As the market for electric vehicles (EVs) picks up, the infrastructure for recharging them will inevitably have to keep pace – so, according to US-based consultants in global clean technology markets Pike Research, there will be around 4.7m EV charging units operating worldwide by 2015.
Pike published a wide-ranging report into the global market for EV infrastructure in June this year that said nearly one million of these units will be in the US, and of these, 64% will be residential – people prefer the convenience of home charging.
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There is also the fact that retailers are currently unlikely to make much money from installing charging units, said Pike. Typical cost for recharging an EV fully at home is under USD2 per charge. As most US car journeys fall within the 100-mile range of an EV’s charge, there is little incentive on a purely profit-based analysis for setting up a US-wide public network, other than as a marketing tool by individual companies. California has the greatest US share of public electric vehicle stations, but these were installed around 2000. The state is now planning to upgrade these to 2010 standards, at a cost of around USD1.9m. San Diego county, again in California, is planning to install at least 1,500 EV charging stations in its own area. Arizona, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida already have small networks.
However, there are other incentives for investment in EV recharging infrastructure, especially by governments: increasing costs of fossil fuels and global agreements on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
California-based Coulomb Technologies is planning to install some 4,700 stations through the US – New York and Detroit included – at a total estimated cost of USD37m; at an average cost per station of USD7,872. Likewise, ECOtality North America is now installing a planned 15,000 Internet-linked stations throughout the US at an average cost of USD15,333. Of the USD230m total cost, the US government is subsidising USD114m.
A lot depends on the degree to which governments are prepared to support a public network. The Asia Pacific region is expected to lead global EV equipment sales because of strong government subsidy and directives, with China, Japan and South Korea expected to be in the forefront of demand.
The Hong Kong government, for example, has pumped money into EV development and sees charging infrastructure as a key enabler. However, Hong Kong has few personal garages or kerbside parking places, so the vast majority of parking is in car parks, public and private. Said Ron Chung, senior strategic planner, CLP Power Hong Kong Limited: “We need small, unobtrusive and robust chargers. There’s an opportunity for these in shopping malls and public car parks but the challenge will be getting them into outlying areas, strategic urban areas and borders.”
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By GlobalDataAs yet, there is no consistent global approach to setting up EV charging networks. Even in developed areas such as San Francisco, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Oslo, the picture is still of small-scale charging networks that are a partnership between commercial companies, the local authority, and generally, the local utilities. However, Vancouver, Canada, has passed a regulatory requirement for mandatory charging points in blocks of flats, which could herald a new direction for private charging points.
The global picture of the costs of installing EV charging networks is also varied. Pike Research points out that most EV service equipment will be networked and managed via IT (information technology) and communications systems that will aggregate power demand and enable a coordinated response to changing grid conditions. This, however, will come at an estimated global cost of USD5.1bn between 2010 and 2015.
However, for developed countries, smarts grids will be essential, whatever the initial cost. Les Poch and Matt Mahalik, research scientists at the Argonne Center for Energy, Environmental and Economic Systems Analysis, warn that if there is a surge in demand for plug-in EVs, then US power networks could be strained to the limit.
“The pattern for power use in the US has been relatively stable and predictable for the past 30 years, but no one knows how quickly electric cars will catch on, in what areas they will be most popular, or when everyone will choose to plug in their cars,” said Dr Mahalik. Smart grids will have to respond to new patterns of peaks and troughs in home consumption caused by EV charging and allow suppliers to track electricity use in real time.
The European Union (EU) also backs smart meters and smart grids. It is keen to see the developing charging network allow for fast-charging vehicles. The present slow charging system is one factor that can deter potential EV users.
A key challenge for governments will be to provide green infrastructure for EV charging. China, in particular, is likely to have problems here. A new study undertaken jointly by Tsinghua University, Beijing and the US Argonne National Laboratory points out that energy for both manufacturing and charging EV vehicles in China comes from highly polluting coal-fired stations.
The EU, pressing for standardisation of charging devices throughout its member states, is urging the use of electricity generated from safe and sustainable sources of energy including renewables, for charging electric vehicles. On May 25 this year, EU industry ministers welcomed the European Commission’s plan to launch an EU-wide electro-mobility demonstration project in 2011 that would integrate national pilot projects across borders.
In developing countries, public charging points are likely to become the norm because the majority of people still do not have reliable electricity supplies at home. Solar energy is growing, but as yet affordable domestic solar panels in Africa, for example, have only enough capacity to recharge a mobile phone or reading lamp. The problem will be to ensure a sufficient, stable supply of power that is also green and at the right price. Where supplies are unstable or overloaded, large-scale solar energy powered charging points seem the logical direction, but only if the political situation is also stable and these projects receive international development fund money.
Deirdre Mason
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