EV CHARGING |
Electrifying potential
As the most energy-consuming sector in Europe and the largest cause of air pollution
in cities, transport needs to tackle a profound decarbonization revolution
Words | Carlos Carmona, GIC, and Antonio Marqués, ETRA, Spain
Above: Inductive
charging has
allowed EMT –
Madrid’s public
bus operator – to
introduce a fully
electric line
Electric vehicles (EV) offer
a unique opportunity to
replace the non-efficient,
polluting and imported fossil
fuels used in current vehicles by the
increasingly greener, self-produced
and energy-efficient electricity.
Europe – and especially
Europe’s largest cities – faces serious
challenges in the form of pollution,
traffic congestion and energy
consumption. The current mobility
mix in the biggest cities is still based
on private, polluting combustion
vehicles that are not only their major
source of air pollution and traffic
congestion, but are also inefficient
both economically and energetically.
Transportation is a key sector in
achieving the global climate targets
set by the COP 21 Paris Agreement,
and it has a big impact on the
implementation of the United
Nations Sustainable Development
Goals. Most significant of these goals
are Goal 7, affordable and clean
energy; Goal 9, industry innovation
and infrastructure; Goal 11,
sustainable cities and communities;
and Goal 13, climate action.
Electric solutions
Public transportation and nonmotorized
modes of transport are
major parts of the solution, in
conjunction with the smart planning
and management of cities, which can
considerably reduce the use of private
vehicles. However, these options
alone cannot replace all the uses that
cars and motorbikes have nowadays,
because in maby cases private
vehicles are still considered the
fastest and most comfortable option.
Electric vehicles present a perfect
replacement to internal comb
ustion vehicles, offering similar
services and benefits but without
their environmental disadvantages.
Moreover, the integration of EVs with
brand new mobility services – such
as shared vehicles – can reduce
congestion issues in cities, at the
218 Intertraffic World | Annual Showcase 2020
same time bringing a reduction of
costs due to the low ‘fuel’ prices of
these vehicles. The same can
be said about the integration of
electromobility and renewable
energy sources, which can form a
virtuous circle since vehicle batteries
present a high-value asset for the
massive deployment of decentralized
renewable energy sources.
EVs are an outstanding costeffective
solution for professional
drivers, who still need to rely on
private vehicles for their daily
operations but can benefit greatly
from the lower variable costs
associated to electric vehicles:
electricity against oil price plus
lower maintenance needs.
Because of that, the rising
environmental awareness and the
new mobility habits of citizens –
especially among new generations
– present a unique opportunity for
the large-scale deployment of EVs
in Europe.
The chicken and egg
The lack of charging stations and
long charging times are one of the
biggest concerns for users who are
considering purchasing an electric
car. According to several surveys
and studies, the vast majority of
EV drivers have home charging
and only a small percentage of
them frequently use public charging
stations, which they usually find
inconvenient or unreliable.
Current business models and
revenues generated from charging
infrastructure are not sufficient to
ensure a sustained and healthy
market growth. This results in a lack
of confidence in the EV sector as a
whole and leads to uncertain users
hesitating to buy EVs, triggering a
vicious circle of a frozen demand
because of an unsatisfactory offer
and vice versa.
Similar problems arise with the
regulatory framework, especially
for the new electric and shared
mobility modes. Citizens are
reluctant to adopt these new modes
if the regulation is not clear, and
cities do not want to implement
new regulatory conditions before
analyzing the problems of a bigger
rollout of these new mobility modes.
One of the key elements to break
these vicious circles is to design and
develop charging solutions that focus
on solving and satisfying the needs
and desires of users from different
socioeconomic backgrounds and
customer segments. Slow overnight
charging, opportunity charging and
ultrafast charging solutions need
to be orchestrated with a user-
centric approach, also ensuring
interoperability and cross-border
roaming capabilities.
At the same time, cities need to
promote citizens’ participation in the
co-creation of strategies that integrate
electromobility with other smart city
verticals, with mobility, energy,
safety and urban planning
particularly notable. Specific
e-mobility smart city dashboards and
instant citizens’ feedback collection
are powerful tools that allow cities to
monitor citizen satisfaction and
acceptance levels in order to put the