THE BACK PAGE by Technical Editor Jonathan Newell
BIG PUSH BY UK TO ELECTRIFY NEW VEHICLE FLEET BY 2040
F
ollowing France’s recent announcement banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2040, the UK government has now announced a similar ban scheduled for the same year coupled with local
authority financial incentives to clean up the most polluted roads with immediate effect. To achieve such an aim requires massive
cooperation involving local authorities, infrastructure providers and the international motor industry. I spoke to some of the key players in the UK to get their opinion. Automotive engineering and testing giant,
HORIBAMIRA sees the move as being in line with the way the industry is generally moving and sees the announcement as being positive. “Automotive manufacturers are already developing vehicles with electrified powertrains so this announcement won’t necessarily impact the industry from an R&D point of view, but it may well accelerate activity,” said Geoff Davis, chief strategy officer at HORIBAMIRA. An acceleration of activity is needed not only in
the automotive industry but there must also be a more multifaceted approach, according to Robert Evans, CEO of Cenex and chairman of UK EVSE. “The journey to phasing out the internal combustion engine is now under way but the announcement lacks clarity as to the short- to medium-term initiatives that are needed to tackle poor urban air quality and to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles,” he said. According to the Transport Research Laboratory
(TRL), it is working to support local authorities in implementing policies and schemes that are more far-reaching and ambitious than those presently in effect for tackling pollution from diesel vehicles in the shorter term as an interim measure. “Implementing these changes as early as possible is key to tackling the air quality issue quickly and mitigating negative impacts on human health,” said Denis Naberezhnykh, TRL’s head of ULEV and energy. The government is also sinking money into local
schemes to the tune of over £250 million to cut pollution immediately through local air quality plans that could involve such actions as speed bump removal and changes to road layouts. The shadow hanging over mass electrification
proposals is the ability of the electricity supply infrastructure to cope with the additional load. TRL places emphasis on the need for a charging
infrastructure strategy that maximises zero- emission driving potential. “TRL’s work is playing a critical role in identifying solutions for smart charging and demand-side management that will help address the potential challenges for electricity transmission and distribution networks due to an
56 /// Environmental Engineering /// August 2017
increase in requirements for electric charging in the future,” said Naberezhnykh. Welcoming the government’s commitment of
£100m to the UK’s charging infrastructure, energy and power engineering company, Eaton, believes consumers and property developers also need to think about preparing their homes for the future of electric cars. “We need smart power systems in place to cope
with the increased demand that electric vehicles will place on the grid. Solar panels, home energy storage and car charging points, for example, will ensure people have a consistent, reliable and eco- friendly power supply that future-proofs homes and enables them to charge vehicles without causing a nationwide blackout,” said Eaton’s distributed energy segment leader, Louis Shaffer. It is clear that such a gutsy decision from the
government to tackle air pollution in an increasingly mobile world will take massive effort from consumers, energy suppliers and the automotive industry. And while 2040 may seem a long way off, to make the change happen, the transition has to start now. EE
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Now that a date has been scheduled, further initiatives will be required to aid the transition from combustion engine to electric vehicles
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