Electric cars - so worried

[Northernlurker]

I keep worrying about being forced to buy an electric car when I change my car in a few years.
Reason being the long journeys and (mostly) self catering we love. In Scotland.
We need a range around 50% higher than the current max. It's no good saying charge it on the way if there are no fast chargers. Been looking at details today, even the fastest chargers need just over 30 minutes. Thousands of people drive UJ the Highlands and Islands annually. There won't be anything like enough chargers to cover that. We can charge overnight using an ordinary plug but it's not going to hit the max. Feel like we will spend the whole time worrying about finding a free charger in the middle of nowhere.
How is this ever going to work? It takes two Minutes to fill up a tank with petrol, electric is going to take hours!

@Ifailed

Sorry but I don't understand the issue?

That already happens in our street.

The point is simple, the many who don't own their own parking space will have to use public charging points.

There will be a 2 tier system, those lucky enough to be able the charge their vehicle(s) at home at cost, and those reliant on using a charging service provided by for-profit private companies. The latter will be further split into those who'll pay for a time slot, fast charging etc.

This is a completely different model than the one currently used for re-fuelling ICE cars.

The point is simple, the many who don't own their own parking space will have to use public charging points.

There will be a 2 tier system, those lucky enough to be able the charge their vehicle(s) at home at cost, and those reliant on using a charging service provided by for-profit private companies. The latter will be further split into those who'll pay for a time slot, fast charging etc.

This is a completely different model than the one currently used for re-fuelling ICE cars.

It's really not that different a model from what we have currently.

Currently ICE cars have to drive to a for-profit garage to fill up. The only real difference with EV's currently is the time it takes, which on the face of it causes problems with demand but given that a large number of people will be able to charge at home should in fact balance out. The huge advantage we have with EVs is that electricity is far easier to transport than petrol so we can basically stick a charger anywhere so accessing public chargers should eventually become easier than going to the petrol station for those in rural locations.

@Ifailed

Sorry but I don't get what that has to do with your previous post about government funding.

But anyway, yes, it'll be a bit variable but some will get free charging at work. I can also visit a number of free public chargers where I live. And what about those even more fortunate who have solar and can mostly charge for free? There'll be a few more tiers but it may end up being necessary to either regulate pricing or for councils to work with those who have fewer options.

But ultimately it's far too early to tell how things will play out given the immaturity of the network today.

@Lunar27,
I expect (naively, probably) that state-funded charging stations to provide a service at cost, aimed at those who cannot charge at home. Instead it looks like it will be 'market led'.

@CapMarvel

The huge advantage we have with EVs is that electricity is far easier to transport than petrol so we can basically stick a charger anywhere so accessing public chargers should eventually become easier than going to the petrol station for those in rural locations.

You're missing the important point about the capability of the electricity infrastructure. There'll be many locations which simply don't have the capacity to charge lots of electric cars at the same time. There are already cases where you have, say a housing estate, that's struggling when lots of cars are being charged at the same time. I don't understand the technical aspects, but apparently there are different grades of supply, it was put simply to me that some transformers are larger (more capacity) than others and some wiring is thicker (more capacity) than others. So if there's too much "draw" on the supply, it can trip. If we add more electric based heating systems into the mix (i.e. when new gas boilers are banned), it could be the straw that breaks the camel's back when it comes to the electrical infrastructure in some places.

As for rural areas, many already suffer from poor broadband and poor mobile signals, as the infrastructure in some rural locations is simply not geared up for the modern "connected" world.

The idea that the national grid can't keep up with demand for EV charging has been debunked. As long as there is supply to a location then the grid can cope.

Some older properties to allow for a home charger to be installed will require pretty minor upgrades to the wiring as it comes into the property but that is all.

Compare that to the logistical difficulties of sending petrol all over the country and it's trivial in comparison.

@Badbadbunny

Do you have a link for these estates that can't cope?

I think you're neglecting the simple solution and thing that many EV owners already do, which is to charge well outside of peak times. I exclusively charge between 00:30 - 04:30 when the demand is extremely low. In the future I'd expect for us all to charge at varying times to spread the load.

Local adjustments may need to be made - already some people get large solar panels rejected as there is too much local generation being fed back into the grid. Local microgeneration, battery storage, car charging, on street charging, electric heating - all needs to be factored in and potentially changes made.

Overall the grid should be fine. Cars likely to charge overnight (with smart chargers adjusting start times to avoid a 'big switch on' creating issues), and spreading the charge times like Intelligent Octopus does now - you tell it when you need to charge by and how much and it'll pick the cheapest slots for you so can balance demand overnight. Heating will be more needed during the day so heating/EV demand will mostly be in separately timeslots. And heating will increase demand but will be more efficient than old storage heaters and less 'spiky' so should allow the grid to predict demand fairly well as more households go electric.

Yes, if you have a driveway and can fit a home charger you'll have the convenience of charging overnight on a cheap tariff like you charge your phone. But if you have a driveway you already have the convenience of off-street parking and thats factored into house prices etc.

The Sunday Times was reporting that electricity may be rationed at peak times this winter. So that will require even more careful planning regarding charging.

I know quite a lot of people who have/have had electric cars and they all say that you need diesel/petrol one for long journeys. I think the people who have no problems stopping several times for 30+ minutes a time and always being able to find a charge point that is both working and unoccupied, are mostly limited to Mumsnet.

3 of my nearest neighbours have EVs (second cars) and this morning all 3 had a cable across the pavement, one in a rubber channel, one stuck down with tape and one just trailing. We have to watch our step.

I know quite a lot of people who have/have had electric cars and they all say that you need diesel/petrol one for long journeys. I think the people who have no problems stopping several times for 30+ minutes a time and always being able to find a charge point that is both working and unoccupied, are mostly limited to Mumsnet.

My DH has almost been caught out twice. The reason was because he's an idiot, didn't plan and magically expected no traffic and chargers galore. Last time he drove all the way from Bedfordshire to Manchester (few hours away, not sure of miles), stopped on the way back for 5 minutes which charged to 35% (and wouldn't have gotten him home anyway) then continued on his way. Before he reached the next charger he was planning to use, he met three accidents on a short stretch of the M1 and was stuck there for an hour. He still managed to get to a slow charger but why he couldn't just sit for 20 minutes at the first one is beyond me. It would have gotten him comfortably home despite the traffic.

The other time was when he wanted to see if his car could get him to his hometown and back... The car got to 8% battery and said he'd arrive home with 1% so he panicked, drove the opposite direction to a charger, found a queue and had to wait.

On the other hand, I drove up to Newcastle, has no issues finding a charging point and never had the battery go so low that I needed to worry about traffic. Same again when I had to drive his car to Portsmouth.

Quite a long story but in conclusion, your friends are idiots like my DH.