written by Emily Stone, assistant programme manager for ectrification, Energy Saving Trust

What to consider before going electric?

With battery ranges ever increasing and a pledge from the government to improve the charging infrastructure, having electric vehicles on your fleet is a more realistic goal than ever.

But there are still things to consider. Emily Stone explains If the idea of saving up to 80 per cent on your company fuel bill sounds like something you could get on board with, then consider switching your fleet to electric. Jump ahead of the game, flaunt your low carbon footprint to clients and avoid road tax, whilst providing your drivers with a smooth and clean day-to-day vehicle experience.

With battery ranges ever increasing, using EVs as your everyday company vehicles is a more realistic goal than ever. The Energy Saving Trust have put together the following guide to meeting your business needs using EVs. Consider daily driving patterns When choosing the correct EV, consider your drivers’ daily route patterns. Older model EVs can have ranges from 80 miles, whilst newer models with larger batteries, such as the 2018 40kw Nissan Leaf, can do over 170 miles on a single charge. Also consider locations in which your vehicles are likely to have downtime, for example the driver’s lunch stops or times when the driver is engaged in a

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non-driving activity. Are these close to public charge points? Will drivers touch base much throughout the day to top up vehicles? Will you even use the entire range in one day?

These factors largely depend on your business type and area of coverage, but if you’re staying in and around the city then perhaps installing slower chargers at your base for overnight charging would be the most sensible method.

Workplace charging Concerned about the extra cost of charging infrastructure? You could actually get a grant to cover up to 100 per cent of your workplace charge point, depending on asessment by the Energy Saving Trust.

E-mail electricvehiclesscotland@est.org.uk to request an application form. If you run a fleet of company cars, consider pushing your employees to make the most of the EST domestic chargepoint grant. Up to £300 of grant funding is available per household from Energy Saving Trust, which tops up the £500 available from OLEV. This usually covers the full cost of parts and installation. Making use of home charging and topping up via a growing network of rapid chargers, company vehicle drivers should be able to go about their business relatively unhindered by the constraints of having to charge – particularly if they’re

If yo fleet of u run a c cars, coompany pushingnsider your employ e e the EST s to use d chargepomestic oin grant t

Commercial considerations If you run a fleet of vans, you will also need to consider the maximum payload you will be carrying. Existing models of electric van, due to the mass of the battery, cannot be loaded as heavily as ICE vans. Need you await the arrival of newer LCVs with increased

DEDICATED TO PROMOTING A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT | www.greenfleet.net

load capacity, or can you get away with carrying smaller loads and midday trip back to the depot to collect the other half of the workload and stop for a quick recharge?

The cost savings Consider the cost saving. Government grants applied to EVs at point of purchase help ensure the cost of an EV are comparable with that of an internal combustion vehicle, and when you consider the fuel saving over a six-year period the financial benefits of running an EV fleet are clear. Maintenance costs, for one, can be reduced by as much as 70 per cent compared to that of a petrol or diesel vehicle, according to Fleet News.

With electricity costing significantly less than petrol and diesel, you can expect to save around 80 per cent on fuel with an EV. For example, a 2008 VW Golf TDI completing 12,000 miles a year would cost the owner more than £10,100 in fuel and tax over this six-year period. Compare this to an e-Golf, and the driver expects to save £7,625 and – more shockingly – an enormous 18 tonnes of tailpipe Co2 emissions.

The above information was calculated using an Energy Saving Trust Vehicle Comparison Report (VCR), which is a free service available to all customers in Scotland. To obtain a VCR for one or more of your existing vehicles or to request more

information on what vehicle type may suit your needs, call the Energy Saving Trust Transport Advice line on 0800 0931 669.

In addition to the fuel savings, purchasing a new ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) through EST’s interest-free business loan may also save you money. The loan, which offers businesses in Scotland up to £120,000 (£35,000 per vehicle), interest-free over six years, can be used to purchase any new ULEV. For eligibility criteria and T&Cs, please contact to speak to your local transport advisor on 0800 0931 669. Please note this advice service is only available for businesses either registered within Scotland, or to the branches of a wider business which operate in Scotland.

With an abundance of options for chargepoint and vehicle funding, 2018 provides the perfect time to flip the switch over to electric within your business.

Jumping ahead of the inevitable electric vehicle game that will play out over the next decade and beyond is a sure-fire way to make the most of currently available funding opportunities, and to future-proof your business. Save money, save carbon and set an example to your competitors. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

Ofgem consults on proposals to encourage off-peak charging Ofgem is encouraging electric vehicle drivers to adopt ‘flexible’ charging practices – during out of peak hours – to keep costs down and allow the grid to meet the extra demand that EVs bring.

According to Ofgem analysis, if owners use ‘flexible’ charging – where they only top up outside peak demand times on the grid – at least 60 per cent more EVs could be charged up compared with ‘inflexible’ charging where electric vehicles are only charged at peak times.

Flexible charging does this by allowing electric vehicles to be charged when energy prices are cheapest, for example when wind and solar power is generating lots of electricity or when there is less demand across the system.

Flexible charging also helps to keep energy costs down for all consumers as technology allows stored electricity from electric vehicle batteries to be sent back onto the grid when it is needed.

Ofgem’s proposed reforms will give incentives for customers to charge their electric vehicles at the right time. The reforms will free up existing grid capacity to allow new

generators, including businesses or other organisations which want to generate their own power on-site, to get connected to the grid more quickly. The reforms would make the electricity system more efficient by giving generators and other users more choice and flexibility on how they connect to the grid.

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Plan early for EVs to gain first mover advantage

Electric Vehicles

operating in cities. Find available charge points in your area using chargeplacescotland. org, or chargeyourcar.org.uk.

There is no doubting the future of transport is electric. OEMs are likely to achieve internal combustion engine (ICE) cost parity for cars by 2021 and for vans by 2020, driven predominantly by falling battery costs. What’s more, fleets are expected to make up 26 per cent of the EV car and van parc by 2030 and will drive higher EV adoption as fleets are more sensitive to the economic drivers of cost parity.

But for fleet managers there are huge benefits to be gained from electrifying your fleet sooner rather than later. Whether your objectives are economic or environmental, being ahead of the masses will be critical to ensure you have the widest range of options.

For many, the primary concern when electrifying fleets is the vehicle.

As the OEMs build out a portfolio of electric vehicles, this will become the easy part. The complexity comes with the fuel; rolling out the infrastructure to support the unique operational requirements of your fleet is primarily a power and energy challenge. Planning early will provide significant first mover advantage for fleet operators.

At Centrica, we’ve being thinking about how to optimise for both economic and environmental objectives. We have designed a fully managed solution that can support charging implementation for employees all the way through to an end-to end fleet management solution. Centrica can manage the DNO applications, landlord and planning approvals, employee communications, alongside management and provision of local network connection works through our network of ICPs and IDNOs and offers full funding solutions including an all-inclusive lease option.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.centrica.com/evs

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The electric vehicle (EV) market has grown exponentially in the past five years, with all major manufacturers committing to offering an EV option on all new models following the government’s announcement to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Yet, there remains more to be done in terms of development and clarification for consumers before widespread EV adoption is achieved.

In particular, businesses are struggling to manage how they will navigate through the various new policies and initiatives that have been introduced by the government.

In five years, 65 per cent of SMEs and businesses expect to be using alternative fuels to power their business vehicles. This is according to industry-leading research we’ve undertaken with BT’s Fleet Solutions, to identify how our customers perceive the journey to alternative fuels in our second Operational Fleet Insight report.

Our research revealed a huge amount of anxiety about the transition. Approximately 50 per cent of respondents noted that government organisations should be lobbying for greater investment in EV infrastructure to support future fleets, which is a justified business concern. In just 12 years’ time, 60 per cent of new cars and vans must be electric – and yet, vast uncertainty remains about where EVs will be charged. Even now, the number of charging points across the UK is too low to meet current demand – 14,000 chargers to service 125,000 cars.

infrastructure. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill 2017-19 is aiming to improve the network charging points for EVs with charging points being mandatory at all major petrol stations and motorway services.

Additionally, regulator Ofgem has announced plans to encourage owners to recharge cars at times when electricity is cheaper, while Chargemaster, the UK’s largest electric charging network, has announced it is being purchased by BP who offer 1,200 petrol forecourts. With chargemaster offering 6,500 charging points currently, this is a major investment into EV infrastructure and will help to meet the growing demand, with 12 million cars predicted to be on UK roads by 2040.

The AA has partnered with Chargemaster to help support this infrastructure and provide education for motorists. A multi-brand EV Centre has been established in Milton Keynes, providing information and advice on electric vehicles, as well as free driving lessons.

Additionally, Chargemaster polar network cards are being launched across our patrols in the south-east in a joint partnership. This spans across our patrol network, and will provide a free complementary charge for customers who run out of charge on the road. Patrols are able to identify the nearest available charge point via the Zap Map app, which enables EV drivers to locate and navigate to charging points across the UK so that recovery and tow times can be minimised.

Trained to deal with EVs The AA’s fleets are already fully trained to handle all EV queries, but we are keen to do all we can to help our customers transition to alternative vehicles. In just five years’ time, two thirds of fleets expect to run their vehicles on alternative fuels, as we discovered during a joint research project with BT’s Fleet Solutions. As emissions reduction becomes a focus for the UK’s large cities, businesses are coming under the microscope to

We urge the government to work with industry to prioritise the development of a charging infrastructure plan to take us up to 2030

ensure they comply with anticipated targets.

Indeed, businesses are under increasing pressure to futureproof their fleets to ensure they comply with air quality targets. The mayor’s plans to extend the ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) to cover most of inner London is a radical step forwards to improve the city’s air quality standards, but one which may leave SMEs struggling to fund the cost of environmental compliance. Therefore, alternative fuels are a priority for all fleets, as the government continues its focus on reducing emissions. From the introduction of Clean Air Zones in cities and increased taxes for diesel cars, there is a much greater focus on the environmental impact of vehicles.

Companies looking to reduce costs must plan for a move away from diesel and petrol and add more alternatively fuelled vehicles to their fleets, but awareness of this future change across the industry does not appear to be widespread, as we’ve found when talking to our customers. The best way businesses can avoid picking up any charges and safeguard themselves against forthcoming environmental fees is to implement a long-term fleet strategy, such as a switchover to alternative fuels.

We urge the government to work with industry to prioritise the development of a charging infrastructure plan to take us up to 2030. We believe this will help ease anxiety for businesses looking to make the transition away from fossil fuels, and will help increase EV adoption across Britain’s fleets. L

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Advertisement Feature

Identifying the most cost effective charging strategy for your business Centrica has been at the forefront of charger installations in the UK since 2012, when there were just 200 registered plug-in vehicles. There are now over 165,000 and in that time, Centrica has established a reputation for quality, strong industry and partner relationships

Since 2013 Centrica has been leading the way in the electrification of our vehicles. To date, Centrica has installed over 4,000 chargers in the workplace, 8,500 home chargers and over 400 rapid chargers (the most installed by any company in the UK) and have an unrivalled track record for serving our customers in this fast-growing industry. Our customers are as broad and wide-ranging as our experience – from car manufacturers such as Tesla, to airports, hotels, local authorities and service stations, and our technical capability is just as varied, with our experience ranging from 3.5kW home chargers through to 350kW DC pantograph bus charging.

The shift to cleaner vehicles Although the shift from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles is gaining pace, the various political, economic and social drivers accelerating the change are coming together in a perfect storm; total cost of ownership economics, investment by the automotive manufacturers and political support for clean, less-polluting vehicles are clear signals that change is happening now.

For fleets, this means their electrification is now inevitable. The choice of vehicles is increasing, the cost of batteries decreasing and once its tipping point is reached, the adoption rate will grow virally. Fleets in cities will be among the first to electrify. based on the shorter distances covered, slower speeds and the high usage for each vehicle.

However, not all fleets are created equal.

Fleets will need to charge at home, charge

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at a depot or charge on-the-move and as a result, will all require different charging infrastructure solutions. Electrifying the vehicles will be the easy part, however the charging infrastructure required to support EVs is where the complexity starts. There will be significant operational challenges that need to be overcome to implement electric vehicles at pace.

Reliability and convenience Fleet operators have several unique considerations to contend with. Reliability and convenience are critical to ensure smooth running of business operations, whilst corporate social responsibility and regulatory drivers will dictate the pace at which they need to act. The requirements for each fleet to electrify will be unique, from power needs to existing infrastructure the solutions will need to be bespoke.

As demand for electric vehicles grows, the complexity of the associated charging grows, too. Even a 3.5kW home charger can double the power demand for a typical home. On its own this will not be a problem, but a whole street of cars coming home at 6pm and plugging in will cause the local network operators a real headache.

Similarly, for business charging, most sites have the capacity to install a few 7kW fast chargers without impact but with any significant growth in charger volume, a need for rapid charging or any local network constraints power demand quickly exceeds what is currently available at the site.

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Power demands There are options for fleet owners. The impact of this increased power demand from charging can be mitigated in a variety of ways. The first is smart charging; ensuring that the charging is spread across the day reducing peak loads on the network and prioritising charging for vehicles parked for a short-time over those parked all day. In the future, advanced smart charging will incorporate energy optimisation – charging that aligns with the most cost-effective periods, integration with existing on-site generation ensuring cars are always charging at the cheapest time, and integration with fleet telematics; ensuring energy optimisation. The vehicle batteries will hold just enough charge to get them to the next available charging point.

The power demand for EV charging will place a massive load on the connections to the network, and the ability to charge EVs could become business critical for many – preparing now could be essential to maintain business continuity. Sites may need network infrastructure upgrades, securing increased or new capacity directly from the distribution network, or the addition of on-site generation or storage. Planning early will be critical to ensure you can secure the require network connections for your fleets needs at the most effective cost.

It is a complex space in which to navigate, with high competitive intensity and many uncertain moving parts, not all made equal.

As a result there is considerable risk as well as opportunity. But there doesn’t need to be.

Supporting low emissions Across the UK and North America, Centrica made changes to how its commercial vehicles and company cars were leased, managed and driven. In 2007, Centrica set a target to reduce the global carbon emissions of its property, fleet and travel by 20 per cent by 2015. Central to achieving this was to embed sustainable behaviours and technologies that cut emissions across its commercial fleet and company cars. EV charging is just one of a series of measures Centrica has taken to reduce emissions from transport use. Centrica have also provided dedicated spaces for low emission vehicles and car share vehicles, as well as providing mini-bus transfers from sites to local transport hubs. Employees were also encouraged to use lower emission vehicles

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when their company car leases came up for renewal, with nearly 180 employees choosing hybrids or EVs. This was supported with the installation of EV charge points at nearly 50 Centrica sites to provide free at-work charging. In the UK, Centrica undertook an industry-leading trial of electric vans in its British Gas fleet. The 100-strong electric vehicle (EV) fleet was the largest fleet of its kind in the UK, and by 2030 Centrica aims to adopt electric and hybrid across its entire fleet.

Growing demand Since then uptake in vehicles within the company car fleet has been significant and in turn, the need for chargers has grown too.

Faced with this growing demand Graham Feeney (property manager for Centrica) had to rethink their entire charging infrastructure.

Through working with Centrica’s commercial mobility team they went through a six month programme to replace the existing dumb-chargers with smart GSM-connected chargers, providing complete visibility of usage in addition to understanding the state of health of each charger. The backend system allowed Graham to remotely monitor chargers across every site. Through understanding how and when the chargers were he was able to accurately predict and increase the number of chargers across each sites, with the number of chargers installed increasing six-fold from 4 to 24. Drivers using the chargers are equipped with a mobile app to allow them to connect to the chargers and monitor their own usage.

Future developments Looking forward, Centrica has completed a study of all parking requirements and network capacity across key sites, some 6,000 total parking spaces with 15 sites each having 100 spaces or more (the largest site has nearly 1,000 spaces) and are building the cost of providing charging within their future facilities management budgets.

Centrica is continuing to provide free at-work charging for employees and guests visiting their sites. The cost of providing

the power has been budgeted using the site-specific adoption models and is recorded automatically using the smart charging dashboard which also provides the data necessary for carbon reporting and CRC offset.

These combined actions have led to a 23 per cent reduction in global commercial fleet emissions and a 17 per cent reduction in company car emissions. Overall, carbon emissions across Centrica dropped 27 per cent over the eight-year period.

Limitations But what happens when you can’t increase the number of electric vehicles? Constraints on the network are becoming more common due to the high penetration of distributed generation sources on the network. Since companies have been able to sell the inherent capacity of on-site generation through flexibility services (a form of demand side response), the increased number of constrained sites has resulted in projects being scrapped due to the high cost of connecting to the distribution network.

The Centrica Business Solutions team, see this all too frequently. Over the last six months, multiple projects have struggled to raise finance due to eye-watering connection costs. The worst to date? £25m for a 1MW export connection, and these figures are becoming all too common place.

Solutions The solution to these connection challenges comes in the form of smart energy management behind the meter, and a sophisticated mix of distributed generation, storage and onsite usage designed to maximise the use of flexibility whilst minimising onsite costs. For Centrica’s EV fleet they have implemented smart load balancing for chargers installed on sites where capacity has already exceeded demand in addition to implementing a program to optimise charging to maximise the benefits of on-site generation already installed.

For Centrica, being ahead of the adoption curve has paid dividends. It has allowed them to secure increased capacity at strategic locations, in addition to designing and testing the optimum mix of onsite generation and storage. As a result, full electrification of their fleet will be possible well ahead of their 2030 target Experience and delivery Centrica has been at the forefront of charger installations in the UK since 2012, when there were just 200 registered plug-in vehicles. There are now over 165,000 and in that time, Centrica has established a reputation for quality, strong industry and partner relationships and has an in-depth understanding of the technologies and challenges involved in providing electric vehicle infrastructure solutions.

In addition to the end-to end provision of electric vehicle charging solutions, Centrica offers support with developing future-proof charging strategies to identify the most cost-effective charging strategy for your business. Centrica can also support charging implementation with a full solution that stretches from DNO applications, landlord and planning approvals, employee communications, alongside management and provision of local network connection works through its network of ICPs and IDNOs and offers full funding solutions including an all-inclusive lease option.

As a global business with a reputation for innovation and excellence, Centrica is one of the few market enterprises that can deliver in-house, end-to-end energy provision for our customers, including energy supply, energy consultancy, system design, funding, solution delivery and on-going operation and maintenance for all your fleet electrification needs. L FURTHER INFORMATION electricvehicleservices@centrica.com, 01302 341 386

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EV Roundtable

With support from

ROUNDTABLE

Written by John Curtis

THE FUTURE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES There is massive potential for adopting electric vehicles, but there are genuine barriers to overcome and myths that need busting. This was the message that came from GreenFleet’s roundtable on the Future of Electric Vehicles, held on 17 July at Edgbaston Cricket Ground

How we move people and things around this country has changed little over the last century. Whilst it is true that we have moved from horse drawn carriages to petrol and diesel internal combustion engines, a transport revolution is little more than a pipe dream. Or is it?

Following a number of emissions scandals and an increasing awareness of the damage that poor air quality does, vehicle manufacturers have been working hard to develop new models and drivetrains to improve their tarnished reputations and reduce vehicle impacts on communities.

The internal combustion engine, which powers the vast majority of the almost 38 million vehicles on Britain’s roads, is significantly more efficient than in years past, which has reduced emissions and

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contributed to greater fuel efficiency. Along with government “carrot and stick” policies to incentivise the uptake of clean vehicles and punish those that choose to drive polluting diesels and inefficient gas guzzlers, the prospects for change are good, but more needs to be done and the collective view of the roundtable forum was that collaboration is key to speeding up positive change.

The Roundtable was sponsored by sgfleet, the bespoke leasing company, Siemens, the digital pioneers that add value to the power and automation supply chain, and Volvo, the world renowned vehicle manufacturer.

The roundtable was attended by representatives from local authorities, businesses and suppliers, all of whom had some experience of utilising electric vehicles within their operations.

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The discussion was chaired by me, John Curtis, a motoring journalist and specialist in low emission transport.

Overcoming barriers The early discussion quickly reached the conclusion that there is massive potential for cleaning fleets and reducing emissions but there were some genuine barriers to adoption and some myths that still need busting.

Steve Beattie, head of business sales for Volvo set out clearly the future for his company: “Every new car launched by Volvo from 2019 will have some form of electric element to the drive train.” Steve went on to say that Volvo have set a target of selling one million electrified cars by 2025, 50 per cent of which will be fully electric.

Volvo were the first major car manufacturer

Jason is one of the strategy leaders for electric vehicle infrastructure at Siemens Mobility.

He started life as a design engineer in the oil industry before transitioning into traffic engineering with Siemens in 2004.

Since then he has been involved with a number of traffic projects including congestion charging, smart monitoring cameras, and urban average speed.

GreenFleet Electric Vehicle Roundtable event delegates

EV Roundtable

Jason Stonier, senior product manager, Siemens

Jason Stonier, Siemens

Event Sponsor

Sponsors Jason Stonier, senior product manager, Siemens Nicholas Ebsworth, business development manager, Siemens Dave McDonna, UK sales manager, SG Fleet

The roundtable was attended by representatives from local authorities, businesses and suppliers, all of whom had some experience of utilising electric vehicles within their operations. to commit to their car range being in some way electrified and this has been a shot across the bows of the competition.

What Steve conceded though was that the right infrastructure needs to be in place and whilst that happens, many will plump for mild and plug-in hybrid before making the leap to fully electric cars.

Volvo also has links to the London Electric Vehicle Company that utilise the XC90 platform for the new electric black cabs. With 28,000 black cabs in London this is a significant and exciting development for the UK. Reaching the point of no return There is that old adage, build it and they will come, but the rate of transfer to electric vehicles has been slower than many had hoped for.

However, Dave McDonna, UK sales manager for sgfleet is seeing a tipping point as more enquiries are received from fleet managers exploring new technologies, ways of reducing benefits in kind tax for drivers, and leasing as a way of de-risking their investment. “We are seeing more people want to have tests of electric vehicles and install telemetry to truly understand where electric vehicles can work for them,” he said. The information gleaned from the onboard telemetry can then be used to build the business case for electric vehicles. Using real world data, specific to the routes and operations of each company results in a personalised and bespoke overview providing all the information required to make informed buying decisions. Dave said: “Local authorities and universities are leading the way, as are those businesses where low emission zones are being set up and operated.”

One of the issues that is raised time and again is range anxiety, the fear of the battery power running out before the driver reaches their destination. Whilst this is a genuine

Steve Beattie, head of business sales, Volvo

Delegates Richard Galthen, fleet liaison & control officer, Bradford Metropolitan District Council Michael Cook, senior fleet engineer, Babcock International Group

anxiety felt by most new electric vehicle users, it is quickly overcome through driver experience and a little bit of planning.

Dominic Moyes, sales director for DG cars, a Nottingham taxi company illustrated the point well. He said: “It’s been an incredible challenge to introduce electric vehicles into the taxi fleet. We bought cars, visited other operators in Newcastle and Dundee and looked at their infrastructure, but naively didn’t look at the infrastructure in Nottingham. The vehicles sat idle for about a year, we incentivised the drivers, reduced their costs and some drivers took them to do up to 150 miles a day. We have now bought some 40kwh Nissan LEAFs and they are a game changer.”

Tony Stuart, head of logistics operations support, Hovis Ltd David Reading, road vehicle compliance manager, Network Rail Andy Wilson, city logistics and public affairs manager, TNT Tony Winterbottom, fleet procurement, Martin Brower

Dominic Moyes, sales director, DG Cars Jargon causing confusion Dominic hit the nail on the head when Annmarie Scott-Reddish, he said that the industry is filled with electric vehicles manager, technical jargon and people that don’t Nottingham City Council speak a simple language that anyone can understand, and this will slow progress.

David Ives, fleet manager, There is a lot of confusion out there.

Transport for Greater Manchester With approximately one thousand taxis on the road, Dominic said that DG wants Owain Pearce, fleet technical to be seen as forward thinking especially officer, Oxford City Council when bidding for public sector contracts where increasingly environmental impacts Marc Garrett, senior funding are given great weight. DG was also keen advisor, Capita Treasury / to reduce carbon emissions and Link Group keen to take advantage of marketing opportunities as There Tim Cooper, business a clean taxi company. is mass development i v One of the major e potenti director, The AA challenges was the a l for reducin lack of charging g but the emissions infrastructure but over Event re are s time and working g o e chair me nuin with Nottingham John Curtis, adoptioe barriers to City Council this has motoring n a n improved, to the point myths t d some journalist where Nottingham hat nee d is now a Go Ultra Low bus

ting

Volume 116 | GREENFLEET MAGAZINE

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EV Roundtable

With support from

City and been in receipt of in excess of £6m to introduce over 200 charge points and a 45 mile stretch of lanes for ultra low emission vehicles and buses.

Quite where those chargers are placed for maximum use and utility is often a tough decision made by individuals doing the best they can but often feeling ill informed and unsure of how to get best value for money.

One of the issues that is raised time and again is range anxiety. Whilst this is a genuine anxiety felt by most new electric vehicle users, it is quickly overcome through driver experience and journey planning 36

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visit now, normalising the charging process.

This supports the view from Siemens that as businesses consolidate, mobility may become the service people seek rather than the current disjointed offering from multiple suppliers.

What has yet to be addressed however, is the potential problems electric vehicles may cause the power networks if usage causes Event Sponsor

Nicholas Ebsworth, business development manager, Siemens Nick has been with Siemens for 14 years, designing, building and testing traffic controllers, VMS signs and urban traffic control systems. He has been an EV charging technical specialist (EV-geek) for the last five years and has a passion for delivering reliable charging technology to empower EV drivers.

Nicholas Ebsworth, Siemens

Trends Tim Cooper, Business Development Director for the AA brought to the table some very interesting stats from the AA’s monthly member survey, which asks a wide range of questions of its members. The results showed that 85 per cent of members say there are not enough chargers; 75 per cent say electric vehicles (EV) don’t go far enough (range anxiety); and 76 per cent say they are too expensive. What’s more, 66 per cent say that an EV takes too long to charge and 67 per cent say there is not a sufficient variety of vehicles to choose from.

Jason Stonier from Siemens explained that Infrastructure is key to overcoming range anxiety and that the suite of data systems and equipment that Siemens provide

has helped many businesses to reach the right decision for them and make the best procurement and operational decisions.

Jason said: “Increasingly people are not buying a car, they are buying mobility, and the younger generation, especially, don’t care how they get it”.

What we need to see is a simplification of the current situation of multiple chargepoint providers and operators and a system of interoperability which means you use one card to pay for any mode of transport and payment in order to be mobile. It is desirable to use contactless payment and possibly app based access to reserve chargers, pay and monitor your account.

Siemens continue to deliver major infrastructure projects for public charging, despite 80 per cent of charging taking place at home or work. Jason went on to say “public chargers give people confidence but within two weeks of owning an EV, range anxiety disappears completely”.

BP have recently announced an intention to buy Chargemaster, the UK’s largest public charging network, and this will place charging infrastructure on the forecourt of most towns, cities and roads in places that we all

Steve Beattie, head of business sales, Volvo Car UK

Dave McDonna, UK sales manager, SG Fleet

Steve Beattie is head of business sales of Volvo Car UK and responsible for overseeing all of Volvo’s fleet and corporate sales. Steve has considerable sector experience and heads up the team at Volvo as they grow sales volumes within the business sales market in the UK.

Dave has worked in the fleet sector for 14 years in various roles, encompassing account management, consultancy and new business roles.

He has extensive experience in policy review and creation, financial impact planning and both operational and employee benefit scheme design.

Volume 116 | GREENFLEET MAGAZINE

EV Roundtable

Event Sponsor

Dave McDonna, SG Fleet

GreenFleet 117, out in September, will include the findings from the afternoon session at the GreenFleet Roundtable. L

Event Sponsor

Steve Beattie, Volvo Car UK

spikes in demand. However, the consensus was that with Smart Grid technology, able to take and return power from the national grid and renewable sources, much of the fear about the lights going out when everyone plugs in their electric car is hype.

Often getting power to a site in order to install chargers can be a practical challenge and also a costly exercise as Nottingham Council has discovered, which adds cost and delay to an already challenging project.

What came out loud and clear from the first part of the day was that collaboration and information sharing is critical to overcoming both perceived and real hurdles.

Customers, be they individuals or businesses, find it difficult to get impartial, accurate advice and support to enable projects to be delivered effectively and efficiently. In order to shorten the introduction time and smooth operations it was agreed that working together across business and the industry is key.

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Electric Vehicles

Top five myths about electric vehicles busted Research published by Go Ultra Low has revealed that there is a huge amount of misunderstanding within the British public when it comes to pure electric cars, with many unaware of the benefits around performance, charging and cost. Go Ultra Low busts the top five myths surrounding electric vehicles One of the biggest areas of confusion highlighted in Go Ultra Low’s research is whether you can put an electric car through a car wash. While there is no problem doing so, 42 per cent of Brits admitted they aren’t sure if this is an option for pure electric cars.

As well as this, half of Brits (52 per cent) think they wouldn’t be able to describe what a pure electric car is to someone else.

Underestimating the performance is also commonplace. Nearly half (47 per cent) think a petrol or diesel car accelerates quicker than a pure electric, even though, in many cases, the opposite is true.

When it comes to cost, one in four (25 per cent) Brits think that, over the lifetime of the car, maintenance costs are higher for pure electric cars than they are for petrol or diesel, when in fact a pure

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electric can cost around 70 per cent less.

Brits also believe it’s significantly more expensive to charge one than it actually is. On average, people think it costs £21.54 to fully charge a pure electric car, even though charging at home could cost as little as £3.643.

Most underestimate the number of models available for purchase – the average Brit thinks there are just nine models currently available in the UK, nearly half the correct figure (17) – and 42 per cent of Brits think there are fewer than 15,000 pure electric cars on UK roads when there are already nearly 40,000.

Many Brits don’t realise how many charge points there are throughout the UK. On average they think there are only 6,000 charge point connectors, when actually there are more

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than twice that amount, at around 17,000.

There’s also confusion about the different methods for charging a pure electric car – over a quarter don’t realise you can charge an electric car through a charge point installed at home (29 per cent).

Poppy Welch, head of Go Ultra Low, said: “The research shows that there is much confusion and misunderstanding with the British public when it comes to pure electric cars. Over half of those surveyed don’t feel confident describing a pure electric car to another person and many aren’t aware of the many benefits electric cars can bring. Pure electric car drivers benefit from lower running costs, convenient charging and high-performance driving, all while producing no tailpipe emissions and helping to improve local air quality. Dispelling these misconceptions and highlighting these perks is therefore vital if we are to see more motorists make the switch to electric motoring.”

To combat the amount of misinformation on EVs, Go Ultra Low has published myth busting information.

1.Myth: Pure electric cars are slow Actually, electric cars are quicker off the mark While 47 per cent of people think that petrol or diesel cars accelerate faster than pure electric, actually the opposite is true. Because an electric motor can generate power quicker than an internal combustion engine, most pure electric cars accelerate quicker than a petrol or diesel equivalent. The 2018 Nissan Leaf accelerates from 0-60mph in just 7.4 seconds.

2. Myth: They’re too expensive Actually, an electric car could save you money.

Go Ultra Low figures have revealed that the first half of 2018 saw 28,054 ULEVs registered to drivers, a 25 per cent increase on the same period in 2017 – which was the most successful year-to-date for the plug-in car market.

The figures also show that the overall number of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles registered has risen every month so far this year, with one being registered every nine minutes in the UK Plug-in hybrids delivered the highest volume of registrations, with more than 21,000 having arrived on UK roads in 2018 so far. Meanwhile, the Nissan LEAF continues to be the most popular pure electric car. A further 1,501 took to the roads in Q2, taking the total number of new LEAF registrations in 2018 to 3,511.

The latest figures reveal an increasing appetite for pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles amongst private and

Pure electric cars may have higher upfront purchase costs, however you could actually save around £650 a year in tax and fuel if you choose pure electric over petrol or diesel. And, with maintenance costs also around 70 per cent less over a car’s lifetime, when it comes to your wallet, going electric is a no brainer. The government also provides a grant of up to £4,500 off the purchase of eligible pure electric cars.

Electric Vehicles

ULEV market grows 25 per cent in first half of 2018

business motorists. Following a strong performance in the first three months of the year, the second quarter of 2018 saw a further 14,655 cars find homes, a 10 per cent increase on Q1. This takes the total number of pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars registered to date to 161,409.

Driven largely by London, the South East is the region where new registrations have been highest; 9,880 pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles were registered here in the first six months of this year, 36 per cent of the total number. The South West meanwhile has 4,003, the West Midlands has 3,890, East Anglia has 2,487 and Yorkshire has 1,941.

3. Myth: There aren’t enough public charge points There are plenty of places to charge your electric car.

The average Brit thinks there are only 6,000 charge point connectors in the UK, when in fact there are more than double this, at 16,738. As well as this, there are rapid chargers at more than 96 per cent of Motorway Service Areas, and the UK has one the largest rapid charge networks in Europe.

4. Myth: There are only a few models to choose from Not anymore; there’s now an electric car for everyone.

When it comes to buying pure electric cars, people don’t realise how much choice there is. Go Ultra Low’s research reveals that the average person thinks there are nine models to choose from, but in fact there are now 17 pure electric car models available for purchase in the UK. 5. Myth: Pure electric cars are a technology for the future Here in the UK, the switch to electric has already begun Though the average person in the UK thinks that pure electric cars are still a novelty on our roads, many motorists are already driving zero emission electric cars.

There are nearly 40,000 already on the roads today and this figure is on the rise – around 6,000 have already been registered in the first five months of this year. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.goultralow.com

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SUPPLY INSTALL MAINTAIN

WWW.THEVSTORE.CO.UK 01234 675 930

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The government’s Road to Zero strategy revealed its vision for an electric vehicle charging infrastructure that meets the needs of plug-in vehicles and their drivers. Matthew Trevaskis, head of EVs at the Renewable Energy Association, shares his thoughts

they can just put extra fuel in it at the company’s expense. The car will then work just like a (non plug-in) hybrid.

Technology neutral The technology neutral approach of the government towards what kind of vehicles and drivetrains will ‘win out’ means that the targets for zero emission vehicles (or the degree of zero emission running) is woolly and lacks concrete detail. There was however, more vision around the need for infrastructure to meet the needs of these vehicles and drivers.

The consideration of requiring all new build homes with parking to be ‘EV ready’ means that it will be an easier choice for motorists to choose a plug-in vehicle. This should encompass those living in apartment blocks (e.g. with underground car parking) and those with reserved spaces – even where the charging point may not be directly fed from the home.

A dedicated charging point on a reserved space will likely be the favoured route but

Written by Matthew Trevaskis, head of electric vehicles, Renewable Energy Association

In July, the government published its long‑awaited Road To Zero strategy, setting out the intentions to drive down vehicle emissions over the coming decades.

It included a raft of measures including increasing the content of low carbon fuels for conventional vehicles and tackling emissions from HGVs. But with regard to getting cleaner cars and vans, it relied on the promotion of ULEVs (Ultra Low Emission Vehicles) without really quantifying what that will come to mean compared to today’s technology.

Many consider the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) as a transitionary technology that can offer ‘the best of both worlds’ – the capability of running as zero emission (for a limited range) but without the hindrance of relying upon charging infrastructure. The reality is that many of these achieve poor fuel economy (often worse than the vehicles they replace) since the company car driver choosing them is often doing regular longer journeys. To be an effective emissions reducer, a significant number of PHEV journeys should be within the electric range (typically less than 25 miles) and the vehicle should be recharged – although it can continue to function without being plugged in.

With a lot of company car drivers choosing a PHEV for the BIK savings, there is also little incentive to charge the vehicle at home, using their own electricity, when

other innovations such as a ‘hub’ of charging points may equally well provide the facility.

There’s also mention given to all new street lamps incorporating charging points – following trials in parts of London – to meet the needs of urban dwellers that park on the street. Whilst this seems logical, there may be issues with taking this to scale such as the spacing of street lamps not being as frequent as parking spaces and there may not be a need anyway.

Back in February, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, wrote to local authorities across the UK, encouraging them to take advantage of the on-street charging point grant scheme – to fit kerbside charging for residents in this kind of situation. This fund is only accessible to local authorities (LA) but doesn’t cover the entire cost of the works, so there is a potential barrier. But this does not necessarily have to be met by the LA itself. This could be from the charging hardware manufacturer or operator.

In response to this, and having been asked to comment on coverage in the media, I conducted a little informal research of my own. Social media is awash with ‘EV owner’s groups’ for various models of EVs and PHEVs, some with an international reach, some with a country focus I created a quick poll on one UK group which showed that whilst ‘classic’ home charging on a driveway (or in a garage) was still by far the most common, a significant proportion – around 20 out of 170 respondents – relied solely on ‘away from home’ charging, be it at work, whilst shopping or even making one or two specific trips each week to visit a rapid charger to get enough ‘juice’ into their car for another few days, in as little as 20 minutes.

EV Charging

The UK’s charging ambitions

Expanded ranges Existing EVs from the volume manufacturers have had battery capacities touching in the 20-40kWh bracket. New vehicles are now coming to market with more energy dense batteries far exceed this.

The Hyundai Kona EV now has 64kWh as the larger of the two battery options, good for a real world 200 miles, even at speed.The new Jaguar i-Pace meanwhile sports a 90kWh battery. On many days, the average motorist will not require a full charge and will also have flexibility as to when they charge to achieve lower costs, often linked to lower carbon electricity generation – either direct from microgeneration or via the grid.

In the short term, the drivers of these new generation vehicles should be aware that whilst the extra range makes longer journeys more viable and less stressful, there is a limiting factor in the majority E

The propos al requirin g build h all new parkingomes with ready’ m to be ‘EV it will b eans that choose e easier to a plu vehicle g-in

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DDR Electrical is meeting the increasing demand for charge points in rural areas across Yorkshire and beyond DDR Electrical, based in rural Leyburn, North Yorkshire, is already dispelling the myth that the demand for electrical vehicle charging points (EVCP) is purely in towns and cities.

Managing director, Steve Geater and the team are qualified for the design & installation of EVCP, accredited installers with OLEV and registered for both the Workplace Charging and Home Charge Schemes.

Although not based in a city, DDR’s location provides easy access to the A1 enabling the team to support an increasing demand in towns & rural areas across Yorkshire & Co Durham, travelling east to Scarborough and west to Kendal in Cumbria.

A lot of work takes them into York, Harrogate and Leeds, & they are now seeing the demand increasing within the Yorkshire Dales area. Rural hotels and holiday cottages, especially those of higher quality and/or have a sustainable strategy, are taking the opportunity to become EV ready for both their own business and to enable more of their guests to explore the beautiful countryside.

For example, Cottage in the Dales, luxury award-winning holiday cottages in the Yorkshire Dales National Park,

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were introduced by DDR Electrical to the government schemes & recommended the most appropriate EVCP, enabling them to widen their reach to potential guests as part of their Green Tourism accreditation. They subsequently bought a hybrid Mini Countryman as their local run-around car to service their cottages, which is also a 4x4, a winter necessity.

“With no knowledge & a myriad of ECVP to choose from, we really appreciated Steve’s product & finance guidance, enabling an easy decision. With each cottage being Grade II listed, the installation sites had to be subtle and practical for use by ourselves and our guests,” commented Diane Howarth, director of Cottage in the Dales. “A regular maintenance journey now costs us 75p instead of £5 and a new guest found us via the ‘ZapMap’ app and booked a holiday. A great measurable return on investment already.”

DDR have chosen to install the EO and Rolec EVCP and recently the Zappi from myenergi, enabling charging directly from solar PV. DDR is also adding a fully electric van to its own fleet to practise what they preach, thereby dispelling any concerns that some potential customers have about

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driving an EV in more rural areas.

“This increase in rural uptake, alongside the town-based business, is growing steadily, helped further with the government’s increased Workplace Charging Scheme grant, helping businesses and us,” commented Steve.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.ddrelectricalltd.co.uk 01969 622260 07875 196903

EV Charging

 of rapid charging network. The existing motorway network by Ecotricity and other networks including Polar (by Chargemaster, recently bought by BP) provide a maximum of 50kW charging. The newer vehicles can accept higher charge rates if available from the new generation of 150kW+ chargers now becoming commercially available. Upgrades to existing infrastructure are expected, but until that happens charging a 90kWh battery from a 50kW charger will take around 90 minutes for an 80 per cent recharge.

Looking towards the future of 350kW charging on upcoming vehicles, including the Porsche Taycan, previously known under the project name of Mission E, National Grid are planning to enable partners to connect directly to the high voltage transmission grid – as opposed to the lower voltage distribution grid provided by the Distribution Network Operators – to allow significant numbers of parallel, high powered chargers, such as ten 350kW, on each side of a motorway services.

Practical next steps for fleets HMRC recently announced that they would not treat electricity provided at work for recharging vehicles as a Benefit In Kind. This means that charging facilities installed for staff to recharge their vehicles could be ‘dumb’ without any means to record usage to attribute to users later.

How long that policy will stay in place, if the market for EVs grows quickly, suggests

that it may be prudent to choose charging hardware that at least has the ability to record and attribute energy drawn by a particular car or driver – even if this is not required immediately. Moving to ‘smarter’ networked and connected charging points

signals if there are limitations on the local grid. Smart charging is currently under consultation by the government.

Likewise, providing company car/van drivers, with an appropriate home charging point that can also report usage back to the

Looking towards the future of 350kW charging on upcoming vehicles, including the Porsche Taycan, National Grid are planning to enable partners to connect directly to the high voltage transmission grid – as opposed to the lower voltage distribution grid provided by the Distribution Network Operators – to allow significant numbers of parallel chargers also allows for local load management where many more charging points can be provided than there is power to use in parallel, since they can be controlled to direct charge towards vehicles in more urgent need.

This will also enable the fleet to respond to grid signals to govern when the majority of charging happens – this will likely be price signals and/or control

company and allow the driver to reclaim energy costs, will incentivise drivers to maximise the environmental benefit of their vehicle, especially PHEVs, to recharge when they have the opportunity. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.r-e-a.net

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Industry Comment Written by Jon Lawes, managing director, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions

Time to start your journey to zero emissions today Between climate change and air pollution, there’s no doubt about the need to reduce vehicle emissions. In recent years, it’s become a hot topic in politics, the media and our industry. So what can fleets do to make the transition to zero or low emission vehicles?

Indeed, it seems like barely a week goes by without another major announcement on this subject – whether it’s a manufacturer declaring that they will no longer sell diesel cars in Europe, a local council proposing new policies to deter the most polluting vehicles, or the Treasury consulting on tax changes to incentivise low-emission vehicles.

Policymakers at every level – local, national and global – are introducing measures designed to accelerate the transition to low-emission transport.

The Mayor of London is introducing an Ultra Low Emission Zone next year, and intends to follow it with Zero Emission Zones from 2020. Councils around the country are drawing up plans for new Clean Air Zones, which may include restrictions or fees on the dirtiest vehicles. The government raised taxes on new diesel cars in April, and has now published its ‘Road to Zero’ strategy for reducing road transport emissions.

Meanwhile, the European Union has introduced the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure, or WLTP, which will be mandatory for all new cars as of 1 September.

This will change the way carbon dioxide emission figures are calculated, and may result in new cars falling into different bands for the purposes of Company Car Tax, first-year Vehicle Excise Duty and capital allowances.

With so much changing, fleets cannot afford to stand still. Now is the time to start your journey to zero emissions.

Making the move to electric For many fleets, that journey will ultimately involve a transition to electric vehicles. And the good news is that EV options are improving all the time. Manufacturers are continuously developing new and better models of plug-in cars that can go further on a single charge.

Electric vans are becoming increasingly popular, too: there are now several models available with ranges of over 100 miles.

British company Tevva has even begun to convert existing HGVs to run on electricity,

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and offers conversions of new trucks up to 18 tonnes to be fully electric. Both Daimler and Tesla have unveiled their own versions of electric truck, each with projected ranges of over 200 miles.

Of course, electric vehicles need somewhere to be charged – and here too there is welcome progress. According to Zap Map, there are now more than 16,800 public charge points at over 5,800 locations around the UK, and the government is offering grants to help individuals and businesses install private ones. Nevertheless, more investment is needed in both technology and infrastructure before electric vehicles become a viable option for all fleets.

Electrification isn’t the only alternative fuel But switching to electric vehicles isn’t the only way for fleets to reduce their emissions. Other alternative fuels – including gas, biodiesel and hydrogen – all offer green solutions too, particularly for HGVs and specialist vehicles.

A lot depends on your vehicles’ journey profiles. Small electric vans might be most suitable for deliveries within towns and cities, for example, while other fuels may be preferable for larger trucks that do longer journeys.

And don’t forget about petrol and diesel, either. New internal combustion engines are becoming much cleaner and more fuel-efficient than they used to be, so upgrading your fleet can reduce both your emissions and your fuel costs. As an added benefit, the newest Euro 6/VI-compliant vehicles won’t have to pay to drive in London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone or any of the Clean Air Zones being introduced around the country.

It’s not all about alternative fuels There are also other, less obvious ways to reduce your emissions. By using telematics to monitor and analyse your drivers’ behaviour and providing extra training to those who need it, you can help them to drive more fuel-efficiently. And you can make a big difference by implementing best practice across your fleet when it comes to vehicle maintenance, such as looking after tyres properly. In fact, making sure all your tyres are inflated to the right pressure and have the right tread depth is important for both environmental and safety reasons.

And then there are the bespoke products that reduce a car’s emissions. AdBlue is an exhaust additive that transforms a

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Jon Lawes

Jon Lawes, managing director of Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions Jon has more than 20 years’ experience in the fleet and leasing industry, and became Divisional Managing Director of Hitachi Capital Commercial Vehicle Solutions in 2006.

In 2015, Jon was made Managing Director of Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, which covers all assets from cars to plant equipment. He has recently completed 3-years as Chairperson of the BVRLA’s Commercial Vehicle Committee and sits on the overall board of the BVRLA. In addition, Jon is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

diesel car’s harmful NOx emissions into harmless water and nitrogen. CGON, meanwhile, is a unit that can be added to a petrol or diesel car. It generates its own hydrogen which mixes with the normal fuel to burn off most of the pollutants.

So, remember: the journey to zero emissions won’t be completed overnight, and it’s not all about switching to electric vehicles immediately. It requires an intelligent, pragmatic approach that takes into account all the relevant factors, from your operational requirements to forthcoming policy changes. It’s time to begin. L FURTHER INFORMATION To discover more about how Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions supports fleets on the road to zero emissions, please visit: www.hitachicapitalvehiclesolutions. co.uk/Insights and get in contact with our expert consultants.

Feature Technology Battery Heading

The push for greater adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles has focused attention on battery technologies. So what does the future look like for electric battery technology, and what challenges need to be overcome?

The future battery industry is likely to be much more complex than that of the past.

Partnerships between existing players and new entrants, as well as different types of organisations, from battery manufacturers to automotive companies, are becoming vital to innovation and success.

The last two years have seen over $13.7 billion in battery-related investments and acquisitions – such as Tesla/Panasonic building a 35 GWh ‘gigafactory’ to produce batteries, Total acquiring Saft for $1.1 billion and Daimler planning $1.1 billion of investment over the next five years.

The pace of investment is ever-increasing – in June 2018 alone, energy giant BP announced it had bought Chargemaster, the UK’s largest charging company, while Jaguar Land Rover said it would invest $18 billion in new products over the next three years, a substantial percentage of which would be EV-related.

At the same time, current technologies are not enough to unleash the full potential of electric vehicles – innovation is required to drive the improved performance and price necessary for subsidy-free,

mass-market adoption of EVs. Based on industry-expert assessments, at Arthur D. Little we estimate that to make EVs price‑competitive with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles without requiring subsidies, battery packs need to cost $100/ kWh. Yet, current lowest-cost estimates put prices between $190 and $250/kWh. So, what will the winning strategies be, in terms of both companies and partnerships and future technologies?

Looking specifically at the automotive market, we can draw four key conclusions.

There will be no single solution It is vital to understand that the battery market is made up of multiple applications, each with different and very specific needs. That means, in our view, that no single technology is likely to ultimately dominate the industry at large.

This is true within automotive. For example, it is easy to overlook that the biggest battery application is still starter, lighting & ignition (SLI) for every vehicle with an internal combustion engine. And this broadly relies on the same lead-acid technology used within the first rechargeable

Written by By Kurt Baes, Michael Kolk, Florence Carlot, Adnan Merhaba and Yuma Ito, Arthur D. Little

The rising complexity of the battery industry

battery, which was invented in 1859.

Different sub-sectors in the EV market also have distinct requirements. With hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), the smaller relative capacity of the batteries makes energy density and capital cost less relevant. However, as the battery is charged and discharged frequently and powerfully through braking, it has to have high power density, extremely short charging time, and a long cycle lifetime, which requires thousands of cycles.

Compared to HEVs, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) has a battery that can also be charged by plugging into an external electricity source. These typically have much larger capacity, enabling the vehicle to drive fully electric for short distances. This leads to requirements for lower capital cost and better energy density, while power density and cycle lifetime are of less concern.

Full EVs no longer have ICEs, and thus require much larger batteries to deliver sufficient range for drivers, which makes capital cost and energy density their most important needs. EVs also require batteries with high reliability (as the vehicle can no longer fall back on the ICE) and good cycle lifetimes of around 1,000 cycles, which enable them to last for the same mileage as the rest of the car components.

Commercial EVs such as e-buses typically have increased safety needs, as the battery systems are large and the impact of a thermal runaway (battery meltdown) can be severe.

Cycle lifetime is also of more importance than in PHEVs and EVs, as the buses are charged at least daily. In the case of buses for which fast charging is required, they can be fully charged multiple times a day, which makes cycle lifetime even more important.

Innovation takes time Currently, lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries dominate the automotive EV market and have seen rapid improvements in performance and cost due to a combination of greater economies of scale and increased research and development. However, there are still E

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Battery Technology

 burning unmet needs. Next‑generation technologies are required to deliver a step change in performance of key battery characteristics.

A lot is happening here. Our recent analyses of hundreds of battery-related start-ups have revealed that a host of technologies using alternative materials are being developed.

Within the Li-ion space this is primarily focused on three areas: silica anodes, advanced cathodes and solid-state electrolytes.

The solid-state electrolyte is the strongest contender for innovation. It replaces the current electrolyte system, unlocking the use of new cell components and delivering benefits in terms of greater energy density and improved battery safety.

The most likely result of this innovation will be the emergence of a next generation of solid-state Li-ion technologies, starting in high‑end consumer electronics and then gradually spreading to EVs. This will take time – it is worth remembering that while Li-ion batteries currently dominate the EV market, the previous generation of NiMH batteries are not only still being produced, but also expected to remain available for another five to 10 years.

Partnerships are crucial We are seeing the rise of a complex series of ecosystems, which is also demonstrated

by a threefold increase in patent filings – up from 35,000 in 2010 to nearly 93,000 in 2016. A growing number of these are joint filings between research institutions, companies developing battery technology, and businesses using battery technology within applications, such as automotive, electronic devices and utilities.

This means that companies, whether new entrants or existing businesses, face significant risks if they are to successfully carve out market positions. While these risks vary depending on the companies’ positions in the value chain, victorious players will need to manage their way through complex ecosystems, pick the right technologies to back, secure necessary knowledge and intellectual property, and ensure that they can operate at scale in their chosen areas.

This must all be done within a traditionally conservative and risk-averse industry.

The risks are high Not all players in the battery market will be successful in terms of both technology choices and partnering strategies. Some parts of the value chain, such as battery cell manufacturing, have repeatedly seen operating margins fall below zero, driven by a need to build strong positions for the future, particularly through long-term agreements with automotive manufacturers.

And while the current increase in Li-ion production is lowering prices, this is a double-edged sword. It helps meet existing demand, but lengthens the commercialisation time for new technologies, as these have to have their costs reduced further in order to become economically viable.

Conclusion The accelerating adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) is focusing enormous attention on battery technologies.

We’re currently in the midst of an enormous boom in battery investment, with a huge range of players, from start‑ups to existing manufacturers, automotive companies, energy suppliers and chemicals companies all spending heavily in order to meet predicted demand. The winners will benefit from substantial market share in a growing sector, while the losers will risk their very survival.

Expect many more announcements and increased investment, particularly as the EV market accelerates ahead of regulatory deadlines that mandates zero-emission vehicles. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.adlittle.co.uk

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