Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/703545
NETWORK / 30 / JULY/AUGUST 2016 ELECTRIC VEHICLES A Supercharger is capable of charging a Tesla EV to 120kW in just 30 minutes, compared with the fast charging points (7-22kW) and rapid charging units (43-50kW) offered by other networks. However, because Tesla is at the top end of the range of EVs on offer, Superchargers are likely to remain the exception rather than the rule. The future development of public charging networks more broadly is a key bone of contention. Networks have little influence over these commercially run operations whose primary concern has been to facilitate uptake – largely by offering free charging. It seems we have reached a tipping point where this is about to change, however. From the beginning of August, the Electric Highway – owned and run by energy supplier Ecotricity – will no longer be free to use. Customers wishing to have a fast charge at one of the company's 300-strong charging points located at motorway service stations will now have to pay £6 for 30 minutes. Ecotricity owner Dale Vince says it is now necessary to charge for the network in order to maintain and grow it. He says usage of the charging points trebled in 2015, and the company expects to double the number of charge points within two years. A switch to more charged public charging may push more emphasis back towards the slow, but cheap and convenient home charge. A 3kW charge takes 6-8 hours, so is ideally suited for charging overnight. Home charging is where the benefits of EVs for DNOs could really come into play. But realising the EV upside will take careful management. There is a very real risk that clustering – driven by wealth demographics and "keeping up with the Joneses" – could cause concentrations of home charging, both geographically and in terms of timing, which could overwhelm local networks. Understanding the dynamic of clustering has been a particular focus of DNO research into EVs so far. Both My Electric Avenue and the NIC project run by UK Power Networks, Low Carbon London have made it a priority issue. My Electric Avenue found that across Britain, 32% of local electricity networks (312,000 circuits) will require intervention when 40-70% of customers have EVs. However, early indications suggest that there will be enough diversity in charging patterns to keep peak demand lower than feared, although it is too early to tell how universally applicable the findings will be when applied across different characteristics of the network. The project also trialled demand control technology Esprit – a technology that when fitted to a local electricity Profile of UK charging points by charger speed: Zap-map, July 2016 Slow Fast Rapic DC Rapid AC 12,000 9,000 6,000 3,000 0 Aug 14 Oct 14 Dec 14 Feb 15 Apr 15 Jun 15 Aug 15 Oct 15 Dec 15 Feb 16 Apr 16 Jun 16 Stationary vehicles during a typical day for the UK 100% 95% 90% 85% 80% 75% 0 6 12 18 24 Proportion of stationary vehicles continued p32 Network reinforcement costs Cummulative network reinforcement costs (£bn) 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 2041 2042 2043 2044 2045 2046 2047 2048 2049 2050 Source: DOT National Transport Survey High uptake of plug-in vehicles Medium uptake of plug-in vehicles Low uptake of plug-in vehicles Worst case recharging patterns Recharging always overnight Source: Energy Technologies Institute