All in this together : the challenge of building Europewide EV infrastructure

 

 

https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/1-500-electric-vehicles-on-roads-150035

 

 

Electric vehicles have been increased usage in Europe recently, a fragmented mess of national legislation and technological diversity is stifling growth.

Care manufacturing joint venture IONITY says about their plans to replace these overlapping systems with a single charging network for the whole continent to use.

The number of new electric vehicles on the roads of the EU-28 countries has jumped from 22,986 in 2012 to 294,352 in 2018, and the number of battery electric vehicles registered increased by 50% between 2017 and 2018, said by an optimist.

 

However, a pessimist might argue that electric vehicles remain a relatively new technology in an industry that is dominated by conventional internal combustion engines. In spite of the impressive relative growth of electric vehicles, battery and plug-in hybrid cars accounted for just 3% of new passenger car registrations in the EU, compared to the 59% from gasoline-powered vehicles.

 

A lacck of effective charging stations remains a significant barrier to electric vehicle rollout. Even the recent big increase in sheer volume of charging points does not take into account variations in brand of station and technology used, wich mean not all stations are available for all vehicles.

 

 

 

refer by FLEETEUROPE / IONITY network dramatically increases EV fast charging costs

 

 

In response to this, IONITY aims to tackle both the relative lack of charging stations, and the discrepancy between brands and styles of charging technologies. Some of the world's biggest car manufacturers has the project to aim for the ambitious charging network that is both comprehensive and homogenous, and uniting Europe under a sigle charging system.

 

A single network for a single goal

IONITY is an ambitious project to homogenise Europe's charging station infrastructure in 2017.

"Our belief is that e-mobility will work only once people can travel long distances and leave cities in their electric vehicles." by Pia Bretschneider, UK and Ireland manager at IONITY.

"Given that most of the fossile fuel cars and vans will be replaced by electric vehicles by 2035, it is crucial that the appropriate charging infrastructure is in place to enable the future of mobility."

It has been already seen in some countries across Europe, and approach has been abroad such as Slovakia, Lithuania, and Germany.

 

The project brings a core technological innovation for its charging stations which are a lot more powerful current than is used elsewhere in the industry. During the high-end commercial charging stations offer around more, IONITY's stations provide a massive power. The initiative achieves this by enabling its charging stations to convert alternating current, allowing for a more efficient transfer of power from grid to vehicle.

 

Much of this technological sophisticaton comes from the project's supporters with the world's leading car manufacturers which are BMW, Ford and Mercedes among its member. The project has both the shared technical expertise and financial muscle to develop solutions such as charging stations and roll out a system at all of its facilities.

 

Companies would have to put aside competitive differences to work collaboratively on goals for the benefit of all with the IONITY organisational structure a potential blueprint for outhers to follow, said by Bretschneider.

"It is essential that the major players in this heavily competitive industry commit to joining forces and pave the way for the most advanced chargning infrastructure in the market, working toegher to onee purpose and vision of electric mobility in Europe and beyond." The important need for a significant range of actors and collaborators to deliver meaningful change in the sector.

"When it comes to our site partners, potential sites per country are assesed on an individual basis, and therefore, we don't limit ourselves to one partner per country which is why we are working with site partners as MFG, Shell, and Extra in the UK alone."

 

Diverse challenges for a diverse continet

A project of this scale and ambition does not exist yet without challenges, and the very nature of trying to implement a single system across a continent's worth of borders raises all manner of logistical and legal obstacles.

There were at least four types of charger in place and different charging types, times across the continent, the opposite state of affairs to the one-network approach favoured by IONITY. Furthermore, these charging types are unequally distributed across Europe. It means that another key challenge is available land. Land charging has been given priority, otherwise it will continue to see fragmented networks. The process starts with finding the right locations, ones that benefit the EV driver and whrer there is enough space, both for the current demand and ideally also for the future.

For instance, the stations are already commonly-used be adapted to include public among the recommendations. Yet this approach is in contrast to IONITY's work in expanding its charging network across locations such as motorways but far fewer existing points of infrastructure. This difference of opinion is emblematic of the fragmented nature of European charging insfrastructure that Bretchneider has highlighted.

 

Electric vehicles and the clean energy mix

Charging technology and infrastructure will become more aligned in the future as actors, from equipment manufacturers to political leaders, it comes to recognise the importance of electric vehicles to the world's clean energy mix.

 

"The availability of standardised charging infrastructure in-line with EU and national regulations plays a significant role in this and should therefore not be forgotten in the political dialogue and decision-making process." says Bretschneider.

A legal framework upon which is based on a lone-term business.

 

"A continuous joing effort from manufacturers, energy utilities, grid operators, and politics, as well as many more stakeholders, is required in order to move the needle in e-mobility."

 

 

https://medium.com/vivadrive/e-mobility-a-european-perspective-4329063d08d3

 

 

Considering that electric vehicles produce no harmful gases while in use, Bretschneider is optimistic that as industrial processes improve, and the battery manufacturing industry itself becomes less environmentally damaging, electric vehicles will be a key part of a future clean energy mix.

 

The mobility secor accounts for a quater of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. Decreasing these emissions and increasing the use of renewable energy sources will play a pivotal role on our way into a greener futre. That is where e-mobility comes into play. It will be equally important for government and energy infrastructure professionals to take action to drive the change, however, governments can aid this shift. It will be particularly challenging for energy infrastructure professionals, as there will need to be reskilling within the industry to move from coal-fired power to renewable sources.

 

In my opinion, e-mobility has changed and led the environmental industry to save the earth and get less carbon emission. In spite of many sectors and industries efforts, various changes haven't come yet cause of the followers of the businesses in the world. 

 

Since we have been in pandemic, people only think about the hygiene so that they seem like not thinking about how much wasting and throwing away trash every single day. It costs more than we develop the renewable industry. I would like to make more efforts on how to be different with global warming even if we have to think about our safe first. 

 

E-mobility has been stucked since when they just created by Tesla. It is because not so many people trust and believe the huge amount of challenge about the renewable energy. EV infrastructure would be able to be bigger change, not only in e-mobility sector, it will be much more huge changes in diverse sectors.

 

Vocabulary

fragmented : adj. consisting of several separate parts. separated into or consisting of several parts.

variation : n. a change in amount or level. something that is slightly different from the usual form or arrangement. 

tackle : v. to try to deal with something or someone.

discrepancy : n. a difference between two things that should be the same. 

homogeneous : adj. consisting of parts or people that are similar to each other or are of the same type

homogenise : v. to change something so that all its parts or features become the same or very similar

sophistication : n. the quality of being sophisticated

converter : n. a machine or device that changes something into a different form

be assessed : assess / v. to judge or decide the amount, value, quality, or importance of something

continent : n. one of the seven large land masses on the earth's surface, surrounded, or mainly surrounded, by sea and usually consisting of various contries. / adj. able to control when you urinate and empty your bowels. 

implement : v. to start using a plan or system. / n. a tool that works by being moved by hand or by being pulled across a surface.

rely on : phrasal verb. to need a particular thing or the help and support of someone or something in order to continue, to work correctly, or to succeed.

perol stations : n. a service station that sells gasoline. 

emblematic : adj. representing a particular person, group, or idea.

ex) I took a photograph of it and suggest that it may also be considered emblematic of the dilemma of architectural practice.

standardise : v. to make things of the same type all have the same basic features

/ standardize : v. to make one thing the same as others of that type, or to compare one thing to something accepted as a model

dedicated : adj. believing that something is very important and giving a lot of time and energy to it

harmonised : harmonize v. to add harmonies to a tune / to be suitable together, or to make different people, plans, situations, etc. suitable for each other

grid operator : Grid operators constantly monitor and manage the demand, supply, reserve margines, and power mix to ensure that you have immediate access to power in your home or business.

stakeholder : n. a persone or group of people who own a share in a business / a persone who is in charge of the prize money given by people betting on the result of a game or competition and who gives it to the winner

pollutant : a substance that pollutes / a harmful substance that causes pollution

shift : v. to(cause something or someone to ) move or change frome one position or direction to another, especially slightly / to move the gears of a vehicle into different positions in order to make it go faster or slower.

coal-fired power : Coal fired power plants are a type of power plant that make use of the combustion of coal in order to generate electricity. Their use provides around 40% of the world's electricity and they are primarliy used in developing countries. 

 

*refer/Link : www.power-technology.com/features/all-in-this-together-the-challenge-of-building-europewide-ev-infrastructure/

All in this together: the challenge of building Europewide EV infrastructure

 

 

* The above is a summary for personal practice.

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