Mike Potter, Managing Director and Founder, DriveElectric, looked at: Electric vehicle disruption? saying it is ever more evident that electric vehicles (EVs) are the future. Especially with the law of conservation in energy.
He explained that electric motors are more efficient than petrol or diesel engines, have lower maintenance costs, batteries are getting cheaper and the range is getting better.
However, there was a question mark over whether they were cheaper to buy and easy to use – with 95 per cent of charging points at home or work. But battery charging, followed by battery range, is the main reason that stops EVs working.
By 2027, half of all new car registrations will be EVs, registering around 1.3 million a year. This could add 50 per cent to peak demand for electricity in households. The timing of this demand does not work well against the availability of renewable energy, especially when there is an inclination for all vehicles to be plugged in early in the evening, charging at the same time.
He suggested this was superfluous as most vehicles wouldn’t actually be used until the morning, so demand management is achievable to spread the load. Flexibility at its best. Cheap, renewable generation, energy storage in the grid, wind power, and a Crowd Charge algorithm can help – leading to a reduction in costs for EVs.
Mike said that it was natural for users to ask: “will my (EV) car work?” and “will I have to squash the power in?!”.