Concept
I think the EV concept is the future. Once you break through the misinformation spread by the Oil companies and their apologists and sponsored shills (e.g. a certain Mr Clarkson) it can seem quite compelling.
I will say that it's not there yet for a lot of people, maybe even most people. But things are moving fast. A few short years ago EVs were totally impractical for anyone except the most die-hard environmentalist living in a city. Now, most people's regular journeys can be covered by the range of an EV, and there are versions with range extenders (basically a built-in petrol generator) which will give you the same sort of range as a normal petrol car (albeit with reduced fuel consumption).
At the current rate of change, in three or four years time, the range will be doubled, the number of charging stations in the UK will be enough that travelling long distances will not be an issue (it's very close to that now), and the prices will have dropped.
I would struggle to recommend buying an EV to most people now, because of the cost and the uncertainty about the future value of today's EVs given that the technology is moving so fast. Mine is on a lease so that in 3 years time I can chose to upgrade to a model with better range. My car will then go onto the second hand market and will be a cheap runabout for someone who can't afford a new car. And so the cycle starts, and we start to get more EVs on the roads.
The way I see it, it will never take off if people like me who can afford it, are prepared to take a risk, and whose driving habits it suits decide to believe Jeremy Clarkson's ignorant opinions or, worse still, decide they can't be bothered.
By the way, I do know of people whose only car is an EV and they use it for 99% of their car journeys. For the 1%, they hire an ICE car, and still save a bunch of money.
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| Getting some free electricity from the Ecotricity windmill at Green Park, Reading. |
The Present
At the moment, for most of my travelling, an EV is significantly less hassle than an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle. It's also significantly cheaper, more comfortable, quieter, and generally more enjoyable to drive.
For longer journeys, I do have to plan. I also have the option of the other car (which is an ICE car) to fall back on. But planning isn't necessarily a bad thing. The biggest risk at the moment is that, because some of the car chargers are thin on the ground in some places, there can be queues for them, which extends the journey times as you have to wait for other users.
For instance, I travelled to East London the other day, and ended up at Westfields Mall in Stratford. the journey between my home and Westfields was just possible to do on a single charge, but only if I went through central London, and if the traffic was favourable. The alternative was to go via the North Circular, which would have put it out of range by about 10 miles. That's not so bad because there are rapid and fast chargers on the M4 and on the North Circular (at Ikea). However, looking at the map, the Ecotricity charger on the Eastbound Heston services was out of service. Getting to the Westbound one would have meant a significant detour, and as there was an accident on the M4 at the time, this might have added an hour to the journey. I could have used the charger at IKEA, but it was a Saturday and there was a big risk that the chargers would be occupied.
As chargers increase in numbers, and the technology becomes more reliable, this won't be such a problem.
By the way, if I had got to Westfields, there were more that 30 fast chargers across the various car parks by the mall.
On balance I decided it was too much hassle on this occasion, and took the other car.
But this is something I can do easily, and a lot of homes have two cars and could do the same.
As for financially, ignoring the free charges I have been getting (of which I have had quite a few), I reckon if I had been using a typical ICE car with a fuel economy of around 40 mpg (being generous here, my old car got between 26-28 mpg averaged out despite being capable of 45 mpg on specific journeys), I reckon I would have burned 100 litres of petrol at a current cheapest price around £1.30 per litre. Total cost £130.
For these journeys I have consumed around 250kWh of electricity. If I had had to pay for it call at peak rate (14p/kWh) it would have cost me £35, a saving of nearly £100.
in reality, I've not had to pay for a good deal of this, so the saving is far greater.
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| Getting a 30% top-up in 10 minutes at an Ecotricity rapid charger at the motorway services |
The future
Unless someone comes up with something significantly better (and, not Hydrogen isn't it) then I see Plug In EVs continuing to grow. Hydrogen will have it's place, but I see this as a supplemental thing rather than the main fuel source.
Ultimately Hydrogen as a fuel is problematic to manufacture, to store, to ship, and to pump. The fuel companies see it as their future because it's the only future they have where they can continue to control local filling stations and the supply chain to them. In a future where everyone fuels at home, or at work, or at the shops, or anywhere else they visit, there is simply no place for local filling stations, and that must have the oil companies scared out of their minds! Pumped hydrogen fuelled cars gives them a way to maintain this monopoly.
The other thing to bear in mind is that hydrogen, as a fuel, is really just a battery. It's not a source of fuel like Petrol or Coal is. It has to be created. The ingredients to create it are plentiful, but it requires electricity, and creating hydrogen uses more electricity than it gives back. Hydrogen doesn't solve any wider energy issues.
As a battery, I can see hydrogen having it's use in cars: I see most cars being plugin with a hydrogen fuel cell as a range extender. This would be a huge improvement on fossil fuel based range extenders as used in the BMW i3 and the Ampera/Volt.
I also see an opportunity for local generation and distribution of hydrogen, not pumped, but in some sort of cartridge or pack, just like the current small scale hydrogen fuel cell systems like the ones from Brunton. These don't have to come from specialist filling stations. You could pick them up from supermarkets or other retailers, a bit like butane canisters used for barbecues. As long as these are user replaceable, you just rock up to the shop, swap the cartridge, and be on your way.
Ultimately though, hydrogen is a way to create electricity. and EVs don't (or shouldn't) care where the electricity comes from. Getting your electricity direct from the grid into a local battery whilst parked outside your house will always be the most efficient, cheapest and, most importantly, most convenient method for most people, most of the time. I see hydrogen being a possible solution to fast refuelling for longer journeys.
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