electric vehicles

Electrically propelled vehicles are not new, but advances in technology over the past few years have made them much more commercially viable. In the past the use of electric propulsion systems and vehicles was restricted to fleets, where the specialist support required to keep the vehicles operational could be supported and justified. Advances in battery technology and in the manufacturing of electric vehicles have led us to the point where electric vehicles are becoming much more prevalent in the market and are likely to dominate the automobile market in the next 5 to 10 years. Electric vehicles have the important characteristics of been cheaper to operate with zero omissions. 

Although it could be argued that emissions are not completely avoided but merely shifted from the vehicle to the point at which electricity is generated i.e., the power station or power plant. This is still desirable, as it is much simpler and cheaper to manage emissions at a central location such as a power station, rather than distributed emission sources represented by millions of vehicles. It is a significant economic aspect of electric vehicles on a geopolitical level. A move towards the use of electric vehicles, will reduce our dependence on oil. 

Electric vehicles must be treated as a single system. While there is still considerable potential for improving the internal combustion engine, it is likely that electric vehicles will play a much more significant role in the future. This means that we must replicate the ubiquity of gasoline filling stations, with appropriate electric vehicle charging infrastructure. In addition to geographic coverage of electric vehicle charging points, each charging point must have the appropriate characteristics for the location. For example, a home charging point can use a lower power rating as it is likely to have at least eight hours to charge the vehicle. 

Charging points in route, will have a need for higher power and faster charging, while charging points at popular destinations such as offices, shopping malls and schools will require characteristics somewhere in the middle. The expected demand for vehicle charging should also be considered to ensure that unacceptable wait times are not experienced which within themselves cost congestion. Recent experience with electric taxis in Amsterdam suggests that the distortion in the energy consumption patterns in urban areas are much greater with electric vehicles than expected. This leads to consideration of efficiencies and electricity generation and distribution, turning to solar power and microgrid technologies which are often part of the wider smart city picture.