SUMMER 2018 • SPOTLIGHT• 17
Firstly
Battery technology is not good enough yet. Te average battery life is slightly over 100 miles, not much use for anyone who uses a car for business purposes. Tis will improve, but until manufacturers can guarantee 300 miles per charge without having to turn off your wipers, lights, radio and air conditioning, it won’t work for all.
Secondly
Charging. Whilst there is a massive roll out program ongoing with the likes of Ionity, Engenie, Franklin Energy, and Ecotricity all aggressively acquiring sites, there are still less than 4,300 charging locations providing 14,000 connections. Only 2,600 of these chargers are rapid charge, which even then takes 30 minutes. In my work day life, I don’t have 30 minutes to wait to charge my car; I get impatient if I spend five minutes filling my fossil fuel powered vehicle.
Te final
In my view, the most significant issue is how we generate the electricity to power these cars. Te grid can reach full capacity during the winter months and if it does, will it be a choice of charging our car or making a cup of coffee? Tat is of course if you will have the ability to charge your car at home, 48% of households do not have off street parking. You then have to look at the environmental costs of providing these new
sources of electricity; do they outweigh the savings we are making by moving to electric vehicles? Tere are questions surrounding on the environmental issues around extracting and then disposing of the lithium, nickel and cadmium that are used in the manufacturing of these batteries. So, returning to my original question, to EV or not to EV? I suspect the
answer is that their popularity will continue to increase as battery technology improves and a more extensive network of charging points is rolled out. Te ever growing number of charger providers is testimony to this. Is it any more environmentally friendly? Te jury is out and in my opinion, it’s certainly not the long-term solution but will probably be part of a multi fuel solution as the likes of Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology also becomes a viable ‘green’ alternative.
Anthony Keohane Automotive and Roadside +44 20 7487 1672
Anthony.keohane@
colliers.com
Colliers International
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