EVs Transition

Past and current governments have supported measures to encourage uptake of EVs as they can contribute to a wide range of transport policy goals. EVs can help to improve air quality, reduce noise pollution and support efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The Government’s Road to Zero strategy largely relies on replacing petrol and diesel vehicles with low and zero emission electric vehicles (EVs). To do so it set the “ambition” that by 2050 almost every car and van will be zero emission [9].

Source:

The electric car market is growing quickly, with more than 273,000 models on UK roads at the end of February 2020. The most recent set of figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that plug-in models made up 5.7% of total UK new car registrations, with pure-electric models accounding for 3.2% of that figure – more than 2,500 in total [1].

Type of EVs

Source:

There are three main types of electric vehicles (EVs), classed by the degree that electricity is used as their energy source. BEVs, or battery electric vehicles, PHEVs of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and HEVs, or hybrid electric vehicles. Only BEVs are capable of charging on a level 3, DC fast charge [2].

Battery Electric Vehicles

Battery Electric Vehicles, also called BEVs, and more frequently called EVs, are fully-electric vehicles with rechargeable batteries and no gasoline engine. Battery electric vehicles store electricity onboard with high-capacity battery packs. Their battery power is used to run the electric motor and all onboard electronics. BEVs do not emit any harmful emissions and hazards caused by traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. BEVs are charged by electricity from an external source. Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers are classified according to the speed with which they recharge an EVs battery [5].

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles or PHEVs can recharge the battery through both regenerative braking and “plugging in” to an external source of electrical power. While “standard” hybrids can (at low speed) go about 1-2 miles before the gasoline engine turns on, PHEV models can go anywhere from 10-40 miles before their gas engines provide assistance [3].

Hybrid Electric Vehicles

HEVs are powered by both gasoline and electricity. The electric energy is generated by the car’s own braking system to recharge the battery. This is called ‘regenerative braking’, a process where the electric motor helps to slow the vehicle and uses some of the energy normally converted to heat by the brakes.HEVs start off using the electric motor, then the gasoline engine cuts in as load or speed rises. The two motors are controlled by an internal computer, which ensures the best economy for the driving [4].

The UK's most popular EV Models

Source:

The figure from Next greencar company show that Jaguar I-Pace is the most popular plug-in vehicle as of the end of September 2019, and by some margin. With more than 150,000 units sold, it has been the best-selling plug-in car for more than four years, and is considerably ahead of the second most popular plug-in car, the Tesla Model S. Rounding out the top 10 are the Mercedes Benz C 350e, Renault's Zoe, Tesla's Model S, the Volkswagen Golf GTE, and Mini Countryman Cooper S E [1].

EV charging point Market

There are three main EV charger types: 'slow' charging units (up to 3kW) which are best suited for 6-8 hours overnight; 'fast' chargers (7-22kW) which can fully recharge some models in 3-4 hours; and 'rapid' charging units (43kW+) which are able to provide an 80% charge in around 30 minutes.

Rapid chargers come in two charge point types – AC and DC – depending on whether they use alternating current or direct current. In 2019, there became a need to differentiate between different speeds of rapid points as ultra-rapid chargers have come online. These are capable of providing at least 100 kW of power for charging, where those EVs are able to accept such a high charge. Ultra-rapid charge points tend to be 100 kW, 150 kW, or 350 kW [8].

EV charging point and location

Source:

As a result of sustained government and private investment, the UK network of EV charging points has increased from a few hundred in 2011 to more than 10,500 charging locations, 17,900 charging devices and 31,100 connectors by March 2020. The proportion of charger types has also changed dramatically during that time with an increase in high power (rapid) units being installed across the UK [7].

The chart shows the breakdown of connectors by slow (3-5kW), fast (7-22kW), rapid (25-99kW) and ultra-rapid (100kW+) type chargers for the last nine years. As the chart reveals, the past few years has seen increased investment in fast and rapid units at the expense of slow chargers. This reflects the growing demand for higher charging rates as battery capacities increase and EVs are driven on longer journeys. From 2018 to 2019 there was also an increase in the number of slow chargers which indicates the rapid expansion of the EV market in 2019.

The chart above shows the number of charging devices across the UK which has at least one of the specified Rapid connector type. As shown, there are 2627 devices with a JEVS CHAdeMO 50-100kW connector, 1761 devices with a Type 2 Mennekes 43kW connector, 2390 with a CCS Combo 50-350kW connector and 453 Tesla superchargers (Type 2 & CCS).

Source:

Source:

The pie-chart above shows the breakdown of charging point connectors in each of the UK regions. Greater London has the most charging points followed by the South-East and Scotland; the regions with the least charging points are Wales and the North-East.

Problem Description

National Grid

References

[1]. Chris ,L., Next Greener from ZAP News. (2018) Electric Car market statistics [online].

Available from: www.nextgreencar.com/electric-cars/statistics/ [Accessed 9 Apr 2020]

[2]. EVgo Company. (2020) Electrc Vehicle Types [online].

Available from: [Accessed 9 Apr 2020]

[3]. Department of Energy. (2018). Plug-In Hybrid Electric Cars [online].

Available from: afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/how-do-plug-in-hybrid-electric-cars-work [Accessed 9 Apr 2020]

[4]. Department of Energy. (2018). Hybrid Electric Cars [online].

Available from: afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/how-do-hybrid-electric-cars-work [Accessed 9 Apr 2020]

[5]. Department of Energy. (2018). Electric Cars [online].