In April ’21, the UK government released yet another target for slashing emissions in order to make the UK progress further than three quarters of the way towards a net zero target by 2050. This should be enriched in law by the end of this month.
So far the UK is on track, as it has over-achieved in the first two carbon budgets. But, could this be accelerated faster with an increase in use of electric vehicles? Yes. Are we able to facilitate this increase with current products and current access to knowledge about the EV world?
It seems quite obvious to suggest that many people are concerned with the mileage “range” of EVs, but the miles vehicles can travel on a single charge has far improved, with a variety of makes now producing modules that can provide 200+ mile range.
The next concern may be how long the vehicle needs to remain “plugged-in” in order to achieve full charge. What seems to be a common misconception, through no consumer’s own fault, is that a charger that can provide more power, will charge the vehicle quicker, resulting in less wait times and the need to schedule lives around when
the car need charging! A fairly reasonable
assumption…
There are some chargers available that can produce 50kw+ power and these chargers are far superior in that they are capable of adding 100+ miles range to a vehicle in 35mins (although this will depend on other factors as well). For example, a 150kw station that Tesla match to their Tesla Model 3 can add up to 600 miles of range in one hour!!
However, not all EVs are currently fitted with an appropriate converter on board to be able to accept this amount of power. In simple terms, if the speed of a charger is definitely a priority for you, you need to not only invest in a charger that is powerful enough, but also match the vehicle to the charger output i.e. for a car to use the full potential of a 50kw charger, it must have the 50kw converter built in. Therefore, having a more powerful charger does not mean that you will be able to charge your vehicle quicker necessarily, because….
Not many cars have a 50kw converter on board! Or a 22kw converter for that matter. So people who are hoping to install a new EV charger at home and have the possibility of upgrading their domestic charger to a 22kw choice to get a slightly better charge speed, will be disappointed that they cannot make use of this extra power, unless you know what to ask initially at the car dealership when purchasing your next EV. You must ensure that the vehicle you are buying is compatible with these super fast chargers. We are finding quite often that this is not common knowledge and some consumers are becoming unstuck.
This is not a criticism of the EV world, as we truly believe in our commitment to making the environment a healthier one, but there needs to be better access to the information regarding EVs and chargers and the two manufacturing worlds need to co-exist in harmony more so in order for the consumer to make wiser choices.