The Future of Charging Innovations in EV Charging Technology
Shaping the future of fast-charging EV infrastructure
In the past decade, electric vehicles (EVs) have gone from a rare sight on even the busiest road to an increasingly common, affordable option. In 2020, EV sales set new records that surpassed expectations, particularly in countries with an eager customer base and government policies supporting the transition to EVs. Much of this leadership has come from Europe, where EV adoption has surged; by July 2021, for example, two-thirds of Oslos residents owned an EV. According to McKinsey analysis, 45 percent of customers are considering buying an EV.
In addition to consumer enthusiasm and government regulations and incentives, the number of industry players committed to phasing out internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles continues to grow. Such commitments are still in early stages, but by 2050 the bans OEMs have announced to date will account for more than half of todays passenger vehicle sales, and the EU is aiming for an ICE ban by 2035, likely pulling other countries commitments forward as well. All signs point to continued growth in the EV market, with Europe leading the charge: McKinsey projections suggest EVs will make up 75 percent of European new car sales by 2030.
All this growth means we need more places to charge EVsnow. Everywhere from homes and workplaces to retail sites, fleet depots, and on-the-go charging sites, the race is on to build enough public fast-charging stations to meet demand, remove perceived inconvenience for those still hesitating to transition to EVs, and ultimately help meet CO2 emission reduction targets. Some actions governments and companies can take include offering incentives to build private chargers, subsidizing public charging, and investing in production capacity and a skilled workforce.
EV charging infrastructure could become a bottleneck for growth
As EVs have become increasingly affordable, one of the primary barriers for consumers is no longer cost but charging convenience. In McKinseys 2020 ACES Consumer Survey, potential EV drivers put the lack of charging infrastructure at the top of the list of barriers to expanded EV adoption. Today, most EV charging is done at home, but the availability and convenience of publicly accessible chargers will be crucial for complete electrification of the vehicle fleet.
Although momentum in charging infrastructure has increasedEuropes public charger count increased fourfold between 2015 and 2020four risks could turn charging into a bottleneck:
- Regulations. In many geographies, securing permits to build chargers, construct sites, and connect to the electric grid can require months, or even years, of planning.
- Grid. Especially in areas with high charging demand, the electrical grid needs to be upgraded to expand power capacitywhich include expensive and time-consuming updates.
- Resources. Several resources are in short supply, including skilled technicians, production capacity for fast-charging hardware, and enough green energy to make EVs fully environmentally friendly.
- Cost. EV charging infrastructure is not cheap; in the European Union, a typical 350-kilowatt (kW) charger can cost $150,000, including hardware, installation, and planning.
Actions to mitigate the threat of EV charging infrastructure shortages
Solution providers and owners and operators of charging networks play a key role in scaling EV-charging infrastructure, yet the broader ecosystem can help address a number of challenges. This includes, among others, OEMs, real estate providers, utilities and grid operators, and infrastructure funds.
With this in mind, governments and companies can take several actions to address the leading risks facing EV charging infrastructure.
Governments
Offer more incentives and mandates for building private chargers. Many countries are finding success with establishing incentive schemes for consumers, such as refunds for installing a wall box. They are also increasingly introducing requirements and subsidies for apartment buildings and other multiunit dwellings to offer chargers, as well as for companies to install chargers at workplacesindeed, chargers will eventually become a standard part of building design. These inducements should be structured to direct money toward the biggest bottlenecks for EV growth in a given communityfor example, earmarking more incentive funding for apartment buildings in dense areas with limited parking.
Subsidize public charging in necessary locations. Subsidiesfor capital expenditure on chargers, installation, and power distribution, as well as ongoing costs for operationcan help draw EV charging to areas where it is most needed. Such subsidies can make it economically viable to build chargers in areas where long-term profitability can outweigh short-term costs. Some governments, such as New York Citys, are funding installation costs to build chargers in high-demand areas; others, such as Germanys, are sponsoring an entire network to be operated by private companies. A successful effort will require modeling of demand, grid capacity, and other factors to determine priorities for investment.
Work with utilities to build out the electric grid. Electric grids will need to expand capacity to ensure they can cover the demand that will be created by a future of EV-covered roads. Governments might direct funding to grid operators earmarked to build capacity starting in areas with high local charging demand. They can also consider developing a new grid fee system that accounts for peak demand charging need, protects the grid from overutilization, and keeps charging economically viable at ultrafast charging locations.
Link incentives and subsidies to use of green energy. Achieving net-zero road emissions requires ensuring EV chargers are distributing 100 percent green energy. Where possible, governments can advance multiple sustainability agendas by requiring recipients of incentives and subsidies to commit to using green energy.
Simplify and standardize permitting. In extreme scenarios, securing a permit for a charger site, including installation and grid updates, can take two years. Streamlining permitting to accelerate throughput will take concerted action at a number of levels of government and in most geographies.
EV charging companies
Invest in production capacity and a skilled workforce. Now is the time for EV charging companies to scale, build out factories and supply chains in relevant regions to match demand, and develop a growth-minded talent strategy. These resources will form the foundation for successful rollouts of chargers in the coming years.
Partner to finance public chargers. Infrastructure funds and other potential investment partners offer alternative funding sources to help build, install, and operate public chargers. Beyond raising money, such partners may also be interested in other methods of funding capital, such as purchasing charging infrastructure assets in exchange for stable returns.
Use data and analytics for network planning. Sophisticated, data-driven planning will be required to identify the best sites for a successful, in-demand charging network. For example, geospatial analytics allow planners to optimize locations based on traffic flows, local grid status, and other relevant factors.
Reduce range anxiety of potential EV drivers. Perception of potential issues with switching from ICE to EV needs to be proactively addressed. Ongoing consumer education efforts around helpful tools (such as integrated trip planning or charger reservations) and additional advantages of EVs (such as integration with a home solar system) is required.
In 2020, the EV rubber hit the road. Over the next decade, EVs will help redefine the intersection of mobility and infrastructureand, in doing so, will, contribute significantly to achieving net-zero emissions targets.
The future of electric vehicle charging infrastructure
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Six electric vehicle charging innovations that could be crucial to green transport revolution
EV charging can't just be done in driveways and workplaces, with these new technologies potentially opening up new locations
Clockwise from top: Pop-up pavement devices, retrofitted lamp-posts and wireless induction pads are among the latest electric vehicle charging innovations
The dawn of the electric vehicle is almost upon us but if the so-called green transport revolution is going to truly take hold, new charging innovations will be needed.
By 2030, the IEA estimates there will be 250 million EVs on the worlds roads, with an average of 44 million sold each year.
Such forecasts are backed by the steady growth already witnessed in recent years EV stock grew from fewer than 500,000 in 2013 to more than five million in 2018 and growing investment from the automotive industry in manufacturing zero-emission cars.
But theres a general acceptance that for EVs to overtake petrol and diesel to become the new norm, more charging points will be needed to remove the range anxiety many drivers fear due to limited battery life and lengthy recharging times.
At the moment, chargers are mainly installed at homes with off-road parking, office car parks and in some public streets.
Yet a significant amount of vehicles dont have much access to these locations prompting Jillian Anable, a university professor specialising in energy and transport who is part of the UK-government-backedElectric Vehicle Energy Taskforce, to say more electric vehicle charging innovation is required.
Theres a wide range of estimates for what proportion of cars are actually parked off-street overnight and some EV uptake estimates are linked to these numbers, she told NS Business.
We need to get a grip on that. Even homes with a driveway might only have space for one car but the household could have two cars, so what are they going to do get up in the middle of the night to swap the cars over?
Its a space where the most innovation has to happen but it will also involve lots of infrastructure challenges.
Here we take a look at some of the innovation already taking place.
Electric vehicle charging innovations
Wireless charging
Wireless charging for cars works similarly towireless phone chargers, using inductive charging technology.
Electricity is transferred through an air gap from one magnetic coil in the charger hidden underneath the road surface to a second magnetic coil fitted to the underside of a car.
Drivers just need to park their car in a position where the coils are aligned for charging to begin.
But rather than being able to lift a few millimetres off the charging station like with phones, a car can be positioned several inches away and still charge.
Wireless charging at taxi ranks is being trialled in the UK city of Nottingham as part of a 3.4m ($4.4m) government trial.
Its hoped the technology could enable taxi drivers to recharge more easily and minimise street clutter caused by charging devices, and could later be rolled out for broader public use.
Pop-up pavement chargers
Another innovation that could reduce street clutter is pop-up EV chargers, which rise out of the pavement when activated remotely using a smartphone app.
London-based EV charging company Urban Electric Networks has developed the UEone on-street devices, which retract into the ground when not in use like bollards.
Six pop-up chargers, offering fast charging measuring up to seven kilowatts (kW), were installed in Oxford in November 2019 as part of a trial and the company plans to begin commercial production in 2021.
It claims they will be zero cost to councils for supply, installation, operation and maintenance. Installations will be in clusters rather than individual charge points to limit the amount of pavements that need to be dug up to fit them.
Roadside street cabinets
Theyre a fixture of just about any community that has an internet connection, and roadside street cabinets could play a big part in the EV revolution.
The telecoms infrastructure, which provide a link between a local public telephone exchange and individual properties to enable phone calls and broadband services, can be adapted into kerbside charging points.
In 2018, German telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom announced plans to convert 12,000 street cabinets into charging stations.
It says each device can supply two vehicles with enough power in one hour for a range of between 50km and 75km.
And last year, UK-based Virgin Media and its parent company Liberty Global announced they would use their 170,000km network of underground cable ducts and 40,000 street cabinets to install 1,200 chargers.
Lamp-post charging
In Europe alone, there are an estimated 90 million lamp-posts but most are an under-used resource.
The EU harbours hopes to turn 10 million of them into smart lamp-posts, equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity hubs, smart lighting capability, air quality sensors, water level monitoring and electric vehicle chargers.
One of the companies already working on retrofitting street infrastructure with EV chargers is Char.gy, which has received UK government funding to install the plug-in points in London.
The company, which also fits satellite bollards with smart charging, says a standard lamp-post is connected to a 25 amp supply and if it uses LED bulbs, it will have 24 amps of excess supply that can be used to charge cars providing about 20 miles of driving for every hour of charging.
It says the installation costs about 1,000 per device, with car owners charged at 33p per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on pay-as-you-go rates.
Siemens has also led a project to develop an electric avenue, in which 24 lamp-posts along a half-mile stretch in Maida Vale, north-west London, have been converted into charging units.
Self-heating batteries
Given that so-called fast chargers can take up to four hours to fully charge a car, one of the sticking points for mass EV adoption is the lengthy waiting times compared to filling up a tank with petrol or diesel.
Even rapid chargers, which are being installed more regularly in locations such as motorways, can take up to half an hour, leaving plenty of room for improvement.
But scientists at Penn State University in the US have developed a lithium-ion battery they claim will be able to charge an EV in just 10 minutes.
Existing lithium-ion batteries degrade quickly when charged at temperatures under 10C, resulting in lithium plating that causes a reduction in cell capacity, as well as electrical spikes and unsafe battery conditions. Heating at higher temperatures for long periods also causes damage.
Penn States technology works on a premise of a self-heating battery that can quickly heat and then cool itself to enable optimum charging conditions.
Electrified roads
While many electric vehicle charging innovations require cars to be parked, a pilot in Sweden has explored the possibility of charging on the go with electrified roads.
The team behind the state-funded eRoadArlanda project in Sweden installed electric rails embedded within the tarmac of a 1.25-mile road network near Stockholm.
A moveable arm attached to a vehicle detects the electrical rails location in the road and is automatically charged while travelling above it.
It works in a similar way to trams, which are powered by an overhead line, but instead via conductive feeds from the road below. Charging stops when the vehicle is overtaking or coming to a halt.
The 50 million-crown ($5.2m) scheme was launched in April 2018 and is now being trialled.
