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THE WHICH EV VIEW: What does the BritishVolt collapse mean for the UK’s EV sector?

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Moving out of the EU was always going to create challenges for companies where the import/export of goods is key to their success. The collapse of BritishVolt has shone a spotlight on some of the more serious challenges, while also calling into question whether a more frugal approach to the initial development of the business, might have given it more time in which to achieve success.

With the possibility of a rescue package waiting in the wings, all may not yet be lost for this Northumberland-based project.

The ground was broken in July 2021 and a year later work the first part of the foundation was being laid, yet six months later everything seem to have collapsed. William Hague blamed Brexit fare and square, while others in his party had previously cited the British battery maker as an example of post-Brexit success in the economy. Shadow Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, was reported as saying that rather than being seen as a shining example of levelling up, BritishVolt in fact highlighted a lack of strategic industrial planning to help boost jobs and economic growth in the north.

It had been hoped that the plats would be fully operational by 2027 and capable of producing 300,000 EV battery packs a year.

Based near Melbourne in Australia, Recharge Industries is likely to take over the project and to use its extensive experience in running successful production plants to help get BritishVolt up and running commercially.

Key to BritishVolt’s plans was a close relationship with Tees Valley Lithium (TVL) – Europe’s largest independent/sustainable lithium hydroxide producer. Everything is now in place for that to happen, which makes you wonder why the UK Government didn’t do more to keep the project 100% British.

In a recent discussion with the CEO of one of the world’s largest producers of electric vehicles, WhichEV was told that the European Governments need to invest heavily now – in order to create a vibrant, competitive production environment for local car makers in the future. Localised lithium production and battery construction was cited as ‘crucial’.

To read the full story, head over to WhichEV!

Running an EV still much cheaper than petrol or diesel

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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By WhichEV

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the news has been full of stories about the huge increases in price for energy of all varieties. That has led to a splash of stories about how much the cost of charging an electric vehicles has sky-rocketed. But what is the reality? Mina has released a detailed report into the ways in which fuel costs have changed – and how that has impacted the cost of charging EVs for business.

The RAC has been tracking average mileage per driver in the UK, over a number of years. It has been dropping steadily and will likely be close to 7,000 miles for 2023. That works out at 19 miles per day, 133 per week and 578 per month. If you have an EV with a 70kWh battery, then you’re likely to clear 250 miles range per full charge. Heading into Q4 2022 and ‘filling up’ at an average of 30p per kWh, that would mean a fully-charged cost around £21.

In Mina’s research, the majority of charging (close to 80%) was completed on reduced-rate tariffs (for example overnight), either at home or at work. Those rates can still be under 15p per kWh. Public charger prices shot up in the summer of 2022, but started to calm down in Q4. These rates are often used in sensationalist headlines by the national media – when they seem to want to push the agenda, “EVs now cost the same as petrol and diesel to fill-up”.

Filling most petrol and diesel cars will need around 55 litres of fuel at a cost of at least £1.50 per litre – which would make a tank cost at least £82. You can make the argument that traditional cars often achieve 30mpg, so a tank of fossil fuel will take you closer to 360 miles or 1.4 times further than a full battery, in our example.

So what is the direct price comparison for fuel, between the two systems?

Filling up with fossil fuel 1.6 times (to hit the monthly average mileage) will come to around £132. Getting that mileage from an electric vehicle will cost closer to £53. Even if you allow for a 50% higher charging cost for the EV (assuming that you want to re-charge ‘on the road’ much more often than average), you would still be saving over £50 every time that the petrol/diesel vehicle needed to refuel. If that happened 20 times over 12 months, then your advantage in choosing an EV would be around £1,000 a year. That is a minimum saving on fuel alone – the reality could be much higher.

At the time of going to press, you would also have advantages in terms of BiK and free access to city centres etc – so the financial argument for EVs in business is still very strong.

Click here to read the full story over at WhichEV…

Rapid charging grows public charging devices 36% in 2022

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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By WhichEV

The increase in the rate of consumer movement from petrol/diesel based cars – across the electric vehicles – is now being matched by the increased rate of deployment for fast public chargers.

The Government has, over recent years, invested in this expansion of the charging infrastructure – and it would appear that we now have measurable results.

The number of on-street charging devices increased 36% to 12,009 in 2022, up from 8,842 devices at the end of 2021, according to figures published by Zap-Map, a leading charge point mapping service in the UK.

Over 100 high-speed charging hubs were opened for EV drivers in the outgoing year, the company said.

While London and the South East retain the top spots in terms of the highest number of charging points, 2022 saw thousands of chargers installed up and down the UK.

Head over to WhichEV for the full story…

UK Government makes small investment in the future of hydrogen powered EVs

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Seven years from now, it won’t be possible to buy a new petrol or diesel car if you are a consumer. The deadline for ending the same of fossil-fuelled commercial vehicles is 2040 right now, but that could be pulled back in to as early as 2035.

While it’s certainly possible to run 26-ton trucks on batteries, having an alternative plan seems prudent to Business Secretary Grant Shapps – and he’s authorised an investment of £15 million from the Government’s Advanced Propulsion Centre into HVS (Hydrogen Vehicle Systems).

Hydrogen could be a good option for certain transport modes – as long as its Green Hydrogen and not Blue, Grey, Brown, Black or any other colour option that indicates that it has been made by the petrochemical industry.

In its ideal form, hydrogen is generated through pollution-free/renewable sources and is used to poser electric motors in lorries, boats and other vehicles.

When it comes to recharging batteries, right now, the UK has 60,000 connectors running off 37,000 devices in 22,000 locations across the UK.

For hydrogen, there are less than 20.

The challenge for infrastructure alone is going to be immense – especially when you factor in just how explosive hydrogen can be and the fact that it is stored in containers that are pressurised up to 10,000 psi. If you have been near a car tyre when it blows at less than 50 psi, you’ll understand what a challenge ‘pressurised hydrogen’ could present.

Still, the possibility of emission-free 40 ton lorries moving goods around the country with electric motors powered by green hydrogen – is actually very appealing.

Ian Constance, Chief Executive at the APC, told WhichEV, “Supporting vital research and development in the UK, now more than ever, provides an opportunity to invest in transport decarbonisation as well as boost growth in the automotive sector”.

The Government-funded test will start with a 5.5 ton proof of concept before expanding out to larger vehicles.

The implications for fleet managers could be massive. More options coming through should improve choice and flexibility.

Read more here over at WhichEV.

Automakers told they can cut material emissions by 60% by 2040

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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By WhichEV

Electric vehicles are easier to design, easier to make and easier to maintain. However, they have forced every major car company to reconsider their manufacturing processes and supply chains – because of the new technologies being developed and used.

Across the whole of the automotive sector, 30% of the world’s pollution emissions are created. That’s something that car makers are addressing as they prepare for the manufacturing processes of tomorrow.

The move to electricity takes care of a lot of the emissions from fuel oils, but what about the manufacturing process itself?

Specialist consultancy Bain & Company, help major organisations ‘think differently’ about the markets in which they operate and to give fresh consideration to how they do business at all. Bain & Company call this new way of thinking an ‘insurgent mindset’ and they have been helping companies reinvent themselves since 1973.

A new analysis by Bain & Company shows that the European automotive sector could reduce emissions associated with materials used to produce vehicles, by up to 60% before 2040.

Read the full story over at WhichEV…

Global EV sales up 60% in 2022

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Based in Sweden, EV Volumes is an organisation focused solely on the shipment of vehicles with electric motors across the globe.

They pull together over 130 sources – cross referencing where possible – to try and build the most accurate picture possible of how the evolution toward carbon neutral transport is going.

In Europe, against a backdrop where overall vehicle registrations are down by more than 15%, electric vehicles have grown by almost 10% – making the region the second biggest in the world, behind China.

The companies experiencing the largest growth rates in EV sales include:-

  • Geely (inc Volvo and Polestar) at 334%
  • BYD at 320%
  • Hyundai at 86%
  • Tesla at 46%
  • Stellantis (Citroen, Peugeot, Fiat, Vauxhall etc) at 42%

Here in the UK, fully electric cars (BEV) increased by 23% in October – compared to the same month last year.

Overall UK BEV sales are up more than 38% (compared to the same 10 month period in 2021), with almost 200,000 shipped so far

Click here to read the full story over at WhichEV.

WhichEV Awards 2023 – And the winners are…

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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By James Morris, WhichEV

The relentless growth in the EV market has continued in 2022. In September 2021, battery EVs had a 15.2% share of the market. In September 2022, this had risen to 16.9%. The increase is even more pronounced when you look at the Year-to-Date, with a 9.5% share this time last year, and 14.5% up to September 2022. This 40.3% increase in EV share year-on-year is the only truly positive from an auto market that continues to be beset by supply chain issues.

This healthy growth has occurred despite the UK plug-in grant being cancelled entirely in June. Premium EVs had been ineligible for some time, without significant negative impact on sales. Underlining this has been the performance of the Tesla Model Y, which was the second best-selling car of all fuel types in September, and even managed to be the eighth best-selling for the year-to-date. It’s clear that the era of the BEV is fast arriving. So although we still haven’t reached the long-awaited price parity with petrol and diesel, demand is high.

To help you choose yours, we looked at the EVs released in the last 12 months that we think should dominate the coming year’s sales, to create our annual Awards listing. Read on to find the best EVs to buy in 2023….

Click here to read the full story…

Jaguar moves to launch its own network of high speed chargers

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Despite only having one battery electric vehicle in the market with the I-Pace, Jaguar is nailing its colours to the mast with the announcement of a new partnership with Plugsurfing to give Jaguar drivers access to a virtual network of 300,000 charging points across 27 countries.

Pay-as-you-go won’t have a monthly Tarif associated with it – but you will pay a higher charge at the point when you need it. The Gold and Platinum plans will cost £4.26 and £8.50 respectively with an increasing package of benefits.
Jaguar drivers with a Platinum package can expect decent deals at Osprey, Ionity and other major charger providers.

Everything you need to know about installing EV chargers at your workplace

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Installing a consumer charger is a relatively simple business. Contacting your local Distribution Network Operator (DNO) for an authorisation code, getting a qualified electrician in for the install and testing and then using your new home charger is really straightforward. However, doing the same thing for a commercial premises can be rather more complicated.

While at the recent opening of the new Osprey super hub at the Paisley Pear pub in Brackley, we met up with Adam Miller (CCO) from ESPUG, and he’s an expert at helping business customers get the charging set-up they need.

While most homes will have a 7kW charger installed, the Osprey Super Hub on Marston’s property is able to deliver 100kW to eight EVs at the same time, and up to 150kW to a few if others are less utilised. That needs physical space, access rights, grid capacity and a commercially viable point of connection – and it can be a complex process.

In this article, the experts at WhichEV will help you navigate the task with minimum fuss…

All your EV questions answered by WhichEV

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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The editorial team over at WhichEV have built a monthly audience of more than 1.2 million readers and they are in regular contact with their community across a range of social media platforms. As the number of electric vehicles in the UK approaches the 1million mark – with pure electric making up half of that number – more and more people are asking questions.

WhichEV has launched a new section on its site, called EV Answers. Twelve articles have already gone live with over 20 more due to go live in the coming weeks.

What kind of questions are answered?  Well, the section covers things like a detailed installation of a charger and all that entails, information about how long it will take to charge, where you can get accurate data (you can trust) about climate change and whether the National Grid can cope with the nation moving to EVs.

The team are also keen to hear any suggestions you may have, so please feel free to email their editor using james@whichev.net if you’d like a particular questions answered.

Read more here: https://www.whichev.net/category/ev-answers/