Electrifying The Future For Electric Vehicles

Some energy industry professionals are questioning whether the UK government's road to a zero strategy is ambitious enough. It includes a goal to transform the nation into a world leader in zero-emission vehicle systems, with a target of 50% of new cars to be super low emissions by 2030 and completely zero emissions by 2040. The targets, however, have faced mounting criticism due to a combination of recent cuts to subsidies, inadequate charging points and an overall unclear and unambitious plan created by the business select committee in Parliament. Select MPs are now urging for the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to be pushed forward to 2032, 8 years ahead of the scheduled target.

 The transformation towards an all-electric future will require significant investment in new research and development strategies. It will also require a considerable improvement in available charging infrastructure and supportive policies for the installation of new charging points at home. Whilst this does sound challenging, industry members believe momentum is growing in favour of a transition towards electric vehicles. At present, electric vehicles account for a tiny proportion of vehicles on the road (the equivalent of 4 million electric cars compared to over 1 billion petrol and diesel cars combined). Adoption of electric vehicles, however, is happening fast and whilst it took over 20 years to sell the first million electric vehicles, it now takes approximately 4 months to sell a similar amount today.

 Policy development also looks more promising. Oxford has announced that it intends to introduce the world's first zero-emission zone within its centre. London will commence its ultra-low emission zone during 2019, meaning drivers will face higher charges if they don't own an electric vehicle. Globally, sales of electric vehicles have been provided with added incentives and tax breaks, incentivising more people to make the transition to electric.

 Green Number Plates

 Within the UK, scientists believe that implementing green number plates for low emission vehicles could enhance awareness and improve the uptake of electric vehicles. A range of test projects has been operating in Norway, Canada and China looking at green vehicles and making them more distinct and obvious to other road users.

The adoption of new electric vehicles has also gained support from leading automotive manufacturers. Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover have confirmed they will stop launching new models that operate via internal combustion engines from 2020.

 Powering our future

There are several challenges relating to infrastructure that will need to be tackled to continue the successful uptake of electric vehicles. Within the UK, and many other nations, energy grids will be under added pressure to compensate for the increasing demand for electric vehicles on the road. Innovative load balancing techniques will need to be implemented to satisfy this growing demand.

To also ensure that both electric and hybrid vehicles are low-emissions, the grid will need to be powered by a significantly higher level of renewables and ensure carbon fuels are decreased considerably. At present, energy is largely generated and used on a supply and demand basis. Renewable energy sources have, however, remained relatively unpredictable. As nations become more electrified, energy demand levels are becoming less predictable and the overall grid system less stable. If battery sizes of electric vehicles, along with vehicle sales continue to rise, many existing energy charging systems will not be capable of meeting the rising demand levels. The challenge now is to create a storage solution and continue developing new battery technology.

 Electric vehicles – a readily-available source of energy

 As more households continue to invest in electric vehicles, more properties will contain a large electricity storage system. Energy analysts predict that the future will see energy consumers transforming to prosumers by being capable of storing and re-selling energy back to the grid, effectively using their vehicle batteries as a distributed and flexible energy storage system. Electric Vehicles have the potential to transform the current supply and demand model completely.

 The battery will then be able to take from the grid when charging, and energy levels are both high and cheap, but also be capable of feeding energy back to the grid when demand levels are higher. This concept is already happening in many places. Some large residential developments with smart building technology can divert unused energy from buildings when demand is low and feed it to electric vehicle charging points. This decreases the power to charging points at peak times and redirects energy to other building where power is required.

 Similarly, in larger residential developments smart building management technology can be used to divert ‘un-used’ power from buildings when there is less need (daytime weekdays and late at night) and feed it to electric vehicle charging points. This reduces the power to charging points at peak times (early evening) redirecting it to other buildings where power is needed.

 Traditionally, energy was supplied in a singular, one-way flow from a power station to the household. Today, power is increasingly being generated from a range of renewable energy resources, including micro energy productions and the rising number of prosumers.

 If electric vehicles and other household battery storage technology are to really play a part in future energy supplies, then there needs to be a solution for energy businesses and consumers to charge for the power they provide to the grid, in a similar manner to how we currently pay for the energy we use. Smart meter technology now has the ability to measure energy use and generation, as well as provide insightful details on pricing changes.

Future smart meters could be intelligent enough to determine how much energy each household will require for each day, ensure this level of energy is available when needed and capable of selling additional stored energy back to the grid at peak periods. In order for continued acceleration in smart meter technology, further investment is required from the government and further regulations and policies introduced that incentivise consumer behaviour.

 The existing smart meter rollout does not include the metering of EV charging points and battery storage on commercial, public and private land. There are currently no government incentives planned to actively encourage prosumers. Creating a new policy framework which provides compensation for people sending energy back to the grid is a recommended step by many industry professionals.